Monday, November 30, 2009

Artistic Licence

The annual Macleay Island Arts Exhibition has just finished.

It was my first attempt at artistic fame and fortune but unfortunately nothing came of it.

I put in three entries, the maximum allowed, all very different. I am still trying to find the best way to express myself on canvas. (That's another way of saying I'm not very good .... lol). But it was the first time I felt confident enough to show my work in public, so I'm pleased with my progress.



I entered a landscape acrylic on canvas which shows the view from Oomool Street on the island.
This is actually intended as a Christmas gift for my son and his partner, as the painting depicts the view from their block. I thought they could show their guests in Melbourne what a wonderful view they own in the Halfwit Sundays.





The second painting is mixed media on canvas, entitled Stradbroke Night. Based on views from Stradbroke when we stayed there a few months ago, this leans more to the style I tend to adopt. I like it ... I thought it might sell.





The third painting is again acrylic on canvas. Entitled Forest Fire. Here I attempted the pure abstract and it did actually attract comment.
Someone even thought of buying it ... but didn't.
Ah well .... I have left the latter two paintings in the gallery. Perhaps someone visiting the island during the Christmas holidays might find one interesting.


Of course, there were some wonderful paintings in the Exhibition.
And even more wonderful sculpture.
How could I resist? I purchased Lady in Red by John Deane, one of the island's better known sculptors. She is simply divine. She now sits temporarily on a small table behind our sofa in the lounge, awaiting a pedestal to show her in her full glory. Tiny chips of silver and opal spark against the sunlight on the brooch which holds her ceramic gown and her head turns elegantly over her shoulder in a very oriental pose.




The three wall plaques are entitled Mangroves by LJS. A shy potter whose initials are the only clue to ownership.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

11 in 1,000,000

That's right, eleven in one million.

What a statistic.

I heard it on the radio today. Only eleven people out of every one million Queenslanders have signed up to donate their organs.

This is a statistic of which all Queenslanders should be deeply ashamed. I just can't understand it myself.

I would bet that there is a near 100% rate of people who would accept a transplant if they needed one.

When my mother died, I was broken-hearted. To this day, the knowledge that somewhere in Western Australia there are two people who can see thanks to transplants of her corneas, uplifts me. My Mum is still doing good, years after her death.

But it was hard at the time. Mum had left no indication of whether she wanted her organs donated for transplant. Hers was a generation which didn't think of these things ... she didn't even have a driver's licence to indicate her preference for transplant.

The people who organise organ transplants have no time for sympathy. They rang me within hours of her death. "We need to know now. Sorry, but they are no good to anyone by tomorrow."

And I was left to make the decision myself.

Knowing my Mum, I was sure she would gladly give her now useless body parts to aid someone still in the land of the living, so I had no qualms in giving the transplant my consent and blessing.

How much easier if you yourself make the decision. Unless it is against your religion, fill in the organ donor's part of your driver's licence. Go online to www.donatelife.gov.au and find out more about it. And tell your nearest and dearest of your wish.

They will thank you. And somewhere, you might even save a life, not just give the gift of sight.

(And yes, I have registered as an organ donor.)