Heavenly Beverley

Friday, 20 February 2026

You've Made Me (Us) So very Happy..

My first husband introduced me to the Big Sound jazz/rock band Blood, Sweat and Tears, way back during the time of the dinosaurs. Songs such as "Lucretia Mac Evil" and "When I Die" and "Spinning Wheel" were great examples of their genre. However, my all time Blood, Sweat and Tears favourite (and amongst the most recognisable from my memory) would have to be "You've Made Me So very Happy", released in 1969 and establishing them as a tour de force for enthusiasts of the big brass bands.

I was completely unaware of their contentious Eastern European tour in 1970 or the multiple incarnations of the group until very recently. Whilst interesting reading, that information did not change my view of their classic rock/jazz fusion, which the group continues to play to this day.

Anyway, I have digressed, as per usual. What actually prompted thinking once again about Blood, Sweat and Tears was the generosity, the support and the care, which has been showered over us the last day or so.

Wednesday night was a new low for me. I was staring at an exceptionally low account balance wondering how I was going to cover the Telstra bill, the cardiologist appointment, fuel for the car to take us to the Big Smoke and materials for the building so Michael and Kim could continue with urgent and essential maintenance. A out-of-touch dream was being able to take Kim a meal at the pub to thank him for his unbelievably hard work and "can-do" attitude.

I was sitting outside in our courtyard, crying with frustration and despair. Our glorious girls, Stella and Lexi, were with me, both trying to get into my lap to comfort me. If I had seen the humour, I might have asked Michael to photograph us all. A Standard Poodle cross and a Staffie/Kelpie both jostling for position to lick the tears off my face. Instead, I really felt utterly hopeless.

Beggars can't be choosy. In a fit of desperation, I penned a post on Facebook. What I asked for was for anybody to come into the East End Gallery and buy a card, or a bit of pottery or some jewellery or pay for a cuppa.

What we have received over the coming day and a half has blown us away.

Support has poured in. Donations of money (with no questions asked), our artists forgoing their commissions, other artists giving us their works, helpful suggestions and a massive cocoon of love have surrounded us with the means and the hope to keep afloat.

The Telstra bill will not bounce, I was able to attend the cardiologist, we didn't have to empty our last gerry can of fuel into the car, we have money for building materials and I have just booked a table for the three of us at the pub tonight. I shouted the Autistic Superstar lunch and Michael and I shared a delicious burger. I can also pay the remaining artists owed monies, including the incredible Mizz Sue Martin, who continues to offer unwavering support as our Front-of-House every Monday and Thursday and when we are away.

I can never fully express how bloody grateful we are for all the help we have received. Please just know what each and every one of you has meant to us. And the East End Gallery, that entity Michael and I both so love, that makes no money, that we open year round, is looking so beautiful that we will pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and continue to do what we have been doing for over eleven years.

We are the East End Gallery. We support and promote Wheatbelt artists, right here in Heavenly Beverley. Not a bad effort for a loud former Education Assistant with no spacial awareness and a vision-driven former Mechanical Fitter turned exceptional sculptor who happens to have excellent spacial awareness!

And here's what I think of all of you who have providing us with support, hope and love

I lost at love before

Got mad and closed the door

But you said, "Try, just once more"

I chose you for the one
Now we're having so much fun
You treated me so kind
I'm about to lose my mind
You made me so very happy
I'm so glad you came into my life

The others were untrue
But when it came to loving you
I'd spend my whole life with you

'Cause you came and you took control
You touched my very soul
You always showed me that
Loving you is where it's at
You made me so very happy
I'm so glad you came into my life

Thank you baby, yeah, yeah

I love you so much you see
You're even in my dreams, I can hear you
Baby, I can hear you callin' me
I'm so in love with you
All I ever want to do is
Thank you baby, thank you baby

You made me so very happy
I'm so glad you came into my life
You made me so very happy
You made me so, so very happy baby
I'm so glad you came into my life

I want to thank you, girl
Every day of my life, I want to thank you
You made me so very happy
That I wanna spend my life thanking you
Thank you baby, thank you baby
Thank you baby, thank you baby

Still loving Blood, Sweat and Tears...

How I felt Wednesday evening...

What I did...

The response was overwhelming and so positive...

And by yesterday morning, we had received so much of these -

Which gave us this...

A gift from all of you.

Tuesday, 17 February 2026

Short Cuts With Smugness Followed By The Inevitable Epic Fail!

Smugness is defined in the Cambridge Dictionary as being "too pleased or satisfied..."Personally, I think smugness should be classified as the eighth deadly sin, because unlike pride, I find smugness always leads to a mighty and often uncomfortable calamity. Particularly when I try and cut corners with no idea of the outcome.

Take my feeble attempts to replicate my East End Gallery newsletter to this blog. I assumed, wrongly, that I would simply be able to cut and paste the content of the newsletter and TA-DA, I would save a great deal of time and effort. Plus, I was trying to conduct this miraculous cyber-spacial (is that a word?!) feat when I was quite tired. With all the optimism of the village idiot, I launched forth and ended up in a computer generated hell.

I had completely forgotten that the font, colour, background and all those other add-ons on my blog page would not take kindly to a stealth landing from Another Application. That's my explanation, anyway. All I knew was, horror of horrors, my copy and paste of the newsletter content ended up as ghastly black lettering on a weird chocolate background. My next futile action produced ghostly white lettering on a pale grey background. No matter how much I tried, I had entered shit creek in my canoe with no paddle and no idea.

By this stage, I was more than a tad frustrated and battling against the odds. Somehow I managed to produce an extremely boring black lettering on a plain background post. Miraculously, and with no clue, I also ended up with most of the photos I had been wanting to load to the post as well.

With weary resignation, I concluded that the Internet had won again. What I had hoped to be a bit of magical time saving operation had turned into a complete disaster. And smugness had proved again, to be my nemesis.

The moral of this story? Never try to outsmart a computer. Never try a simpleton tactic that has no hope of success. Walk away from the dastardly device, lest the urge to swing a sledgehammer becomes overwhelming...The bloody machine would still be there in the morning, satisfied by its role in my downfall.

My secret identity...

I am sure cats are the only animals that use smugness to their advantage!

Beware!

Good to know!

How I felt...

Shut up Yoda...

Yep!

What I felt like doing...

Oddly, I found these words quite comforting. And there is always the sledgehammer option!

Tuesday, 10 February 2026

The East End Gallery is GO!

We can't believe what we have done. The East End Gallery will open officially for 2026 this Thursday 12 February between 11am - 5pm.

Plus this Saturday evening - Valentine's Day - we are having a very soft and casual Sundowner, between 5.30pm - 8,30pm. We have no desire to deprive the pubs attracting their clientele, so the door will be shut, firmly if necessary at 8.30.

One of my favourite, albeit sadly departed singers, Mister David Bowie, wrote about "Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes" and the East End Gallery has certainly undergone a fabulous revamp that began just after Christmas 2025.

Many thanks must go to Sue Martin and Rebecca Buglass for getting the ball rolling by emptying the main Gallery of all the artworks and furniture and undercoating the entire floor. This arduous and very smelly labour laid the essential groundwork for Michael and our newly acquired 'Slave-driver' Mister Kim Brennan to spring into action.

Kim arrived into our lives at the very time Michael needed a motivator "par excellence". He and Michael were kindred spirits from the outset. Their thought processes were synchronised. They worked hard together as a team, anticipating what, when and how tasks needed to be tackled. Michael knew he wanted to renovate our Gallery and Studio space, but without Kim, this outcome would have been unachievable.

Together, they have been unstoppable. They covered every tech screw head on the floor of the Gallery. They minimised the joins of the chipboard sheets. They painted the floor with diligence and care. Kim filled and sanded every crack and hole in the walls of both the Gallery what has become our Studio space. They worked to fill the missing cement on the uninspiring floor of Shop 3 and then painted that floor. The walls also received attention. Many thanks to Jodie Edom Nolf for supplying both floor and wall paint to us free of charge.

The results are astonishing. The Gallery is cool, clean, bright and slick. The Studio space mixes industrial edge with a colour explosion. In a matter of six weeks, the tired and dated has been replaced by light and vibrancy.

And we have also returned to basics. Our philosophy has always been to 'Support Wheatbelt Artists'. Yes, we still have a few artists in the Gallery from outside the Wheatbelt, but their connection to us is so strong and so valuable, we would be mad to let them go...

Rebecca Buglass has moved on and we wish her well. Marion Luck has suffered from ill-health and is not attending her space at present. We shall update her return or otherwise as we are informed.

Sue Martin is still our Number One Volunteer Front-of-House when I am not available. She will also be in charge of the East End Gallery when we leave for the North West in June. We know that we can go away and leave the Gallery in Sue's very capable hands and knowing that, we are eternally grateful to her.

Our other major initiative is to offer Studio space with optional accommodation. We have the amazing artist Narelle Higson arriving on 26 February until 9 March. Her oil pastels are exquisite and have to be seen to be believed. Narelle (known by us as 'the Scribbler') is running an oil pastels "wildflowers" workshop on 1 March. As of a few days ago, she only had a couple of places remaining...

The inexhaustible and multi-talented Ros Newick arrives on 1 April until 9 April. Her planned programme would fell a lesser artist. She will be creating in the Studio space, running a collage workshop and having a stall on our Easter Saturday markets. All in eight days...!

We are offering Studio space at $220 a week. Minimum stay is one week, two weeks preferred if possible. Optional self catering accommodation in our beautiful Guest Suite is available in March and May at only an additional $30 per week.

There is NO VOLUNTEERING required by those undertaking Residencies. Your time is your own. If a Residency artist does receive a query regarding the East End Gallery, that query and person needs to be directed immediately to me or Sue. The two spaces are designed to be separate with the Residency artists having their own entry. The only communal space is our informal tea/coffee and eating area.

Studio space, without accommodation, is available in June, July, August, September, October and November 2026. The closing date for this year's East End Gallery's Residencies is strictly 10 March. If we do not have sufficient artists signed up for 2026 Residencies by then, we shall be renting out the Studio space to other non-artisan businesses.

The bottom line is that we need more capital.

We operate completely by word-of-mouth and social media so we are asking you all - friends, guests and supporters - to come into the East End Gallery and gift yourself a wonderful and original artwork or for that special somebody.