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Gliding through lockdown

11/8/2021

3 Comments

 
PictureTrish Hart recalls great albatrosses of the past and dreams of
painting life-sized whales.
By Trish Hart

AN artist can fly high as well as low. My work was selling and buyers were getting pleasure out of owning an original, then the galleries closed. Now I am on my own and struggling to understand selling online.
 
Still I shouldn't complain. I moved to The Gurdies 13 years ago hoping to find a forever home with a view of the sea and be near family.

​Now I am sipping on a local red that I helped harvest, dabbing a canvas with paint (I must stop dipping my paint brush in the wine) and being entertained by the feathered visitors to the deck – all with a stunning panoramic island view. BLISS! 
​

Pity they are not albatrosses visiting though I did have two months of them gliding in and out of view when I travelled south to the Antarctic 30 years ago on an Australian Antarctic arts fellowship. I fell through the sea ice and lost a very expensive video camera and fell in love with the helicopter pilot. The ship, Nella Dan, sank on her next voyage. ​
Life now is considerably less exciting, though I do hold my breath as I try and get the albatrosses’ wing shapes correct … the layout of the primary and secondary feathers … the muscles that stretch across the wings that keep these magnificent birds airborne and gliding over the waves. Luckily I have lots of photos and videos to remind me. 

A future goal is to paint a giant mural of whales swimming past on a spare wind blade in Wonthaggi. Imagine being able to stand next to a 30 metre life-sized blue whale, not just a bone or two. What a great selfie opportunity (when we are allowed out)!

Trish has written and illustrated five children’s books and won the Environment Award for Children’s Literature in 1999. She has had two exhibitions at the Melbourne Maritime Museum. You can see her work at www.trishhart.com.
​
Picture
Trish Hart and the Nella Dan in Antarctica. The ship sank on its next voyage.
3 Comments
Joy Herring
13/8/2021 11:54:12 am

I have known Trish for many years now and have marvelled at her extraordinary talent. She was instrumental in getting my cat rescue organisation looking professional with her art on our business cards, banner, logo, wine labels, Christmas cards and letterheads.
Her talent shows through especially when painting animals or her great love of birds.

Reply
Brian Carr link
13/8/2021 12:21:47 pm

Terrific story, I wonder does dipping a brush into the red by mistake affect the colour of the paint, or the taste of the wine, or even worse...both ?

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Janice Orchard link
17/8/2021 03:01:36 pm

What an insiring story of a fellow artist in lock down. Although Trish Hart lives in my neighborhood, our paths rarely cross. So although I knew her by name and location, I was not really aware of her work until recently. Her website is magnificent and a really good read. Have a look for yourself and you will find extraordinary artwork as well as clever words by a lady who has lived life large and still has more to come.

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