Bellamys At Five Exhibition... On Now!


As I write this, Bellamys at Five will be opening at Bellamys Gallery at Macandrew Bay, Dunedin, and I wish I was able to be there as I know that it will be a delightful time with lovely people.

"Evening arriving – view from the Gallery" photo from http://bellamysatfive.wordpress.com

Macandrew Bay looks like this, and I have borrowed this image from the blog site that Ruth Arnison has put together that is about this exciting exhibition and all the artists and poets who are taking part in it. I have put a link to the blog near the top right of my blog, but here is another one.

If the exhibition was no more than just the blog that Ruth has put together, it would still have done a great service to the many artists and writers that she has featured there, but the exhibition itself will be something that reaches out and involves and touches many in the community as well. If you read Ruth's blog, you will get some idea of what this exhibition is about, but I will also quote a few lines from a letter that we received some months ago when Ruth was inviting artists to take part..

"We are a charitable trust which prints and distributes 5700 free poetry cards every season to medical waiting rooms, rest homes, hospices and prisons throughout the South Island and parts of the lower North Island. Our long-term goal is to offer the cards throughout New Zealand.  Our aim with the cards is to make people's waiting time a little less frustrating/more enjoyable and at the same time introduce or reintroduce them to the delights of poetry.

Last year’s exhibition, When North meets South, was held over three weeks in November. 12 haiku writers from the North Island each sent us 6 new haiku. We passed these on to 20 invited Otago artists ( jewellers, painters, potters, bookbinders, dressmakers, sculptors, illustrators ---) to create a work incorporating/ interpreting the haiku of their choice. You might like to read about the exhibition here; whennorthmeetssouth.wordpress.com"


(The link to this still works, so you might like to follow that one too!)

I do hope that many people in the Dunedin area make the trip out to Macandrew Bay on the Otago Peninsula, and support this exhibition. I am also looking forward to more poems appearing in Doctor's waiting rooms over the coming months!

When we visit the exhibition, I will try to take some photos for this blog. I am not quite back at work yet, but have been doing some drawing in the mornings, and an hour or so with clay some afternoons, and hope to build up the time over this month. I found myself another year older on the 29th of August, but now have a whole year before that disturbing event happens again!! Last birthday I declared myself to be 101.5, but I wonder if I would be better to shave a few years off that now?

Laura and I had a nice little lunch out on my birthday, and it was good just to enjoy her company and a simple meal together.

Comments

gz said…
A pity you can't go, it looks such a beautiful place
Peter said…
Hi Gwynneth,
It is a fantastic place, and the people that run the gallery are wonderful too. We were sad to have to miss the opening, but will attend the exhibition a little later on.
smartcat said…
Here's to completing another dance around the sun! May you enjoy many, many more!

Another place to visit if I ever do my dream trip to the southern hemisphere! It all looks terrific; thanks for the links.

I am very glad to see that you are at least able to get your toes, or fingers, into clay a little bit.
Passing out poetry cards at much needed locations, what a cool thing to do.
and a Happy Birthday to you!
Arkansas Patti said…
A belated Happy Birthday Peter. It might be Ok to go backwards from 101.5 from now on.
So sorry you can't go to the opening but good that you will make it later. I see Laura's name on the list of artists.
What a wonderfully thoughtful thing to do for people in waiting rooms which is seldom pleasant.
Glad you are getting in some time drawing and working with clay. Can't wait till you are able to work full time.
Peter said…
Hi Suzi,
"another dance around the sun", what a splendid image that is, and yes I will do my best to enjoy more of them! Hope you do manage your dream trip to the southern hemisphere, the Dunedin area is certainly worth a visit, and there is always a spare wheel here if you would like to try our local clay!

Hi Michèle,
Thanks for the Happy Birthday, it was nice to add another year to my growing collection! The poetry in waiting rooms is lovely, and the people that have organised it all do so with such a caring and generous spirit.

Hello Patti,
Nothing wrong with belated Happy Birthdays, it is nice to "blur" them over several days, before and after the event. I guess it is a bit like time travel, and quite fun to think of winding a few years off my age now.
Yes, Laura is also taking part in the exhibition, and did a lovely painting for it. I'll put a few photos up soon on the blog of work from the exhibition, including hers, and I will see if I am able to include any of the poetry (I'll have to check about copyright first).
Kind thoughts from us, and hearty meows from Nigella Stopit!
Judy Shreve said…
Happy Birthday Peter! What a lovely birthday too - celebrating with Laura.
The Bellamy Exhibit sounds delightful. Wish I were closer . . .
Also good to hear you are slowly building up your stamina and working again.
x
Peter said…
Hi Judy,
Lovely to hear from you. I actually did some painting this afternoon, the first real attempt in many years. It was very enjoyable to be painting again, and my subject was a group of wild plum trees that are in a great white sea of blossom at the moment. I thought of you as I painted, and your change from potting to painting, so it was lovely to find your comment when checked my mail just now. Px
Armelle Léon said…
Happy Birthday Peter, what a beautiful point of view, Bellamys Gallery have, nice to know you are getting better and working both with sketches and clay.
Peter said…
Bonjour Armelle,
Thank you for the Birthday wishes. Bellamys Gallery is well worth a visit, and it certainly is in a beautiful place.
It is good to be trying some painting again. I was hoping to do some more today, but the weather is very cold again. Really nice to see that you are painting also.
Kind thoughts, P, L, and NS
Sue said…
Happy birthday for the 29th!!

I have seen a Poems in the Waiting Room card, and thought it was a very cool idea.
Your name is on the line-up of artists, too. Well done.

I'm pleased you're progressing with healing, and managing a little more as the days go by.

Sue
Peter said…
Hi Sue,
Thank you for the birthday greetings:) The Poems in the Waiting Room is a lovely idea, and having some poems to read would certainly be a welcome change from the usual magazines that sit in heaps in waiting rooms!

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