Down and Up
Life’s a fight, and I’ve taken a few serious blows to the ribs since my last update. But it’s about getting back up off the canvas, and not letting even those harder times get the best of us. Right?
I won’t go into heavily into the full details, but suffice to say we all experience loss. Both my parents are no longer with us, 10 years of marriage came to a close, and my sons have lost both of their grandfathers in the space of two months. I’m not unique in experiencing such things, but in the space of less than two years – this has been a real test of my resilience.
Even with such loss, art has played its role in managing the hurt, and the road back. Here’s a story the ABC did, following my Dad’s passing, relating to my efforts to produce a possum skin cloak for his traditional burial.
So, focusing on the last few months and some of my more positive news:
The brilliantly talented Benny Walker released his new album ‘Chosen Line’, and I was asked to design the album cover. How could I not? Great music, great person – it’s very easy to find inspiration there. Even better however, is that our deal also means I have a fantastic set of songs for use in my upcoming documentary work and YouTube channel. Stay tuned for announcements on that!
In a few weeks I’ll be kicking off a semi regular slot on ABC radio, talking about Aboriginal history and culture with the impressive wit and comedian, Sammy J. It’s something I’m really looking forward to doing, and I already have a long list of ideas I want to crack into. I’ve done a number of interviews on varied Aboriginal history and culture subjects over the years, so it’s good to stretch out in the medium to a greater degree.
In February 2020 I published my first newspaper article, with the Sydney Morning Herald. A piece which had originally been earmarked for my own site, KooriHistory.com, in the end I decided it needed a larger audience. I’m not sure if writing for the mainstream media will become a more regular focus for me, but it was nice to be able to break the ice.
May 2020 saw the relaunch of my Cultural Competency program that I run for Museums Victoria, as an online program. Delivering 2.5hr history and cultural education sessions with pre-recorded content and high production values over Zoom may seem a little weird, but I never like to do anything in half measures. If there’s enough interest I’ll produce a YouTube tutorial on my rather extensive set-up.
I’ve also been selling some of my designs on Redbubble.com. However, as well as they have done, I think it’s time I launched my own store. So that’s probably my next focus, hence why there’s no link!