Thursday, February 28, 2013

Photoshoot

I have been lucky this last week to have had two beautiful women pose for me.  Sonya is mother to Brigid.  Sonya is very proud of Brigid, who is an aspiring young actress. The two are very close.

 


It was a wonderful and fun photoshoot. There were so many good pictures to choose from. I think I am improving with my photography.   It takes time!   cx


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Website


I make up to four personal websites a  year and have just completed the latest.It is  so easy with the software you can get these days.  I have used  Serif Webplus 4 here.  That version has been superseded many times now and I'm sure their latest version would be very good.

I usually make my websites from scratch, adding all the links and so on, but this time I used a template.  It is certainly easier and quicker using templates.

The picture to the right is a screen capture. If you are interested to visit my website....go to:

www.christineturner.com.au

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Gatakers Artspace video bombing 2013

Gatakers Artspace held a Flood fundraiser  and this resulted in a fabulous evening of entertainment, which included video bombing by Brad Marsellos and me.




We  learnt quite a bit from this session...our first more public engagement. 

Monday, February 18, 2013

Dirty Linen 2013

 
Hi all, Just letting you know that Dirty Linen will be open for the remainder of the year, but on a reduced scale due to commitments.
The gallery will open 10- 2pm, the first Sunday of each month unless otherwise advised.

There are three or four exhibitions coming up. You will be advised about them shortly.

... Please note that Brad Marsellos and Christine Turner will be presenting a video bombing on the facade of Gatakers Artspace this Saturday night, 23rd Feb.

This will be very exciting and will coincide with other presentations, music etc, all monies to benefit the flood appeal.

Great chance to see a variety of different performances, and an opportunity to see Jennifer Mc Duff's exhibition that is currently on show at Gatakers! cx

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery After Flood party.

Tonight I attended a dinner initiated by the staff at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery (BRAG).  The evening was about bringing together artists and other interested parties  after all the negativity of recent weeks.  It was a great night, and we artists, expressed interest in attending future events of this kind.

The powers that be, at BRAG, have conducted a number of fact finding missions over recent months, and really seem to have been listening to what the artists  have been saying over a number of issues.

I personally feel encouraged by the stance the staff at BRAG are taking and the support they are offering the local artists.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Art and Duck talk

I'm hoping to get this blog more focused on art again, as things seem to be settling down  a bit now across the flood ravaged areas.  Some people are returning to their homes in North Bundaberg now, which seemed to be one of the worst affected areas.. 

I just called by Phil and Marlies's art framing shop, and the tilers had about a quarter of the tiles down.  The shop is looking superb. New light grey paint, new tiles, new decorative windows, nice dark red accent.  The shop will be rearranged and ready for a fresh start.  Sounds like time for a party....almost - have to get all that art paper back to the shop, from Dirty Linen.    The papers and books and some other vulnerable materials had been transferred to DL for safe keeping and to prevent them getting contaminated with mould spores.

I am thinking we will have a party at DL this weekend coming as many artists and friends have indicated the desire to get together.  There are many issues to address and the need to de-brief after the storm , the  flood, the Bundaberg Bohemians show and so on.  We also need to discuss the future of Dirty Linen, which is in some doubt.

To lighten these more sombre issues, there is bound to be some light-hearted chat and even some concerns  about Brad Marsellos's plan to bring a 5 story yellow rubber duck from it's home in Sydney Harbour, to our Burnett River, to bring a smile to the faces of many and to put forward the notion that the river won't beat us...which is a fact!! 

Go to the following link for Duck information.  Small rubber ducks are appearing all over town.  See if you can spot one. I saw two today!


https://www.facebook.com/#!/BringTheDuckToBundy?fref=ts

 
 
 


Give the duck a go!...and talk art soon!   c x

Friday, February 8, 2013

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Volunteering

I had noticed last night the SES were calling on Facebook, for wheelbarrows at a site near the river, and so I decided to volunteer my wheelbarrow with myself attached.

Travelling to North Bundaberg can be a little different every time you drive there. what is a constant, is that you will always be in a long line of traffic. The route is from the old bridge, turn left and follow the battered riverside for a couple of kilometres, thus circumnavigating North Bundaberg. Head East to the highway and a kind policeman or SES worker will indicate that you must turn right to North Bundaberg. The need to travel around the outskirts of North Bundaberg is because of the severe road damage North Bundaberg  sustained. Potholes, massive sinkholes and missing bitumen have required many of the main roads to be closed, as was the Tallon Bridge that had a huge hole in it and required immediate closure.

Travelling towards North Bundaberg, I sail past homes and businesses that had not been seriously affected by the storm and flood. Of course, when you soon come across the small house that has floated down Queen Street and established itself on a busy corner, you know things are not right!

Finally in North Bundaberg, I parked at my friends Phil and Marlies's high set house. They had been holidaying with relatives in Germany when about a metre of water gushed through the lower floor of their high set home, swallowing up everything there including some very valuable art books.

Their art framing business, Art Plus, had suffered inundation also. Along with the loss of their Jeep and art van, they seem to have had more than their fair share of misfortune.

I had been amongst the volunteers that helped cleanup their properties and hopefully they will be back in action soon. The house had been cleaned out, washed with a gurney and now only awaits connection of electricity. They were lucky that their water supply had not disconnected.

Their shop has been cleaned out of damaged stock, washed with the gurney, painted and will have floors tiled hopefully for reopening early next week once some stock that had been relocated is returned.

All these miracles have happened within such a short time.

I went with my wheel barrow down to Fagg Street, which had been a visual nightmare a few days back. The dusty roadway had been narrowed by huge smelly piles of the complete contents of every house on the street. The silt sodden piles were growing everyday, awaiting removal by men driving bob cats. 


The street had been full of SES workers, police, volunteers, homeowners and their relatives and the Army. There were people delivering cakes and treats or bottles of water, gloves, disinfectants-all manner of things for the workers!! Big Potable Water trucks would drive by. Trucks sprinkling water to keep the dust down, Trucks full of drinking water, army tanks full of very fit soldiers and police vans and fire engines.

Today it was  quieter. There were only a few people about and all the rubbish piles were gone. I started to feel that things had reached a turning point...that we, together had shown that we won't give in. But that impression went out the door when later that afternoon I went to help clean out a home down by the river.

Cleanup of this property had only begun today. The owner had stipulated that everything in the house was to be disposed of.

Entering the dark house was a shocking experience. All the furniture had been tossed about and broken. Cupboards had disgorged their contents all over the floor. Rooms were exploding with broken beds, chairs, filthy pillows and blankets. The kitchen was indescribable. In fact, the entire house and it's jumbled broken contents was indescribable.

A thick layer of sticky smelly black mud covered everything.

A few volunteers had already started work, We would nod or say a quick hello. I have found that volunteers don't seem to talk to each other much. This is partly because they are trying to get the job done as quickly as possible. As well as this, there seems to be a solemnity surrounding the cleanup task. As I gathered up the chattels of a persons life, I felt moved by the experience...even haunted by it. Then to discard these chattels brutally on a heap, is quite heartbreaking.

I hang on to a couple of thoughts. One is that in a year or two, the majority of flood victims will have their lives back on track. Secondly, I think there are always interesting possibilities that come with a new start.

I learnt today, that there is still a lot of work to be done.. Hope to work with you soon!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Bundaberg Floods 2013

rain came with the beast-shrieking wind
waterboarding the land
until it gave in

bursting open like a poorly healed wound

and we are stuck in mud again

Friday, February 1, 2013

More floods

The rains came last week.  Tornadoes too.  Six of them. The shrieking and howling of the wind is something I will not forget.   Nor will I forget the sound of a young boy weeping for his lost toys.

We had record breaking flooding.  Now it's time to clean up.

Once again, our lives are piled up in soggy heaps of domestic detritus -  all over town.