Coastal Journey : Arty Places#14

Towards Nobbys Lighthouse

In my series of blog posts about "Arty Places" the iconic Nobbys Lighthouse is the latest... right in the heart of the city where I live and I didn't really appreciate its beauty until I walked up to the lighthouse last Saturday.

from Nobbys Lighthouse

Harbour entrance, from Nobbys Lighthouse

The day was perfect - clear skies providing a palette for the occasional fluffy cloud, a sea breeze singing of Spring,and the lighthouse shining white at the top of the headland. The lighthouse is usually open to the public only on Sundays and is a popular tourist attraction, adopted as a symbol of Newcastle. It wasn't always ...

Historical image fromlakescan.com.au

Captain James Cook was the first European to note Nobbys Island from the ship "Endeavour" in 1770,and was described by Cook as "a small clump of an island lying close to shore". It was not until the discovery of coal by Europeans in 1797 by Lt. John Shortland, however, that the region was viewed as having any significance. From its early beginnings as an isolated island, Nobbys has changed significantly over the years. Nobbys was joined to the mainland and then reduced to half its original height, now 27.5 metres.
With its prominent position at the entrance to the Port, a lighthouse was built and just after midnight
on the 1st January 1858, the light came into operation. At that time, the light burnt China Tea Oil,
which gave a more brilliant light than kerosene and was less dangerous. It was later replaced by a fixed, incandescent kerosene vapour lamp. In 1935 the 100,000 candlepower light was changed to 580,000 candlepower, visible at a height of 35 metres above sea level.When Governor Macquarie ordered a pier to be built to join Nobbys to the mainland, convict labourwas chosen to do the construction.The building of the pier was a hazardous job with the convicts having to work under all sea andweather conditions, night and day. Many lives were lost to the sea during the 38 years it took to build. The rock taken from Nobbys to reduce its height was used in the pier's construction. (information from www.lakescan.com.au)

In June 2007, we joined the professional and amateur photographers from all over the world, trying to get the best image of the lighthouse headland when the Pasha Bulker ran aground on Nobbys Beach ...

Back to the present.... The walk up to the lighthouse has wonderful scenes to savour - I loved to stop and look at the flowers and the rocks .... and I was catching my breath!

And here is where the "arty" connection is and the real reason for taking the walk to Nobbys - the lighthouse was host to "Coastal Journeys", an exhibition by artists from the Hunter Arts Network. The opening was a tribute to the Aboriginal significance of Nobbys and the legend of the angry kangaroo still residing at Nobbys was retold by Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon who officiated at the opening. ( PS my work is visible in the background)

Nothing more to say about a coastal journey to Nobbys but to quote Australian poet, Judith Wright...

Turn home, the sun goes down; swimmer, turn home.

Last leaf of gold vanishes from the sea-curve.
Take the big roller’s shoulder, speed and serve;
come to the long beach home like a gull diving.

Bilby Infatuation

Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016 Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...

Non-Committal Collage Anything Goes

Have you heard of non-committal collage? I hadn't until one of the other participants of the 100 Day Project started doing this each day and showing the results.... Here are Peggy's rules : 1. S elect 9 scraps of paper from collage box/stash 2. Make three different compositions using each scrap at least once. (some pieces can be used more than once) 3. Do not alter the scraps of paper in any way. 4.Do not use glue. 5.Take photo, disassemble and return scraps to box. I thought this would be a fun and quick exercise to do for Tag Tuesday's theme , Anything Goes... so here are my "non-committal collage" tags.... Did you spot the nine pieces? Would you like to suggest some titles? And I repeated the exercise before putting back the 9 scraps of paper, so these are different items. Hope you will try this exercise - it is lots of...

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

Background Information: Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap. 2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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