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Sep 14
Love0

Sweet Treats for Audio Flux/ Custodian of the Corner

By Arts, Audio

Hello folks,

Here I share with you a peek behind the audio curtains of my first Audio Flux piece- a fluxwork– and the sonic whipping up of the sweetest of ingredients: local Ballarat community on the site of an old garage, sweet treats in cute food vans, a city-wide pie competition, an imagined radio ad, and my husband playing Pure Imagination on the trumpet.

Spoiler alert- I didn’t win! But I did have a lot of fun and wanted to share it with you- the three minute submitted version, and the five minute extended cut ; )

Thanks to Jimmy of Common Garage for the great title too ‘Custodian of the Corner,’ his role as he puts it in bringing us together at this humble place of local goodness, coffee and food.

(& I must apologise to Tobias Horrocks who on request sent me a fab review of his tour of this year’s pie competition- I couldn’t make it fit but I think you should have your own radio spot for your reviews!).

At Common Garage, Peel St Ballarat. Erika and Ellen in the van Betty selling Mrs Browne Bakes, including the winner of last year’s Ballarat Pie Competition with their sweet pie Raspberry Goldfields, yummm.

So I have taken part in various short audio challenges over the years with the likes of Radiotopia and All the Best Radio (most recently an ‘Audio Corpse!’ ala the surrealists, where producers from around the world were challenged to 2-3 minute sections of audio to a piece, without knowing what the others will add next. In a weird and wonderful turn of events the online listening party was on whilst I was travelling in Europe and I tuned in from a bed on an overnight train travelling from Istanbul to Sofia! and joined beautiful nerds from all over. ‘Hear the spontaneous and unpredictable results’ here.

Audio Flux, another audio wonder from Julie Shapiro, is an invitation to producers to respond to a theme and prompts to create “short form audio and bold storytelling.”

I had been wanting to submit an entry for a while but when the theme of Confectionary came up I knew it was my time… It was great to join a session with Julie and All the Best crew online to share some tips, inspiration and favourite deserts of course. You can watch back here.

Some takeaways in my notes included having a clear heart of the piece, playing with tone and expectation, and from hearing some past winning examples- just how much can fit in 3 minutes. I also loved the idea of a recognisable ‘sonic signature.’

The flux parameters for Circuit 8 were:

  • Feature a conversation with someone you haven’t met before,who lives or works within one mile/kilometer of where you live or work.
  • Mention chocolate or another sweet treat.
  • Incorporate an audible sonic fluctuation (inspired by the repeated heating and cooling of the chocolate-tempering process).

The additional production challenge I gave myself was to create the story without using narration, a challenge to be sure!

Right, settling on a delectable atmospheric capture of award-winning sweet pies that were selling like…sweet pies ! out of a van around the corner, I grabbed my trusty zoom, jumped on my bike and headed down to the fab local café of food vans Common Garage with an open mind to where my travels might lead. I found myself chatting to punters at the big shared table, meeting their dogs and sharing their cookies. I also got to go inside Betty and chat to the lovely gals of Mrs Browne Bakes and bother Jimmy in his van Alice as he made coffees, and humbly received birthday gifts. I also couldn’t resist getting my pals at The Voice Over Guys involved to do an imagined ad for this annual Ballarat’s Best Pie comp and play with that style too. It was all very lovely and delicious.

Here is what I created and submitted! have a listen then more below.

 

Some cute pics! clockwise from top- Sally and Frankie the dawg; my Raspberry Goldfields pie at the big table; Jimmy with birthday chockies; Erika & Ellen in Mrs Browne Bakes van; more presents for Jimmy; Amy and Bronwyn with yums

In the end I had way too much content (and a kind of double or triple story of the pie comp/Mrs Browne Bakes/Common Garage) and the challenge of making it all hang together without narration. While it wasn’t perfect, I think I gave it a good crack using the throughline of Jimmy’s heating coffee machine and the trumpet of pure imagination to set the aural scene of community and wonder, and allowing the various voices of community to weave through and ultimately share a story of how community and food comes together in this special place in ye olde Ballarat. I also managed to get in the sound of the iconic Sovereign Hill Raspberry drops!

In the extended version you get to hear a bit more from Jimmy and the others and of the wonder that is Those Voice Over Guys (TVOG) with my silly pie script.

I do hope you enjoy having a listen (and transcript of spoken text below for the submitted version). Big thanks to all that shared their stories and skills! And Julie and co at Audio Flux for the prompt and opportunity to try some things out.

Voices featured: Jimmy at Common Ground, Ellen from Mrs Browne Bakes, Sally the sweet cookie and story sharer, and the legends at TVOG Dav and Reg- if you need voiceovers they are your guys! You might even see me around there recording some ads for them now and then ; )

Trumpet and production assistance by the one and only Julian Potter

Julian trumpeting in the back yard

Stay tuned for more as I cook up my new radio show and a return to Ballarat’s community radio station Voice FM, where I hope to share audio stories from around the world. Coming soon!!

 

Transcript of Custodian of the Corner

Amy Tsilemanis. Audio Flux August 2026

Sally: Taste test. Would you like some? We can try some.

Amy: Hello. I’ve been welcomed inside Betty.

Ellen: Welcome into Betty. We’re currently at Common Garage on Peel Street, and we’re selling out of Betty. Getting a few pies and cookies out there to the community.

Amy: And are they all sweet pies?

Ellen: Yeah, they are. We specialize in the sweet treats. The pies, it’s just like a cookie shell, and it’s encased with a beautiful, rich, silky filling.

patron: They’ve sold out of the one with all the sprinkles on it. Thank you. ’cause it was there.

Amy: Hey Jimmy!

Jimmy: What’s going on here?

Amy: How good’s this? What are you gonna get?

Ellen: The sparkly one that’s the Raspberry Goldfields. That was our Ballarat’s best pie. So yeah, we’re still making it a year later, and they’re still as popular as ever, but it’s really iconic to our raspberry drop here at Sovereign Hill.

Dav (radio): Let me take you to Ballarat. The regional goldfields town of Victoria recently crowned the happiest city in Australia, and home to the annual Ballarat’s Best Pie Competition. Last year’s winner was the creation of Erika Browne of Mrs Browne Bakes, with the raspberry goldfields cookie pie, inspired by ye olde Ballarat Sovereign Hill raspberry drops.   Scrumdiddlyumptious

Willy Wonka: Goggles on, please Lights, camera, action! Where’s the chocolate? It’s flying over our heads in a million pieces…

Ellen: I really love it here. Like, I think what Jimmy’s got going on here is so good for the community, and I just love being able to talk to everyone. And then also other people get to talk to each other. And the stories you hear about, like, ’cause I’ve been in Ballarat my whole life, so, like, hearing all the history about it and, my mum used to come here when it was a little milk bar so I think that’s cool.

Sally: So I love that he’s only got the big tables, and the fact that he gets in different trucks and, it’s a good mix. We’ve been coming here since he opened and so there’s people here that we see regularly, you know? And we just smile. “How are you going today?” And it’s, yeah, it’s nice to see regular faces.

Jimmy: I’m just the custodian of this corner that’s had a long history in Ballarat. It’s a place where everyone is welcome, regardless of where you’ve come from or what you do. And a place where hopefully we’re a place of genuine connection.

Amy: Beautiful. Thank you. Well, my cookie is waiting for me over there.

Jimmy: That’s the raspberry goldfields, and you are in for a treat.

Jun 04
Love0

Op Shop Queens

By Arts, Secondhand

This weekend The Good Op Shop, Castlemaine, celebrates its five year birthday and I thought it was a good moment for a good old Q & A  with fabulous founder and owner Tiff.

It will also be my third visit as their 2026 op shop model- an offer I couldn’t resist! visiting every two months for some pre-loved treasures that I get to take home, model and share to promote shopping secondhand, sustainability and fashion fun.

A quick word about me and some snaps of a recent (rare!) holiday with my dear mum with everything opped- clothes, bags, shoes, hats… she raised me with a strong appreciation for the environment, waste, and buying second-hand. She is truly the op shop and sustainability queen. Go Margot! And some kid and teenage pics here- my younger dressups as icecream eating cabbage patch doll nurse, and the ‘hippy wizard’ for a friend’s 10th birthday, then some angsty teenage vintage, still love those old tees and shirts, and a good pair of jeans!    

And now to the next Op Shop queen, Tiffany Inglis who started her own!

The Good Op Shop is at 4 Lewis Drive, Castlemaine and offers  “Secondhand, thrift and vintage finds, raising money for nature.”

Can you tell us a bit about you and how you came to run the Good Op Shop?

It was actually an offhand comment about how much time I spend op shopping that started it! As in, why didn’t I start my own! And once that seed was planted I couldn’t let it drop. My partner and I did a back of the envelope calculation of how much it would cost and then we started looking at places to rent. Given both of our interest in nature and conservation, it was an easy fit. When we spoke with Anna from the Salvage Yard, she made us feel no pressure to succeed and we thought: we’ll try it for six months, if it doesn’t work, then we’ll move on. This week we’re turning 5 years old and are celebrating giving back $50,000 to nature and conservation projects. Might need a cake for that I think!

Definitely cake.  Give us an idea of your personal style and what you love about shopping second-hand.

My style is not really a style! I think one of the things people like about op shopping and thrifting is that you get to find things that you might not normally get access to in traditional shops. That way you can create a unique look and feel comfortable in what you’re wearing. I am a big fan of blue and pink though.

I love secondhand for the hunt for treasure. You never know what you’re going to find out what will look good on you, so it’s fun to try things on. And also to try out different styles that you might not normally wear. Plus it’s keeping stuff out of landfill.

How does the Good Op Shop differ to other op shops?

One thing we noticed when we were setting the op shop up is that there are a lot of op shops focused on supporting people, which is great. But there aren’t as many specifically focused on raising money for nature. So we feel a bit special in that respect. I’m also really interested in reuse and upcycling and how much we can keep out of landfill. We’ve got a big, bold goal to keep 400,000 items out of landfill by 2029 – fingers crossed we can do it! With the nature and sustainability areas combined, I think we’re a bit different to others.

The other thing we do is try to provide novel ways for people to explore reuse and upcycling. We ran workshops throughout the year from 2022 to 2025 on darning, crochet, sewing machine skills, etc. And we also run an annual young people’s upcycled fashion parade to encourage kids to explore their own style through secondhand clothes.

Love! What are some of your favourite things about what you do and the people you work with?

Omg! I could talk all day about this. I have had the privilege to work with so many people in my community that I would never have even met if it wasn’t for the op shop. All the extremely excellent volunteers, people we partner with on projects, groups we give money to, and customers who come in and have a chat. It’s the best social outlet ever. Forget Tinder! Head to your nearest op shop and you’ll meet new friends, I guarantee it.

The other thing I love about what I do is the problem solving. Coming up with new ways to do things differently to make sure more stuff is reused and kept out of landfill. One example is the annual Upcycling Award we run. We ask people to make things out of repurposed items headed to landfill into something new. It’s opening soon, so for anyone in Victoria, keep your eyes on our social media!

How do you share your passion and knowledge with others that might also be interested in sustainability and how they can make a difference?

 Everyone can make a difference. The smallest decision will always have an impact on the environment, from what will I eat for breakfast today, through to, what should I get someone for a present. Since opening the op shop I try and find ways to do daily life as much ‘secondhand’ as I can. At the op shop, I really love seeing when young people come in to get clothes or things they need, and seeing them recognise the possibilities and affordability of secondhand.

I also love it when people come and chat with me about their ideas, and seeing if together we can make it happen. For example, you were brave enough to have a go at being our lovely secondhand model for a year, and I get to hang out with you. Double win for me!

Some of the fun so far here-

Finally Tiff, any tips for aspiring op shoppers?!

Don’t believe clothes sizes!!! They’re a misnomer.

Thanks so much Tiff.  As another that spends half my life treasure hunting (‘I’ll just have a quick look’) I am loving the op shop model collab as it also combines with my love of unique places to visit and getting out for fun shoots and bringing some joy to people online.

I also hope that it ‘models’ not taking yourself too seriously. We all like to look fabulous but I’m also about the lowkey (I’m usually too lazy for makeup and such), and finding clothes that make us feel good and bringing a bit of magic and silliness to our everyday lives.

Big thanks also to my kind photographers- planned or impromptu! Including Julian Potter, Penny Joy Smith (outtake Beechworth twirl below) and Tiffany Titshall (alpacas!!).

The Good Op Shop Castlemaine really is a little slice of secondhand and human goodness (and next door to the Salvage Yard, hello). Come celebrate 5 years!

I also loved seeing this pop up about Vinnie’s op shop fashion shows in Melbourne.

Get on it folks! And feel free to share your fabulous finds and sustainable fashion ideas with us

: )

 

 

May 26
Love0

Moonlight Meanders

By Arts, Curation, Heritage, Walking Arts

For this year’s inaugural Ballarat Craft & Design Week (an evolution of past year’s Craft Lab) I was invited to create a walking art experience in response to the beautifully blue exhibition of Tiffany Titshall and Jayne Newgreen, called ‘Cucoloris: No-one’s lost who finds the moon.’ Explore more here.

Ta-da! A Meander in Blue was born, a moonlit wander with creative prompts inspired by the city streets and songs of the moon, and inviting people to capture their own impressions along the way (see the blue walking drawings pictured above). The walk then led to a viewing of the exhibition and intimate artist talk. What a joy!

The wonderful Diana Paez came and took some photos for us too that I’d love to share here, and a couple of comments from participants:

“Thank you for having me! I’ve been talking about your walk all day – we definitely need more opportunities to meander in the evening, more whimsy and wonder, and more engagements with artists that feel like a warm hug. Bravo.” 

“Such a beautiful beautiful experience Amy. Made me lust for art and the moon and friends and talk and song. And I had them all in such abundance!”

I was also struck by a piece I was reading soon after by UK walking artist Emily Wilkinson (check out her great podcast Desire Lines too) about a walk she had been on where “Carrying a colourfully embellished stick can only be described as a ‘statement piece’ and is a performance in itself…

I remember that I love things that break the everyday like this, little acts of creativity that bring colour and joy into an everyday where people are afraid to stand or speak out.

These moments are a gentle but oh-so-wild invitation for curiosity and finding new pathways to relate within community.”

This perfectly summed up the experience of Meander in Blue too, and a way to invite people into a different experience of the city, and of an exhibition.

Thanks and love to all who were involved! And I am available for hire to create magical walks for you too, just drop me a line.

 

 

 

Apr 03
Love0

Come a Wandering/Wondering with the Far East Flaneurs

By Arts, Walking Arts

Lake Tyers Dreaming (Dana Flahavin)

Here I share some ponderings on two questions I heard a lot on recent travels with FLOAT in Far East Gippsland: What is a flaneur? And what is a walking artist? And what happens when they interweave their magic in regional Victoria, on Gunaikurnai Country…

The adventure begins at Lakes Entrance slipway (Dana Flahavin)

So, we’ve signed up for a thing; guest artists and curious wanderers on the wonderful FLOAT’s Far East Flaneur, a pilot voyage. We’re not exactly sure what will happen, but know there will be interesting people and places (and delicious food!), and that over the course of six days we will walk from Lakes Entrance to Lake Tyers and to Lake Tyers House, kayak from the shores of this historic house down to Nowa Nowa, cycle from ‘Mingling Waters’ to Orbost, mosey to Corringle, paddle somehow across to Marlo and eventually end up at Cape Conran, 80kms later, with a final storytelling party at Sailors Grave Brewery, Dunetown. Phew.

We are all magnetised by the mastermind Andrea Lane and her legendary team of weavers, boatmen, dogs, chefs, creatives, and thinkers.

“All of us here at FLOAT believe in the role of creative environmental stewardship in a viable future for Far East Gippsland. And we reckon lots of others think the same. So we’re taking the leap in the belief that we can all be the change we really, really want.”

Lured by this new way of showcasing an area and its people, through this cross-pollinating experiment of locals doing their thing and visitors bringing their creative responses and ideas. Reciprocity. Regeneration. How it might work ongoing I’m not entirely sure but I was grateful to be part of this brave regional flaneur-ing frontier, and my heart is full with connections and future possibilities.

So what is a flaneur, what histories does the term trace, and where does it meet walking art?

 

I pulled out this list of English walking words I made a few years ago now, all conjuring different speeds and modes of movement, though I note many evoke a sense of time or pleasure. (Pictured here with my flaneuring feet)

Far East Gippsland wanders (Amy Tsilemanis)

The French word flâneur, masculine for “one who wanders aimlessly” might join this list but it carries with it a certain cultural history of solo men in the cosmopolitan city.

As Molly Wagner of the Australian Walking Artists writes:

‘Australian Walking Artists 24/25,’ p7. Available to buy online now.

In discussing the female take on the flaneur in Lauren Elkin’s book Flaneuse Maria Popova (of the wonderful Marginalian) quotes Thoreau that “Every walk is a sort of crusade,” and in speaking of his sauntering “in an era when the activity was largely a male privilege — for a woman, these everyday crusades meant the dragging of long skirts across inhospitable terrains, before unwelcome gazes. It would take a century and a half of bold women conquering the mountains and reimagining the streets before Rebecca Solnit could compose her exquisite manifesto for wanderlust, reclaiming walking as an activity that vitalizes the mind.”

Wagner extends this in the context of Australia as “a vast country riddled with the consequences of colonisation” where walking artists are “increasingly interested in constructing community and emphasise the social and community engagement inherent in walking,” and how to do this respectfully on Country.

As a walking artist, a broad church of community and practice, and in my book- any person that wanders with a curious attention to their surroundings (and creates work either inspired by walks and places, or experiences that invite people to walk in different ways and forms) it was a joy to be with other wanderers, getting down low to inspect and photograph a beautiful flower on the ground, or bird in tree, talking about different ways we could be, weaving stories of geology, of life on the lakes, of public art telling First Nations stories of place, playing with weaving, cyanotypes, listening, walking drawing, considering relationships with nature, the human and non-human, a poem I wrote on a leaf as we rested in the cool rainforest section of the old rail trail…

Leaf poem

Lightly hurtling along the bush track

Micro-climates of conversation, bird spotting, days of birth

AND WITH ME I CARRY

The patron saints of poetry and walking-

Mary Oliver and Rebecca Solnit,

noticing and telling of it, in

roughly translated songs

and orange moths

and bees and birds

that briefly bless our wheels, feet & oars

In the cross-over between walking art and the Far East Flaneur, carefully crafted with room for meandering whilst on route, we had both planned and spontaneous creative encounters, even the architectural construction of a flaneur’s hut- revealing a wealth of creative possibility at this special intersection of the local and visiting within a unique exploration of place.

Molly Wagner sea drawing at Cape Conran

Aunty Susan Martin weaving session at Corringle (Dana Flahavin)

Alice Pepper mural on Rail Trail (Dana Flahavin)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what does it mean to reimagine the flaneur in regional Victoria as a regenerative tourism pilot/plot? Not the original French dandy flaneur, with stylish hat and walking stick, but the comfortable shoes, sunscreen and insect spray, and sense of adventure regional Australian flaneur. We hold a loose geographical map but also become living responsive maps as we open ourselves to the people and places along the way, walking the tensions of knowing and not knowing.

Cape Conran walk (Dana Flahavin)

Annette, Amy and Aunty Susan, weaving at Corringle

Cyanotype fun with Iona Julian-Walters & Fishlife Collective

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through shifting flaneuring from its solo male, urban history, walking art (see Molly Wagner’s No Trespassing  and global projects like Eleanore Ozanne’s Women Walking the City at Night ) and creative walking adventures like the Far East Flaneur opportunities can be opened for more diverse and intergenerational cohorts to walk, observe, create and adventure in public spaces.

Walking to Lake Tyers (Dana Flahavin)

The experience reinforced for me the importance of what we are doing with the Australian Walking Artists- both as drivers of this rich artform and its myriad ways of connecting people to place, but also the importance, that has organically emerged, of older women finding this network of creative and collegial practice at this moment in time. What I am seeing are deeply intelligent and talented women, bringing innovative and exciting work to a world stage, and inviting all ages and genders along with them. Partnered with the ambitious regenerative project of the Far East Flaneur, we open fresh ways of looking at art, history, tourism, health and everything in between. Long may these openings unfurl and prosper!

Mel, Amy and Molly of the Australian Walking Artists completing the Flaneur & Feral MBA, Cape Conran, 2026

‘Australian Walking Artists 24/25’ Molly Wagner

Lots of love to all and special thanks to Dana Flahavin for her beautiful soul and photographs and Derek Cook from Up the Creek (who shepherded our travels) and describes the FLOAT world as below:

Where Art, Nature, Community and Change-Making collide. Located in East Gippsland, Lake Tyers is a submerged river valley separated from the sea by a strip of sand dunes, occasionally breaking open after heavy rainfall. This unique environment is reflected in the creative outlets of the people, too.

FLOAT is a community run, regenerative, social enterprise – inspiring art practices to engage with the natural world. It’s floating residency on Lake Tyers and community hub in Lakes Entrance invite people to engage in community and radical reimagining’s of ‘business as usual’ (see their Feral MBA). Inspired by their residencies, FLOAT offers a model for creative environmental stewardship and ever evolving Communiversity.

Stay tuned for the next Far East Flaneur

and how you can support!

Until then, some things to read and explore:

The Marginalian on Rebecca Solnit’s book Wanderlust: A History of Walking

Wanderlust: Rebecca Solnit on Walking and the Mind

and on Lauren Elkin’s Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London

 

Regen Gippsland

Alice Pepper’s deadly artwork on the East Gippsland rail trail

Storyteller Bert Spinks on the flaneur experience

The flaneur hut creators, Green Studio

Fishlife Collective

Corringle Weaving

Molly Wagner and Mel Hunt Autumn Equinox walk at Cape Conran

and one last beauty by Dana shot on film near the FLOAT artist residency– the amazing pelicans! I shall see you again soon x

Mar 13
Love0
Collage of images, with east gippsland lakes, buildings and art

FLANEUR-ING AND FERAL-ING IN THE FAR EAST

By Arts, Walking Arts
Greetings! I am about to embark on an adventure. One that involves camping, and I fear that I may not have camped since Earthcore 2000 where we set up on a massive hill and I remember some trippers rolling down the hill, tents and all.  Well now, I have a camping pillow that self inflates, and good walking shoes, and today I am picking up some rain gear from Marketplace that belonged to a teenage boy but I am hoping will fit this 42 year old woman. I also have some fun osteoarthritis in my lower back. I am feeling slightly trepidatious, but also excited and grateful for all that will unfold.
And unfold it shall- Zooom out, and it really is a grand adventure! I am an invited artist on The Far East Flaneur, leading into the closing weekend of the Feral MBA I have been participating in. It’s all part of my three-month creative residency supported by a City of Ballarat Creative Inspiration grant, and traversing Wadawurrung and Gunaikurnai Country, and all kicked off via my work with the evolving crew and projects at the Australian Walking Artists.

I got to make this audio story when I was down with FLOAT hosting a monthly AWA gathering last year. Have a listen

Collage of images, with east gippsland lakes, buildings and art

Opening Weekend of Feral MBA February 2026

The flaneur is a pilot project I have been floating (!) alongside since the great and generous mind that is FLOAT leader and AWAer Andrea Lane hatched this week-long walk/ride/kayak route along the beauties of the East Gippsland lakes, forests, culture, bringing together walking art and regenerative tourism.
As Andrea describes it:  “We are excited to have engaged a big new world of FLOAT friends in the process. 
A team of allies that can make change happen…From artists, to economists, to walkers + paddlers, to nature lovers and photographers, to researchers, to influential policy-kinda people. You are all in the mix to make this a viable, regenerative, lovable social enterprise that I hope will be the shift we all need.”
 Trying out the experience in this pilot launch, we will amble our way from the starting point this Sunday at the Slipway Sheds, Lakes Entrance, through to Sailors Grave Brewery @ Dunetown (Cape Conran) on Sat 21,st with weaving, nature journalling, storytelling, history and architecture, environmental knowledge and more as the flaneurs mix with local artisans, businesses and providers and see where it all goes!
Drawn map of the Far East Flaneur journey with

The Far East Flaneur journey illustrated by Angharad Neal-Williams

NOTE: this journey will converge with FLOAT’s 4th Feral MBA (closing weekend).
FMBA is the annual (radical) arts program that we’ve conceived and delivered in Lakes Entrance. https://www.float3909.com/feral-mba
Full of the best arts activators, changemakers and influencers we know. And as our first of many future ventures – our plan is to capture all of this on paper, film, audio, maps, notes to create the best Far East story possible. Help us create the change for regen tourism. Be a gentle and generous traveller.

I will be taking my camera, notebook and trusty audio recorder and experimenting with the question of my practice in the Feral MBA that centres around generating, balancing, nurturing JOY & SUSTENANCE for myself and those I work/walk with.

Grid of photographs of people who will be doing the walk

It is amazing to share this experience with my fellow AWA founders and leaders Molly Wagner and Melinda Hunt, and in the midst of it all they are also presenting a session tomorrow as part of the International Walking Art and Local Communities (WALC) online walking art course. Join us!

Collage of images of happy people outdoors in East Gippsland

Amy, Mel, Molly and Feral MBA friends, Opening Weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

Explore more about the flaneur here and more from me on the other side!

Jan 16
Love0

Creative residency and Feral MBA

By Arts, Audio, Curation, Walking Arts

Hey folks!

A happy new year to you and a little update here on my current adventures/creative balms for crazy days, written for a newsletter:

Residency Day 1, watering our patch!

Multi-artform artist, producer and researcher Amy Tsilemanis is bringing her creative offerings together this year as A.T Studio, and her first project is a creative residency at Barkly Square Ballarat. Supported by a Creative Inspiration grant with City of Ballarat and based in the new Food is Free Inc shop space, Amy is ‘story researcher in residence’ scoping a series of audio walks connecting to the site and the theme of plants, gardens, food, community connection and societal health.

She will connect with Food is Free Inc, the Yarning Garden, Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council (BRMC) and the Barkly Square community in this research and development phase, as well as partnering with geolocated audio platform Soundtrails, and international creative collective Walk-Listen-Create. You may even hear her back on Ballarat community radio, Voice FM!

Day 2, settling in and lots of good chats!

 

Amy is artist in residence in the Food is Free Inc. space every Monday over the next few months. You can also catch her manning the shop on Saturdays, and running some upcoming workshops, Multi art-form Wanders with Amy interweaving walking, collage, poetry and more.

The Creative Inspiration grant is also supporting Amy to attend the Feral MBA with FLOAT down in East Gippsland, exploring her work as a co-founder of the Australian Walking Artists and in development of A.T Studio, alongside a cohort of movers and shakers exploring regenerative practice.

Described as creative offerings exploring the richness of existence, at A.T Studio you can engage Amy for: creative commissions, projects, collaborations, and workshops; creative consultancy on projects, places, partnerships, and funding; design and delivery of recreational activities and projects in diverse communities (Cert IV in Health and Leisure, 2025), and contract work in the GLAM field- galleries, libraries, archives and museums- with the speciality of Creative Activation of the Past (PhD, 2021).

 

Exciting stuff! Don’t forget to check out Teapot Alley too! Just on the way down to the shop, celebrating tea, friendship, and welcome.

Launch of Teapot Alley, Barkly Square 2025

 

 

Look forward to connecting with you all this year,

Amy

xo

Sep 08
Love0

Teapot Tales!

By Arts, Audio, Curation, Teapot Tales

Teapot Tales with Amy T, Barkly Square Ballarat East

I am excited to introduce my current project Teapot Tales, another creative extravaganza with many parts and partners but always with a comforting cuppa and the themes of friendship, fun, and welcome at its heart. Like so many of us around the hurting world, we are looking for ways to be of service, to connect meaningfully, and to use our skills to contribute good in some small way. As is my way, I have followed my curious nose, and things have converged interestingly in this project, my little offering of joy and collaboration at this moment in time.

     

The first workshop people can get involved with is kicking off this Saturday at TBH Studio, where you can come for cuppa and chat and decorate a teapot or teacup (2D and 3D options) that will become part of the art installation I’m creating at Barkly Square in my beloved Ballarat East, Wadawurrung Country.

With support from Regional Arts Victoria, I’m also pumped to have photographer Diana Paez on board to take people’s portraits with their creations, and of course I’ll be recording audio stories around people’s favourite tea memories, rituals and more! A little taster here to get you thinking of stories you might like to share. It features me and Diana and also two of my wonderful project mentors Mauz Hatcher and Holly Would (mentoring me along with Abbie Matthews and Lou Ridsdale, all pictured below). Legends!

 

 

There will be further workshops across various settings- intergenerational program with aged care and playgroup, Centre for Multicultural Youth, Barkly Square Tenants and community, and a September school holiday special- so keep an eye out or drop me a line if you’d like me to visit you or your group to get involved. I’ve set up a page here for info and fun.

Colourful workshop invite for Teapot Tales.           

Big thanks to Barkly Square’s Ballarat Men’s Shed for producing the cut out shapes for me for painting by the community (and delicious tea and lunch in Our Social Kitchen cafe!) plus all the generous donations of teapots! Some of these will be painted in workshops for the outdoor installation, and others will stay adorning the café windows : )

Thanks as always to Julio for helping with the whole shebang!

So how did this all come about? And what’s the go with me and tea?

Earlier the year I was struggling to find ongoing work in the GLAM field, so I decided to start a TAFE course (a Certificate VI in Health and Leisure) enabling me to do lifestyle activities in aged care and see if I can bring some of my skills that way. I have been doing placement at a local facility and learning the ropes and my oh my has it been both humbling and a joy. I have learnt so much and have so many ideas for activities.

Then! a couple of months ago I also began volunteering with the legend Lou Ridsdale at Food is Free Inc and Barkly Square, Ballarat East and was invited to activate the outdoor entranceway to this historic community and cultural hub with teapots. I said yes please! And the rest is history. Everything will come together in this creative installation, being launched as part of a special Barkly Square celebration on Saturday Nov 15th (save the date!)

 

Me and tea : )

I grew up in a tea loving family, nothing fancy, but the simple appreciation of a cuppa in the morning or after work, and afternoon tea with visitors, maybe enjoying with some of mum’s chocolate cake. Somewhere around my teens I also got onto the relaxing herbals (tea and otherwise ; ) and still can’t go past a lovely hot chamomile. Tea has always been comforting but also aesthetic for me- choosing the cup, seeing the colours, arranging cosy chairs, delicious treats at hand. And I’ve always loved teapots for both their design and function. Here is a pic of me, aged maybe 15 being a silly teapot, and the other day ; )

    

Fast-forward and my wedding vows featured tea of course, and the joy it brings in our daily life at home; different types for different moments in the day: earl grey, ceylon, orange pekoe, vanilla rooibos, genmaicha, Turkish apple, chai with soy and honey, peppermint, rose, and lemon balm from the garden, or trying new things (Julian just came home from a trip to multicultural Sunshine with some delicious Iranian tea and biscuits, and a new teapot! The kettle is on now to sample, mmmm).  Thank you Chinar International Food Market.

Sharing a cuppa- tea, coffee, whatever your pick- with different people, and across different cultures, or snatching a moment on your own is a chance to breathe, to taste, to converse, to look around and look within.

Working recently with traditional custodian Richard Collopy on the Manna Gum Stories project, he described the path he often walks (and ethos he takes) in First Nations education, as ‘the continuing cup of tea.’ Things are shared, shaken up, and importantly, they take the time and space they need. The idea of being able to sit down and talk together across different backgrounds and viewpoints seems vital, especially in these times, and who better to look to for inspiration and leadership in Australia than the world’s oldest living culture. I wrote this poem, inspired by my many, and ongoing, chats with Richard and in my worries and also hopes about what’s to come and how we can meet it.

 

The Continuing Cup of Tea poem and cyanotype play

Amy Tsilemanis and Richard Collopy during the Heart Maps residency, 2023 (by Jade Forest)

Can a cup of tea save the world? Probably not, but it can make it a hell of a lot nicer.

Stay tuned my friends.

 

The continuing cup of tea (for Manna Gum Stories, April 2025)

 

let’s sit down

you and me

over a cup of tea

over grandmother’s knee

and see what we can see, see, see

 

because the wise woman sighs –

‘look for your own well, pet,

there’s a hard time coming’

you aint seen nothing yet

 

harder to find that eye to eye,

heart to heart

but we will face the day well-met,

 

with singing springs

and trouble nets

with flower chains around our necks

and reservoirs that won’t be spent

on tired lies and havoc bent

on morphing what we will, and won’t, accept

 

we’re bringing human back

walking and gardening and tea as radical acts

we mic up trees and solar caps

And rise up from the compost stacks

 

so listen close at mother’s ear

and tend our own and nature’s wells

so they will not be made of tears

 

but rather tea

a back and forward

a condiment tray of magic sauce/source

 

let’s sit down

you and me

and see what we

can see see see

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 03
Love0

The Magic Study of Objects

By Arts, Curation

Greetings from our cosy Winter loungeroom with snoring kitties, books, and Julian playing sweet guitar. As the broader world continues to be a confounding and heartbeaking place and we are all doing what we can in our own ways, I wanted to share some small joys, sent with love and thanks to all the good people making their way. Settle in for a wander/wonder.

On Tuesday it marked one year since I started my daily collecting project, now known as the Bowerbird Project, and I have now completed all 52 weeks! See week 1 and 52 here with me pottering in the collagarium/collectorium : )

This week is also two years since I first visited Northern Greece and connected with my ancestry in the region along with an international world of walking artists.

My love goes out to fellow Australian Walking Artists co-convenor Molly Wagner and all the curious folks wandering in Prespa this week for the 2025 Walking Arts Encounters and the opportunity this network provides to merge individual and collective practices towards peace and connectivity across artforms, and borders of all kinds. There are also so many wonderful things happening all around Australia with AWA artists and beyond, and as always we are listening and learning, wondering and wandering. If you’re interested in joining- check us out here and help us build this network of kind and curious creativity.

Some Bowerbird images and reflections follow here along with some related museum adventures from recent travels. So why did I start this project?

In feeling overwhelmed by the problems of the world and ‘the big picture’ I went in small, without any preconceived or grand ideas. When someone asked me the other day what my criteria was for collecting, I reflected it was basically anything that drew my attention, not too big, and no bad smells ; ) Essentially ‘No criteria’ but it evolved into a way of noticing and appreciating the everyday, and indulging my love of collage and assemblage.

I chose to send an image of the week each Sunday to a local artist friend and she had this to say:

“Amy’s collection has been a highlight each week. Seeing what someone observes and collects, versus what I have often taken for granted, walked over or not even seen, has been fascinating. I now look for treasures. It started with me thinking “Amy would love that” to now realising that I now look to seek the beauty in the everyday. I hope that this project is seen far and wide to remind us of the world we navigate.”   

Thanks Lauren Mathews! 

I photographed the objects weekly- again nothing fancy- accompanied by their short daily diary entry, and will see which artforms the project takes me towards next: possibly bookish, aural, sculptural, possibly participatory, so stay tuned, and for now I hope you enjoy these ponderings and pics.

Looking over the weekly photos this week, I jotted down some of the items- leaves, teabags, pills, pegs, rocks, fabric, blood, moths and pinecones; a mix of aesthetics, patterns, meanings, curiosities, records, frustrations, joys, woven through walks, threads, layers, perspectives, seasons of life, seasons of the world, navigations through…

Sometimes objects and collections related to a particular walk and these swelled a bit during recent overseas travels (the 20th edition of A & J!) I made these collages with the objects and photos from the walks- the people & places and noticings- and playing with the idea of the xray, the close inspection of the not-obviously-interesting, the little beauties. And some more of the weeks for you to explore below.

On our travels we were lucky to visit some unique museums that used everyday objects in powerful ways: The Museum of Innocence in Istanbul, Turkiye; The Red Flat Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria; the Polycentric Museum of Aigai, in Vergina, Greece; and the NSDoku- Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism, Germany.

The four museums allowed us to journey through 1970s Istanbul, 1980s Bulgaria, 4th century BC Macedonia and 1920s-40s Germany. A brief summary here but deeper thoughts to follow!

I was in heaven in the writer Orhan Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence, fortuitously stumbled upon by a visit to a ferry-side bookshop and fit into the last hour before we boarded the overnight train to Bulgaria! This museum revolves around an imagined life and also a novel, a fictional story meticulously brought to life through collected and displayed objects. I loved it so much, and as Pamuk discusses himself the museum explores how objects can turn time into physical space.

After being immersed in this fictional world and Pamuk’s writing on creating the book, museum and an associated film, it was interesting to experience the Red Flat Museum only a few days later, a time-capsule of life in 1980s Communist Bulgaria. The museum is located in the apartment of the family that used to live there, ‘interactive’ in that you are invited to touch the objects. I did this with both pleasure and awkwardness. Note there were no interactive smells.

Then to Northern Greece and for something completely different!- the ancient kingdom of Macedonia and its remnant palaces, tombs and the relatively new ‘Polycentric Museum.’ After the overwhelming royal riches in display case after display case- of statuary, jewellery, gold leafed crowns, and weapons in the tomb museum, I was very taken with the display of these collections of like-objects from everyday life: of keys, nails, tools, roof tiles complete with fingerprints- human and animal; the human scale.  As one museum tour guide has described it “the reality of life.”

 

 

In a similar, but more personalised and heartwrenching manner,  the exhibition ‘Memory Is’ at the NS Document Museum dispersed 22 items throughout the multi-level history of national socialism and its horrors.“On nsdoku‘s tenth anniversary Memory is … invites visitors to reflect collectively on our relationship to the past: How do we remember? What do we remember? And how can painful and distressing experiences be portrayed and communicated today?”

 

Again the personal nature of the objects was key: A plate owned by a kindergarten teacher who was later killed along with many of her pupils; a puppet made by an amazing artist, also gone too soon, obliterated by fascist rule. It was impossible not to draw the parallel to the horrors happening in Gaza as people are once again dehumanised; their humanity, property, lives and futures taken. Let’s not turn our eyes away. And always keep in mind the human scale.

And so in these times, I send my love to you. And share my noticing of the small, the tangible, the everyday, the mattering of matter? And ongoing questions around which objects are sacred, to be handled, not to be handled, and all the stories they tell. And perhaps something about how museums in different ways can make us think about creativity and existence over destruction and death, both in the past and the present. It can be hard to know what to do when such horror (and global complicity) continues to unfold daily. It’s good to remember that our resistance and our advocacy can come in many forms and that small actions and noticing have their own value and magic.

Thank you for reading! And stay tuned on the Bowerbird Project as it evolves into its next phase.

I will leave you with Joseph Cornell and Charles Simic (from Dime Store Alchemy) and the ‘smallest theatre in the world’….

PS: We also loved the Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments in Athens– highly recommended! Each of the instrument/objects is accompanied by songs played with these instruments and it was amazing to be taken through so much history and culture through music. I was so happy.

Sending pockets of happiness and inspiration to you all x

 

Mar 29
Love0

MANNA GUM STORYTELLING FUN!

By Arts, Curation

We’ve made a website, we’ve made a book, we’ve made short films, we’ve almost made an exhibition….  ahhhh the joy!

Come and celebrate the opening of Manna Gum Stories next weekend in Apollo Bay, Gadubanud Country and until April 20th

All the info below : )

.      

Richard and Amy with his Maari the Manna Gum painting

Julian with first look at the book he designed, looking fab!

 

Dec 20
Love0

A Bowerbird Year

By Arts, Curation, Walking Arts

Hello my friends,

It’s that time of year, and I’d love to share a few things to explore at your leisure!

woman colourfully dressed holding flowers and moss standing in suburban street with spring blossom on trees

Amy walking and collecting in Ballarat East, Wadawurrung Country

This year, in amongst it all, I have been continuing to help build the national collective of kindred spirits that is the Australian Walking Artists (AWA). In our first year we have nurtured an online community with a monthly newsletter and catch ups with guest artist presentations and chats, and I love running the Instagram account and seeing all the amazing things people are up to at home and abroad, and all the connections and collaborations being born. In our first year, AWA has held its first exhibition, an artist retreat, and we have our very own book awaiting publication! Explore it all here

The next step is getting legit with organisational incorporation so that we can do more things. Stay tuned. And as always, we practice deep listening and learning as artists walking on stolen land.

As our friend Geert from Walk Listen Create writes on walking art in the 21st century:

“Today, the art of walking functions not only as a subject and practice but also as a tool for healing, fostering social change, and strengthening natural ecosystems.”

Check out the call out for next year’s Walking Art Encounters in Prespa Greece and also keep an eye out for plans hatching for a parallel happening in Australia.

In the meantime if you need to float away on waters and poetry of Northern Greece for a moment watch this we made there last year : )

 

My ongoing collaborative work with traditional owner Richard Collopy continues with producing the exciting Manna Gum Stories project. We’ve been working on Richard’s new website, a children’s book and digital stories that will all be launched at an exhibition in April next year at Apollo Bay Arts Inc. It is an honour to be part of bringing Gadubanud culture to the world, and advocating where I can on complex issues along the way.

photo collage with 5 images showing notebook, scenes of sand and river, plants and a hand holding a shard of rock

Walking with Richard at Aire River

 

In my own creative work, I have been enjoying some low key creations, no hustle to produce, that connect to walking and noticing: recording audio chats with good humans (and a failed grant app for a cool collaborative podcast that could still become something!); making terrariums, tiny glass worlds of moss, rocks, mushrooms, treasures; having fun with photo collages from my wanders in city and country, melding colours, textures, tones. The below feature walks in Melbourne, Brisbane, Apollo Bay and Ballarat.

And I am doing a fun thing loosely called The Bowerbird Project where I collect something every day for a year and record a short journal entry from which I will create a kind of 3D collage of some sort at the end. I am enjoying exploratory things without set outcomes or expectations and learning as I go.

This idea of collecting and journaling over 365 days was inspired by Chris Drury’s 2001 work Mushroom Wheel: a mixed media work featuring 365 found objects one for each day of the year and hand written diary entries in radiating lines from a central mushroom spore.  (Pictured here in the book Song of the Earth).

image of artwork in a book

Chris Dury work Mushroom Wheel 2001

I love seeing other variations on this idea like the wonderful Vanessa Berry (fellow AWAer) and her book coming out next year titled Calendar where Vanessa says “I focus on everyday, retro, and memory objects, a year’s worth of interesting things, and I look forward to sharing it with you next year.”

I have also loved discovering artists like Rosalie Gascoigne and her great reminder that while we gather inspiration from around us and from each other, all creative expression is unique to the point that each person is unique. With respect, we can acknowledge these things whilst creating something new, from our own singular perspectives and in our own unique forms.

“You need never dry up, you need never dwindle, because life gives you some sort of adventure, happy or sad, all the time. That is what you have to plug into, the region where you live, and what you really know is in your bone marrow.” R.G

a photo collage with 6 images including books and cat and sunlight playing over

Photo collage with Minerva and Rosalie

 

Happy resting, reading and keeping up the good fight for peace and humanity. Watch the awesome Nan Goldin advocate for Palestine at her recent exhibition opening here.

& to close here are some books I read this year that you might like too:

Fiction

All Fours by Miranda July

Olive by Emma Gannon

The Bell of the World by Gregory Day

A Land of Stone and Thyme, an Anthology of Palestinian Short Stories eds Nur and Abdel Wahab Elmessiri

Sunbathing by Isobel Beech

 

Non-Fiction

Memory in Place: Locating Colonial Histories and Commemoration eds Cameo Dalley and Ashley Barnwell

Janet Lawrence, The Pharmacy of Plants by Prudence Gibson

Song of the Earth: European Artists and the Landscape by Mel Gooding

Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Erosion, Essays of Undoing by Terry Tempest Williams

Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London by Lauren Elkin

Motherlands: In Search of our Inherited Cities by Amaryllis Gacioppo

Wanderlust: a History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit

Glass after Glass by Barbara Blackman

We are the stars by Gina Chick

Things that Helped, Essays by Jessica Freidman

The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel

Position Doubtful by Kim Mahood

Comparative Monument (Ma’man Allah) by Tom Nicholson

To the Lake: a Balkan Journey of War and Peace by Kapka Kassabova

Rosalie Gascoigne by Kelly Gellatly (NGV)

Florine Stetheimer by Henry McBride (MoMA)

Fiona Hall, Force Field (MoCA)

Dime Store Alchemy: The Art of Joseph Cornell by Charles Simic

 

See you in the new year!

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