December 11 celebrations

Settlement of my house in Bradshaw Street on December 11 (see previous post) coincided with a visit to Eureka Street from two Melbourne friends, Anne and Nathan Moshinsky. They are among several people we initially met through our mutual friend, Ross Campbell, with whom we share a love of film. (Leigh Hobbs is another - see the final photo below). Not surprisingly, Nathan and Anne were especially drawn to the cinema room on the first floor. We'd originally planned to go out for brunch. But no one wanted to leave, so we celebrated in our new home.

All artworks in the cinema room, including the trompe l'oeil painting of a figure in a doorway on the lefthand side, top, and the easel painting above, centre, are by Shane Jones.

Shane and Nathan (who is also a keen painter) were soon immersed in an in-depth discussion about art. Note Alice's attempts to distract them. When all else fails, she finds that clawking the sofa never fails to achieve the desired response.

Later that day, Shane and I drove to Melbourne for screenings of The Long Day Closes and The Neon Bible at Melbourne Cinematheque, both of which are part of the current Terrence Davies season. (Davies is one of our favourite directors). December 11 is also the birthday of my gorgeous sister-in-law, Patricia Gillard (pictured below, right) and we met her for a celebratory drink beforehand. We were briefly joined, via a series of happy coincidences, by our dear friend, Leigh Hobbs (second from right).

All in all, it was a memorable day.

A fond farewell and belated thanks

On Monday afternoon, Shane and I called into 7 Bradshaw Street, Golden Point for one last wistful look at our former home and my beloved studio (above and fourth photo below). Final inspection was the following morning and settlement took place on Wednesday, 11 December at 11 am.

The settlement nominated by the buyer was alarmingly brief - we had under three and a half weeks to vacate the studio and house. It was an intense, frequently stressful period, with little time for anything else, especially when the deadline drew disconcertingly near.

I spent my birthday on December 4 at our new place, unpacking seemingly endless piles of boxes and attempting to find homes for their various contents, while Shane remained in Bradshaw Street patching the dozens of holes where our artworks and other collections once hung. We did take some brief time out, however. In the morning, Shane took me out for breakfast and in the evening for a celebratory meal.

For Shane and I, 2019 has been dominated by a chain of moves: from his warehouse apartment in Park Street, Abbotsford, to my house in Bradshaw Street, and finally to our place in Eureka Street, Ballarat East, the first home we've owned together. It feels like it's where we're meant to be. We've still got a lot of work ahead of us, but now we can do it in our own time and at our own pace.

There are many people to thank, but first and foremost, thank you all so much for your birthday wishes, via social media, email, text and even snail mail. You brightened my day more than you'll ever know.

A house and drawing in progress

For the past several weeks, I've been juggling house moving with work, a balancing act that's becoming increasingly precarious as the settlement date for our old place approaches. Throughout this unsettling and disruptive time, drawing has provided a much-needed sense of equilibrium and continuum.

Several of the drawings will eventually form the basis for larger scale works, once the dust on our move has settled. The most recent drawing, pictured above, was started at our old place and further developed in my new studio (pictured below). Like the rest of the house, the studio is very much a work in progress. It's unlikely to remain in this minimal state for very long.

The following photos were snapped a few weeks ago, the day after Shane Jones and I got the keys to the new house. Our friends Tim Gresham and Gaye Britt popped in for an impromptu celebration that started in the cinema room on the first floor, then gravitated downstairs.

Our new home is gradually taking shape as we simultaneously cut ties with the place we called home for the past nine years. Pictured below is an updated view of our cinema room. The easel painting to the right of the windows is an trompe l'oeil work by Shane.

Alice is loving the new house and has made herself completely at home. The sculpture on the far right, below, is by Dean Bowen.

Pictured below is a cosy corner of our reading room. Originally the projection room for the cinema, it's my favourite room in the house.

On the table in the library is another trompe l'oeil painting by Shane, paired with the paperback novel, Shane, on which it's based.

On Monday morning the removalist will collect the really heavy stuff from the old house and studio, including our etching press. Setting up a shared printmaking studio/workshop in our new place will be among the challenges facing us in the new year, and beyond. The prospect is somewhat daunting. But we've already come this far, I reckon we're up for it.

SOLD

Now it's official. Special thanks to Terrence Morse and thanks to everyone for all your good wishes. Shane, Alice and I will miss this house, but are excited for the future.

Photos by Terrence Morse.

Under contract

In the middle of a busy weekend, this happened. (Photo credits: Terrence Morse and Shane Jones, who also appear in this sequence).

Re/settlement (with a little help from Alice)

Settlement of our former Abbotsford home was at 11.30 this morning. It's now officially a part of our past and we look forward to our future in Ballarat.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who sent us encouraging messages and otherwise cheered us up along the way. It's undoubtedly the most complex and gruelling move we've ever undertaken. We didn't do it alone, however. Over the last few weeks, our stress levels regularly reached new heights and our morale hit some all time lows. But no matter how often we lost our sense of humour, Alice always showed us where to find it.

Pictured at various stages of our last days at Abbotsford: Alice and Shane Jones.