Jasmine's Artwalk

It has been so long since I posted here….no good reason, just a lot going on, and no words to write.  But fortunately, it all culminated in a very special event, as posted below.

Jasmine’s Artwalk

On Saturday 9^th March, we had an event in honour of my 91 year old mother, Jasmine Lawrence, who has been an artist most of her life but has never really put her art out on display in any big way.  Her paintings, pottery and poetry have been part of our lives for as long as any of her children can remember, but an idea starting forming in my  mind years ago that it would be good to have some sort of informal “exhibition” of her work. 

The "big cabin"

Looking back, I’m not sure how it even came to be; it’s as if it evolved all by itself, like an idea that was going to come to full germination no matter what, we just had to hold the reins and guide the energy in the desired direction.  You could almost say it was effortless, except for the amount of work that went into it.  But it was joyous, passionate work, knowing you were moving towards something like magic.

View of the Jordan River Valley

When my oldest daughter came to Tasmania for the summer after finishing Uni in Melbourne (and before heading off overseas on a one way ticket) the idea started to gel – she is a great organizer and event planner and I knew we’d work well as a team.  I can barely remember how the conversation with my mother happened – it seems like Laura and I hardly even discussed it, but next thing we knew we had floated a few ideas to my Mum, she had agreed, and we started down the road that ended at this unique and magical event. 

I always knew that it would be at Pelham, her lovely bush property about an hour from Hobart; that it would be an Artwalk - casual, friendly, informal; that the weather would be perfect; that a wide range of people would show up, some of whom didn’t even know Mum but had some sort of connection with her or her family, or Pelham.  I knew that the food would be delicious, courtesy of my nephew and friends with their cooking artistry; that the music would be just right, courtesy of my singer/songwriter neice and her band; that people would stroll the property, champagne in hand, mesmerized by the view, and admiring the paintings, poetry and pottery on display in unusual bush settings.

We invited David Walsh, founder of MONA.  He didn’t show, but if he had, I think he would have been impressed by this extraordinary event, at an extraordinary location for an extraordinary woman.

Thanks for listening...

Guerilla Zingari

Rosie

Jasmine Lawrence