Dear Melting Billy Readers,
It was over five years ago that I first started the weekly blog posts. I know some of you have been following and reading them before it was called the Melting Billy, when it was the Boiling Billy and before that when it was Mountains of Tasmania. Like a blog, our life goes through many transformations as the years go on and nothing ever quite stays the same.
You may have noticed that I haven’t been writing much of late. I also haven’t been getting out on as many trips to take photographs as much as I would like. I have been finding it harder and harder to muster up the energy and creativity to continue the weekly posts.
I’m sure I’m also not the only one who has been finding it harder to make ends meet these last couple of years. I feel like I have to work more to earn less than I did ten years ago! Sadly this means that I have had much less spare time, spare time which is so crucial for the development of the arts and creativity.
“I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”
This is to me one of the most memorable quotes from the Lord of the Rings by Bilbo, when he is describing how he feels to Gandalf (not knowing he has been carrying the great burden of being the bearer of the One Ring). I think so much of society could identify with this line right now! Part of the problem is that we want too much of course. We want it all, but we can’t have it all. And this means that sometimes we have to give certain things up.
So it is with some reluctance that I have made the decision to pause the weekly Melting Billy posts for now. I simply don’t feel I am able to generate the content that the posts deserve. That you as readers deserve.
To give you some context, in my mind, the Melting Billy is associated with my photography and picture framing studio, Theia Pictures. And this year, after being based in Lenah Valley, Nipaluna/Hobart, I am moving to the the town of Cygnet in the Huon Valley and relocating my picture framing studio there as well.
This is rather exciting and means quite a bit of logistical work. I have been frantically going through the process of converting a van into a camper, so I’ve got something to live in during the week when I have to work in town, preventing the need for the daily commute from Cygnet into town. This means that my picture framing studio has been transformed into a van fit-out workshop over the last few months and I have had to turn framing jobs away as the workshop is a bit of a bombsite, not a place to store delicate artworks.
On top of this, I will need to build a shed at my place in Cygnet to create the home for the new Theia Pictures studio. So the most immediate step will be to pack up the workshop and relocate it to underneath the house in Cygnet.
In other words, this will leave very little capacity for me to continue the framing business in the meantime or to write regular blog posts. I haven’t even had the chance to take photographs out in the bush since April!
I guess that’s just how it goes sometimes. When life gets busy and complex, we need to simplify and focus on the most immediate tasks at hand. Which in this case is focusing on finishing the van and making the move to Cygnet!
So before what is likely to be a long interlude, I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for following and reading my posts over the last five years! It’s been a great motivator for my creativity to know there are people out there keen to see the weekly posts. And don’t worry, this is not the end, it is just a break to enable some essential re-structuring.
Once my life settles into its new routine I have no doubt the Melting Billy will also return!
For now, this is me signing off. I will leave you with a small selection of some of my favourite medium format images from the last five years.
Thanks again to all of you!
Yours Truly,
Andy Szöllősi
27/9/2026, Brushy Creek, Lenah Valley.
