SUMMER BRIGHTS

 

August in Brisbane has traditionally been cold, very cold, with biting Westerly winds..

our equivalent of February in the Northern hemisphere, actually...

Times have changed, they have, and we have seen days of Spring weather, warm sunshine, a few showers of rain, and yesterday the first thunderclap of the Summer Storm Season.

I am rather hoping for the return of Winter, just a little bit more, as a nine month Summer is simply Too Much!

My favourite Shoe Store closed for week to re-decorate,

and this is what I found...

All bright in orange and pink, to introduce the coming Summer stock.

It seemed wrong not to bring something home with me....

It has been a while since I showed something from the Qld. Art Gallery Collection:

Mary Norrie, Aus. 1917-2005  'Focal point' c.1971

Two 'vintage' pieces are currently on show.  An influential exponent of hard-edge and colour field abstraction in Brisbane, artist Mary Norrie uses colour and shape beautifully, to create a sense of balance and harmony.  The two paintings glow with their jewel-bright colour and are indeed a focal point in the Australian gallery right now.

Mary Norrie, Aus. Qld. 1917-2005 'Red square with stripes' 1971

'Red square with stripes' won first prize in the 1972 Brookfield Show, judged by Roy Churcher, a leading artist and teacher in the 1960s.

He was my first art teacher when I was a teen.

These works seem to me so evocative of the mid-century avant-garde, but now I find a nostalgic quality, a reminder of far-away times over 50 years ago when I was young and adventurous.

And I still love those bright pink/red tones....

Have a bright weekend

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