A = Art & Answers

'A' also equals Another week that has passed us by! During the week I had a lovely day with Emily and Maisie taking a train trip to town.....but I didn't take any photos! But today I spent some time with our other daughter Sophie, again to town and this time to see some Art. I've been wanting to see the quilt that won the inaugural $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize and what a wonderful prize that would be too! This award is open to all artists using any medium but you need to be under 40 so that counts me out! The display is currently on at the Art Gallery of South Australia and this winning quilt will now be a part of their permanent collection........

Sarah Contos the maker of the winning quilt explains;  ‘As an artist whose process inhabits fantasy roles to reflect on female experience, I create self-generated mythologies that evoke dichotomies synonymous with being a woman. This work is a ‘scrapbook’ of these contrasts and embraces their emotional value.’................

There is a list of finalists at this link and the photos and explanations are way better than what I could capture. In all there were 21 finalists selected from over 400 entries and I would not have wanted to be one of the judges! The entries were so varied, this one from Rebecca Selleck of a carpet adorned with rabbit skins......

I enjoyed this installation from Tanya Hughes depicting women in abstract form and I especially liked her hand printed wallpaper...........

 Ash Keating's large work is an experiment in colour and I love these hues.........

 Teelah George made this piece from linen, thread and bronze.........

 This is a very large series of oil on linen paintings from Celeste Chandler - all self portraits but using shaving cream to create male images...........

 Trent Jansen's wardrobe was fascinating.........

 I loved the detail in Khadim Ali's gouache, ink and gold leaf on wasli paper piece.......

 Of course a brief stop in the Morris room is mandatory and on the way we passed through some stunning Egyptian tentmaker's appliqué belonging to Sam Bowker. It was so nice that he loaned these to the gallery at the same time that some of the men were teaching for us here in Adelaide. This enormous quilt is dated 1892-1907........ 

 In the same gallery was this fascinating 19th century patchwork jacket from Sumatra.......

 As we passed through another gallery to the Morris room we found some lovely indigenous batiks from the Northern Territory.......

 and then Morris........

A wander through the city is always entertaining......

 So now to the 'A' for Answers. After a week of tests (and more to come), I am grateful for a wonderful new cardiologist. He agreed with me whole heartedly that nitrates are not the way to go until we get to the bottom of it all. I have always been a strong believer in not taking medication unless there is a good reason. So I apparently have a thickened heart (cardiomyopathy) that is not working effectively and I am on the list for another angiogram this time with a coronary reactivity test and under the care of an Associate Professor doing research in microvascular disease. In a nut shell I think the test means injecting drugs into the vessels of the heart to see how they react - I see that as a plan for future treatment which is good! I am not looking forward it as it says it is "invasive" and has to be done in a large public hospital......so we will see the outcome of that in the coming weeks. So onwards and upwards and time to share another Art winner...this time the lovely Gael with her version of my William and May Sampler. She received a highly commended award at the Victorian Quilters exhibition that concludes today and I am so excited for her.......congratulations Gael!........

I was a winner too during the week scoring some lovely flowers! Amazing how they can be transported in a box overnight on a plane and arrive looking so fresh. this time lots of Australian natives and not one but two bunches! (thankyou so very much Val x).......

 I also received some lovely lilies from Emily that stand proudly in the centre and a new one opens each day........

 These proteas and banksias are so colourful and I especially love the geraldton wax.......

 So thanks once again for all your lovely messages and emails....I am still off the track with avoiding William Morris in my blogging but if it bores you just turn it off!  I will leave you with how cold it has been here in Adelaide up in the hills.............

 and this sad face of little Maisie who has been sick under her new quilt.......

 but a much happier image that Emily captured from their backyard........stunning!