Pages

Friday, May 24, 2013

Australia Part 1: Melbourne


Seventeen hours from Oregon to Melbourne. Thank you, Jan Harris for suggesting Qantas. When you sit on a plane that long you want to do it in comfort.


For three years now I've been dreaming of visiting and teaching in Melbourne. 


Thanks to a multitude of friends and helping hands my wish was finally granted.


The city was everything I'd hoped for. Sophisticated and people oriented, like any well designed city should be. Lots of sitting places, meeting places, galleries, museums and coffee and tea shops. A city for people.



My friend Jacky and I rode the train to Flinders Station and then walked to areas nearby to explore the city. The buildings are glorious, English-Victorian juxtaposed against the ultra-modern. 


Yes, I got to see the famous laneways filled with outdoor tables and chairs. Despite the rain people were everywhere, under awnings and umbrellas, lots of enthusiasm and friendliness.


Blissed out me.


This window is a water feature at the Natiional Gallery of Victoria where we went to see the Aboriginal art. I'll cover that in a later post.


Here are my angels, Ro Bruhn and Jacky Williams. We're sketching and eating lunch at the Olinda Tea House. We spent every day of our time together, making art, seeing the forests and city, talking, hugging, laughing. 


This is where Jacky lives and where I stayed. A serene and sacred place. Cows and kangaroos grazing together .


Tea time at the Lillico Glass Studio where Jacky and Ro are having a show together.


A tea shop in Sassafrass.


They've almost turned me into a tea drinker.

With every variety imaginable.


On Saturday and Sunday of my first week I taught a cold wax class in Ro's studio,
Ro's husband Steve cooked two marvelous meals for us. And Ro made all sorts of "biscuits" and cakes for our tea times.


That's home made bread. Whoa!


For dessert on one of the days he made Pavlova, an Australian dessert of baked meringue with whipped cream and fruit. Holy cow. On the 2nd day he served home made ice cream and raspberries. *sigh*


Thank you, Steve.
I wish I lived close enough to attend all of Ro's classes (and partake of Steve's cooking). 


Here are the happy cold wax people at the end of class. Credit goes to Steve for this photograph.


A few more photos of the city.




And the nearby Sherbrook Forest.


This young painter is Xavier, Ro's grandson.


He helped us paint a giant canvas along with Patsy Worledge.










When it was done we cut it up so each of us had evidence of our time together.


This was my view out the bedroom window every morning. Thank you, Jacky, for your love and trust. I hope to return. Saying good-bye was very difficult.


Finally a closing shot of Sherbrook Forest. This is just a handfull of over 1000 photos. But I've been at this all day now so I'll close on this segment. Thank you Jacky, Ro, Melbourne and the terrific students who came to class. You made my time in Melbourne a sweet dream.





16 comments:

Unknown said...

I know exactly what you're feeling! Love, love, love it!

Cynthia of Cynful Creations said...

Wow, it looks and sounds like you had an amazing time! Love the idea of the art piece you all made together and then divided so you would each have a part of it.

katie said...

i loved photos and hearing about some of your time in Melboure, Judy - it looks like it was the beginning of a fantastic adventure celebrated with Ro and Jacky. the collaborative painting you all did is beautiful and the food looks scrumptuous!

Carol said...

Everything about this post was lovely! Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Wow Judy....what a wonderful trip and what a beautiful place! I'll bet the students were so happy you made the trip! Can't wait to see more!
Melinda b. in cold and wet seattle!!

Michele R. Unger said...

Breathing deeply, feeling your divine time in Australia. I love the photos, especially the one of you "blissed out" in Melbourne. I can see that your students had as much fun in your cold wax class as I did. Lucky them, lucky me!

Jan Harris Smith said...

I am so "home"sick looking at your photos! Glad you found Sassafras and the tea shop! Did you go to Miss Marples too? So glad you got to go to Oz at last. And yes, Qantus is the only way to go. Thanks for sharing!

Ro Bruhn said...

We did have a wonderful time in the city didn't we despite the rain. So glad you had a safe journey home. We miss you so much. Xavy came to sketching this week and asked where his friend Judy was. It was wonderful to be able to show you a little of our part of the world, there really is so much to see, hopefully there will be a next time so we can show you some more. Thanks so much for sharing a wonderful week with us, I know this won't be the last. Ro xo

Sharon Tomlinson said...

Thank you Judy for sharing this part of your wonderful trip. I enjoyed every photo and all you words so much. What a thrill it would be to meet Ro and Jacky. Both are my long time blog friends from the beginning. Can't wait for more. I wanna see all 1000.

lyle baxter said...

what a wonderful adventure! ginvu! and thanks for sharing the great photos. isnt painting in the round fun??

Kathy said...

What a marvelous trip! Thank you for sharing with us. Love that big canvas and what a great way to create a memento.

dorylyn said...

Thank you for sharing! So much fun!!

Liz in Washington state said...

What a great journey (in more ways than one). I can't wait to see more. The student's works were lovey, the meals made me jealous. Well it all made me jealous. Welcome home.

Amanda said...

What a splendid time it appears you had. Can't wait for Part 2

Seth said...

What a spectacular adventure Judy. A dream come true. All these photos (and the 970 more you took!) are evidence of the joy of this experience for you. Thanks for sharing this, as I sit here in NYC excited for my own Australian adventure in 2014!

Jan's Art and Musings said...

Beautiful photos, Judy. Thanks for sharing.