I cannot have ever imagined how fast this year would go by! With the economic downturn blah blah blah and all that stuff they force feed us with, the year loomed ahead last January like an empty cavern only to be filled with delights and wonderful events!
First there was my dear friend Nina of Chop Art Gallery fame, who found love and a new baby early this year......and James and Katrina Sweetapple of Cargo Road Wines fame with new baby Mackenzie! Such a delightful start.....people doing what people are meant to do!
Then my son, David and his beautiful fiance announced their wedding dates for September .... best birthday gift I could get!
Most of the year was spent with friends doing stuff! Some great holidays to the coast, one to see family up Newcastle way and then Julie at Woolgoolga.....so many beaches walked and pondered this year! Australian beaches are so very beautiful......so lots of photos and material for paintings.....and I missed most of the cold winter of Orange.....
My lovely grand-daughter, budding artist and great little friend came and stayed with me for holidays......exhausting but such a treat! She's such a sweet little girl and artistic to boot! She loves to paint just like I did all my youth....she's observant and wise.....a thinker!
Then there was the massive weight loss I undertook amongst it all.....36 kgs gone....for good!
No exhibitions this year, not for me anyway.....but have hung several out at Jayes Gallery for many others. There have been a raft of new and emerging artists bringing their works to the gallery which has kept me on my toes as I have inspected and thought about each work. Jayes Gallery has grown into quite a well respected place with a large audience. Sales have increased throughout the year steadily as the stable of artists expanded to include glass artists and jewellers.
Sculpture in the Gardens had to be organised and got underway and created quite a lot of interest in the region. For the first event, it hung together well and the gardens were a good foil for the works to be displayed against. Really, sculptures are a great addition to gardenscapes providing more interest to draw you in.
All of these events have created a busy and fulfilling year in so many rich and rewarding ways. The economic downturn with it's promises of doom and gloom have actually been so far in the background that many of us forgot about it. For me, it wasn't an affluent year but richer in so many other ways.
Now the Florence Biennale Australia group are all ready flying into Florence for the next biennale. Having set up the website and maintaining it over the past 18 or so months has had its own challenges and rewards and we are now planning to hold a show of all of our biennale artists next year somehwere in Melbourne. Go Jim van Geet! He's onto it so watch this space!
I might just take a big breath between now and Christmas as next year is shaping up to be busier than the last, with 2 solo shows and an overseas show already on my own calendar, let alone all the other things I seem to have a hand in.....whew! I get tired thinking about it!
So this is retirement! I have to say it's a bit of challenge......
