EXHIBITION BROWN GULLY COMPLETE

Just Arrived
Acrylic on canvas
Framed
70cm x 70cm

ODD GALAH
Acrylic on Canvas
122cm x 90cm

There is probably nothing quite as satisfying for an artist than seeing your work completed and hanging.

Nellie at Brown Gully did a fantastic job hanging the work then hosting the event.

I was very relaxed this time and quite confident with what I had achieved.

There really is something to be said about using the same colour thread through all the paintings

it really gives it continuity.

More paintings

The black white and pink wall

My son Bill having a look

The family deciding where to go for dinner

If your in Roma or passing through stop and have a look

I Never Thought

I never thought the day would come when I would forget about a picture that I have painted.
But that day has come.
My sister Grace visited her old home at Mt Marlow Station at Yaraka last weekend as a guest of the now managers Locky and Ruby Kent who work for CPC, and are very old friends of ours.
Speaking to Grace on her return I asked if she would forward the photo's she had taken of what Ruby had done with the Mt Marlow garden,and also ones she had taken at the Gymkhana.  In the photo's I noticed a painting on the kitchen wall and thought that it wasn't a bad painting and wondered who did it.

That's the painting on the far wall

The next time I spoke to Grace she said what a great painting Ruby had of mine....It was then that I realized it was one of mine....I had completely forgotten about!!

That can't be good!!


Below are some photo's of the Yaraka Gymkhana

My nephew Tom Gray  

Starting instructions

Musical Chairs

Musical Chairs

Tom Gray

PHOTO'S of MT MARLOW STATION

Natural stump sculpture

Turn off to Mt Marlow

Sleeper steps

Tennis Court

Mt Marlow

Just thought I'd share this with you...until next time

Beautiful Winters Day

Oh Thank god I have one follower that is wonderful news, I hope I can keep you entertained!!
Yesterday was spent out of the art room and in the garden.

 After that lovely drop of rain which we all complained about as it was cold and wet and the rain fell like light snow hardly enough to wet you but enough to make you very damp and pissed off. Now the grass is lovely and green and every thing has sprung into life.


So I decided to mow as Tony will be home tomorrow and we have Clint coming to wean his calves and we will be busy all week. Well the mower had 2 flat tyers and was out of fuel!! So as we don't have petrol here only diesel. I went down to the local service station which is about 20k's away and got a jerrycan full and then pumped up the tyres and we were away. It takes awhile as we mow right round the compound as well as round the house and sheds. But the mower was going well has Tony had interviewed it prior to putting it away for the winter, so it only took 2 and a half hours. I wonder how far you travel in that time.

 St Clair garden x 3

This morning when I went out it looked so nice. Now I have to do some cooking for the week as I will be busy mustering and there is nothing worse than working hard all day and getting home on dark with a sore bum from sitting in the saddle and then having to cook dinner while the men kick back sucking on stubbies....so I try to have a stew or something cooked that just needs heating so I too can sit back and relax. It's a man's world in the bush at least for my generation, it is good to see that the younger ones, wives that is don't abide by this tradition!

This blogging is a little bit addictive

That's it for now.

Bridging the Gap

Last week we had a visit from a friend of a friend who was in between jobs and wanted to spend some time in the bush to do some thinking and get his hands dirty. He arrived on the biggest motor bike I'd ever seen ...a Goldwing for thoes in the know. His name is Graham and he was very brave to come out here with out any introductions or even know if he would like us, he had told us that he would like to stay for about 7 to 10 days which is a long time if you don't like the people or the place.

Tony and Graham working in the shed

We and he had nothing to worry about as he is a very nice man and fitted in very well and he seemed to like us in return. He and Tony mucked around doing some fencing and cleaning out stock troughs. This wasn't the easiest of job as it turned out because while Graham was here it started to rain and turned very cold, for the coast that is. So mucking round with water and troughs in the rain wasn't your ideal job in thoes conditions. Tony was so impressed with the way Graham just got in and did things with out any complains. He would come home at the end of the day wet and cold with he biggest smile on his face!!

This is what the weather was like for most of Graham's visit

When Tony went back to work Graham started to work for me in the garden. He really go stuck in and the garden looks great now. He hacked back all that was overgrown and did all the hedging, he did this in the rain as well.

The title to this post is bridging the gap. I am a firm believer that the time as come for us, the people on the land to extend a hand to thoes in the cities. We need the likes of Graham to come out and see what we do on the land, how we run our businesses, how extremely hard and expensive it is to constantly change our ways to keep from offending some one in the city who says we need to do things differently, most of these people have never been near a beef producer, farmer or had any experience of what goes on in a day to day agricultural business. 

Graham leaving. Came as a stranger left as a friend!

We need to encourage people form the non rural areas to come see how we do things. Only then can we change people ideas. Plus you make new friends and that's a wonderful thing.