Happy birthday, Gwen!

This morning, we visited our dear friend Gwen Howell to wish her a happy birthday. We enjoyed a delicious lunch with her at a very nice cafe called ' The Swamp' that is located on Invermay Road, quite near to Gwen's home. It was good to see Billy the dog too! The catkins and blossom in her garden were looking very beautiful. Happy Birthday, Gwen!

Some old postcards featuring the gorge

One of the things I collect is old postcards featuring Tasmanian scenes. After our visit to the gorge this afternoon I had a look through my collection and found some that show the South Esk river in flood around 100 years ago.

Around the gorge

Rocks in the gorge

Visit to the Launceston Gorge

We have had quite a lot of rain over the past few days. Although we woke up to a foggy morning, after it lifted, we have had a mostly beautiful sun-shiney day!
This afternoon, Noel and I decided to go for a walk in the gorge ... which is located just a few minutes away from where we live.
After the rain, everything looked so fresh and clean. The South Esk river that runs through the gorge looked spectacular.

Gotye - Heart's A Mess

I like the music as well as the animated video.

Happy birthday, Lua!

Today is our daughter, Lua's birthday. I am posting three photos of her. One was taken earlier in the year when she was visiting us from her home in Brisbane.

One was taken in June 1976 in Thailand. Noel took this photograph just a few days before Lua came to be part of our family in Tasmania.

The third photo was taken when she was at primary school. In those days Lua often wore her hair in pigtails or bangs. Happy birthday Lua!

Karel and Johnnie visit

This afternoon we had a visit by two artist friends from Hobart ... Karel Fontaine and Johnnie Arnold. It was great to spend time with them talking about architecture, art and creativity. Johnnie and Karel have both been very much involved with the development of the Tasmanian Baha'i Centre of Learning in Hobart.

Purinina : a Devil's Tale

We enjoyed viewing an exhibition about the recently published children's book by Christina Booth. Noel and I have known Christina since she was at primary school and we have been very interested to observe her development as a succesful artist.

The exhibition covers the process of the creation of the book from the initial idea, story development, sketches, experimentation with various art materials and the interaction of the author with the publisher to arrive at a final outcome. It is an excellent exhibition about the development of a beautiful and inspiring book that is particularly significant for Tasmanians.

Colin McCahon

We spent time viewing a movie about the life and work of Colin McCahon who has been referred to as the most significant New Zealand artist of the twentieth Century. We had previously viewed an exhibition of a small selection of his work currently on show at the QV Museum and Art Gallery.

Sculpture by David Hamilton

This morning we visited the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery at Inveresk. We like this amazing sculpture by Tasmanian sculptor, David Hamilton. It is permanently installed at the entrance to the Visual and Performing Arts Academy which is part of the inspiring arts complex at Inveresk.

Albert sleeping

I like the way that Albert sometimes sleeps with his paws over his eyes.

Earth in the Balance by Al Gore

Today I puchased a copy of a 2007 edition of this ground breaking classic book by Al Gore. I was delighted to note that he quotes from the Baha'i writings on pages 261-262:

One of the newest of the great universalist religions, Baha'i, founded in 1863 in Persia by Mirza Husayn Ali, warns us not only to properly regard the relationship between humankind and nature but also the one between civilization and the environment. Perhaps, because its guiding visions were formed during the period of accelerating industrialism, Baha'i seems to dwell on the spiritual implications of the great transformation to which it bore fresh witness: " We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His innerlife molds the envirionment and is itself deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and ever abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions."

And again from the Baha'i sacred writings comes this: " Civilization, so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and scientists will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men."


Bahá'í Scriptures teach that, as trustees of the planet's vast resources and biological diversity, humanity must seek to protect the "heritage [of] future generations;" see in nature a reflection of the divine; approach the earth, the source of material bounties, with humility; temper its actions with moderation; and be guided by the fundamental spiritual truth of our age, the oneness of humanity. (The Baha'i International Community, “Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Baha'i Faith”)

Tasmanian scallop fisherman, John Hammond

John Hammond speaks about his concern for the marine environment in northern Tasmania.

Zachary

As I was sorting out one of my boxes of collections today, I located a copy of our local newspaper "The Examiner" that was printed the day after we collected our son Zachary at the local airport. Friday, April 18th, 1975 was a very emotional day for us when we were handed our tiny son by an air hostess (as they were known at that time). In the photograph, he is the second baby from the left. He was given the name Cyrus by the nurses in the orphanage in Vietnam. We retained Cyrus as part of his given names when we formally adopted him.

I am also posting a recent photo of Zachary.

Jill Ferrall - Deconstructing the Selvedge

Today we had a preview of a wonderful exhibition of recent work by Jill Ferrall. Jill has used tapa cloth as the basic material in each of the works.

To quote from the artist's statement :" In paying homage to women's traditional craft methodology, I have sought to evince a feeling of the meditative process and qualities on 'hand made' skills in deliberate contrast to the vast array of technological skills available to the artist today. The use of of Pacific Island tapa cloth, which was traditionally made by women, is predominately used in this body of work. I have used frayed and torn edges or selvedges to convey a poignant history and sense of cultural fragility."

Bob Brown's exhibition of photographs

This morning we visited 1842 which is a gallery located in St John Street, Launceston. We saw an exhibition of photographs by Bob Brown which we thoroughly enjoyed. There is a web site to visit where you can see thumb-nail images of the photographs - most of which were taken in Tasmania dating from the 1960s.

www.greenart.com.au/

Pink Martini - una notte a Napoli

There is a new Pink Martini CD out titled 'Hey Eugene' and our copy arrived in the mail yesterday. It's great! Here is a track from an earlier release. Pink Martini is based in Portland, Oregon

www.pinkmartini.com