Sometimes, things move me to the point of tears. Come on, I know you’ve been there - an old European man limps down your street and your heart skips a beat, or your puppy yelps dejectedly from the other room because she can’t jump up onto the bed. A few years ago, I saw a wonderful documentary about Mark Rothko that made me feel that same sadness with the grandness and scale of his work, the moodiness… And then I saw the real thing at the MOMA and all I could do was sit and stare and feel as though I was watching an old European man as he limped down the street.
Lonely.
Wintry.
Empty.
My heart skips a beat.
And then this week JJ and I attended the opening of Julia DeVille’s new exhibition (alongside William Griffiths) at the Sophie Gannon Gallery in Richmond – “Night’s Plutonian Shore”. Inspired by Poe’s “The Raven” it’s a voyage into the artist’s inspirational world of life and death.
Disturbing? Sometimes.
But also poignant, whimsical and, surprisingly, optimistic.
We can only HOPE that we, too, will end our days here with jewels in our eyes.
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So for weeks now, JJ has been teasing me about how he’s got me the best birthday present ever and how he’s completely outdone himself. Now, I happen to find that hard to believe because, well, here’s a very short list of the birthday presents I’ve received from him over the years:
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Shopping trip to Penang. I know. It’s pretty freaking extravagant , but seriously, it’s just that we have no kids. And anyway, I saved us SO much money buying fashion in Asia.
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Red and black cord coat from Dizingof
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A necklace from William Griffiths not too dissimilar to this one (except mine has a heart instead of a gun!)
So he’s pretty good, right?
Well, I have to say that all that stuff is pretty ordinary compared to this year’s pressie on a number of fronts. I mean, he ACTUALLY managed to keep it a secret, and even managed to get Momo and Tim to keep it secret.
When Momo was in town recently after her superstar jaunt to the Australian Fashion Festival, I yelled at her thus:
“Tell me what he freaking got me for my birthday.”
To which she replied:
“No”
I don’t care for surprises, just like I don’t like to know what I’m having for dinner. There have been many disapproving conversations with JJ that have gone something like this:
JJ: What do you want for dinner?
Me: Oh I dunno, can’t you just decide?
JJ: How about macadamia chicken?
Me: Really? Can it get any more caloric?
JJ: Asian noodle soup with silverbeet?
Me: Silverbeet, hey? Hmm, sounds boring.
JJ: [Big annoyed sigh] Steak and salad.
Me: Hmmm…
JJ: Forget it. I’m just going to make something and you’ll love it.
It’s true. I mostly do love it.
I prefer a surprise when I don’t know I’m getting one. By all means, surprise me, just don’t let me know about it because it’ll drive me crazy!
But it was all worth it this year because BEHOLD!
JJ COMISSIONED A PIECE OF ART BY ONE OF MY FAVOURITE ARTISTS, CHRISTINA GORDON. You may have noticed a link to her artwork on this site. She’s glorious and talented and I love her and I love this! Its called “Yoyo and Peaches perform“. How clever of her to know that Peaches would be the one jumping through the hoop while Yoyo cowers… THANK YOU JJ AND THANK YOU CHRISTINA.
Oh yeah, my birthday’s in a few weeks… He couldn’t keep it a secret that long.
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