Looking for Angels- Part 1 (Susan's House)

This is Susan. We have known each other for a couple of decades and kind of encouraged each other to follow the art trail away from the less suitable jobs we found ourselves in back then. We hadn't seen  each other for a while- babies, travel, babies, house moves, babies... We kept in touch though and recently I took some of the children to see her last exhibition. She came around for lunch a couple of times and I finally got out to her new(ish) place today. Here she is surrounded by some of her artisticus Suse-icus. She said I could show you around.

Their house is seriously out in the bush. All you can hear in the front is the occasional whip bird.

Whilst  Susan was still on her way and Shorty slept in the car, I scouted the perimeter. Of course there is ceramic art everywhere as she is an accomplished and passionate artist in this medium.

I think these little fellas are jellyfish, just blobbing around on one of the decks.

The first thing she showed me was a cushion a friend had made out of printed fabrics and stitched indigo coloured cotton. It is a Japanese craft adapted to some modern Australian furnishings and fits into Susan's home beautifully.

Here is the man of the house in a self portrait with dog. It seems only creative people live in this house. Watch out Bill Robinson!

Susan's grandmother's furniture has been well loved and used. It all sits on a practical concrete floor which they are still deciding on a covering for. I kind of like the concrete!

Around every corner, pieces of Susan's voluptuous organic forms sit within their home like pot plants or umbrellas sit in most others.

The work is on on walls, tables, benches, nooks and crannies. I'm only showing you the tip of the iceberg here, people! Do you love these robust lotus pieces!

                                              

After eating, chatting, drinking tea, negotiating the teething, stroppy toddler, we went down to her STUDIO (yes, the lucky possum has one!), and I got some serious shed envy. These marching mangroves were favourites of mine at the exhibition. I love how they are popping their heads out of the paper as though they are growing toward the light in the window.

I'm not sure what she has planned for this little 'vinaigrette' of goodies and cast offs. It's unknown future appealed to me.

By the window was a great tablescape, a cornucopia of mouth watering found and made objects, many from her last series of installations.

Just as I was going toward the car she led me down a narrow space between the kiln shed and the studio.

And there he was! Painted by Susan's son, there was yet another angel, albeit a very funky one.

                                       I tell you those suckers are EVERYWHERE lately!!!

Art Therapy

There were a couple of things that stood out in those surreal days in the hospital. They were little highlights that broke up the monotony in the fog of endone and shock and scans. The hospital I was in had some very good karma for me as I had my five babies there. I figure that still leaves me in good karma credit even after this last bit of unpleasantness. Most of the aesthetic choices in this hospital are good ones although I question their carpet choice. It's great for disguising dirt but needs to be when it has a riotously adverse effect on nausea.

There was one special afternoon when the Big Fella bought the fantastic five up to visit and I decided I wanted to emerge from my cocoon and hit the cafe with them. So I dressed up in some dandy pressure stockings and stepped out to take some air.

One of the boys got me a latte (as incongruous as him putting out washing), the girls showed me some good twirling.....
and my last glimpse of them was pulling some ninja moves down the wheelchair ramp (less incongruous). Once they left I was all dressed up with no place to go so I thought I might explore a bit.

Of course I went straight to maternity where I ran into some old friends on the wall. This Vermeer print welcomes you in as you enter from admissions. I always loved how he seems to place so many of his women subjects by this window. His wife, Catherina, had lots of children so I'm assuming this was her. There is a lovely version of his painting wiles in the book, "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier. Anyway I always felt like she was saying "Hello. Here we go again!" as I walked down to deliver each of the chillun.

This one a little further on was of a couple doing couply things in a series of large lino cuts. Only in retrospect do you realise it is a cautionary tale saying "You won't be doing this again in a hurry ".

I liked these little Howard Arkley-ish suburbia paintings. They were on small, chunky, square canvases- my favourite.
On the way to and from the tedious body scans there may have been some lip biting and tear blinking which these little lovelies distracted from.

This was a huge canvas painting of some one's hoarder-esque back yard. The detail and degree of clutter was mesmerising, perhaps because my own brain was fairly jumbled at the time. I loved the old swings hanging in the foreground. The banality of a back yard is just perfect to stare at when normal has no yardstick any more.

I'm not sure about this. I passed it the first time after that awful diagnosis the night before we went in. I don't remember that walk. The Big Fella just steered me with firm gentle hands. Then I passed it again after we saw the honkologist for the first time. I think it's about patience and moving on. That's how it worked for me and it has some lovely painterly qualities too.
This is my bestie though. There may well have been talk of angels when I dodged that secondaries bullet. I was thinking about them hard as I lay having the bone scan in particular. This one was there for the babies too and I liked it but didn't feel as strongly about it as I did this time. It is now my screen saver. I carry it with me and look at it every time I turn on the phone. It reminds me angels come in many guises and are handy to have around. I'm keeping more of an eye out for them now.