Christmas in Sydney

Its been a few years since we were in Sydney for Christmas and I am glad to be home and to finally have a bit of time to relax.  We catch up with friends in the lead up to Christmas and celebrate with our friends Anita and Mario who have opened up a new cafe in Berowra Waters just in time to celebrate their 24th wedding anniversary.

The lead up to Christmas is rocked by an incident at the popular Lindt cafe.  A lone gun man takes the cafe goes hostage and two people end up losing their lives as the rest of the hostages are freed.  It is an awful incident and in the next week, Martin Place is full of tributes and messages to the two people who lost their lives.



The weather is warming up and we decide we want to get to some events this summer.  I’ve never been to carols in the domain so we decide to tick that one off the bucket list. We arrive a little late but we manage to squeeze our picnic blanket on what seems like the only bit of grass left.  It’s a nice warm and dry evening - perfect for enjoying a bit of Christmas music.

Christmas is once again celebrated with both of our families.  Christmas eve with my sister and Christmas day with Steve’s extended clan although this year Con, Chrissa and the kids are in Hawaii.

Thankfully, we have good weather on Christmas day, and we spend a relaxed afternoon at Jim and Eleni’s, as they host the festivities.  We catch up with Eleni’s friend Penelope, visiting from Greece and tuck into lamb on the spit and many other goodies.

We see the New Year in on the water again.  We have booked tickets from the ferry at Rosebay and after enjoying some great Thai food, we watch the fireworks explode over Sydney.  Happy 2015!

North Sydney Pop Up

Fate or Destiny has been doing the rounds in Sydney.  After being at the Newcastle gallery for 6 weeks, it moved to the Pine Street Gallery in Chippendale while I was in Sri Lanka.  Now, it is time to install it at the North Sydney Pop Up, where we are collaborating with a number of other artists.  The Pop Up initiative is being taken up by a number of Councils and is a wonderful opportunity for artists to showcase their work in different parts of Sydney.

The space in North Sydney is a great location.  There are many locals who stop by to have a peek and a few office workers who stop by during their lunch break.  The three artists we are sharing this space with are Victoria Chu, a shoe maker, Jon Watkins who makes cigar box guitars and John Wright, a sculptor.  We’ve met them through our friends Myff and Peter who live in Brooklyn.  Peter is also an artists and his work has also hung in the Pop Up.  I am
the guest artist for December, so I am given lots of space and a couple of the images are also on show in the window.

On Thursday, the 4th of December we have an opening.  The event has been advertised through North Sydney Council and quite a few people turn up.  The atmosphere is great.  There’s lots of wine and beer to help the evening along and a DJ livens up the mood outside with a great selection of music.

This must be my lucky night as a passer by walks in and decides to purchase my lead image - Fate or Destiny.  It is an striking piece and many people have often remarked on the colours and the composition.

During our time here we get to John, Vic and Jon.  John’s sculpture David sits outside and people stop to admire it and pin a Christmas message on it.  It is a great piece that draws people into the shop.  My photographs in the window are also a good attraction.  Vic holds workshops for various people who are keen to learn how to make their own sandals.  The class is popular and brings another set of visitors into the shop on Saturdays.  Jon’s guitars are colourful and each has its own design and many people are curious about how they were made and if they can be played...yes they can!

Our time at the Pop Up goes quickly and soon it is time to shut up shop for Christmas but for Fate or Destiny, the journey is only beginning.