My son Kai and his lovely girlfriend Samantha has just left on a week’s holiday to Tasmania, which is an Island approximately 240 km from the mainland separated by Bass Strait.  They will visit Hobart, Launceston and Cradle Mountain among others, and that reminds me of a family holiday that we took a few years ago there as a family.  This acrylic painting called “Life wasn’t meant to be Breezy”  (which sold in Japan) depicts a tiny bit of the “weather” that we came across on our travels.

We as usual had the most marvelous time, spent much of it laughing and the other making ourselves sick on Devon-shire tea and scones which is something they sold in quaint little cafes at what seemed to be around every corner of the Tasmanian forest.  That “one” had to go on a diet when we got home was a given!

THE ART OF THE SWEET TOOTH

In Hobart where we visited the former women’s prison called the “Female Factory” which had been turned into a fudge factory, go figure!  In the 1800s there had been some 12,000 women and children imprisoned there, it later became a “House for imperial lunatics” and a hospital for contagious diseases and a boys reformatory.  With such a history it seems strange that it now produces yummy tasting fudge and truffles and the like.

A SAD DAY

We also visited Port Arthur which was the prison that the hardest of the British and Irish criminals were sent to during the 1800s.  It is situated some 60 km along the coast from Hobart and is Tasmania’s top tourist attraction.  What makes this an even eerier experience is that it is also the place of Australia’s worst mass murder in 1996, when Martin Bryant went berserk and killed 35 women, children and men and wounded another 21 people.   A very tragic and fascinating story that had the whole country holding it’s collective breath for a couple of days.  If you would like to read more about that here is the link on Wikipedia

MORE ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

We had a hire car and visited Bicheno where they run nightly Fairy Penguin tours and you can see the little creatures returning from a day out at sea and coming back to their nest at night, so very cute waddling up their burrows.  Another interesting bit was the spectacular iridescent light that was moving and flickering all around in the water, which was some sort of sea lice from what I remember.

On our travels we also went to a brilliant maze made for adults where we ran around and had so much fun and of course there were some Devonshire tea and scones involved as well, lol.  We also visited a seahorse farm which fascinated me, but the rest of the family remembers that as a bit ho hum!  Well you cannot please all the people all the time.

MORE PAINTING IDEAS TO COME

One adventure we all rate as first class was the days spent at Cradle Mountain where we stayed in a cabin and whilst hubby made the dinner, the kids and I were playing detectives in the dark searching by torch light for the Tasmanian Devils which we thought we saw around every bush but never actually found in the wild.  Cradle Mountain is found in the St Clair National park, a mountain of 1,545 meters above the sea level and has a beautiful ruggered terrain and Australia’s deepest lake.  Dove Lake has a boardwalk right around it which makes it an easy 2.45 hour walk that we cut our teeth on, so to speak.

Then we decided to do the Cradle Mountain Summit Bush Walk which is a 5 and a half hours return, why not, this bush walking business is easy isn’t it?  We were warned that the weather could all of a sudden become inclement and snow, but we thought they were going overboard with their warnings as it was a summers day warm with the temperature in the 20’s.  So hubby made us all sandwiches and other delights and we reluctantly took a jacket each and set off on the adventure.

THE ART OF LOOKING SERIOUSLY STUPID

We were cursing the jacket advice as it was boiling hot climbing up huge dolerite boulders like a mountain goats and contemplating leaving them somewhere to pick up later.  Anyway we persevered and finally got to Marions Lookout with a magnificent view over much of northern Tasmania, where we decided to eat our picnic.  We were thoroughly enjoying the scenery and watching some other hikers along the path when suddenly without a warning the weather turned treacherous and an icy cold wind came from nowhere and it started to rain and hail.  What the?  How could this be, we scrambled to take shelter among the rocks and the only thing we could put on our heads were 4 plastic sandwich bags, lol.  All the while the other hikers pulled out very fancy professional hiker’s ultra light pants and jackets from their backpacks, goggles, hats and gloves – whilst we sat shivering behind some rocks like idiots with bread bags on our heads!  My husband even had a little pile of crumbs on his head when he took the bag off!

The temperature must have gotten below zero and we were seriously considering our options when just as suddenly the bad weather past by and turned to spring.  This time we took more notice of all the signs and marked cabins should we need to seek shelter again, and thanked our lucky stars at least we had taken the jackets with us.  All’s well that ends well.

Here is a quote by Patrick Young which fits in here:

“The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all or maybe mountain climbing,

Love Marie xxx   (c)

If you enjoyed this travel and Art blog you may also enjoy this one; 155 The Art of Packing Light

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

I first met Shamus Liptrot when my daughter was in primary school and he was one of those kids who you instantly liked, he had a big cheeky grin, bubbly personality, always really polite and friendly and full of fun, well regarded by teachers, parents and the other children.  In fact I have never heard a bad word said about him, ever.

If there was something going on and some fun to be had Shamus would be there, if a photo was taken he would rush in at the last moment and with a cheeky grin steal the show!

Shamus was an all rounder, great academically, during school games and races, playing basketball – yes good at all sports whether in a team or trying to better his personal best in Little Athletics.

When it came to swimming in primary school Shamus was of course in the top group – deep end, so it was my privilege to have both him and my daughter Hillivi in my group as I taught swimming during the summer months.  Shamus would be first across the pool and looking up at me waiting for the next instruction and goes without saying that he came away with lots of ribbons and medals from his swimming efforts as well.

ART ON A BIKE

It therefore was no surprise to any of us when we started to see Shamus and his dad riding on racing bikes around Balaklava and Halbury and of course he took to that like a duck to water.  It was only a matter of time before he got noticed as a new young talent by the powers that be and was offered a Scholarship by the South Australian Sports Institute, where he rode for Team O’grady.

However it was in December 2007 during the Devonport Carnival in Tasmania when the unthinkable happened and Shamus was catapulted into the air, over a fence and into a light pole.  I think the whole of the Mid North held their breath collectively until we found out that he was off the critical list.

Then came months and months of rehabilitation whereby Shamus’ only form of communication was by blinking then progressing to writing on a board and finally learning to talk and walk and best of all getting back on that bike – as yet only a stationary one.

DETERMINATION AS AN ART

What was so remarkable about Shamus was he never lost that determination, spirit and optimism during this whole ordeal.  Instead he would rise at 5.30 and ride the exercise bike for an hour, followed by exercises on a mat, attend school and do homework and then back on the bike before bed.

It was only in the last 2 months that he was able transfer himself unaided from the walking frame to that bike, a major achievement.  Although as you know by now Shamus was used to achievements and since his accident he not only achieved 2 merit awards in 2 subjects in year 12, but also received the local BAC award for Youth Achievement on Australia day and the Ronald McDonald House Charities awarded him the Charlie Bell Scholarship of $5,000 as well as an all expenses paid trip to New Zealand.

Of course a lot of the credit for raising this incredible human being needs to be directed towards his fabulous parents Patricia and Malcolm Liptrot, for I have never seen two more loving or dedicated parents ever.  Shamus was their only child and they dropped everything in their own lives to spend the last 3 and a half years constantly by his side attending to his every need.  Not that they would agree nor accept this accolade as they are ever so humble and unassuming people.

The frightfully tragic news reached me the day after Mother’s Day 2011 when Hillivi called and it took a couple of minutes before I could understand her distraught message that Shamus had died.  It was the last thing I was expecting to hear especially as he had been making such great progress.  I cannot even begin to imagine how his parents are feeling at this time and my heart hurts for them.

THE ART OF CYCLING

It is comforting to hear Cycling SA executive director Max Stevens suggestion to strike a new medal in honor of Shamus Liptrot, who in his words were inspirational, dedicated and committed.  If the world press is anything to go by, he certainly made his mark across the globe as his tragic death is reported even as far away as Sweden.

I know people mean well when they say that God needed another angel up there in heaven, but I cannot get the words of Nicole Kidman’s character in Rabbit Hole out of my mind, who said;

“If God needed another angel – why didn’t he just make one, he is God after all”

Till next time

Love Marie xxx   (c)

If you would like to read a uplifting art blog about success against all odds with a happy ending here is a link 67. One Amazing Woman & Art

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALEand SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.