Since I last posted I've been in the Eastern States teaching, but before I flew out I had a session with the Society's Honorary Librarian, Jill Maughan. Jill kindly taught me how to use Collections Mosaic, the computer program via which information about items in the Society's collection can be accessed. This cleverly designed search engine can find the needle in the proverbial haystack when in the hands of an experienced user.

Since my return I've been getting to know Mosaic, and found it very helpful as I applied the logical left side of my brain to locating some specific information. However, the problem my right brain has with with this sort of logical search process is that in order for it to succeed, you need to know what you are looking for.

My more flighty right brain prefers to browse until it finds stimulation, not knowing exactly what it is looking for until it finds it. Fearing that Mosaic is not designed for such silliness, I thought our time together might be limited. However, I found that Mosaic's layered research tags allow me to browse through the collection until I find an area of interest, then to look at all the items listed in that area. This has led to some fascinating discoveries warranting further investigation.

a historical adventure

The Royal Western Australian Historical Society has been awarded a "short term artist in residence" grant, and I have the good fortune to be the artist whom they will host. I am excited by the prospect of exploring the Society's comprehensive museum and library collections over the coming months. I invite you to share my journey as the Society's curators and librarian generously assist me to delve below the surface of their collections of costume, artefacts, books, maps, letters, photographs and other treasures in order to develop new work inspired by my discoveries.

The residency will be launched on February 10, so do come back and visit again then. In the meantime, if you would like to see what I have been doing recently please visit my "jottings" blog.