I am back from a week away from my usual life and planning for my drawing project, and even from drawing. Seven of us young people traveled away down south to Levin, where we were thinning a pine forest. I was one of two girls helping to look after the boys who worked really hard welding chainsaws through the forest every day. We cooked and cleaned for them and had the job of marking trees for the boys to fell. On the first day I slipped and managed to cover myself in the whole pot of white paint which caused allot of laughter. for several days afterwards I was quite white from the experience! After that we used spray paint! It was a good work experience and now I know a little bit about thinning pine trees.
While we were down there my friend, Marion, and I took one day off to travel down to the Capitol, Wellington, where I had an appointment with Radio New Zealand. It was very surreal to walk through the city and into the high-rise off The Terrace and talk in the professional recording studio about The Art of a Hut. I had been in a different world all week and very distracted from the project, which turned out to be quite good because had I been at home I would have been thinking about the radio interview too much and getting really nervous. As it was I wasn't so nervous, but that still didn't help me speak very well! Caleb and I sound like a couple of rookies with an exciting idea that we don't know much about! Well I guess I don't yet, but after a year of drawing huts I'll be quite confident in talking about it. I hope... You can listen to the interview here: The Art of a Hut Radio.
All the people there were really lovely and the interviewer, Lynn, did her best to make me feel comfortable and draw out my enthusiasm for drawing and huts. Everyone I met there seemed to be very relaxed and to love their job. It was very interesting to see all the recording equipment, and buttons and dials and the sound proof recording studio with the big window. It was strange to hear Caleb over the headphones; he was far away in a studio in Napier. I haven't talked to him since then because he's gone off possum trapping for a week. So I don't know how he thinks it went. For myself, I'm glad I wasn't horribly nervous, but I wish I could have spoken better, more confidently, and said a bit more. We managed to listen to part of it on our drive back up north on Sunday when it was on the radio. It was painful for me to listen to, but at least I was myself, and I guess that's all I can be!
It is a month today until my 21st birthday, and it will be a matter of days after that before we set of on out 'hut hoping' expedition! It's getting more exciting and real by the day. I'm going to spend the rest of today sorting and ordering art supplies. I'm looking forwards to make a batch of sketchbooks next week, when my paper arrives.
