Few more updates . . .
- Made my first sale in my Etsy shop today – very exciting! I finished off two new anklets last night in a new style, so I should have those up and posted in the next few days and I’ll be working on some coin belts for belly dancers soon.
- Bruno has updated his website with details on the family’s rebuilding plans and some amazing photos of the aftermath of the fires. It’s incredible how there’s still so much beauty in such destruction. You can pre-order new copies of his book too.
- And from the man who documented the dino invasion of Aukland comes the latest threat to the peace-loving city – paper cuteness on buses!
This guy's clearly VERY DANGEROUS!
Then All was Gone . . .
It’s hard to describe the extent of the devastation right now – both that of the land in the wake of the flames and that which we’re feeling right now as the images and stories come to hand. I rang my parents this afternoon and the whole family were despondent: my sister in tears, Mum on the verge of them, and Dad sounding very flat and depressed. They’re donating their caravan to the homeless, and Dad’s four-wheel drive club will probably assist with recovery and rebuilding over the next year, but for us here in Melbourne there’s an overwhelming feeling of helplessness and grief. And while my heart goes out to everyone affected – human or animal – seeing Marysville razed just broke my heart.
You might remember I posted about going for a drive to Marysville a few months ago and visiting Bruno’s Art and Sculpture Garden. I’ve heard reports today that it is now, like the rest of the town, gone. I can only hope Bruno and his family are safe and in time they can rebuild again, but if anyone has any photos from Marysville or any of the places now razed, I urge you to put them up on the web so they’ll never be forgotten. Seeing the blacken, sparse trunks flashed across the news, you could almost forget the dense, flourishing cold-climate rainforest that once stood there and with the climate getting warmer and drier here in Victoria, what grows back may never be the same.
So in this spirit, here are my photos from Bruno’s place again. They were only taken with my phone camera, but hopefully they will give you some idea of what a magical place it was.
Day Tripper
Yesterday I went on a daytrip out to Marysville: had a cold but pleasant lunch with some Currawongs below the snow line at Lake Mountain, then came back down to Marysville and went to Bruno’s Art and Sculpture Garden. It is really worth the trip. Seriously. Hell, just drive out there one day just to go to this place. His work is so gentle, magical and whimsical, free from pretension and full of humour, inspired by his many journeys around the world. And it’s art for art’s sake too, not to be sold but to be shared with all.
You can see more of his work on his website here, but here’s a slideshow of some of the photos I took there:
