hello old friends

Oh my goodness, where does time go?

If you'd asked me recently when I'd last blogged I would've said, "Oh, a few weeks ago...." But January? Eep! Back to putting 'me' first (and that includes this blog!)

So, I shan't be filling you in on everything I've been doing recently - ain't nobody got time for that!

I know I bang on about Newcastle being spectacularly beautiful - but hello! It IS spectacularly beautiful. A few weekends ago I trekked up this hill to Nobby's lighthouse with some friends to see Elsewhere - a music festival with a difference.

The difference was that it was held in what must be the most spectacular venue in, well look, I'm gonna say the world.

Come on. Check it out!

The performances were sublime, especially Paul Dempsey and my new love Steve Smyth who has the voice of an angel and a devilish grin. He also plays his guitar so hard the strings pop.

Then it was off to this fab venue, Newcastle City Hall, for the Newcastle Writers Festival. Three days of fabulousness. My head's still exploding with ideas. Don't ask me what my favourite session is - I don't think I could tell you (although I think it's the session on Biography with Erik Jenson and David Leser). The program was chockers with interesting people and topics. Can't wait till next year!

I moderated a fab panel on self-publishing with these guys. Now, I've interviewed many people over the years, but these three were just so wonderful. So honest and open with their answers it was brilliant. We stuffed a lot into that hour, but could've talked all night. Greg Field, Francesca Suters and Nim Gholkar are the authors - look them up!

Now, another Novocastrian blogger, A Curious Novocastrian, Instagrammed a fabulous piece of art over the writer's festival weekend and despite having spent HOURS in City Hall I'd never seen it. Well, how on earth I missed something so enormous and so gorgeous is beyond me but here it is.

Friday night (yep, I'm up to this weekend!) I went to the opening of a freshly curated exhibition at The Lock Up. I love The Lock Up. It's such a unique space. Even to this day it freaks me out, and I can't spend more than a minute or two in one of the old cells without feeling claustrophobic - but it's a space that challenges your ideas.

Look at what was happening in the old exercise yard! Music, critters stuck to the roof and lots of people chatting over a glass of wine. Bliss.

Hope all's well in your world. See you again really soon x

colour my world

Last weekend saw Newcastle host the Hit the Bricks Street Art Festival which has brought colour and joy to Newcastle streets. Local and national street artists converged on the city and have brought long-term joy and colour. I'm delighted to see the streets come to life, there's far too much emphasis on beige in this city for my liking. I love to see art spreading from the galleries and museums into the streets - and I'm glad that so many business owners embraced it by offering up their walls as canvases.

On Sunday my gal and I went on a walking tour, organised by Renew Newcastle, where we checked out some of the amazing pieces on display.
Artists such as Askew, Adnate, Shida, Numbskull, Fintan Magee, Sofles, Grizzle, Mike Watt, Umpell, Shuda, Bafcat, Beastman, Phibs, Jumbo and Mike Maka were joined by many others and boy, have they created something fabulous.

It rained pretty heavily on the first two days, but the artists carried on. In fact, some incorporated the running paint into their work, to great effect. Isn't this whale a beauty!

This was my gal's fave - and one of mine too. Isn't she just glorious?

We got to see artists in action, and some of them even stopped to have a chat with the 25+ strong group on the walking tour to tell us about their art, their inspiration and the festival.

While some artists used ladders, others required more serious equipment to complete their pieces. I love the colours and the scale in this piece. It makes a boring old car park POP!

After the walking tour I went home and grabbed my bike so I could pootle out and check out the rest. On my travels I saw an historical piece of street art! It's nice to see that things work in swings and roundabouts. Everything old is new again.

This piece is utterly breathtaking. I've rarely seen a more powerful portrait. Seriously, this is the kind of work you'd expect to see win the Archibald Prize - the eyes tell so many stories. This glorious boy gazes up the Hunter River and overseas the area with majesty.

What a gift to the city.

For more info, go to the LookHear website. And next time you're out, see if you can find these pieces. There are also plenty of secret sites, such as laneways, that were off the map. Searching the hashtag #HitTheBricks or #HTBfestival will find more images on Instagram.

Thanks for sharing your work with us guys, we really appreciate it.