What happened? That is a very good question to ask… As being an art jeweller doesn’t make you outrageous rich it was about time to work for being able to travel on and live the dream.
Dennis and I were lucky enough to find a very well paid job in Halls Creek, Western Australia, in a hotel. We worked there as basically everything, from housekeeping, barwork, restaurant to even be the DJ on the Friday night disco, we covered it all.


It was a highly interesting and intense time, working in such an environment. The temperature were always around 40 degrees celsius, and, as it was wet season, the humidity was quite high, too. It was in the middle of nowhere, 1000 people livinge there with the next town a 350km drive away. A real outback and Australian experience. Beautiful and exotic landscape.



But not too good conditions to be creative. Working an average of 50 hours per week with only 1 day off doesn’t help. The heat is a big problem too. It takes away a lot of your energy. I managed to set up a work shop in one deserted room but without air-con the temperature reached fast the 50 degree mark which makes working hardly bearable. It was a beautiful room but just not good for working.

I managed to “find” a better room with an air-con but as it was a deserted room for staff someone moved into that room quite fast so no more work shop for me anymore :-(

During the time in the hotel I started to reminescence about the travel, the jewellery and everything. I realised that I hardly created jewellery while travelling. Why? I realised that I need a quite surrounding, like I had at Sturt in my time as Artist in Residence, to be able to empty my mind to fill it with new ideas. While travelling your head is filled already all the time with new impressions and experiences. It is like soaking up all the new for saving it for later. If that makes sense…
I also realised that working full time (or even more) doesn’t help my creativity either…
So, I made the decision to send my tools back home for the time of travelling. I feel good with it. A bit sad, too. But, also relived. Why is that? Having my tools with my always created that pressure in myself to be creative, or, having a bad conscience about not being it! That wasn’t good. That is not why I am here. There will be a time for jewellery again. But not right now. Now it’s pure travelling time. Time for new impressions. For open horizons (Now it’s getting a bit pathetic ;-)
This doesn’t mean I will close down this blog. I just found out that for me at this stage of the travel the concept isn’t working. And that’s why I changed it. There will be still thoughts and impressions from my travel, things, that touched me in a way or the other. And, one day back home, there will be new creations again :-)
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