The three weeks since we were all together at Dumas House passed very quickly and before I knew it I was picking up John Tamsin and Polly at the Airport.
It was an uneventful 4 hour trip from Adelaide but it did take a few days for everyone to acclimatise and begin to relax.
Christmas at Carly and Brad's was lovely... we had the lead up the day beforehand with Polly and John cooking the Christmas cake... flour less chocolate cake with berries. We all had something to prepare and this made things really easy on Christmas Day.
In the evening we caught up with the extended Sharp family and managed to get a few pics of the next generation of cousins.
It was a case of keeping up traditions with the inevitable crabbing and swimming at the shacks on Boxing Day.
The back yard paddling pool has been a hit as well as disco dancing in Pa's shop... no wonder we are all hanging out for an afternoon nap '-}
Dumas House circa 1910.
Dumas House was originally the former residence of Charles Dumas who founded the Courier Newspaper. The homestead and the Oak Tree that was planted by Charles are heritage listed.
Last weekend Tamsin, John and Polly were over for the weekend to attend a wedding and we made the most of the opportunity by all staying together at Dumas House in Mount Barker. Carly, Brad and Claire came too.
It was a lovely mini holiday and the spectacular grounds provided a make believe playground for Polly and Claire who were very excited about seeing each other again.
On the Sunday several friends visited and there were more children to play with. "Hide and Seek" and "What's the Time Mr Wolf" were favourite games. An interesting juxtaposition with the IPads ;-)
A surprise wedding came my way recently. The bride and groom and all the friends and family had travelled from Adelaide and interstate to attend the wedding at the Australian Arid Lands Garden when unfortunately the wedding photographer fell ill.
The requirements were not too strenuous... I find 4 hours is about the most I can endure and this results in plenty of pics to work with ... and so a new adventure unfolded.
The weather was perfect but unfortunately the flies thought so too so there were quite a few smiles with clenched teeth and quite a bit of photoshop work to be done in editing.
The scenic shots at the Matthew Flinders lookout and at Ticklebelly Hill were pretty spectacular so we had a lot of fun and the sun managed to shine long enough to get those all important family shots.
Congratulations Dana and John..
Time has flown and I am only just getting around to documenting the second of the birthdays.
Polly turned two in August!
We travelled as a group and Claire experienced her first plane trip ;-)
It was delightful seeing the girls happy reactions as they explored their relationship in real time instead of Skype and Ipad movies, Claire succumbing willingly to Polly's hugs.
We rented a house and held the party there, a little more room for the visiting tots to play. As usual the cakes, bubbles and balloons were the highlights and the adults had a chance to catch up on the latest news.
It was a busy few days with visits to Monkey Mania and the Zoo and a few Melbourne Coffees thrown in
The Flinders Ranges "A Brush With Art" is an annual event which showcases the art and artists of the Flinders Ranges.
This year I am exhibiting pastels and a couple of felted pieces at the North Star Hotel in Melrose. I particularly love this venue, with it's rugged outback feel, in the delightful town of Melrose.
The Flinders Ranges is looking spectacular at the moment so hopefully people will take the time to venture out and enjoy the artistic offerings.
John and I managed to fit in a weekend away and headed up to the Flinders Ranges . The weather was perfect with a taste of spring after the cold winter.
I haven't seen the Flinders looking this green for a long time and it reminded me of my first years in Port Augusta when I was under the delusion that this part of the world greened up every winter.
I actually found that from a photographic point of view the green was overwhelming and I missed the usual warmth of the yellows browns and reds that contrast so beautifully with the purples of the ranges, but I took on the challenge ;-)) and love these panoramas and the solitude they convey.
The next exhibition at Yarta Purtli Gallery " New Life Old Objects" is one that encourages artists to explore the use of recycled objects. I'll bet I have more objects stored on the computer than most people I know.
When I was creating the "Face Up" portraits people often asked if I had done a portrait of myself. Well I did experiment on myself before I felt confident enough to work with others and in this latest portrait I have used some of those early techniques but with much greater knowledge and skills.
If you look closely you will see the objects, layers and textures that I used in the "Face UP" portraits . I would have used close to 200 layers, some overlaid on others to give specific effects.
The video gives an idea of how the process works.
To coincide with the July meeting FIBRESPACE held its 2nd "RETREAT".
Members offered a range of workshops, for members to participate in, which provided the opportunity to develop new skills and ideas with experts on hand.
Marbling, dry felting, plastics manipulation, organic basket making and beading were some of the art forms on offer.
This was a great opportunity for people to get to know each other better and develop new ideas in a supportive environment.
Love this group, people don't need any encouragement to get involved and the exchange of ideas is inspirational...
INTO THE NIGHT - photographic exhibition
The Curdnatta Photographers have had a few excursions into the night, primarily to develop camera skills, but we ended up having quite a bit of FUN as a group.
We had to overcome a few obstacles, other than dealing with the technical side of working a camera in the dark, such as hidden ant's nests, rough terrain, security guards and lurking shadows.
We are pretty happy with the results which can be seen as a collection of work at Curdnatta Gallery during July.
Ah the joy of turning two...
It was too wet to hold a party in the park but plenty of fun was had with Tom, Sophie, Alex and Billy .
The Dirt Girl World cake was an instant hit .
One of Curdnatta's past members is holding an exhibition at the gallery in June. The opening turned into a reunion for old friends and Srirling residents and was turning into quite a social event when all of a sudden all the smoke alarms at the gallery went off in unison.
Now this creates quite a noise because the safety requirements stipulate that every room in the gallery must have a an alarm so there were at least 12 alarms blaring.
The cacophony continued until the fire brigade in full regalia attended and set about finding the offending alarm.
No fire but an event to remember as we had to continue our conversations out side.
It is time to catch up on a few happenings that I have been remiss in posting here.
Back in May we spent a week with John,Tamsin and Polly in Barham, a little town on the border of New South Wales and Victoria.
It took us a couple of days to drive there, staying over night in Mildura.
We acted as Nannies while the adults were working on a project for the Melbourne Museum. These duties included playing in all the local parks, having cups of coffee and baby chinos and walking around the streets with baby Rara and Penguin in their pusher. We even had time to wash the car.
We met most of the people involved in the project and managed to see some of the daily filming results and then had time to explore the local forest and river where the filming had taken place.
It is a very beautiful spot and Barham is a tidy little town with very friendly people.
This has been a significant week in Port Augusta. Mayor Joy Baluch AM died at the age of 80 after 30 years in office as mayor. This also coincided with the naming of the bridge in her honour.
I was honoured to be asked to take photos of the funeral and create a banner depicting Joy and her bridge for the Port Augusta City Council.
Surprise surprise in one of the driest parts of Australia it rained all day on Tuesday 22nd May.
Mayors from around the state led the procession and council workers formed a guard of honour.
Over 2000 people attended the service in Gladstone Square and members of both State and Federal Parliament were represented.
The most moving moment for me was standing alone on the newly named bridge as the hearse paused for a minute before moving on to the West Side cemetery. The chance to say one last goodbye.
More images can be seen at the Port Augusta City Council FaceBook page.
A weekend away at Kangaroo Island turned into a wild life adventure with the unexpected opportunity to see a huge range of Aussie icons including sea lions, kangaroos, koalas, eagles, echidnas, wallabies... There was also some beautiful rugged scenery and dramatic caves. We were well looked after by our tour guide who made sure we had the best photo opportunities.We also visited the remains of the old town of Muston which was named after my great great uncle who was a salt merchant dealing in the area.
I have had to increase my pastels output to keep up with demand. Any time I spend on duty at the gallery is additional pastel time and I now have an easel at home to make the most of any spare time. The main sales have been at the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden which has turned into a successful collaboration.
The only draw back with this is the choice of subject matter I will need to have quite a range of Sturt Pea and Flinders Ranges to satisfy the tourists.
Prints are available at Red Bubble ;-))
http://www.redbubble.com/people/georgiesharp/collections/28312-perfect-pastels
