A country Art Gallery

Not too far from the border between New South Wales and Queensland is a country town called Murwillumbah. I have visited the town many times in the past but had never been to see the art gallery. This week changed all that!

The Art gallery is a short distance out of the town itself and on the top of a rise. After parking the vehicle I dashed back down the drive to take a photo of the metal art that decorated the garden and caught my eye as we drove in.

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The entrance to the Art Gallery is very striking with its strong lines. Most people walk in without really noticing but when you have a camera in your hands it is difficult to walk past anything that catches your eye!

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Stepping through the doorway I was immediately struck by the dramatic window and the silhouettes of the people in the foyer. The view through the window is like a picture hanging on a wall – except that it is a constantly changing picture.

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Inside the gallery are so many wonderful things to linger near. There are paintings, big and small and some photographs that are quite thought provoking, I found a row of black Madonnas hanging in a long row on one of the walls, the shape of each was exactly the same but everyone was detailed quite differently in black and grey and they were adorned with feathers and beads and wire in different ways too. They were created by two aboriginal artists in WA.

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I could not resist stepping outside those windows in the foyer and taking a long look at the view from the Art Gallery. The Tweed River and the lush Tweed Valley was spread out in front of me. I would imagine that someone with a love of landscape painting would love to stand right here and try to capture the scene in water colours.

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For me the joy of photography gives me that same pleasure!

AJ

An Art Treasure

While searching for a few pieces of artwork in my home (to take photographs for an assignment) I came across a carved emu egg that had been given to me quite a few years ago.
Carving emu eggs is not an easy thing to do in spite of the fact that the eggs are really very thick and strong. When the emu eggs are fresh they are a vivid emerald green but as time goes by they darken and we have an egg that is very old that is now gray. All the colour has gone from it.
This photo shows the two sides of my carved egg. It was carved by an aboriginal woman in 1980 and given to me as a gift by a young man that Colin and I took in as an orphaned 14 year old only days after we got married. The gift was given when he was 26, married and with two little girls!

The egg has already lost its green look, it has been placed on a green cloth deliberately to show this colour loss.  Click on the photo to enlarge it.
I hope you can see why I class it as an artwork.
AJ

Art in the sand

There is yet another Arts Festival on the Gold Coast of Australia. Over the past couple of years an area of land has been developed into wonderful parkland on the banks of the Broadwater at Southport. Not only is there plenty of lawn and lots of walking tracks but there is so much seating that the place is suitable for people of all ages. The buildings (a stage and buildings for cafes) are modern and the design of the park is not only functional but is pleasant to be within too. It is within this artistic landscape that a new festival has been started. I think that the greatest support for this festival has come from the Sculpture Society and its members. But whoever is responsible I hope that it will develop into something to look forward to each year.
The Festival has been given the name "Bring on Spring" and my photographs of many of the sculptures can be seen HERE.
Fortunately I wandered around the sculpture exhibits during the week because at the weekend I took my young Granddaughter along and she was much more interested in spending time in the children's play park! A different set of photos (not shared with the everyone) were taken there! However . .
There was something happening during the weekend that was not there during the week. A man was busy creating sand sculptures.

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We happened to arrive soon after he had lit the nostrils of his sand dragon and it was most impressive the way the flames were spouting out of its nose! We were sorry that we had not brought along a spade because we were inspired to try and create our own sandcastle!
Here are a couple more photos of the sand creations - there were two, a dragon and an elephant.

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While the exhibition was all for free this enterprising fellow had created his sand sculptures with a request for a coin donation to aid his employment! So I presume he was not an authorised participant in the event - but we enjoyed his work and he was a pleasant person willing to talk about his sand sculpting.
The workshops that I had read about and expected to find were not there. Maybe they will be there on Sunday but I am not prepared to return a fourth time to find out. Hopefully next year what is promised will be available at the promised times otherwise the public will not be very forgiving.
AJ

Elly

Here is a little snippet from a video I have just completed for a friend. I have extracted two little segments from it to show you what a vibrant person Elly is! We had a lot of fun making the video but when I came to put it all together the sound of her voice varies - it all depends on where in the room she stood - whether the sound bounced off one wall or two or whether it had no walls to reverberate from. Anyway. I hope you enjoy seeing it!
AJ