ART, ART AND MORE ART

Those of you who have been conscientiously following this blog know that Susan and I enjoy the Open Studio process whereby you go and explore a neighbourhood through the lens of the artists who live there. Since coming back to Perth, we have explored Stirling, Melville and Mandurah this way. On 26 October, we travelled the Hills open studio route, visiting painters and ceramists, glassworkers and eco-printers, sculpturers and metal workers in Stoneville, Mundaring, Mahogany Creek, Glen Forrest and Swan View.

Each time we go on these adventures we say to each other that we don’t need to buy anything, that looking is a pleasure in itself. But after you’ve spent time talking to the artists, there’s a creeping need to support them in financial ways as well providing admiration. Most times we can resist but this time, a few purchases were made. Susan bought some eco-prints and some greeting cards of beautiful flower paintings and I insisted on buying a clever piece of pottery to hold mosquito coils. All modest purchases. But then we blew the budget. 

We saw a beautiful piece of glasswork by SilvanaFerrario. It’s a representation of the brilliant red bottlebush bushes that are everywhere to be seen at the moment in Perth. And it also reminds me of the huge bottle brush tree we had in the back garden of the Pink House. We had to have it. And the judges at the Perth Royal Show loved it well, awarding it First Prize in the Kiln Fired Glass category.



At the end of our travels, we headed to the Swan Valley and found the House of Honey where we had good old-fashioned scones and jam and cream/butter followed by some honey tasting. Susan’s not a honey fan but even she found their strawberry infused honey tasty. The most unusual honey was rose infused honey which tasted like a mouthful of Turkish delight. A little too overwhelming. Instead, I opted for Brown Mallet, a spring honey from the Narrogin district. Brown Mallet, also called Eucalyptus Astringens, is a tall tree with almost orange bark and cream to pale lemon coloured flowers. It’s a gentle honey, the type you can eat by the spoonful.

Another delightful day exploring Perth.

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