CURRENT MISSION

to make a alignate foot mould from a female size 5 foot.

ABOUT ME

I'm originally from Aotearoa, in the 90's I spent 8 years living and travelling around Australia. I first arrived in Bristol, England in 2000, landed some great temp jobs and met some fantastic friends, but for a long time used Bristol as my place to chill for a bit, make money then travel off to my next place of interest, usually driven by cultures I don't know much about, landscapes I wanted to explore and theatre and film festivals. I finally decided to settle here in 2005. I absolutely adore Bristol, there is always so much going on, sometimes its a matter of realising you are not going to beable to do all of that in one night or weekend...definitely a place you can never feel bored in. I'm currently arts administrator at The Island, a multi use arts facility which was born out of some very creative, dedicated and people squatting and putting a lot of energy into making an old empty police station a cutting edge creative hub http://www.theislandbristol.com/. I am also a performance artist and spend a majority of my time working on my practice and helping provide a platform for people to express and develop their creativity.
Now a days due to time restrictions, I don't travel as much as I would like, but often find myself plan journeys to work in with theatre, film, music and art festivals.

PHILOSOPHY

Listen to understand, not just to answer.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Host, surf and meet up with people in Bristol for a coffee, chat /or a day out.
COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I was introduced to CS through my dear friend Helene, who was living with me after she arrived back from travelling in 2007... we hosted travellers and also CS gatherings at our place . Over the past 18 years I have lived in shared houses where either myself or another flatmate has hosted people. I've meet some amazing people through hosting and staying with people. I just think it is such a great way to meet people, it seems so down to earth and natural to have people come stay in your house and introduce them to your city and visa versa.

Interests

I am now settled for the foreseeable future in Bristol and tend to plan my holidays around attending film, music and performance festivals or visiting countries and cultures I am not truly familiar with.

I work in a self-funded art space in a former police station, love the daily conversations with studio holders and seek out spaces and environments with forms of creativity which change and challenge the set norms and ideas of mainstream culture.
Spoken word poetry, performance and theatre are what I normally attend in Bristol on a near weekly basis. Film festival are what I will travel far and wide for especially those that showcase less known films and / or specific to a country and area.

I only wish I had it in me to experiment more with my cooking however it has never come naturally // I'm not a bad cook // standard would probably be the word I would use to describe my culinary skills. However I love sampling different cuisines and often place myself in a suburb or area to try local eateries and restaurants. My favourite dish to cook is a Georgian eggplant dish with a walnut, herbs and pomegranates.

I tend to cycle everywhere, I'm currently attempting re-learning to drive after 20 years so I can take off for weekend trips and journeys throughout the UK heading outwards to the coastlines and inland to the forests and mountains. Next on my list is a motorbike license, then a 2 week trip of Italy.... to start with ;)

• arts
• performing arts
• festivals
• movies
• traveling
• music
• live music
• cycling
• hiking
• canoeing
• kayaking
• camping
• swimming
• table tennis
• volunteering
• solo travel
• rivers
• cultures
• underground culture
• performance art
• foodie
• exploring new places
• maps
• meeting strangers
• meet new people
• diy music
• diy projects
• artists
• spoken word poetry
• attempting to cook

Music, Movies, and Books

Films: Black Cat White Cat, Pupendo,Rok Dabla, Daisies, Whale Rider, Katalin Varga, Svěrák, My Father's Den, A Prophet, No Man's Land, The Bird people of China. Jan Svankmajer My favourite film is the 1926 Georgian silent film My Grandmother / Chemi Bebia for the techniques used in the production and the directors political stance.

Theatre groups(Both from Belgium): Jan Fabre/Troubleyn, Ontroerend Goed!

Aldous Hardling , The Breeders, Nick Cave and the bad seeds. Warren Ellis, the violin is one of my favourite instrument to listen to guess i should add Karol from Cechomor in that case, Dirty Three, the master chaynjis (bristol band check em out... great violinist :), Tricky, A Tribe called Quest, Iggy Pop, Fat Freddys Drop, Sleaford Mods, Pete; the tar gang. PJ Harvey. I also like a lot of Bass.
Anthony Bourdain, he reminded me of how we are supposed to travel and that curiosity is something to always nurture, keep vibrant and alive.

List is a little out of date but it will give you a flavour of some of things I'm interested. I prefer to head out to live music, gone are the days where club nights are calling me but I love the variety of music festivals in the UK and Europe. I work as an artist liaisons at a few music festivals in England - I like having something to do, and it encourages me to stop and listen to new music, plus I get the opportunity to make sure the artists are looked during their time with us.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Can't think of one particular event so here are a few broad descriptions of some beautiful times in my life. Spend two years following the sun in Australia, a year living in Salvador Bahia, Brasil, Hitch hiking, free camping and wwoofing in France, Portugal and Czech Republic. Each country I have lived and visited has taught me many life lessons and enabled me to meet incredible people.

Teach, Learn, Share

Interested in meeting other artists, who may be interested in collaborating on a future project, and /or impromptu or planned exhibitions and performances.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love to hit the ground running when I arrive in a new places so would love to encounter people who also enjoy getting out and about by either walking around the cities or attending different arts events and local spots.
I have a wealth of knowledge of curating events, artist care, the ins and outs of running a self-funded DIY art space with potential links for collaboration or contact with artists and art spaces.

Different experiences through travelling solo around various countries.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, New Zealand, United Kingdom