Yesturday I received one of those e-mails that I dream and look hopefully to recieve - an invitation to speak at a conference on how I am making up my career as an artist and arts worker - pardon me if I sound like I am blowing my own trumpet - but to be quite honest I find this topic very interesting and I do enjoy telling my story and also hearing others journey to making a living in the arts.

It is quite a silly industry and quite remote from the rest of life - especially when you live regionally - to be honest all the action happens in the cities; if not in the US or Europe with which I have no connections (apart from my loving Brother who is a computer wiz living in Berlin)

Really I have made up myself from bits of reading; copying; talking and research - devouring any information - assistance - opportunity that came my way to get it together; dreaming up dream after dream and jumping into those dreams without being fully aware of what it entails to make the dream happen - I guess this is called project management; and I do enjoy managinging projects and also learning and crafting all the aspects that go with project management - From defining why you want to do what you are doing (apart from getting money, fame and fourtune!), setting up evaluation - a very tricky one - running the project and actually running the project like you said you would or being dilegent enough to document why the projct totally jumped the rails. Any how I guess I have to make it to the conference to really flesh this stuff out and get together with other scheming artsy project type people (or boffins - as my husband to be calls us!)

Part of getting to the conference is another fun battle - getting external funding - just got off the phone to an arts administrator and pushed the wrong buttons with her - I would say the money is not looking hopeful - she is new in her position and not sure how the funds are allocated whilst I am getting all sorts of other messages from the people who invited me to talk at the conference - It is in Cairns which is like travelling from the North pole to the south pole from my part of the world and being on unpaid maternity leave at the moment it really will be impossible to get the cash together to pay our gas bill let alone 2 air flights to Cairns with accommodation - I have a girl friends hens night coming up out of town in Shepparton and I am wondering how the hell I will be able to finance this!