Thursday, November 30, 2006

BRRRMMMMMMM

Click on the pictures for enlargification











Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Triathlon One: Harvey versus Ailsa

The triathlon season has begun and on Sunday I completed the first Challenge triathlon at West Lakes. It consisted of a 600m swim, a 19.5km bike ride and a 4km run.

Conditions on the day were perfect sunny warm and no real breeze. Jumping in the water was only as bad, temperature wise, as our local heated pool on a cold day. After swimming off and while bumping into the rest of the field as they headed north, I thought “Why am I Doing This”. But then I just got on with it and soon the buoy marker for the end of that leg appeared and I was running up the beach heading for transition.

I was quick in the transition zone for once, even remembering where my bike was and not fumbling with stuff. Out on the road I kept the pace between 30 and 36kph but in spots there was a breeze and my speed hovered in the mid-20s.

After three 6.5km laps around the lake area it was time to go back through transition, deposit the bike back on the rack and slide into the running shoes. Again I found my place without any trouble and stumbled off.

My legs were still in riding mode and they really were not interested in changing from a revolving motion to a striding action. After about two kilometres of forcing my legs to do what I wanted they gave up a bit and I found the run a bit easier. After completing the 3km loop it was time to run the 1km lap and while puffing profusely I crossed the finishing line.

In the pool the week previously my calf muscle had cramped up on two different occasions. My legs only got a day of rest before the event and I was concerned that I’d get cramp during the race. While I was on the bike and again while I was running I felt cramp ‘tingles’ but luckily it didn’t strike.

The results were published late on Monday night. Ailsa, who I used to swim with at the Aquatic Centre and at Norwood, also competed in the triathlon on Sunday. Last year we both did a couple of races over the same distance and she always beat me by a few minutes – but by the end of the season I was catching up with her. On Sunday I caught up completely. In the swim I was 44 seconds faster than her and then I gained another 9 seconds in the ride. But on the run she clawed back my lead by 32 seconds. I finished 105th out of the field of 146 in a time of 1:09:02 while Ailsa finished 110th in a time of 1:09:25. We both compete in the 40-44 age group. I did the 600m swim in 12:40, the 19.5km ride in 36:14 and the run in 20:08.

The next triathlon is on December 17.

Click on the pictures to see them enlargified (See an online dictionary of Bushisms)







Monday, November 13, 2006

Bon Mot Du Jour

Every great family and estate needs a coat of arms and a motto. Just think of the Medicis, the House of Hanover . . . . Brad and Angelique. I felt the need to create a coat of arms and to find us a motto on Saturday while I was writing up a menu for a dinner party we were giving that night.
So we have writing in an 'olde' Gothic script and the coat of arms is a prancing horse in front of a chequered flag. Established 1975, as that was when our great estate was built, and the motto? If you can Google you can probably find out. I don't think this will be the final coat of arms and motto but it's a start.

David cooked up a storm on Saturday night, as you can see from the menu. The food was just superb.

Click to enlarge.


Exhibitionism VI

Six Appeal, the art exhibition I'm participating in, opened last Wednesday - November 8. We each had, more or less, a room for our own work. I had 15 items displayed plus my budget Fridge Art series (see list in previous 'Exhibitionism' post). The opening went well. Lots of people came through and the wine ran out pretty quickly. David and I took some photos during the night.

They are of:
Dining at the Tin Cat Cafe once the exhibition had been opened. From the left and round the table is David, Malcolm, Terry, Francis, Putu, Keith, Gary, Heather, Dani, Bruce and Will.
Fanny Jacobsen opening the exhibition. Fanny is artistic director of the Feast Festival.
Me, Michael, Ann and their son Thomas in front of 'On Reflection . . .'
Kenneth (centre) with Mandi on the right and her Mum on the left.
Francis in conversation upstairs in the formal gallery space.
Out in the courtyard with the dwindling wine supply.







Monday, November 06, 2006

Exhibitionism V

Here are the pictures of the hanging at the Tin Cat. No, not a scaffold, large lynching tree or yardarm in sight. The only thing that was hung was the artwork. They would have been included in the last post but the batteries went flat on my camera and the spares proved to be flat also. Pictures are of David at work on the walls and Alan and John upstairs busily hanging Alan's artwork.



Sunday, November 05, 2006

Exhibitionism IV



The picture above is of me with a pile of my pictures ready to be transported to the gallery. Seeing I've called this series of blog posts 'Exhibitionism' I thought I'd add a bit of the real thing into the mix.

I got hung today. My 'artwork' for the exhibition went up on the walls at the Tin Cat Cafe. I've got the back room which has worked out well as that room is quite large and airy, and as my pieces are large and colourful they get a lift from the space and the light. The walls are white in that room too, which helps. David did most of the technical hanging work. We had some wonderful assisstance from Kelly who is an artist. She arrived with Marlene, who was down from Quorn. Kelly really helped us with getting all the pieces sorted and looking good on the walls. It was great too that Marlene could see the work. Some of the stuff features pictures from around Quorn.

I've seen everyone else's work now, and it's all spectacular. It's all just beautiful.

Gary has taken illustrations from old books, like the Readers Digest, and makes them into lovely retro-looking collages that tell a new story. Keith, a photographer, has taken the most beautiful pictures of men and paired them with a texture picture like flowers or a fabric in romantic sepia tones. Mark has taken some photos of Sydney beaches and subjected them to a 3-D technique with gives the most wonderful illusion. Alan is the most traditional of all, he uses oils. His canvases are dark and feature intense reds and yellows - it's all very volcanic and passionate. Heather has taken some intimate photos and they're small so you need to get close and LOOK. Her other series is a number of words embroidered onto photo rag in gold and they look sensational. I'm in remarkable company. I hope they like my stuff! I wouldn't want to be letting the side down.

Below is the list of my alleged 'artworks'. Alleged as it's up to others to credit them with that status not me. I just made some pictures.

Six Appeal Exhibition

Harvey Schiller

Canvases

Limited edition prints on canvas. 10 available of each apart from ‘The Red Room’. All are number one of ten apart from ‘The Red Room’ which is number two of ten.

‘Pegs’, 2005. Digital Image on Canvas.75cm x 100cm. $430.

‘On Reflection . . .’ 2006. Digital Image on Canvas.75cm x 100cm. $430.

‘Apocalyse on Rundle’ 2006. Digital Image on Canvas.75cm x 100cm. $430.

‘The Red Room’ 2006. Digital Image on Canvas.75cm x 100cm. $430.

‘Bundaleer Forest’ 2006. Digital Image on Canvas.84cm x 38cm. $350.

Series

‘Apocalypse on Rundle’ , 2006. Digital Image on Art Paper Using Archival Quality Inks & Watercoulour. Image size -14cm x 19cm. Frame size - 18.5cm x 23.5cm. $55 each.
Individual titles: Photo; Watercolour; Building; Sign; Rhino.

Photographs

‘Lifesaver’s Box’, 2006. Digital Image on Photopaper. Image Size - 23cm x 18cm. Frame - 40cm x 31cm. $85.

‘Air’, 2006. Digital Image on Photopaper. Image Size 23cm x 18cm. Frame Size 40cm x 31cm. $85.

‘Chairs’, 2006. Digital Image on Photopaper. Image Size 23cm x 18cm. Frame Size 40cm x 31cm. $85.

‘At the Sands’, 2006. Digital Image on Photpaper. Image Size 17cm x 13cm. Frame Size 31cm x 22cm. $70.

‘Concrete Thinking’, 2006. Digital Image on Photopaper. Image size 12cm x 17cm. Frame Size 18.5cm x 23.5cm. $60.