A Family Disaster - or, The Tale of a Tree

The Old Road - original oil painting by Elizabeth Barsham
28 cm x 35.5cm; oil on canvas. 2010

So we had that super storm last night, strong winds and snow and everything and a family disaster. Another stalwart, so familiar that I and my mother before me assumed it would endure forever, is gone. On a global scale this is a very minor event, but for our family it is the end of an era. 

Here is a photograph taken from our front gate in the early 1920s. I liked it so much, I based the painting above  on it.

My mother took this one, from inside the gate, in 1942.

She was actually photographing the gates, which were about to be replaced.

It appears to be the fate of trees to appear only as background, as an incidental inclusion in a photograph of something else.

In 2010 we celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the construction of our house and I took some more photographs, trying without great success to get similar vantage points to the earlier pictures. The surroundings have changed somewhat, but the trees are still there.

Here they are by moonlight last year.

The logs in the foreground are a feral pine tree we cut down some years ago. I keep them there because I like the shape.

And another one from last year; once more, The Tree is incidental background for a picture of something else - the decaying pine.

Which brings us to today. Our bastion of strength reduced to firewood. The bush around me is strewn with ancient trees rotted and fallen, slowly decaying back into the ground. But this one – and its mate – were special. Goodbye, old friend.

And the Band Plays On

Another weekend, another music festival. Today was the tenth annual Music Festival at St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church at Bothwell.

The Festival was inaugurated by Gwen and John Hardstaff who, with the help of willing volunteers from the community, have organised it every year for the past decade.

John’s membership of the Hobart Veterans’ Brass Band ensured their prominent position on the bill, and this year they were joined by the Bagdad Singers (that’s Bagdad, Tasmania, not the other one), St George’s Church Choir from Battery Point, violinist Doris Kouw and organist Diane Hallett.

The Bagdad Singers at Bothwell

violin soloist Doris Kouw accompanied by
Roslyn Langlois on keyboard

Bernard Gillon, former school teacher at Waddamana, read Seed Bed, a poem by James Patterson, Uniting Church minister Meg Evans read Psalm 98, the Rector, Rev John Langlois, led opening and closing prayers, MC Wayne Doran kept everything moving along, and after the concert everyone repaired to the Town Hall for afternoon tea.

euphonium solo by Eric Morgan 

If, however, you’re imagining one of those church fund-raising concerts we all know and dread – don’t. Nobody here is thinking about money. Today is wholly and solely about music.

Musicians invited to perform at Bothwell are far from being enthusiastic amateurs only included because they're the mayor's husband's niece. Many have played in brass bands in major competitions; some have played with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and others served as bandsmen in the military. A few have never worked professionally, but all take their music very seriously indeed.

Whether or not they still appear regularly in concerts around the state, the one thing they all have in common is their love of music and performance.  They may have retired from the pressure of travel and constant rehearsals,  but  the music goes on.

So we come along every year because this is music the way it was meant to be – played for pleasure to an appreciative audience of friends who just want to enjoy a pleasant afternoon’s entertainment in comfortable and familiar surroundings.  We are never disappointed.

Musical director Myles Luck conducts the Hobart Veterans' Brass Band

Making History - Lions in Armour

Last weekend I watched history being made at Wynyard. For the first time ever open combat swordsmanship and a jousting competition were organised right here in Tasmania. Chain mail, longbows, mediaeval ladies and jousting knights on horseback, they were all there to delight onlookers. Sort of history making history, in a way.

These are all definitely part of European history, but what are they doing on the other side of the world - in Wynyard, of all places?

 There has been a growing interest in things Mediaeval, most recently encouraged by computer games and the entertainment industry busily mining the past for inspiration to feed our romantic fantasies.

For a few people simply watching wouldn't do. They learned enough metal-working skill to put together a crude suit of armour, scoured antique markets for ancient weapons, hunted up manuals of swordsmanship in the depths of libraries, and gathered after work to practise. More people saw what fun it was and joined in. Skills improved. Modern Mediaevalism was established.

Some groups are pretty much interested in combat and not much else, but many others embrace an entire philosophy drawn from the more attractive ideals of earlier societies. Complex rules of chivalric behaviour are drawn up. Social and cultural skills are highly regarded, with needlework, music, recitation, cookery, calligraphy and dancing actively encouraged besides the more obvious warlike crafts required to construct weapons and armour and beat the living daylights out of an opponent.

Since the mid-twentieth century such groups have proliferated, and no matter which historical period you fancy it is probably possible to find enough like-minded fanatics to form a lively organisation. You can even buy off-the-shelf armour, weapons and garb if you lack the time and skill to make your own.

There are several such groups in Tasmania. One of the more recent to arrive  is The Sovereign Military Order of the Knights Templar.

The Sovereign Military Order of the Knights Templar

Based in Burnie, the Dragon Order is a family-focused organisation devoted to supporting local charities and helping underprivileged and disenfranchised young people in the local community. To this end, the Sovereign Military Order of the Knights Templar runs structured courses for children on various aspects of mediaeval European life and history such as swordsmanship, costume and clothing, chivalry, the Crusades, knights and castles, and they operate a Historical Western Martial Arts Swordsmanship School where anybody who is interested can come along for instruction in organised mayhem.

Last weekend they organised a Mediaeval Fair at the Lions Club Park in Wynyard, and here are some of the things I saw.

Everyone can try their hand at drawing a bow – archery tips from the experts

Blunted arrows were once used for shooting birds roosting in the
eaves of steeples; now they bring down dangling targets

Some mediaeval entertainment

Junior knights get  basic training

Dancing girls are essential

demonstration by some of the Dragon Order

Chain mail and swordsmanship are OK, but this has to be about as cool as it gets: the knight in shining armour astride his spirited black stallion.

What it's all about – full tilt against a heavily armed opponent.

 At a 21st Century tournament inflatable “castles” provide colour and amusement

Accolades for the victor . . .

but plenty of enthusiasm for the runners-up, too

It was all just a bit too much

For more information about the Dragon Order:

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sovereign-Military-Order-of-the-Knights-Templar-Tasmania/269266813142551?sk=info

For more information about the horses:

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Noble-Shadow-Friesian-and-Andalusian-Horse-StudWarlanders/194594647225421

Keeping Art Under Control

Three small boys are discussing the colours in a large stencilled and sprayed painting, taking turns photographing each other in front of it. They have been out with the spray cans themselves and one still has a paper mask hanging round his neck. We are surrounded by huge, spray-painted images by graffiti artists Aedan Howlett, Hiiragi, Jacob Leary, Jamin, Phibs and Tom O'Hearn, but we are not in an alley between grimy concrete walls. We are in the super-respectable tastefully restored Barn at Rosny where the artists have spent the last week creating six mural-sized paintings for StArt, the Clarence City Council's annual Festival of Street Art.

 Outside in the sunshine there is a free barbecue, face painting and live music; visitors make badges, stencil designs on calico shopping bags and try their hand at spray-painting and reverse graffiti (drawing into the grime on detatched car doors).

Self expression - but only under strictly controlled conditions  

A group of Yarn Bombers helps children make big, colourful pompoms, hanging the results from the bare branches of a winter tree. With Council support the guerilla knitters were able to afford far more, and more colourful, wools than usual, and handrails and bollards along the street sport eye-catching stripes.

Designs by three digital artists have been printed up billboard size and mounted on the walls of the shopping centre. School children's drawings and paintings compete with commercial displays in shop windows.

On Monday it will all be gone; the only artwork to distract shoppers and commuters will be the usual advertising signs.

The Clarence City Council runs an art gallery and arranges cultural events at the Rosny Historical Site, holds an annual art exhibition, organises various music festivals, and deserves applause for these activities. But far from encouraging and celebrating Street Art, the StArt Festival is devoted to removing all but authorised art from the streets. Notices inform us of the thousands of dollars the Clarence Council has to waste each year on graffiti removal, suggesting it could be better spent on events such as this. Well, hear hear, say I.

How about funding for public art? I don't mean the sort of "art projects" attempting to "beautify" public toilet blocks and similar terminally ugly constructions, which are hardly a compliment for the artists involved.

Public toilet - Rosny sports ground

Anyone practising their art anywhere else in public soon sees it scrubbed out but what if, instead of spending all these thousands of dollars a year on removing graffiti the Council spent a lesser amount on rewarding street artists who created something really interesting?

Why is our society so afraid of Art we lock it away out of sight in museums and galleries and theatres and concert halls, only letting it out for occasional festivals and under strictly controlled conditions?

Why not turn all those bland cream and grey walls around Rosny shopping centre into a blaze of colour that advertises nothing more than enthusiasm and energy? Print up the digital art on  permanent sheeting; leave the yarn on handrails to weather away as nature intends. Let's have some fun!

The painting the three small boys admire so much features the latest symbol of Free Expression vs Official Oppression – three balaclava-covered female faces. Ironic that this image rouses so much interest at an event devoted to teaching children to become respectable, conforming members of a society where Art and Self Expression are restricted to consenting adults, hidden safely behind closed doors.

All for Pussy and Pussy for All; artwork by Jamin at Rosny barn

I wrote this review for Write Response (http://www.writeresponse.blogspot.com.au/), who didn't need quite so many photographs. After I wrote it, I decided to see how our really boring shopping area could be improved. Here are the results. It's a pretty rough Photoshop job, but it was fun. I know which versions I prefer.

Unwinding in the Suburbs; digital image by Stephen Hudson
Rosny Park shopping centre carpark 

My improvement - and make it permanent!

shopping centre - Bligh St., Rosny Park

with the addition of "graffiti" based on works by unknown artists.
(thoroughly distorted photographs of paintings
on the walls of the toilet block  at the sports ground)

Dream Home with fluffy clouds and three unicorns

House hunting? Here it is - a wonderful houseboat complete with four rooms, a blue light in case of emergencies, food hut, TV with all the stations and a free phone. It's moored on a beautiful site where the water is always still and it will only cost you $4,000 (ono).

House Boat by Hayley Warn, Lauderdale Primary School 

Ever wished you might see something like this in the window of your local Real Estate agency? Today I did see this very notice beside advertisements for many, many more equally delightful and attractive residences with robot servants, chocolate-filled swimming pools, secret rooms, pet flaps in every door, unicorns, cupcakes and zombies to choose from as standard fittings.

 Rainbow Home by Holly Denman

 Haunted Mansion by Kyle Glinada, Lauderdale Primary School 

Alas, it had to be too good to be true.

As part of StArt, the Clarence Council's annual Festival of Street Art, three realtors handed their windows over to primary school children to showcase their dream homes. They printed up notices with the "vendor" description below an image of the property and displayed them very seriously in place of their usual Sunny Acres and First Home Buyers' Specials.

These are only a few of dozens of gorgeous Dream Homes advertised in Bligh Street at Rosny Park this weekend. It's worth dropping down for a look before everthing reverts to Mundane on Monday morning.

Fire House by Tyran Brent Jetson

 Hi-tech Home by Ryan Boscoe, Howrah Primary School

 Haunted House by Austin Hurst, Lauderdale Primary School 

 Black Hole by Ben Grandfield, Howrah Primary School  

There really should be more of this sort of thing.