A slip, a trip and a blip.

Over the past couple of weeks life has been interesting, to say the least. My friend Denise, with whom I am going to Turkey and Greece in less than two weeks time, managed to break bones in her foot. She is on crutches and we have been keeping fingers and toes (unbroken!) crossed that she will be healed enough to do the trip. It is looking pretty positive now as she will probably be at the stage of wearing one of those most graceful blow up boots. A plus for having such an injury is that we will be well looked after by the airlines involved. A downer is that if she is still on crutches, much of the climbing at historical sites will be beyond her.

I am a little worried about dealing with the whole luggage thing though, as with tendonitis in my shoulder, I am not really capable of dealing with her luggage as well as mine, on the tour itself. I also know that, no matter how kind they are, fellow travellers can get pretty sick of helping someone at every stop.

Apart from helping Denise get set up, I have been up country again, visiting a friend near Wangaratta, and then spending a few days with Mum, taking her to Deniliquin and then having Mothers' Day together.

The sunsets from Claire's verandah never cease to grab me. I have taken so many photos of them over the years, in all seasons, and I couldn't resist this time.

 

Look how it transforms a cream wall

 

And what is is drying on the verandah?

and

 

and

Claire and Kirk have always had a fabulous vegetable garden and have been virtually self sufficient with their veggies until now. But the drought has caught up with them, the dams are virtually dry, and the veggie patch will be pretty small this year.

 

 

By cheer bad management ( I just zoned out) on the way to Claire's, I ended up having to cut across country from Healesville to the Melba Highway just near the Kinglake turnoff. How fortuitous that turned out to be.

The route takes you through the country side where much of the Black Saturday fire activity took place. What struck me was the juxtaposition of the bright green regrowth and  the brilliant autumn colours of the exotic trees not damaged by the fires  over the blacks and greys of the fire damage. I found it incredibly beautiful.

I nearly always have the camera at the ready these days but couldn't find many places to stop, so I planned to come back the same way hoping to find more opportunities to stop on the other side of the road. Unfortunatley at the crucial points where I had especially wanted to take photos I had a whacking great bus bearing down on me at breakneck speed, and I couldn't go slowly enough to find appropriate parking spots.

So I never did get that juxtaposition I found so appealing.  A shame, as at the moment, photography is almost all I am doing artistically as I don't need to get out or clean up any gear. I expect this will be the way of it until I get back from our trip.

Lest We Forget

I spent the my usual ANZAC Day crying as I watched the service at Gallipoli. It has become very meaningful for me since I visited Anzac Cove in 2007. As I watched the service today I was so glad  we were able to visit the peninsula without hordes of other visitors. It was a time for walking amonsgst the gravestones, quiet meditation and  horror as I saw the ages of the Australian, New Zealand and Turkish men who died in that battle. In that quiet, beautiful place, one needed solitude to imagine the ships coming in, the men battling and maybe dying before getting to the shore, and the bullets raining down on them (in the museum we saw bullets fused together as they had hit one another, so many were flying through the air).

 

As the mother of a son, I looked for, and found plenty of young Anzacs and Turks of around the same age and the emotion was overwhelming. Was it ever thus, young men dying in old men's wars.

It was really striking just how small the whole cove is. I wonder why it seems quite large in the televised service. Perhaps it's the type camera lens used. It has also struck me that the pilgrimages being made every year for ANZAC Day, is actually destroying the peninsula, as the Turks widen roads etc to accomodate the tourists. Perhaps the dawn service there should be limited to officials, forces and family members. The rest of us can visit another time.

There has been talk about whether or not ANZAC Day should become our national day. I hate the idea. I don't think ANZAC Day is  a day to celebrate: it is about commemoration, honouring the dead,  acknowledging mateship and great bravery, and reflection upon the chaos, destruction and futility  of war. Australia Day is about celebration and rejoicing in our way of life. The two may have links but I don't think they're the same thing. Still, I think mine is a minority view.

What do you think?

Some freebies

I've been pretty slack artistically lately so I thought I'd make some recompense by putting up some freebies from my collection of postcards, playing cards and cabinet cards. They may take a while to load as I kept the files larger than usual, so hopefully they will print better. My computer is dying. It's like a TV where the picture tube has lost most of the colour. I can't afford a new one and a trip to Turkey in June , so I'll just have to make do. I hope these are OK.

More to come!

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To thine own self be true...!

A few weeks ago I caught up with a couple of friends in Bairnsdale. On two evenings I took very different photos a sunset and a cloudy sky (see earlier post) Then, the week before Easter I took my first walk at Birdsland since the fires. I was upset by the damage but also pleased with how, so soon, the green is starting to come back.

On Easter Monday, Ben and I went for a drive into the hills. I wanted to see for myself the damage on the Black Spur, and to have a look at Marysville, where I had been to several conferences and always planned to go back to. I thought I would find material for 'arty" photos and ignored the nagging doubt about whether or not it was the right thing to do.

I should have listened to the inner me.

When we arrived the places was absolutely packed. I have never seen so many cars in the town. Everyone was walking around with cameras and I thought of flies around a dung heap. I felt sick and couldn't stop or get out of the car. I couldn't even stop to have a look at the guest house where I used to stay. To be honest, I found it very hard to orientate myself anyway. Anyway,I felt we were all voyeurs and vultures and just wanted to get out of town, I felt so ashamed to be part of it.

So I have no photos of Marysville or any little parts thereof, just an abiding sadness for what has gone. I also have the knowledge that my first instincts are usually right, that I am unlikely to ever be able to make art of something which has caused others so much pain and I certainly couldn't be a photo journalist, much as I might admire them.

So, here's to new beginnings

And here's a digital collage using the cloudy night and one of my burnt forest photos.

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International Charm Day!

If you'd like to join this celebration of all things charming (pardon the terrible pun!) click on the title to head over to the International Charm Day blog. There is no swap, just a sharing of pics, ideas, links and tutorials. You could also be in line for a prize by simply following the blog.

A gift from Ben- professional photos taken.

Ben had two weeks at home for Easter and informed me he had arranged for us to have professional photos taken. The last ones we had, I think he was about 10! I was chuffed to think that he'd want  to do something like that, but I do hate having pics taken as I am not at all photogenic, and hate the forced smiles.

Anyway, the process was not at all painful, though I did discover I actually pull away from the camera and it it felt very awkward and unbalanced to  lean forward.

Heidi  used a digital SLR to take  over 120 photos, which were immediately uploaded so we could make our selections before we left. I must say I was really  happy with lots of the photos and it was difficult to narrow them down. We eventually got it to ten.

The pics arrived today and I couldn't be happier.  My favourite is this . It was the only one that looked any good in black and white. We ordered an 8 x10, but when I got home and had another look at our smaller images on the receipt I decided I wanted a bigger one again so I ordered it in a 12 X14, which I may just have mounted behind glass rather than framed.

There were several of us that I really liked but these in particular-

 

BTW Ben is semi crouching in the first one, so the height difference is not so great!

And who'd have believed I could look this glam!

I had mentioned to Ben that I hoped Heidi didn't attempt to take out my wrinkles. Admittedly she used a portrait lens but I still have my crows feet etc but they just don't stand out! This photo is pretty much as it was originally shot.

It was well worth the money, but I am trying to get Ben to accept that this could be my 60th birthday present rather that just a gift out of the blue.

Back to normal-I hope!

Life has definitely got in the way of art over the past 5 weeks. The death of a relative, and those of parents of two close friends,the serious illness of my close friend's husband,  3 evacuations and two trips to the country  meant that a lot of the time I didn't know if I was coming or going. On top of that, I have either had a nasty virus or I was very badly affected by the smoke coming from the fires, so I was feeling lousy most of the time.

Also I never seemed to be able to find what I wanted because it was in a suitcase, or had been taken out and put somewhere else! I did have to keep reminding myself that by comparison with those who had lost family members or houses, I was really pretty lucky.

The past week has been much better. I spent 6 days with two old friends, one recently rediscovered. We talked, ate, slept , read books (one I had started 3 times previously) and visited several galleries. It was just what I needed for mental and physical replenishment.

 

 

 

 

 

I love the night sky in the country. The sunset on our first night was stunning. Two nights later, the moon and clouds were much more sinister.

                                   

On a drive to Nungurner, these mail boxes looked like little mouths open in anticipation

 

On a walk along the old rail track, I saw these rusty cans. Can't resist a bit of rust!

The day after I got back, I attended a workshop by Stephanie Lee which was organised by Bevlea Ross, and her daughter, of Soul Arts. I loved the workshop, particularly as as it was largely techniques and there was no pressure to finish a product. I rarely manage that in a class. I have some bits that I will finish when I find the right elements to incorporate.

A few of the "bits" waiting on the Muse, and the purchase of some flux, for completion

The retreat seemed to be very successful and I would have loved to have attended more workshops but, as I am going to Turkey and Greece at the end of May, I just couldn't afford it. Mind  you, with the dive in superannuation funds, I can't really afford the trip either! But some of it was planned and paid for before I knew how bad things were.

Now I hope life can start getting back to normal. I have a lot of house cleaning to do, as there is a layer of dust/ash over everything. I also have to unpack all the stuff I had in the car to evacuate. In addition, I am  planning a big clean out of ornaments and such. For some time I have felt very oppressed by "stuff". I feel burdened by possession and even things I love are giving me little pleasure. The problem will be to determine which of those bits and pieces that I love I am prepared to part with.

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