I have found what I am looking for.....unlucky Bono!

so......
this is the way I am seeing NYC at the moment....wet and cold...

I am terrible at tourist shots.....but in case you don't believe that I am here....and using the award...to put a deposit on a house?



I woke to have my first day of weaving I headed to the Textile Arts Center!

I LOVE WEAVING.......can I say it holds all the answers the I have been looking for......and not to mention the environment that I am working in.......Cynthia, Visnja and Owyn.....what cool chicks....This is the perfect experience.......
I am even going to buy a loom.....So when I return to Australia in December....I can move to our beach house and spend the summer making......


Preparing for the journey to the UK.....and finding myself some stockists......
did someone say hand bags......?

check out the website = http://www.textileartscenter.com/

I am a little annoyed today....I was planning to go Guatemala on a weaving tour....but realising that it was nothing more then a charity event held by house wives at play I pulled out.....to only get an abusive email......good evening honey!

I am now going to Guatemala through connections of Cynthia's and leaving the Lonely Planet's #1 Worst rated city = Guatemala City......for Xela....

I am so excited about the next adventure.....I think I threw up in my mouth a little!

Love L........

*this blog was written to the 5 o'clock news

Did I forget something

I have realised that I started this blog without any information about what I am doing......here, there and everywhere!

So...my name is Liesl Hazelton...and I am an alcoholic.....I also was awarded the Design NSW: Travelling Scholarship 2009

http://www.dhub.org

A new opportunity for young artists and designers to broaden there horizons by travelling and having experiences otherwise unobtainable or unavailable in Australia. Funded by the Powerhouse Museum, Art NSW and supported by the British Council. And as long as you are in the first five years of your professional practice and not working in the built environment you can enter....Just DO It!

I applied for the scholarship in 2008....to help fund my guest semester in Germany and Hochschule Pforzheim...

http://www.gestaltung.hs-pforzheim.de

I wasnt successful...so I worked worked and worked some more to fund my journey...I also was the recipent of the Hazelton Trust fund for that year.....Although there was some stiff competition...I think there was even a recount of the votes...

It was when i was living in Amsterdam...that I re applied for this years scholarship.....I had an interview at 6am...prepared a cup of coffee and was off to my neighbours place...to be honest...I was happy it was at this time because I wasnt able to be nervous....scared or say stupid things that would inhibit my chances of...dare I say winning....

After the interview...I woke my sister up....who was sharing the penthouse suite of a brothel with me...then I slept a little....between waking her up with my excitement...because I was convinced I was going to win.....I say win...because I saw it as not only as an award or recognition for my work...but as a competition...(the way I look at everything) that I have been training for....4 hard years....blood, sweat and silver!

I was the best this year!!! SO I cracked a beer, ate a stroopwaffle....and enjoyed the rest of the day!

I returned to Australia to make a plan....accept the award and then think....it generally takes me a while, about what my next move would be...

I originally proposed that I would use the scholarship to stay in Amsterdam....working with Gesine Hackenberg and Iris Nieuwenberg

http://www.gesinehackenberg.com/

and

http://www.louisesmit.nl/frameset.php?language=en

Also to return to Germany and continue working with the disabled workshop in preparing an exhibition for my gallery in Antwerp, Belgium

http://www.beyondfashion.be/

To also also allow me to get established in the EU....

I decided that the scholarship was enabling me to achieve more then this....and those plans were already underway...I can use this scholarship to focus on developing my own career...a chance to think about what something I would never be able to do....either because of limited funds? or just not having the freedom to do so.

I left Amsterdam....I left ALOT of great friends there....I miss them all....and some other in Belgium....which was becoming a second home for me....and those who know me know why.....it has nothing to do with the diamonds!

I thought about it.....and this is what I am doing now.....I am at the beginning of the journey....I have made it through the wilderness.....and am seeing clearly on this cloudy day in NYC....

I start weaving tomorrow.....I am extremely excited about it....Cynthia is an amazing weaver and with her help...I am able to go alone to Guatemala and not join a house wife at play (Vroni) experience....

I also am able to get my Brazilian Visa back.....I am able to go there too...which means that not all is wasted...in Seoul....Although I still havent heard from my consulate....about the purse....

I am going to plan a halloween costume......skeletal....poncho....and extreme make up!

*this blog was completed with the help of Calexico: Feast of Wire

Links:

http://www.wholelottelove.com

http://www.kcommodore.com

http://www.designfederation.net

http://www.jewelleryandobjects.org

http://kylie-3sheets.blogspot.com/2009/10/inspiration

USA USA USA USA

I have arrived.....in NYC.........to the one, the only Katie Commodore....yes this is the coolest name we have ever heard....reminicent of a super hero with a mad mohawk......that K-Pows you with her charm and wit.......

Sunday - freaking out a little that I wouldn't be able to enter the USA USA USA......

I made it.....true to form there was an arguement in the taxi cue...and I suprised my driver by sitting up the front....He later shocked me by recommending International House of Pancakes as a MUST do in NYC....

*IHOP is on the list of never to do for my trip......like the red lobster,....olive garden....applebee's.....and any other places under the umbrella of food served from the box....

All I wanted was a a good meal, a beer and to see a familiar face....

Katie was more of the above.....think champagne.....blue cheese and caramelised onions.....I was last seen with Katie in the cobbled streets of Amsterdam....we were neighbours......everyone should have a Katie.....better then a Charlenne...Paul of Madge....

I then slept.....I slept until 5pm....for 3 days.....I guess after the ordeal of Korea...and exhaustion of the challenge.....I fell into a slumber which wasn't woken by a Jewish Prince(ss) of NYC....but from the need to get out into the city...and see what is happening in the Apple....

I have been in NYC for week now....

And I met with Cynthia Alberto today... and the team, Visnja and
Owyn.....

Cynthia Alberto....textile designer from Phillipines.....member of the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn....Master of the backstrap loom! and all round funny gal!

After going to the studio today...I feel confident that my plans will be achievable... the team was excited about my ideas and I also was able to take part in the joint effort.....dismantling the 'metaloom'......

I will return to The Textile Arts Center.......Thursday....to start the process......


this blog is to be continued...............

48 Hour Design Challenge

What am I doing in Korea?
What is inclusive design?
Can you create something in 48 hours?
Who am I going to be sharing a room with and do they snore louder then me?
Can it be possible that my back pack weighs less then 20Kg?
How many taxi companies are there in Seoul?
and can I really get an emergency passport before Sunday?

All questions that have been asked to myself, by myself, over the last week.

Firstly.....Korea

I was invited to Korea to participate in the 48 hour inclusive design challenge....a collaboration between the Royal College of Art, London, Design Olympiad, Seoul and the Fantastic, lovely, perfect British Council!!! (you will understand later why).
Where participants from around the world were asked to design a product or systems using an extreme user for inspiration....'extreme user' = handicaped or elderly persons.
I arrived right on time...actually 10 minutes before the starting time of the meet and greet party....to meet with my team leader,Neil from Gusto .... a design firm in the UK...and my team of product designers...marketing managers....graphic artist ....an extreme user as well as me...

We spent 48 hours on this challenge...staying up till the morning both nights...and some not even sleeping to meet the deadline.... our inspiration was presence...and we all agreed the inspiration was being able to identify a wheel chair user in a crowd....how do we make it inclusive? well we applied the same theory for prams, couriers and bicycles. I found it funny that all he wanted was to be acknowledged/ noticed but only to be able to slip into the crowd again.

Last day...we made the deadline....we saw all the other ideas....and presented our own.....we didn't win....and those who know me...know I don't like to lose....but that is beside the point here....

I had an amazing experience...I am a jeweller...I work alone...I question if I need...but mainly work through trial and error..mock ups...material exploration....working in a group environment...brainstorming...being part of a team was foreign and strange to me....To be honest at first I was a little intimidated by this way of working...I later embraced it and really was able to speak my mind, work well within the brief and environment....this was an experience to open my eyes to other ways of communicating ideas and connecting with people....I have an open door to visit with the RCA when I return to the UK in 2010...as well as opportunities in Bosnia and Singapore!
Not to mention the connections I have made with designers living in Korea.....for my return in April 2010.

On the last night....after the party.....me and my new room mate, Natasha from Bosnia....who I only really met on the last day because neither of us were at the hotel....shared a taxi.....totally exhausted from the weeks events...Natasha left her bag in the car....as I went to hand it to her I put my purse down on the seat....as soon as I left the taxi I realised that I had left EVERYTHING in the back....
When I say everything....I mean PASSPORT...ID..CREDIT CARD..KEY CARD..MONEY..LIPSTICK (i loved that colour).....and it was all gone....!

*this came as a surprise to me....but my friends and family weren't......typical Liesl they say....one extreme to the next....
SO after crying......and calling the taxi combined service...this is how I know there are 250 in Seoul...calling the bank.....calling....the embassy...I realised that there is no point getting upset about spilt SoJu.....and went to sleep...

I then spent the next two days doing the world tour of embassy's .....I was helped....when I say helped it doesn't really cover it....I was Saved.....!! by the British Council.....Thank you YoonJoe Park......I love you! there were able to advance me some money...and some peace of mind...
Everything was under control back home thanks to my Parents.....Dad I am sorry for making you go to the post office 3 times to fax the info....and Verity you are everything one could dream for in a friend...let alone a travel agent!

I had a new passport thanks to the embassy...but I am a little upset....I had a little history going on in the old one...and it was a great picture too! which never happens to me on ID cards.....

With all this behind me I checked into a love hotel for two days...and ventured out to the city.... There are a lot of design exhibitions at the moment and I seem to be in the heart of it....great independent stores....markets....and museums.....
I saw a great show on handbags..which really inspired me, at the world jewellery museum...and ate a lot of spicy food off the streets.

I also met with Kwangho Lee....It was perfect actually...because after the stress of the past few days...I wasn't nervous..not that I should have been...but meeting new people makes me. I have to say....what a dude...a guy that rides an orange motorbike and rocks grey box glasses....is grand in my book....and blog...
we went to the studio..which we will work in next year...and I got to see his creations..
I was amazed by the scale and perfection...I was a little blown away....and surprised by his humbleness....
We went for dinner with his wife....who is equally as charming....and shared mageolli, fermented rice beer/wine?...I finally relaxed...and really at this point able to see myself living here next year.....with friends like this.....I couldn't fail to have a good time!
We made plans for 2010....and both discovered that we comes from the same design place....we work in similar ways and are inspired by past and childhood experiences. This is going to be a very exciting time for me....and know that he also shares the excitement!

I met a friend from Slovakia on my final night here...he happened to be travelling Korea for the next 2 weeks....and I got to enjoy the night life a little...
I fly to America tonight....and begin the next part of my journey....
Cynthia Alberto...textile weaving....Brooklyn Artist Gym Exhibition.....It will be full on.....
I hope to slow down the tempo....but running at this speed is really living!

Until Brooklyn!
WORD