Is Fine Art a Remediation Therapy?

Last week was incredibly stressful. My brother-in-law, Richard Hillard, died the previous week while I was in England and I abandoned my Belgian conference to rush back to Australia to be with my wife, Dot, and attend Dick's funeral on Tuesday. So, instead of taking the Eurostar express from St Pancras in London to Liege in Belgium through the channel tunnel in Saturday, I found myself in the air on Friday evening heading to Dubai and Sydney. The funeral was on Tuesday and went smoothly, and we collected Dick's ashes on Thursday from the crematorium prior to flying back to Armidale on Friday afternoon. For much of the week we were staying in his Sydney apartment and trying to administer some of his affairs, also a harrowing experience.

The only glimmer of light relief was a visit to the NSW Art Gallery to see the exhibition of the winning entries for the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. These are annual awards for (i) portraits, (ii) landscapes (or figurative sculpture), and (iii) 'subject', 'genre' or mural paintings respectively. I found it very therapeutic to wander through the exhibits on Wednesday afternoon, admiring some and critiquing other exhibits And it's been something both Dot and I have long wanted to do.

And the winners were ... according to judges, not ourselves ... the following exhibits, which we were able to photograph freely:

Archibald -

Wynne -

Sulman -

Other entries:

However, I might add that I found some of the entries rather strange and confronting! And, overall the exhibits were not as good as I was hoping. Nevertheless, viewing art-works can release stress and divert the mind pleasurably.

AS

A visit to Broadlands

After spending a couple of days with my brother Brian and his family in Plympton, I hired a car for a few hours to drive back to Phil's home at Canford Cliffs, Poole, Dorset. I spent about three days there just relaxing, but we did make one interesting trip to nearby Broadlands. This home has some history!

It's a private home that's opened to the public for a few hours most days in summer, but is closed for most of the year. Visitors have a private guided tour of the major rooms downstairs, which are regularly used by the owners. Richly decorated they contain many art-works by leading painters of the day, antique furniture, and so on. Alas, photography is forbidden inside, which is why my photos focus on the exterior. It is a worthy destination and far more interesting in some ways than many National Trust properties.

The large house is set in some magnificent rolling countryside, and all the following pictures were taken after the guided tour of the interior:

The family mausoleum in the grounds.

View from the front of the house shown in the second photo above.

And here I am gracing the river bank

So who has lived or spent some time here over the years? Well, there was a manor house here before the Norman conquest in 1066! After the dissolution of the monasteries it was acquired by Sir Francis Fleming in 1547. The house passed by marriage to Sir John St Barbe, 1st baronet (c. 1655-1723). He died without heirs and the estate passed to Humphrey Sydenham of Combe, Dulverton. Ruined in a speculative bubble, he sold he sold Broadlands to Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston in 1736. The 3rd Viscount Palmerston became Britain's Prime Minister in the nineteenth century! At some point, the estate was acquired by Earl Mountbatten, Uncle to Prince Phillip. This explains why Queen Elizabeth II spent her honeymoon at Broadlands!! And in 9181 the newly married Prince and Princess of Wales spend the first 3 days of their honeymoon there.

So, the house has had many famous occupants over the centuries. If I'd known this degree of pedigree, I might have dressed up a bit more for the occasion! 

AS

Phil's 70th

I recently flew to England to attend my brother's 70th birthday party ... en route to a conference in Belgium, which is another story. Unlike my own a year ago, which I celebrated alone, this was a swell affair hosted by Phil's daughter, Elaine, and her family at their new home at Beer - near Seaton - on the east Devon coast. Lots of family members attended and it was great to meet up with so many people simultaneously and enjoy the marvellous food prepared.

The first thing that struck us as we entered Elly's house was this large banner reminding us of the occasion.

Outside, Elly's daughter, Beatrice, bounced on the trampoline with her older cousins Lucie and Hollie

Brian's wife, Daphne, and her daughter Laura.

Their other daughter, Joanna, and her husband Martin.

Sue, my cousin Eric's wife, having and animated conversation with Elly.

From left to right: me, brothers Phil and Brian, and cousin Eric.

Three ladies of the house: host Elly, Daphne and Joanna.

Proud father and daughter

We mustn't forget Elly's husband Jon, one of the local GPs who presided over a delightful spread of nutritious foods!

And two views of the inevitable cake! The second also shows the magnificent coastline visible from the Dove's lounge!

A great day was had by all on the 10th July 2016.

AS

In the Footstrps of Thomas Hardy

Today, my brother Phillip and I visited a large house which shares the name of one of my grand-kids, Max. The house is called Max Gate and is located just out of the English country town of Dorchester in the county of Dorset!

The house, whose images are below was owned by Thomas Hardy, a famous English novelist who wrote an impressive collection of stories a century or so ago. His work became so popular that the place where he lived became Hardy Country and he built a large home, which he designed with his architect’s skills. That home is now owned by the National Trust and is open to the public. So we visited it today.

I have some pictures of the house … and also of the nearby cottage where he was born and these are attached. We start with three perspectives of the front:

Here's the dining room, furnished in a typical Victorian style.

The garden was large and supplied the household with lots of fresh vegetables.

And here's the thatched cottage where Hardy was born. It's also run by the National Trust and its tiny interior rooms are crammed with mid-Victorian furnishings. It's where Hardy's writing career began.

It was a nice day out and these places are worth a visit.

AS