van gogh alive
Are you a fan of Vincent van Gogh? I love the way he boldly applied paint. When we visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam I stood in front of the paintings, intrigued by the texture and sweeping application of bold, unexpected colours. So when Van Gogh Alive arrived in Perth I booked a ticket for the 29th of July. He was born 30/03/1853 and died on the 29th of July 1880. Due to timed tickets it seemed safe to visit the exhibition, wearing a mask. It was a multi sensory exhibition using many screens, 3,000 images and a soundtrack. Amazing and lovely.
It was remarkable! Seeing his works on huge screens, then sections enlarged even more with added animation all accompanied by a well chosen soundtrack was wonderful. The artworks dominated the walls in both darkened halls. The pictures were interspersed with his reflections on life in text on screens. Some thoughts resonated, some suggested his ongoing battles with mental well being, but all fitted well into the exhibition.
Leading up to visiting Van Gogh Alive we had watched a documentary ‘A Shot In A Starry Night: Van Gogh Case’ which investigates the circumstances around his death and questions whether he committed suicide. Due to the lack of knowledge concerning forensic evidence and the reliance on the memory of a very old lady, recorded in 1935, no real conclusion can be made but it was lovely seeing the part of town where Van Gogh lived. The house, cafe and adjoining buildings, the church and landscapes he painted, all featured.
I’d like the ceiling in our bedroom painted just like his Almond Blossoms but the suggestion was not received enthusiastically.
winter garden
Trees bare of leaves, climbing roses stretched over arches but without blooms or foliage, rose bushes pruned back and other plants not doing much in the cold, wet days of winter. This creates a good opportunity to assess and maybe refine the garden. Our verge was stripped bare, had new soil added, plus weed mat and new reticulation and was then replanted with hibbertia scandens (Snakevine)). It will take two years to thicken and reach about 40 cm in height but is already doing well.
The front courtyard just needs the hedges clipped. Both the plumbago and box need tidying. The roses in pots have been pruned, tucked in with mushroom compost and are beginning to shoot. The lime tree needs some light pruning but mostly needs weeding and restoration of the three metal orbs which sit at the base. I can’t finish sealing them as it hasn’t stopped raining for days and days!
Need some touching up before they go back under the lime tree. Always raining! Good for us, not good for drying paint.
These orbs have been there a very long time. They have slowly deteriorated. I really like them but close inspection revealed lost, rusted off bits. The orbs were in bad shape! So, I scrubbed them carefully, left them to dry, treated them with rust retardant and then sprayed them with bronze coloured paint which claims to slow down the rust. Hope so!
The back garden is a much bigger job. The neighbour’s palm trees have gradually reached a height where they were blocking out the sun from reaching our espaliered apricot tree and the two Pierre de Ronsard climbing roses over an arch. The rats enjoyed the few apricots that survived so I decided the tree should go. The upcoming council ‘green’ pickup determined when this would happen. So, only the trunk remains and I’ll get that sorted out soon.
The sad trunk of the apricot tree, starved of light, it ceased producing masses of fruit. The rats were often quicker than me at spotting the ripe apricots. They live in the palm trees over the fence which have blocked the sunlight.
The next decision was what to do with the very leggy roses on the arch. The roses had grown to the top of the arch where they enjoyed sunlight. Unreachable blooms! I began cutting them down, too, motivated by the green verge pickup but can’t really decided what to do; the arch was very beautiful in the past, covered in blooms. I’m not sure when the palms will get tall enough for the roses to flourish again. At the moment, the palms are home to the rats. I hear them scuttling about in the evening and occasionally see them racing up the trunks. So, for now, I’ve cut the roses right back to the base, still cogitating!
Pixabay
The tulips have germinated, as have ranunculus, poppies and some dahlias. The pansy seedlings are doing well. The other thing doing well is weeds. I have some many and it’s so hard to eradicate them. I do make lots of weed tea which goes on the passion fruit, blueberries, snow peas and celery.
I hope you are enjoying a good week!
I don’t confess to be knowledgeable about much art, I either love it or don’t and could not explain why. I do however like to visit art exhibitions we have a free one each month locally which we always visit. the Van Gogh exhibition sounds wonderful.
Your winter garden sounds amazing, like my summer garden, nothing much grows here in the winter it is too cold.
Hello!
You sound so busy! I hope your sons gets good news about his results and can pursue his interests.
I read your article about home schooling with great interest. I retired after 40 years teaching, mainly in junior primary, a few years ago. During that time we were overseas for a few years and sent our son, used to a wonderful school, to the only English speaking school available. It was DREADFUL in so many areas. We discussed home schooling but as an only child in a totally alien environment, we finally decided it was better that my son and I return to Perth and he went back to his old school.So, a difficult time for us as a family, but the best outcome for him!
Deborah