Leaving a little later than we had anticipated… but all was good as we set off in our little blue company van to transport my works to Melbourne so I could exhibit my body of work ‘In Our Hands’.

This work has taken some time to evolve and has been a long time in the making… with some time away from the work in between our journey to the Kimberley and now; due to James’ accident.

Quiche, vegetable bake and curries snug in our fridge esky in the van were brought out and placed in their containers on either concrete picnic tables along the roadside; a rug on the ground… or a small round table with two rickety chairs in daggy quaint motels along the way.

We carried everything with us .. right down to drills, step ladder, tape measures , laser level and nails to ensure that hanging my exhibition went smoothly.

We put in a couple of big days driving and finally I saw the Melbourne skyline under a bridge. I instantly had butterflies and felt a wave of excitement as I could sense a certain level of completion for this amazing body of work.

Arriving early afternoon at our motel I thought I would spend a couple of hours assmbling my pieces (because I packed each of the layers individually for transport) and planned to go for a walk around the adjoinging park at abut 5pm. LOL… I was still assembling at 9.30 at night  – 6 hours later! LOL

….then installation morning and I was awake with the stars and the early morning commuters in cars and buses and trams – off to work along the main road adjoining our room.

For those who know me you know that I don’t EVER like being late.. and Max was so obliging and leaving 45 minutes before we needed to be at the gallery – for a 5 minute drive. He knew to just ‘go with the flow’… (in other words do as I asked. LOL ) Thank you Max :-)…  and we sat staring and laughing at each other in the van on a street outside the gallery waiting – 40 minutes early!

So.. the time came to carry the full van load into the gallery and set up my installation. I placed everything around the room – to get a feel of where eveything should be placed… then Max set to with his drill, laser level and screws… and we started hanging!….ALL day… and at 4pm, I sat on my little white stools and actually couldn’t believe that I had created all of this beautiful artwork.

I recognised that there I was…exposed… nowhere to hide. The expression of ME was  a part of each of my artworks on tables, shelves and hanging on walls.

I will update you all on the final hanging photos and a short video – after opening night (which is this Wednesday April 10th from 6-8pm).

So… today I am having a quiet day by myself. I’m a bit achey because of all the lifting and it is actually quite a strenuous task setting up an installation exhibition… so I’m putting out to the Universe for a slot to become available to receive a beautiful nurturing massage/bodywork session… so I’m off in a minute to be guided to an amazing practitioner. 🙂

Thank you so much to everyone who has been a part of this incredible journey of self-discovery through the development of this wonderful  and diverse body of work…and thank you Max. I love you dearly.