Playing in my small art journal. Always good to pour out my feelings.
Paint: Funky fuchsia, Tangerine dream & Lemon zest. Stencils: Holes, Old school numbers & Fronds of foliage. Stamps: Dy’s alphabet. Other: Distress collage medium, Distress ink, Archival ink, white gel pen, Tim Holtz tall text rubber stamps.
I have tried to learn Te Reo a few times over the years and, although I picked up a few words, I never managed to learn much or pass the course. One provider even said “I needed a more basic course” and it was their beginner level one! Hmmm. I don’t have an ear for language and suspect it’s tied to my utter lack of musicality.
This time I enrolled in the Te Waananga o Aotearoa Papa Reo course, with has books, audio and a wonderful local Kaitiaki to support me. One year on … I have passed the course.
Am I proficient? Heck no. But I can introduce myself, ask & answer basic questions and so on. Now that the course is complete, I’m going to go back to book one and start again, learning all the extra words I didn’t have time for initially. I highly recommend the course; the structure is good, and the support makes it so much more achievable.
I’m (slightly) hesitant to write this, but angry enough I will anyway! I won’t use the sportsman’s name because he doesn’t need more publicity. A prominent sportsman is raising money via GoFundMe to fight a legal battle he can well afford form his own bank account.
He says it’s about religious freedom, but no one is stopping him practising his religion. The problem is him using his sports profile to spread anti-gay anti-transgender etc hatred. That’s dangerous, especially when he was a serious following in Pasifika youth.
The page has raised a lot of money very quickly, which is sad when other pages, such as for kids with cancer, are struggling. Now people are giving money to LGBTQ causes instead, in anti-him pledges. That makes my heart sing.
My family is rainbow – I won’t bother trying to explain, because who cares? They’re all awesome people who we love. We have a mix of pronouns and, again, who cares? I use she/her, some use he/him and one is – I think – opting for they/them over ze/zir.
My friends and colleagues are rainbow too. When people attack the rainbow community it’s deeply personal to me. If your god makes you hate people, find another god, because your god sucks. If you have a god, and I don’t, I’d hope they encourage love, kindness and respect. If you interact with me on social media, please show respect – thank you!
The journalling on this page tells the story; enjoy.
I love recording life’s wee details in my Dylusions dyary. I’ve never kept a ‘proper’ diary but this format suits me; a bit of art, a couple of photos, and whatever I want to record. Sometimes it’s day by day, sometimes one event needs the whole page; this week, it’s all about family, love and loss. Hug the people you love…
Cath Sheard Art 