MEMORY LANE

I am still working on a painting, hours per day...and it is progressing. I wrote about it in a recent post and also placed an image of a detail. However, the cold damp weather, we are having here in Brisbane, means the paint is not drying as quickly as I'd like. So I can't over paint where I want to.

In the meantime I thought I'd take a journey down memory lane...snippets from my art past! So, no paintings, but just newsy type photos.

MEETING THE QUEEN
The photograph above is of me meeting Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 at Queensland's Government House in early 1977. I won the senior section a state wide art competition for young people. And, the prize was to meet the Queen! Unfortunately, this was before the days of digital cameras and 1000s of photos, so I only have this one of me meeting the Queen...but her back it to the viewer. My painting is the one on the top left. The Queen had chosen the theme for the competition, which was 'The Family'.

The head mistress at my boarding school was a bit upset that I did not wear the school uniform. However, I entered the competition on my own during the Christmas school holidays, and I thought the school really should not have a say in what I wore. So sweet teenager that I was, I insisted on wearing bright red, my very frizzy long hair out and high heeled sandals. The latter elevated me to well over 180 cm tall [I am already and was already height endowed!]. So, I towered over the Queen and felt quite ludicrous...but also very excited. Out of sight are about 80 photographers and the winners' parents, who also got to meet the Queen

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

The photo above is me again, not meeting a famous person, but eyeballing a Monet Waterlilly painting. This was taken in 1981 when I worked at the National Gallery in Canberra.

LONDON 2002

The three photos above are from my solo show Distance in London in 2002. This was a very exciting exhibition with the Deputy Australian High Commissioner opening the show for me. The gallery was packed with people I knew, my friends knew, gallery list, people I met in the street!

DUBAI 2004

Australian Ambassador His Excellency Noel Campbell and his wife with me at my opening in Dubai 2004

Making my speech at the opeing in Dubai 2004.

The three photos above are from my solo exhibition in Dubai in 2004. I loved being in Dubai and I have made a number of subsequent visits. The Australian Ambassador His Excellency Noel Campbell opened the exhibition for me. This was a wonderful gesture.

ABU DHABI 2005

                                   

The three images above are from my solo show at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation in 2005. I was very pleased to have the then Queensland Minister for Education and The Arts, Hon. Rod Welford to open the exhibition. The Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation was wonderful providing me with an excellent opening event...even a ribbon to be cut. My daughter was given the task of holding the cushion which the scissors were placed upon.

My Abu Dhabi exhibition, and the whole experience of talking with people from all over the region, has profoundly influenced my work since then. My tree-of-life paintings, which I exhibited in the show, were the catalysts for some of the most inspiring conversations I have ever had. Regular readers of this BLOG will already know this and how grateful I am to have had the experience...hopefully I will again!

So, just a few snippets from the past. Not too many deep and meaningfuls on this post...plenty of them previously!

Cheers,

Kathryn