We kicked off the hols good and proper today with fush’n’chips and Fat Yak on our first mussel run to Eden…
Bliss.
See ya next year….
Month: December 2011
For Sammy Jo, on the off-chance that she manages to get a nanosecond of internet connection on the Road to Mandalay sometime soon…
The Gang mounted a lightening raid on Flinders on Boxing Day, for Nonna’s 101st birthday family luncheon…
It was glorious – fabulously catered, great company, to-die-for accommodation – but we immediately belted back to the wild frontiers of Wyndham the following day; too much luxury will make us go soft we reckon!!
Sammy and Malv have just acquired an Airstream (parked in the corner of the paddock) so we’ll probably slope back sometime for a spot of quality camping(!)
Good times here.
One of those classic Christmas deja vu moments…
…shades of Mary and Joseph.
Art vs Sport…
Not in Townsville, mate.
Can you imagine how charming it was to come across the most astonishing recreational interface imaginable, aka The Pinnacles. It’s a theatre and gallery complex that literally blends into community recreational space…
Too dippy for words!! Here’s the view from the gallery foyer, just along from the theatre’s ticket office…
Meanwhile in the gallery, a mere splash away…
…the ABC Open mob was conducting its digital photography program for all the picnicking families that were wandering through…
Bloody brilliant. We loved it. If only we’d had our goggles with us…
And then there was Townsville…
A week before Christmas the Gang made a flying visit to the tropical delights of Townsville for the latest episode in the Tour of Tour(de Force.) Megsie was guest speaker at the opening and gave a floor talk the following day to a gratifyingly enthusiastic audience – those Townsvillians totally loved the show and so ‘got’ it.
Who would have thunk it, but Queenslanders are seriously high on the culturazi evolutionary tree these days – in our father’s day that would have been as unimaginable as putting a man on the moon. (And yes, he was a Queenslander, so we are allowed to say such things, being half Queenslanders ourselves.)
The hang was fabulous – the exhibition was given the room and respect it deserved and both Trish and Tom’s DVD’s were projected on the wall (such a polar opposite of CraftACT relegating the latter to a laptop!!) What a joy.
Tour de Force: in case of emergency break glass was in the upstairs gallery and they had a fabulous touring show from South Australia, Desert Country, on the ground floor. Marvellous.
We had a great time; lightening short but soulfully sweet. Luckily Megsie didn’t go on too much about Alfie and Wally and Darren – we were deep in Jonathon Thurston territory (but he’s one of the Gang’s fave players anyway, so no real drama.) It’s a State of Origin thing. Makes ya proud.
For highlights go here….
Bega Art Prize 2011…
As we’re now on countdown to the year’s end we realised it was nigh time to upload the final highlights of 2011. Actually the wind-up became so full pelt that at the end of each day we’d been too exhausted to face a nanosecond more on the computer – so we didn’t.
Time to make amends. The opening of the Bega Art Prize 2011 was huge, so much so that we were too busy yakking to remember to take the photographs – so the mugshots, consequently, are very light on; apologies to all.
It was a mega night for the local arts mob; celebrating 50 years since the prize’s inception, major sponsor Bega Cheese had upped the winning purse to $15,000 while Ivy Hill and Narek Galleries clubbed together $2000 for the runner up. Certainly not to be sneezed at – and, indeed, 118 hopefuls stepped up to the plate.
41 made it through to the final hang which was, when all’s said and done, an astonishingly faithful representation of practice across the region. Wendy Teakel, Head of the Sculpture Workshop at the ANU School of Art, did the honours as judge and guest speaker at the gala launch and what an unenviable task it was. So many serious contenders, so many tears before bedtime.
Some of our personal faves were…
…and so much more.
For our snapshot of the show go here. For the complete lowdown on the final field go here.
The (other) Grad Show…
And now it’s time to have a quick run through the ANU School of Art Grad Show 2011. We sped up to the ‘Berra for Patron’s Day, a couple of weeks ago now; Megsie to choose the BVRG’s EASS recipient – a hard task as it transpired, this year being fair plump with worthies.
All in all the Gang had a lovely time – it really is a highlight of the year – and not only because we get to spend a couple of hours with Babsie…
There was all manner of weirdness, which is precisely as it should be: from peculiar pink bits…
…to raunchy grannies…
…but seriously, there was plenty to get excited about – though no guessing why we fancied these…
Painting was luscious…
…and there was so much more besides (across the breadth of workshops). Glass was a tad ‘plain steak’, but we rather liked the oversized marrow bones…
For the EASS, Megsie opted for the fabulous work of textile graduate Haeli Van Veen: brilliant. (No snaps now, we’ll post something soon.)
Meanwhile for a lope around the highlights go here.
What were they thinking…?
The new mall has opened in Bega and it’s quite amazing – like, a total dimension warp, dude.
But what’s the doo (excuse the demi pun) with the logo? Omigod, it’s a caca!! Admittedly a stylized, ‘tasteful’ one (more akin to Tom Moore’s curly venetian horsey version than Megsie’s vulgar take) but a caca none the less. How peculiar.
Check out the Santa grotto…
Dear oh dear, almost shades of Darth Vader. It’s much more cheerful out the front…
In case there was ever any doubt; caca rools, orright.
glass central canberra 