Heavenly Beverley : Fun @ the East End Gallery on Beverley Show Weekend

Sunday, 25 August 2019

Fun @ the East End Gallery on Beverley Show Weekend

Sunday afternoon in the East End Gallery. An hour before we close our "working" week. I am quite delighted for a bit of a lull in proceedings as we have just experienced one of those crackerjack weekends when all our patience and enthusiasm and optimism pay off.

Another minor rejig in the main Gallery space. This week, we welcomed new artist Lori Ellen Neuzerling. Lori is a child of the South West Soldier Settlement at Northcliffe, those grindingly difficult bush blocks were offered to migrants at the end of both Wars. Families were literally dumped in thickly forested areas, often with little or no experience and told to create dairy farms. These schemes were dotted all across the country, often in marginal areas, too small to make a decent living and not wanted by the farmers in the know. My grandfather had an orchard on the Murray River at Lake Boga in the 1930s, which was being damaged by salt infestation, even then.

Lori's exquisite paintings are of the flora and fauna of South Western Australia, with a tribute to the courage of her forebears, entitled a "Tale of Two Countries", a combination of the hardy climbing rose and the marri tree, symbols of the grit and determination of her family.

I can feel spring's arrival. We are currently in a warming trend after the last cold front whipped through with wind and rain on Thursday and Friday. We will relish a couple of sunny days before the next storm crosses the Wheatbelt later this week. And so the cycle will continue as we move ever closer towards September and October.

Beverley's world-famous Agricultural Show was also held yesterday. I was proud to act as support for our Visitors' Centre, with a steady stream of guests coming in and out of the East End Gallery. I don't think I sat down or ceased extolling the virtues of our town and the show for about five hours...

We have had singles, couples and families through. A few Aspiring Artists at the Kids' Table producing masterpieces. Kath Whiteside's beautifully decorated mosaic pot - SOLD. John Kaye's startlingly bright "Canola at Mt Barker" - SOLD. A stunning Mulberry champagne wooden stopper by Mick Cotter - SOLD. Another Coptic bound book by Dize Designs with the sensational botanic oils printed pages - SOLD. A further payment off Neil Elliott's hilarious "Salvador the Rabbit", the purchaser a quite sensible lass who came in to buy a landscape... A new layby on Barry Mackie's "Wheatbelt Echo".

Our last guests in the Gallery were James, Kayla and their two-year-old dynamo, Cooper. Kayla is a promising photographer whom James has encouraged to place some of her images into the Gallery. Cooper was an absolute delight and tearaway, as only toddlers are. He reminded me immediately of our own four-footed fur kid resident at Station House, probably causing her own variety of havoc.

We eventually closed the East End Gallery with Kayla coming on board as our latest artist. A wonderful weekend for us and another great show. Although we didn't get there this year, the lines of parked cars, the reports from locals and visitors alike and the photographs already posted depict a day of triumph.

And next Sunday will be Fathers' Day and the official start of spring...