This month has found me in the stunning Hawthorne Arts Centre as one of thirty stalls as part of the High Priestesses Witch market and in the Wagga Wagga showground pavilion as part of River and Wren.
The Melbourne market allowed Mac and I to travel down early and have a few days by ourselves in the big city.
At the time this was a great decision – I was looking forward to poking around all the nooks and back alleys of Melbourne, discovering new favourite places to visit, sipping excellent coffee, and eating beautiful food that I didn’t have to cook.
But with two weeks to go, everything here in the studio ground to a halt, and suddenly my carefully laid plans were thrown into chaos. I think I mentioned in my last email that my eldest daughter so generously shared her winter cold with me. Well after I hit send on the email, I put myself in bed for a snooze that ended up being a four-day nap.
On my desk I had thirty half-finished witch beasties, with their cats. Those witches also needed thirty hats to be sewn, brooms to be hot glued and baubles to sparklefy. There were prints to print, an art date to edit, an application deadline looming and a new product to launch.
Throw in all the school events (WHY? Why do they have to be all on at the same time) and general life stuff, (the thousand loads of washing, the dreaded weekly grocery shop and the need to tidy the house before my mother-in-law came to babysit) I wasn’t sure I was going to make it to Melbourne in one piece.
(I can tell you I did – albeit in a slightly messy heap, and we had a lovely time and I think Meatballs is my new favourite place to eat.)
On Saturday morning, after a late night, still sewing hats, and making sparkly things, I set up for the market in the fog with the crows cawing. I wasn’t sure what to expect for the weekend but that seemed to be a great way to begin!
I can honestly say that this is my new favourite market – there was an amazing vibe that I didn’t expect and such a welcoming community. I didn’t expect people from all walks of life and experiences. I didn’t expect the beautiful outfits, and attention to detail. And I really didn’t expect the connection I felt with almost everyone who stopped to have a chat.
I have never been to a market that was so, well, magical. The buzz of energy I came home with has been amazing – I have such an abundance of ideas brewing that I am not sure how to fit them into what is already a jam-packed schedule.
Especially since four days later I was again packing up the car for the June River and Wren Market. Not as niche as my Melbourne market, nethertheless, it was an amazing day – beautiful skies and all, and a great chance to catch up with market friends.
And now that I am back in the studio, and am almost caught up on some much-needed sleep, it’s time to implement so of the ideas and capture the inspiration that I have been blessed with over the last two weeks.
