APOLLO BAY!!!!!!

I HAD TO GET THIS POST IN BEFORE I LEFT!!!!  Guess what we got to draw!!! from the wild, not even just in the zoo!!!

 they are the snuggliest creatures i have ever seen!!!!!



these are of the twelve apostles, of which there are actually only 8 now -- huge eroded sand/rock cliffs


so beautiful!
i'm so happy to be back in this beautiful nature!

Melbourne

So we have been in Melbourne for two weeks, and are leaving tomorrow!!! It has been a wonderful city, andI have done so much stuff, even though we have had jampacked studio days, sometimes from 9 in the mornign until 9 at night!

 My best day ever was a Saturday.  

I drew in these beautiful gardens in the morning, then went to a rare book arts exhibition at the national library.  I went to the Disney Dreams Come True exhibition - which was so incredbile.  They showed art and everything that goes into making the movies, plus scenes from the movies they were showing: sleeping beauty, snow white, the little mermaid, beauty and the beast, cinderella, princess and the frog, and tangled.  One of the coolest thigns - they studied dolphins to see how ariel's body moved in the little mermaid, and studied the first woman's astronaut hair and space to see how her hair moved for ariel! It was incredible and so interesting - and makes me want to have a disney movie marathon when i get back - so whoever is up for it - let me know!! :)

Then I went to an indigenous cultures art exhibition at one of the many museums - which was so inspiring and amazing to see.

Then back to the disney exhibition :).

Then to a free concert with some friends, with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.  We had a picnic on the lawn, and went from day to sunset to stars while listening to classical music and Beethoven's 5th! The one that goes.. banana NA - it was incredible!!!

 Cathedral right down the street from where we stayed! We had our own apartments by the way with 4 other people - it was incredible!

 Children's illustrations exhibition at the library - so wonderful and inspiring  - this is what i want to do!

 downtown melbourne - the train station

 hot air balloons from a morning walk!

on the way to the studio :)

 in fitzroy gardens, there is a fairies tree - and tree carved and painted by an artist in the 60's for all the fairies and children of australia to have a safe place to be :)

on our free sunday, we went to st. kilda festival right on the ocean! it was so crazy and so many people - tons of music, rides, food, stalls, and just laughing and dancing and having fun!!!! and kite surfing (which you can kinda see in this photo)

So this is what i have been working on for the past 2 weeks in the print studio.  it's a portfolio (so basically just a book cover without the pages, with loose leaf prints inside)

 cover (it's sideways right now)

mt. eden sunrise ( i have a photo from this on the coast to coast walk!)

abel tasman national park (sideways)

cathedral grove, waipoua forest

picton mountains, new zealand

the back part, called the colophon.  my title is "those moments when faeries exist and magic is real" - so all those moments so far that have been magical (there are more,, but here are some) -- i did this kinda for all the people back home, so i can try and convey how it felt when i was in these amazing places, but in my own way! so hopefully these prints share with you a little more of what i'm experiencing than just the photos!

our print studio - it was amazing - it's a professional studio!!!




this may or may not be the last time i have internet - i will be home in 19 days and it's so crazy! i can't believe it ! i will try to do another post if i can!!!!

Midterm Break Part 2

So the second part of midterm break.  Absolutely Incredible.

Kaikoura. Two nights. A coastal town on the east coast in between Christchurch and Picton, on a peninsula, with huge mountains right along the ocean.  We walked around town, went whale watching and saw two huge sperm whales.  They are beautiful creatures, and also pretty mysterious - they surface for about 10 minutes, so it was quite the race once we spotted them in the boat 2 miles away to get to them before the dive deep down in the ocean for about an hour to find food, or at least we think that's what they do.  We saw seals bathing and playing and yawning  and slouching/lounging around of course, what they are best at!  We saw albatross dancing and gliding over the ocean.  Drawing cows in the middle of their pasture, where they would stop to look at us for about 5 minutes, wondering who we were and what we were doing - but they made the best models!  Going to the local bar and hearing live, low key music - so much nicer and different than a usual Friday night at school of pop songs.  Walking along the beach.  Making our own food.  The best chocolate chip banana muffins.  And of course, drawing A TON!!!  And the most incredible sunset I have ever seen in my entire life - that stretched from over the golden hills to the ocean on the other side.

Okay - well you are basically all caught up now!! After midterm break, we came to Melbourne, Australia.  We are here now for two weeks.  We are doing printmaking at this real artist's workshop - it is beautiful.  Melbourne is an amazing city - with so many museums and art galleries and art festivals going on, and so many parks and a river and on the ocean, and, the most perfect thing for me while I'm here: the library has an Australian picture books exhibit, and another museum has an exhibit on Disney fairytales - how perfect is that!!!

Midterm Break

So we just got a whole week off for midterm break! I really cannot believe it is half way through already - but then i can believe because we have done so many amazing things! So for break, me and two of my friends, Talia and Erin, were on the South Island of New Zealand traveling halfway down the east coast.  We stayed in hostels each night, cooked our own foods some nights, scheduled what we wanted to do that morning, and were completely on our own.  It was really refreshing and wonderful - and I felt so independent.

First Stop - Picton.  One night in a cute hostel.  Hike.  Food.  Gesturing Drawing at the beach ( we got some stares I think while we were drawing one person in strange postures).  Meeting a boy from Switzerland who we took to dinner because it was his birthday and he was by himself. Open air carriage train to Christchurch.

Second Stop - Christchurch.  Two nights in a hostel in the city.  Taxi driver tells us of the earthquakes that hit two weeks ago.  So when will the next one hit? We don't know, he says - maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow night, who knows? That's great to hear right when we get in.....But no worries - we were alright!

Walking around the city. Indian food. Drawing in the botanic gardens. Art Museums and galleries.  Bus stop to top of huge hill to see all of Christchurch below us and visiting the Sign of Takahe - a fortress-like castle turned restaurant that was really cute. 

I have 3 more nights to write about-  and only 3 minutes left on the internet cafe - so come back soon to see the rest of the midterm break trip! It includes whales and seals too!!!

I'm in Melbourne, Australia now and for the next 2 weeks!!!!


Thanks to everyone  who is reading this - it means so much to me that I get to share this with all of you!

Love, Megan

Abel Tasman National Park

So at the beginning of this blog, I was hoping to watch the world with glittering eyes and I would see magic everywhere.  Well.  That's what happened here.  Abel Tasman National Park.  Every place we have been to is incredible, but this one, is just beyond incredible.  We stayed right near the beach in a lodge, went to the beach for sunsets and sunrises and nighttime listening to the waves.  We hiked through foresty jungles that looks like the minpins or faeries could live in.  This is a place I really can't describe, so I hope these pictures give you some kind of feeling as to how it was to be there.