week one of May Gibbs Children's Literature Trust Fellowship - Dithering 101

I'm baaaack! Where to begin? This Week One post will likely be all over the shop--I just have so much to tell you. It was the most unexpected month away, and of course--it went in a gumnut heartbeat.

I've been wading though a million photos and I'm still not unpacked. It's already 2 December and there's nary a Christmas bauble in sight in our house (quelle horreur!). I'm melting the butter in a ray of afternoon sunshine as I type, because my annual Christmas cake is two months late.

Since arriving home yesterday, I've cuddled and yabbered with my kids, performed repotting surgery on two fiddle leaf figs, put on three loads of washing (ironically, most of it not mine), walked straight past the mountain of ironing without batting an eyelid (I'm a changed woman), picked up a custom-made gift for my dear friend Sylvia, drank champagne with my husband in celebration of signing for my first junior fiction series, got a heavenly night's sleep, and have completed a flurry of 'omgihaveboughtnoxmasgifts' online shopping (feeling awfully guilty, I'm committing to shopping local for the rest).

This afternoon I'm finishing the Christmas cake and prepping the goodies for tomorrow's Mamie (author copies were waiting for me when I got home!) window installation at Harry Hartog bookstore. Then I'm meeting my dear friend Sylvia (she is leaving me for another town) for coffee.

But enough of all that--let's rewind a little.

MAY GIBBS CHILDREN'S LITERATURE TRUST CREATIVE TIME FELLOWSHIP

Although I had pretty much unlimited time on my hands during my four weeks in Adelaide, the entire month is a bit of a blur. A strange thing happens when you move suddenly from overwhelming and relentless busyness (you know--mum, wife, friend, creator, house manager, family manager) to wide open spaces. The concept is hard to get your head around at first--this wide open space called Time.

Before I left Canberra, I would openly joke - 'OMG, what will I do with all this time?!' knowing I could fill it to brimming in a nanosecond. The interesting thing is ... this didn't happen.

When you're given this precious gift--Time--a strange thing happens. It's not like you choke--well, maybe you do. Rather, maybe you 'balk'. Become addled? Confused? Faff? Sure, you need to find your bearings--which way is north (I always have to know), where I can buy coconut milk yoghurt, is it possible to borrow a vacuum cleaner, where is the best coffee? All the important stuff. But I did NOT expect to feel bamboozled in the first days, to say the very least.

The gorgeous team at the MGCLT were so supportive and I had everything I could possibly need, so it was interesting to feel so 'at sea' in the first week. Below is my little cottage. The orange tree had the juiciest fruit, dropped almost daily at my door (if the birds didn't get them first).

So how did I cope?

I did a lot of walking. It's Jacaranda time (one of the happiest moments of my stay ... a German tourist asking me what the 'purple trees' are called and then marvelling 'we do not have these in Europe'). Adelaide was looking stunning, even as we careened (literally!) from a top of 36 deg C one day to a top of 15 deg C the next.

I stayed at Kathleen Lumley College in North Adelaide, which is the perfect location ... right at the top of the botanical gardens and only a 15 min walk into town. I loved it. Here is the route I took most days ... walking along the Torrens. Sigh.

And here is a little cottage in the grounds of the Art Gallery of South Australia. It was outside the Gallery café where I spent many an hour tapping out stories or illustrating on my laptop. It was one of my favourite spots, and was my final destination just before coming home to Canberra.

The Gallery had the most astonishingly beautiful exhibition of Aboriginal artwork by John Mawurndjul (more here). Sometimes we connect with art in inexplicable ways, and I was overwhelmed by John's work--one of my favourite exhibition experiences of all time (and I've seen a lot!!). It's showing until late January 2019. If you're in Adelaide, you cannot miss it.

And here is a peek at the superb grounds of the University of Adelaide. I was OBSESSED with the buildings and grounds. In fact, Adelaide's architecture has only got better (we lived there in 2004/05) and I probably snapped a hundred pictures of buildings during my walks. It really is the Chicago of Australia.

I began working on stories 5 - 9 of my JF series during week one, and was a little bamboozled with writer's block (a true rarity for me). Even pushing through didn't seem to help, so I interspersed writing with illustrating - first some warm-up watercolours and some line drawings for my JF series, then some digital art for a new alphabet picture book I'm working on.

I also began filling in my space in the Fellows' Journal. It was really special to be able to read the entries from other Fellows. It actually helped me settle, as I suffered (most unexpectedly) some separation anxiety from my family. It felt comforting to know that other Fellows struggled somewhat at first. It's a temporary thing and I honestly think it's because of the stretching that goes on--you know, outside comfort zones and into an eerily quiet place where you can see yourself clearly (likely for the first time in decades). It was an emotional experience, for sure.

Anyway, I called Week One 'Dithering 101' in the Fellow's Journal.

Things shifted by the end of the week and into week two. I was more focused and felt more settled, and enjoyed a wonderful meet-up with May Gibbs aficionado, Jane Brummitt (who would go on to launch Mamie on 25 November). She showed me the site where May's first house was situated. This was when her family first moved from England to South Australia. She lived in two childhood homes--the first now occupied by a block of flats, and the second still standing - an absolutely beautiful home with a double-gabled roof. It was quite surreal to stand in front of it.

Jane also took me to see this plaque, in the pavement outside a pub in Kensington. Oddly located, it's nevertheless a lovely tribute on the City's history walk.

It was also a joy to visit Jane's house--with its divine native garden. She showed me her impressive collection of May Gibbs ephemera including some of May's original postcards from WW1 and some stunning facsimile artworks and posters. A priceless collection I felt so fortunate to see first hand.

Stay tuned for WEEK TWO, which includes an unforgettable high tea experience with the Trust ...