Brisvegas

Just back from a few days away. We passed through Brisbane and I managed to do two things I had been trying to work out ways to do for ages.

The First Thing: Met up with Rachael from All it Took was Just One Stitch. What fun! She says she stressed about meeting up. (Because it is a bit strange isn't it when you only know each other from the blogosphere.) I didn't stress because I'd spoken to her on the phone a couple of times and I thought it would be fine - which of course it was. We managed to recognise each other, had coffee + scones, chatted yarn and showed our latest WIPS while JT took the kids off to a (conveniently) nearby playground. Then we went off to the Queensland Art Gallery to do The Second Thing.


The Second Thing: We went to see the concurrent Grace Cossington Smith and Margaret Preston Exhibitions. (see Rachael's post for piccies etc I'm too lazy to paste all the links in) I'd seen the Margaret Preston at AGNSW but I think I liked 'the hang' in QLD better. Its a great gallery space! You people in Brisbane are very lucky. (Cheap ON THE SPOT parking too!!) The Grace Cossington Smith exhibition showed in Canberra I think, but not AGNSW so I hadn't seen it. It was really fantastic!! Excellent to see the two shows together as both artists were painting in the same city at the same time; pre ww1, ww1, the interwar period and later as well... I really enjoyed the paintings of both artists from their earlier periods, Grace Cossington Smith's The Sock Knitter from 1925 was a big hit with both of us!! Margaret Preston's still lives and 'tea party' paintings were uplifting and of course all her woodcuts from eth '20s and '30s were wonderful too see again too.

So there you go two great things at the end of our few days away. It was too short of course but life is long I'm sure we will get to do it again!! Thanks Rach for a great afternoon.

(F.Y.I. Brisbane (Queensland state) is a 1.5 hr drive to Sydney airport, then 1.5ish hour flight away from where I live in Wollongong, New South Wales State)