How hard is being a tourist in your own backyard? We often lament our lack of "get up and go" in this regard. After four days in the Gallery, the washing basket is threatening to erupt, the house closely resembles a tip, our bed is chockers with dog hair and we have tumbleweeds across the floors. Last night, Stella helpfully added to the general detritus by attacking the blanket on her dog bed and ripping a sizable hole in the fabric. So now we have white fluffy blobby bits drifting about the bedroom.
Last week, we set ourselves a goal. Damn the torpedoes of domestic damage control and head for the South. Wednesday was designated as a launch to visit Di at her Studio Gallery in Pingelly and Chris in Narrogin. We hurtled out of Station House at the surprisingly early hour of eleven and turned Lily in a southern direction.
Di, her husband Steve and canine child Brynn recently moved permanently from Fremantle to a little cottage in Pingelly. Dilapidated at the time of sale, they spent less than eighteen months whipping their country estate into shape. We enjoyed a fabulous lunch with Di and Brynn before vacating the house to check the progress of Di's Studio Gallery.
Pingelly is another hidden gem in the Wheatbelt. Just over one hundred and fifty kilometres to the Big Smoke, Pingelly has a main street with some lovely old buildings, an IGA supermarket that is open seven days a week, a cafe, a rip-roaring restored pub and Di's Studio Gallery. Pingelly's other secret attraction is the PRACC (Pingelly Recreation and Cultural Centre), a superbly crafted building which houses a restaurant, sports facilities, a pavilion for functions and events and may be used for visiting services or as an evacuation centre.
Due to officially open around Easter, Di has been in her new space most days and the door is always open, often with an enthusiastic greeting from Brynn as well as Di. With assistance from mutual friend, artist and curator Belinda, Pingelly's latest venture is sure to entice many guests through Di's door. We collected two of her paintings for our Giftshop and another has been promised.
After a very happy couple of hours, we headed further south to catch up with another friend and artist Chris, as well as Casey from NEXIS (Narrogin Exhibition Space) for more Southern Wheatbelt Art Directories. These comprehensive brochures, completed after three years and just before the COVID 19 lockdown, feature fifteen shires from Beverley and Quaraiding down to West Arthur through to Lake Grace in the Eastern Wheatbelt. Narrogin is a very attractive town with a bustling main street, gardens, pubs, cafes, accommodation and a great art scene.
Our friend Chris lives with her grandson, an engaging young chap by the name of Wyatt, with her three grown-up children gatecrashing from time to time, in a fabulous old home with extensive grounds. On a corner block, and protected by walls, one could be oblivious to the procession of school buses that roar in and out twice a day. Widowed after Mark, the love of her life died, she longs to return to her painting but is currently heavily involved with the clearance of her Mum's house in nearby Wickepin. She still delightedly teaches art full time and is grateful for that role, which offers ongoing satisfaction and sanity. She adores Wyatt, who at seven years of age, has become a wonderful companion and Chris jokes he is far more mature than his Dad. We have a number of Chris' beautiful works in the Gallery, on display there and in our Giftshop.
Heading home in the late afternoon, we congratulated ourselves on our adventures. Pip and Stella had accompanied us and thoroughly enjoyed playdates with Brynn and Scruffy, one of Chris' two dogs. They conked out on the floor for the evening and we reminisced on an excellent and thoroughly entertaining road trip.
Must do that again sometime soon...
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