Womankind

Community 101 DECORATION CHALLENGE

Day three: Today, a simple deco- each other while we eat (plus a side the usual paraphernalia for living,
rating aim to conclude the challenge table for our printer to sit on rather crowded with artworks and objects
- to make things more comfortable. than the box it came in a year ago), collected over the years, plus far too
Tom reshuffles things in the media have elevated our pride in our home many keepsakes, books, and records.
room and I work on my study and and its ability to be a haven rather I started at the front door and moved
move the indoor plants around. Or- than a place to simply exist. through the house, throwing any-
chids on my desk are repositioned thing rarely used into a box for the op
to make the best use of sunlight, the With a glass of chardonnay shop or finding a better place to store
philodendron moves to the bath- in hand, we happily survey our it. It became obvious that finding a
room, the monstera to the mantel- handiwork over the past few days spot for things in a cupboard or draw-
piece in the bedroom. Plants seem to - a clean, less cluttered deck where er necessitated clearing those out as
appreciate a change of scene as much the plants already look healthier; a well. It was clutter all the way down.
as humans do. neater media room where the TV
has been elevated; a study/office The veranda was relatively easy.
As I move about my home, I that is clean and inviting; a kitch- I threw out the ratty shopping bags
think about why I don’t prioritise en and dining area that looks like and dried up tubes of sunscreen in
comfort as much as I should, or why a place where conversations can the hall stand seat and used the space
I have struggled to do so. I spent 11 take place and I may be able to plan to store the bike and gardening gear.
years in London, and have now been more meals that need to be eaten The lounge was clear apart from scat-
back in Australia for nearly three. I with a knife and fork, rather than tered records and books. After a re-
tolerated discomfort in London be- bowl food as has been the fallback cent ‘music night’ records lay across
cause there was often no alternative. for the past two years due to the pre- the couch and coffee table. I played
The only flats Tom and I could af- vious table’s instability. But it wasn’t some old favourites while I matched
ford came with thin walls and noisy the table’s fault - for I was using it albums with their sleeves and covers.
neighbours; rats in the courtyard, and for a purpose for which it was never
rooms that could only accommodate designed. And this challenge has In the late afternoon I walked
the bare minimum of furniture. Eve- taught me that too. My home is far with a friend. It was lovely return-
ry morning I got on crowded trains more harmonious when I don’t force ing home and coming into the front
to my office, and every night we sat anything, myself and my husband room. It seemed more light, and in-
on a small, saggy sofa that had lost its included, to be something it isn’t. viting than it had for a long time. A
shape so long ago you could feel the bunch of sweet peas from the garden
frame through it, not unlike sitting For that revelation alone, this shone out instead of being lost in the
on the bony knee of a relative when has been a worthwhile challenge in- usual disorder.
you’re a child. deed.
Day two: I thought a lot about
So, to live in a detached house Merren the physical and psychological as-
has been a revelation. I recall read- Ricketson pects of decluttering last night. My
ing a horoscope some years ago, mother suffered from bipolar dis-
when I was fed up with noisy neigh- Day one: Woke early, keen to order. We always knew when she
bours, sleepless nights and long declutter and beautify the house. was going down. The usual chaotic,
commutes, which urged me to make This seemed fitting on Melbourne’s creative clutter in her house would
being comfortable a priority. A nice first day out of lockdown! After be gone. In her desperation to fight
bed, a couch that didn’t sag - want- 35 years, our home is filled with descending into darkness she would
ing these things wasn’t a crime, the sweep everything away. She’d always
horoscope told me. Needless to say, I done it. I have no toys or books from
ignored that advice and carried on. my childhood. I wondered if my
crammed study was a reaction.
It has taken a long time for us to
believe that prioritising our comfort It’s a small room. Bookcases line
is OK. And even the simplest things one side. Bric-a brac, figurines, pho-
- a new dining table so we can make tos, cards and ornaments obscure
pasta again, butter toast and look at the book titles. Opposite is my desk
and other furniture, all arrayed with

DECORATION CHALLENGE 102 Community

‘artefacts’. Paintings are double- to be passed on, and filled empty programmes are still on the table.
hung, photos and postcards are stuck shoeboxes with stray broken mugs Last night, my 17-year-old son Kyle
onto walls. As my daughter Hannah and bowls. And I dusted. openly expressed his shock at his
quipped once, “it’s good to see all this realisation that I have a degree. He
stuff, but do we have to see it all at Does the house look more beau- had thought I had gone to university
once?” I moved the knickknacks to tiful, feel better as a result of this “for a month or so”. Admittedly, it
a shelf and put the wall photos into challenge? I think so. And it appears is difficult to imagine someone with
a folder. But the main challenge was easier to keep less cluttered now that so many piles of unfinished projects
the ‘piles’ covering the floor. A bag I’ve started. There have been times completing long-term study. Some
of catalogues and articles for the of nostalgia and reflection during of these projects have been travel-
Women’s Art Register, the box of stuff these past three days of sorting and ling back and forth between Taiwan
for my brother in Sydney, toys ready decluttering, and a renewed appre- and New Zealand with me the whole
for our new granddaughter, books for ciation of the beauty around me. time I have been married, and all
the local street library and folders of that travel has taken its toll on them.
unread newspaper cuttings. Leonard Cohen’s words have of- My mother sometimes sighs about
ten come to mind, “There’s a crack, a my father’s stacks of paper that form
So today was sorting, with lots of crack in everything... That’s how the around him wherever he spends time.
reading. I scanned and binned most light gets in….” I could understand if my husband
of the newspaper articles. I read let- sighed about my stacks of paper too.
ters and postcards, many from over Katrina
30 years ago. I decided to return Brown Choosing a pile to reorder, I redis-
some to their senders so they could cover snippets of half-finished poetry.
retrace old paths. It was an afternoon Day one: My mission is simple This month, I have had my poetry
of vicarious travel to far flung cities but ongoing: I want to be tidier. I published for the first time - the New
and towns, with long walks and spec- take a deep breath and stride over to Zealand Poetry Society has accepted
tacular train journeys. I put most of my roller desk, an unassuming piece two of my haiku. I find a pretty box
the piles into my car to deliver in the of furniture tucked in the corner of and place each sheet of verse inside.
coming weeks. The room is a work in our living room. Its drawers are open
progress that fills me with joy. like the mouths of dragons, tongues Day two: After my morning
of notebooks, posters, and documents shower, I enter my walk-in-closet to
Day three: During lockdown last spilling out on to the floor, the couch, find some clothing. In January 2020,
year I started making mosaics. I am the coffee table. What is all this stuff I reluctantly agreed that my 13-year-
finishing two bird baths on a large actually doing here? Little stickers old daughter and I would spend
table. Around this are containers of claiming, “I love Taipei”, sticky notes three months in Taiwan caring for
smashed and cut china, stacks of bro- decorated with cartoons of the For- my mother-in-law, who had Stage 4
ken plates and bowls, cracked teapots mosan Black Bear. I bought these on Stomach Cancer. Hannah and I were
and vases, bags of grout and tools. our 2019 visit to Taiwan when I was due to come home last April, but
The room is already very beautiful as still kidding myself that I would re- COVID hit and flights back to New
it is filled with art created by friends turn to my job as a preschool teacher Zealand were stopped for 10 months.
and family. Small sculptures made by after a three-month break. Now, I run Separated from half of our family unit
a friend hang on the wall alongside creative workshops for youth, and and being sole carers of Ama, we
paintings and drawings, some by my posters I made for our recent holiday went through a reinvention. Hav-
kids. Pieces of my late father’s pottery ing travelled with only a small bag
sit beside labelled shoeboxes filled of winter clothing each, we had to
with family photographs - another purchase whole new wardrobes. It’s
lockdown project. taken nearly a year to settle back into
New Zealand life, and the clothes
So I had an afternoon of potter- don’t quite fit the environment, but
ing and making small changes to en- I’m determined to reorganise and
hance the room even further. I tidied make them feel at home, so I find
things on the worktable, rearranged some hangers and get on with it.
Dad’s pots, selected a few more books

Community 103 DECORATION CHALLENGE

Once my Taiwan and New Zea- our home. It took Hannah and me days I notice different things while
land clothes are nestled together on three attempts to get on a plane I’m outside and today it is roses. The
the rack, I can see under my dresser. back to New Zealand. That meant profusion of them is hard to miss.
There is a thick pile of family photos, we packed and unpacked our Taiwan Once picked and in a vase, they sit
still a random mess nearly a year since lives for two false starts. I didn’t see beside me on my dining room table
coming back with me on the plane Hannah take a photo of my chaotic as I write. Bringing them inside, out
and through managed isolation. room that third, last time. It placed of the harsh sun, also feels a little
Looking through them kept me con- second in a recent photo competi- like rescuing them or snatching some
nected at times it seemed we would tion; she had called it “Leaving”. beauty that I might otherwise forget
never return. to look at.
Yes, it is still okay for me to be
Kyle comes in and sits beside me, messy and eclectic, to surround my- I love my home. It sits within a
arranging all the photos into a time- self with stickers of Taipei 101 and beautiful garden and in the morn-
line that has meaning for him. Photo yellow-eyed penguins, paintings of ing when the sun comes through the
after photo is of Kyle and Hannah Jade Mountain and Mount Cook, windows it can feel like a cathedral
playing together. They are a close tomato plants, and bok choi. Mak- of light. It is always a work in pro-
team; their classmates asked me if ing order out of all of this is going gress, changing with its surroundings,
they ever fight and I had to truthfully to take something less conventional changing with me.
say “no.” We talk about all our life ad- than shelves or shoe boxes. I’m
ventures, about Taiwan, about Ama. thinking small, readily accessible Day two: My kitchen is all
Kyle stands up. “Do you want to play cubbyholes, to each hold a memory, wrong. In a house full of windows
my new board game?” Usually, I find and some rose-coloured cushioning, with bits of garden peeping in from
an excuse. Today, I say, “Sure.” just like my heart. all directions, the kitchen has a sin-
gle small window facing a fence, the
Day three: Determined to organ- Annabel neighbour’s window on the other
ise, I’m back at my desk. This time, Boyer side, too close. The result is that
I undertake a serious study of its sur- I generally wash the dishes, chop
rounds. I notice I have built a fort Day one: This morning I go out veggies and cook while staring at
around my patio tomato seedlings into the garden, as I often do, and a wall in a relatively dark space
that I am growing in six-cell pods on water my seedlings, pink everlasting with no view. I find this frustrating
my floor-level ‘windowsill’. To get to daisies, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, because in terms of activities, the
them, I have to climb over a box my cucumbers and silver beet. Bare feet kitchen is a place I want to be.
uncle made me back in the 1980s in wet grass, it is a way of orienting
when I was a teenager trying to col- myself with the day. Today, it is late And today I thought, well, I re-
lect my writing together. The roller spring and the tangle of pink roses alised, maybe it doesn’t have to be
desk was his, too. When I stayed with in the beautiful garden I inherited this way! It started with opening
Uncle Jack and Nana over summer, I from the previous owner are start- the blinds, removing the old muslin
would spend hours sifting through the ing to bloom, so I get scissors to pick curtain that hung behind them and
drawers of floral notepaper, coloured some for a vase. I like to bring some cleaning the window of spider webs
pens, and envelope stickers, creating of the outside in, to be aware of the and dead flies. With this done, in
the perfect combination to use for my seasons and the cycles. On different the afternoon, the light streamed
letters home. I was in my 20s when in, transforming the whole space,
Uncle Jack passed away. Now, I am creating new possibilities.
thankful for this desk that he sat at,
this box that he made. I climb over I’ve realised the neighbours win-
it and turn the tomatoes so they can dow isn’t so unbearably close after all
get more sun. - the window isn’t that small, and it
does actually get a decent amount of
My mother-in-law passed away light. Over the summer, I plan to gen-
this August. We don’t know when we tly guide the wisteria, which grows
will be able to return and reconnect from a corner of the fence, so that it
with our Taiwan family, our friends, will screen us from one another with
a curtain of purple flowers.

DECORATION CHALLENGE 104 Community

Sometimes it seems like it’s cool to home in the kitchen where it will us and the house. It is green with
hate cleaning and any kind of domes- have enough light to thrive and keep recycled floorboards and I love it. I
tic activity, used as they have been to me company. take such joy in cooking, spending
keep women in their place. It fits with the whole day making several
the correct politics. This attitude has Rachel different things; today was roast
always been a source of conflict be- Andrew cauliflower cheese soup, milk cake,
tween me and my mum, who values bean chilli and then wallaby, rice,
tidiness and a well-kept house. Still, Day one: Today my partner, and carrots for the dogs. As Pepper
as I get older, I wonder if the devalu- Colette, is away and our dog is supervised and recovered, I cooked
ing of domesticity is not more about recovering from a leg operation, so and listened to podcasts. As I went,
the general devaluing of all tradition- I was housebound and decided to I loved every inch of that bench
ally feminine activities. Surely clean- have a cook fest. space, enjoyed every cupboard door
ing too has creative potential. that opened, and relished cooking
A couple of years ago, the the dried beans, still kept in a jar,
Day three: Along with its other kitchen was renovated - not a trend but no longer nibbled by rats.
faults the kitchen has barely enough renovation, but the rats were in,
bench space and nowhere good to eating our tupperware, the cupboard Day two: Colette and Honey,
keep spices. Since I’ve lived here, doors were falling off and the cork our other dog, were still away and
they’ve been stacked in a small high worktop was blistered. A guy who it was pouring down with rain and
cupboard. Every time I need anything we met randomly - through a dog freezing cold. Pepper and I took a
it’s like playing Russian roulette to sitter who had met him at the Tip unanimous vote, to stay home and
find the right one. Destination tur- Shop - did the kitchen. James was knit by the fire.
meric will require several stops before new to Hobart and became our
arrival - cayenne pepper, paprika, surrogate brother. We went to his It has been a really busy and
mustard seeds, cardamom, turmeric! wedding, and he and his wife came strange year. I have had multiple
to ours. projects on the go, none finished,
The bench below the window multiple books on the go, none
used to be a no mans land of tea pots, I was so scared about changing read. Last week I finished one
and things needing recycling, but now the kitchen, as it is so integral to knitting project, a brain hat for
with yesterday’s window resurrection I our house, and I cook so much. The an exhibition “knit your bits” for
see new potential - the possibility of first drawing that was done, was Women’s Health. I have epilepsy, so
a new shelf to keep spices, and a top pretty much the exact opposite of decided to knit a brain beanie with
shelf in front of the window pane to what I had in mind. I cried, and lightning bolts. It actually came out
keep plants and germinate seeds. then we found someone else to do well, despite me usually not being
it. The new kitchen had to be the quite as good at making what seems
I’ve recently resigned from my job, right fit for our house (which is a really cool in my mind’s eye.
and currently without a steady income two-storey 1880s weatherboard,
I need to get creative rather than pay known locally as “the blue house”). This project is a little mounted
someone to build something. The It fits totally now, designed by a crab, like you sometimes see
garden and garage are full of bits and local sustainable designer, and in seafood restaurants. It’s a
pieces left over from past renovations, handmade by James, it is perfect for collaboration between a woman in
so I’m pretty sure I can sort something England who does fake taxidermy
out. After fossicking around and tri- patterns, and some other women
alling some old planks of wood - too who hand-dyed the tencel. The
narrow, too short - I find some planks crab is ¾ done after a day of
made of a tile-like material. I wash knitting, and I can see where it is
them and pair them with some lefto- going to hang in our shack (next to
ver garden tiles to act as supports be- the knitted rams head).
tween the shelves and it works! Chil-
lies, cardamom, fennel seeds are now I first learned to knit from a book
ripe for the picking. And my favour- during my first winter in Tasmania
ite rose-scented geranium has a new when I was unhappily married and
it has always been a stress reliever.

Community 105 DECORATION CHALLENGE

I don’t often need time alone, but that DVD/VHS player with relish all books in pile are necessary - the
it was lovely to spend another day as they finally get to relive their unnecessaries became a bedside
knitting, doing a bit of yoga and movie collection. table months ago. Decide to discard
watching a bit of Survivor. burned CDs but remember the
Janie friends who made them for me,
Day three: Colette was back Whitney especially the blues ones from Jules
early. Peps and I had only just had whose memorial notice I saw in the
breakfast. We are going on the Day one: In the late sixties with paper last week. Stack up the rest in
overland track in November, so had five kids under ten and another on the a disposal pile but wow they would
to check through our camping gear, way, my parents burrowed under our look great in a mosaic. Clothes - easy
to make sure we had everything we weatherboard house and built more due to weight loss to fill a bag. Realise
needed. As we did this, we decided bunks. This area gradually became weight will probably return. Stash bag
to do a clear out of the spare room. known as ‘Down Underneath’, an behind wardrobe just in case. Box of
We found all the classic board odd name perhaps, but then again, documents can wait until tomorrow.
games, scrabble (three versions of), the house also harbours an ‘Under the Decide to keep the python skin and
Squatter, Monopoly (two versions Ramp’, a ‘Black Hole’ and a ‘Kitchen the tropical seashells because they
of), Qwirkle, Yahtzee, and more. We Speaker’. I’m ‘Down Underneath’ bring back memories. Wander out to
kept some for the shack, dropped now, 50 years later, staring at the the laundry area to gain perspective
off some to our friends’ kids and put space I have been occupying for and observe that de-cluttering this
some in THE PILE. the last five years. It is chaotic and area, which includes an old BSA
crowded, and more than overdue for motorcycle covered in coats, presents
The pile is to go to the a makeover. I will start reorganising a challenge that can also wait until
aforementioned Tip Shop. It is a after my shift tonight. tomorrow. Go upstairs to consult
place next to the tip, where you with mum about my project. She
can leave and find anything. If you I see a Led Zeppelin poster, three appears to be quite underwhelmed
need a wheel to fix a heater, you obsidian crows, a Tibetan medicine by my enthusiasm and of the mind
will find it there. Whole crockery Buddha, a guitar and my elderly that I will ‘lose interest’. I put this
sets, or a random plate, there. It bulldog. I can do this. lack of maternal confidence down to
has everything from individual the cynicism of her advanced years
screws, to clothing, garden and I’m back from my shift at the and she reminds me that I also am
baby stuff. Despite it being a women’s shelter. As always, my no ‘spring chicken’. We have a cup
favourite occupation to have a poke feelings are mixed - sadness and of tea.
around in, on this trip we promised concern for the plight of the families;
ourselves not to go inside, just the awe of the resilience and strength Day three: Home from my
drop off. We continued adding to shown time and time again by the third night shift, exhausted but
the pile, a couple of old coats, a residents; unexpected amusement; determined to beautify my area. I lie
dress from a clothes-swap, which and profound gratefulness for having down on the bed for just a moment.
didn’t suit me after all, a TV and a safe and comfortable place to live. I A sunbeam hits the red sequins on
DVD/VHS player that still works, will start to declutter tomorrow. the quilt and scatters sparks of light
other clothes, an old duvet cover, over the ceiling. Birds are whistling.
trousers that don’t fit - thanks to a Day two: Where to start? Books, Somewhere someone strums a guitar.
COVID and perimenopause double CDs, clothes? Start on books and
whammy. Some old bits and pieces find the missing I Ching. Realise I wake up. I look around and
of dress-up clothing from a western feel vaguely discomforted. The
party we went to ages ago, an old clutter that surrounds me is all I
picture and some socks. have retained from sixty something
years on the planet. It is memories of
It’s so great to know that other friends and places and pets, of music
people will use and enjoy these and stories and love. It fits into one
things, I imagine a family playing medium-sized suburban cellar room.
the games as we still do and It is not worth much moneywise.
hopefully someone will jump onto

DECORATION CHALLENGE 106 Community

I get up and go outside for clear-out’ routine. I travelled me- constructed thought-bubbles, I
some fresh air. It’s a beautiful thodically from room to room and pulled it out for this challenge to-
spring afternoon and the air is all made little piles of stuff to get rid day. “Wouldn’t it be an interesting
jasmine and cut grass. I go back of. Then I got to the kids’ rooms. I juxtaposition to stick on vibrantly
Underneath and push my handful of can’t recommend this enough: take illustrated Australiana pictures
forget-me-nots, jasmine, snowdrops the opportunity when your kids from some old books?” I didn’t say,
and jonquils into the leadlight aren’t home to eradicate all those because my children wouldn’t un-
candleholder I found at a country crappy plastic toys that their grand- derstand the word ‘juxtaposition’. I
market. I sit it on the windowsill parents buy them (which you con- spent many minutes (yes minutes,
and the sun illuminates it all. This stantly ask them not to) and they my style is ‘in-and-out, don’t piss-
will do. never play with. fart about’) cutting out various fau-
na (wombats, galahs, possums, and
. I have a complex relationship the like) and sticking them on in a
with our house. Yes, it’s home, but breezy, artistic fashion.
. as a stay-at-home mum for nearly
six years, it’s also my place of work. I placed the completed master-
Mandy I need it to be a clear space; my piece on my vintage timber desk,
Edwards throw-out frenzies are an exorcism leaning against the wall as per the
of sorts. Two bags full, mind satiated latest trend. The effect is that of a
Day one: I have a ‘one in, one and house six kilos lighter, I added half-baked attempt by a non-artist
out’ policy in our household. Want a ‘op shop drop-off’ to next week’s to- tight-arse who, by dint of having a
new toy? Chuck one out. See a shirt do list. million ideas and no time to achieve
you like? Another item must go. I the vast majority of them, is simply
always seem to have a bag (or five) Day two: I am plagued with happy to have ticked this one off the
of op shop drop-offs in my car. This ‘woman with a million ideas’ syn- list to make space for others.
is due to my penchant for op shop- drome. I imagine my brain as a cel-
ping, and my rationale that by buy- ebratory balloon, the kind you delib- Day three: “Where’s my (insert
ing second-hand I’m not contribut- erately burst and hundreds of con- Happy Meal toy)?” my youngest asked.
ing to consumerism, whilst allowing fetti explode forth, fluttering to the It was post-breakfast and time to play.
myself the harmless dopamine rush ground as a pretty, colourful, papery I distracted him by suggesting we all
from finding an excellent $10 pair of puddle. The confetti are my ideas, head up to the road for a scoot.
leather boots. hundreds of them collected over a
lifetime, sitting latent in my mind. It’s late spring, which delightfully
Today I went to the op shop. I Sometimes, I may have the time accords with my love of keeping a
bought kids clothes, a sweet hand- and motivation to implement one of posy in a vase on my kitchen bench.
made ceramic jug, a hand-turned these ideas, many of which are DIY Our walk to the road is about 50m up
camphor-wood bowl and a cook- home decoration-type affairs. Usual- a gravel driveway - we live on four
book. The pleasant guilt-free high ly, it turns out a fair bit crappier than acres - and away we went up the cul-
of my shopping exploits dissipated I imagine. One such idea was to ‘up- de-sac. Wildflowers are protected by
by the time I arrived home. I started cycle’, an old painting with pictures law, and so my pickings are more of
looking around the house in an agi- from children’s books. I saw a beau- a residential kind. It’s like a treasure
tated state, just seeing lots of ‘stuff’, tiful example somewhere. The art- hunt; you never know what you’re
and not liking it. Sans children (day- work is Frederick McCubbin’s classic going to find. Today it’s a delightful
care/school) and husband (work), Down on His Luck painting, a large combo of purply Geraldton wax, red
I commenced my well-worn ‘house print of which I found in my local op proteas and bright white wedding
shop for $8. It’s a rather drab scene: bush. Back home with my haul, I
an unhappy swagman poking a stick unceremoniously throw the existing
at a campfire within the muted Aus- wilted bunch into the garden, along
tralian bush landscape. with the browning water, fill up the
vase with fresh water, and pop in the
After many months of the paint- new stems. I don’t do much arrang-
ing sitting amongst other barely ing, as I’ve said, I’m a slapdash sort.

Community 107 DECORATION CHALLENGE

It still looks beautiful. Although we front and back door keys, master having a family. Perhaps this
live on acreage and are surrounded key, downstairs, the power box and dresser could be where the baby’s
by nature, to me having flowers in a two cars. It has become a centre belongings go? Slowly preparing in
vase is a kind of purposeful homage point when coming and going. But hope for the future and thankful
to beauty and our environment. The it also helps us remember to check for the past in the shadow of my
ritual act of searching, discarding the (at least once a day) that the hot grandfather’s presence.
old, and replacing with new is one I water is still on! Every time we
love to share with my children. It is walk into the kitchen which used Day three: Being in this house
an act that is simple, mindful and im- to have no system of organisation, is all well and good until you
mediately brings joy. it now has something simple and actually live it, day in day out. I
logical, helping us to adjust in feel hypersensitive from the change
. this living space. How Grandpa from being in an ultra modern
never lost his keys I don’t know. one-bedroom apartment to an
Emily old house. A small burst of rage
Keighran Day two: Storage, organisation is released as I chop veggies and
and cupboard space is not think, how grandma cooked in this
Day one: Here we are, newly something this house has. There tiny kitchen, where the oven has
married, in our new ‘old’ house - so is a solid, hand-built cupboard not worked for decades, two broken
much to do, the list is endless. This in our bedroom that is riddled burners on the stovetop, kitchen
home housed the family for over 70 with naphthalene smell. A very drawers that don’t slide easily, no
years and now, it invites us to alter distinctive strong, pungent, sickly- dishwasher and musty cupboards I’m
its interior from what it once was. sweet odour that stings the nostrils. too afraid to look into. How can we
Built by his very own hands, my So overpowering, I do not want my make it more comfortable, or more
beloved, late grandfather in 1950. clothes subjected to it. I was given usable for us? I’m embracing the
Its contents, that were once safely a dresser in the move, with six quirks but it’s not easy. So not only
guarded, are now able to be moved compartments, and today was the one thing had to change today but a
to make room for us. The house is day I wanted to upcycle and paint it little more. My husband helped me
filled with quirks. Initially, we had no from its plain pine to a hue of pink rearrange this situation, as we swap
hot water, floors coated black with with matte brass knobs. A bit of a in our Ikea foldable dining table
dust and a mountain of belongings millennial pink fusion style rather in place of the old, larger wooden
that spanned more than one lifetime. than grandfather’s art deco. It was one. But it just made sense to give
Our Ikea furniture is now mixed with a very hot day, but that meant I me more space in the kitchen. We
antiques and self-built structures. painted an undercoat and two coats also limited the seating, so instead
The challenge is to make changes of paint that dried quickly and were of six to seven chairs crowding the
in a place that is a remnant of the all finished by two in the afternoon. area, it’s now two. I also bought
precious memories we shared. storage Tupperware that keeps our
As I walk in the bedroom, the utensils and cutlery from the musty
I started with something small babydoll pink dresser is set beneath drawers. Although the benchtops
today and bought a key rack and the large window frame and the seem a little more crowded, it feels
hung it by the door - it’s already brass accents glint in the sunlight. like we’ve opened up the space,
full! It’s colourful tags, simply Like his cupboard, strong and which has made such a difference in
lined and stacked to keep it all sturdy, displayed in full, now too is our food preparation and general use
together. The keys included our my addition. Finally a place, free of of the area. The foldable table acts
smell, categorised accordingly, for my as a kitchen island and gives us a
garments and not a bursting hamper. cohesive layout to work in.

Today’s refurbished dresser gives This kitchen is a vestige of
me appreciation for the handiwork grandmas, remembering the
of a craftsman, like grandpa, joy memories we’d had and now open for
and hope. Joy because of a project I new ones, but more workable for us
envisioned was achieved and a sense busy newlyweds.
of hope, as we start contemplating

The Threatened Swan, Jan Asselijn, c. 1650

Cultivating genius

On a world map, the Nether- seen - Rembrandt van Rijn, Jo- Aeltje Uylenburgh, by Rembrandt
lands appears at first sight as little hannes Vermeer, Pieter Bruegel,
more than a damp corner of flat- Hieronymus Bosch, Vincent van
lands in Northern Europe. It’s only Gogh, and dozens more. Many of
about 41,500 square kilometres in these artists did not even venture to
size, and of that, over 7,500 square Italy, but produced all their works
kilometres is water. School projects from studios at home. How has
about the region tend to produce such a small country produced so
a predictably cliched overview of many master painters over its his-
windmills, tulips, cheese, clogs tory? Is it something in the water?
and a lot of canals and waterways.
And yet the Netherlands has pro- The answer lies in the influen-
duced, indisputably, some of the tial, and culture-defining, Dutch
greatest artists the world has ever Golden Age. This era spanned
the 17th century and represented

Art history 109 CULTIVATING GENIUS

The Netherlands has produced, indisputably, some of
the greatest artists the world has ever seen - Rembrandt
van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Pieter Bruegel, Hieronymus
Bosch, Vincent Van Gogh, and dozens more.

Wo r d s
CATE KENNEDY

Dutch Ships in a Calm Sea, Willem a grand flowering of social, scien-
van de Velde the Younger tific, cultural and economic con-
ditions. The Dutch, keen trad-
ers, seafarers, and mapmakers,
gained a powerful position in world
trade during this century, particu-
larly in the so-called ‘Far East’.

The Dutch East India Company,
founded in 1602, maintained its mo-
nopoly on Asian trade for almost
two centuries, and by the middle of
the 1600s the Dutch economy had
achieved what was probably, for its
time, the highest standard of living
anywhere in the world. Merchants,
financiers, and wealthy urban people
who flourished during this time made
up a kind of new middle class, full of
nationalistic pride in their own cul-
tural identity, and what they wanted
to buy to decorate their homes and
trading offices was art. The appetite
for paintings displayed by this pros-
perous population of newly-created
patrons and buyers was staggering.

The artists who flourished in this
time, the work they produced and
the subject-matter they chose, pro-
vide a fascinating insight into the
Golden Age and its preoccupations.
Any market is dominated by the
tastes and demands of buyers, and
in this era - one in which many be-

The Payment of the Tithes Bonhams, Pieter Brueghel the Younger (or workshop)

CULTIVATING GENIUS 110 Art history

Old Woman Reading, Gerard Dou

lieve the term ‘Protestant work eth- everyday scenes of ordinary Dutch their artists in creating marketable
ic’ was coined - those buyers were life taking place in markets, taverns, work which showcased their skills.
private, prosperous citizens, keen to ports, brothels, kitchens, and farms
practically wallpaper their houses were prized. The work of maritime The landscape painting of the
with artworks which pleased their painters, who depicted the proud time revelled in the unique char-
tastes and sensibilities. Purchasing Dutch fleet at harbour, ready to acteristics of the Dutch landscape
art became a way of making a state- sail forth to acquire new treasures - ubiquitous ‘heroic’ windmills, vil-
ment, and people showed their good from exotic and distant lands, was lages, scenes of rural life, and fertile
taste, discernment, and influence by also highly popular, while carefully- landscapes with broad, cloud-filled
hanging their best works in their composed still-life paintings show- skies and healthy livestock. Pieter
front rooms, where they conducted ing banquets of good food, featuring Bruegel the Elder painted his famous
business. Artists, trained from a those same spoils acquired through village scenes of cheerful skaters and
young age through special guilds, trade - rich ornaments, rugs and feasts, further spurring the popular-
could barely turn out work quick- textiles, Chinese silks and porce- ity in realistic depictions of everyday
ly enough to match the demand lain, Asian spices - were all the rage. life. Perhaps the classic ‘Protestant
shown by these eager new collectors. work ethic’ virtues of moderation,
These so-called ‘Pronkstillev- sincerity, perseverance, prudence,
Recently freed from the per- en’ paintings of opulent displays and vigilance prized in this era also
ceived tyranny of Spanish Catholic of rich food and expensive table- help explain the commitment to
rule and its requirement for commis- ware were so numerous they have lifelikeness and realism in its paint-
sioned religious and sacred subject become almost representative of ings - an articulation and celebra-
matter for artists, the energised new the Dutch Golden Age itself. The tion of social ideals not through ide-
Dutch Republic showed a fashion- purchase of such artworks reflect- alisation of their subject matter, but
able zeal for secular subjects, treated ed the widespread desire to show in faithful, truthful depiction of it.
with realism, which this burgeoning off one’s wealth and status, and
middle class enjoyed. Paintings of the guilds worked hard to train A republic made rich through
trade celebrated itself not only

Art history 111 CULTIVATING GENIUS

Hunters in the Snow (Winter), Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565

through the importation of exotic painstakingly close reproduction of or a pearl earring - for which the
artefacts and spices, but through botanical and zoological specimens, Dutch masters are rightly canonised.
the introduction of rare plants. The in fact, particularly in recording the Many of them, such as Rembrandt
Dutch enthusiasm for collecting bo- life cycles of butterflies and other van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer,
tanical specimens from around the insects, that she is now recognised never travelled to Italy (consid-
globe can be seen in the legendary as an early founder of entomology. ered throughout the rest of Europe
‘tulip mania’ or ‘tulip fever’ of the as the cradle of art) but were con-
1630s, in which the craze for rare tu- Perhaps the Northern European tent to develop their own particular
lip bulbs ended up creating its own light was not as bright and dazzling style in their own homeland studios.
stock market plunge. While it last- as that in southern It-
ed, it showed a society riding high aly and France - coun- Rembrandt, according to the
on its own economic confidence, tries which lured later critic William Hazlitt, was “a man
with the price of one rare tulip bulb Dutch painters such of genius” who “took any object,
selling for more than ten times the as Vincent van Gogh he cared not what, how mean so-
annual salary of an artisan, but when south to the sun - but ever in form, colour and expres-
the market crashed, speculative for- the richly-detailed in- sion, and from the light and shade
tunes were lost overnight. Perhaps teriors, floral arrange- which he threw upon it, it came
you couldn’t own a real tulip, but ments, portraits, and out gorgeous from his hands”.
you could own superb paintings of still life compositions
one. The most noted artists of floral in interior settings Despite his popularity, Rem-
still life paintings of the time were demonstrated one par- brandt fell on hard economic times
female artists: Maria van Oosterwi- ticular and distinctive and died in poverty in 1669, but
jck, Maria Sibylla Meria, and the virtuosity: the render- was ‘rediscovered’ in the 18th cen-
internationally-renowned Rachel ing of light and colour. tury, and his artistic influence con-
Ruysch, whose work brought even tinued unabated throughout the
higher prices than Rembrandt van It is this meticu- nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Rijn’s. Their paintings melded ex- lousness in depicting Van Gogh is believed to have said
traordinary technical virtuosity with light falling on sub- he would have happily given ten
detailed scientific knowledge. Maria jects - the rich folds years of his life if he could have sat
Sibylla Meria’s work depicted such of garments, the sun- in front of Rembrandt’s The Jewish
blazed side of a jug,
the glow of an eye Maria van Oosterwijck, by Wallerant Vaillant, 1671

CULTIVATING GENIUS 112 Art history

Bellona, by Rembrandt a classically clouded sky that takes up almost two thirds
of the canvas.
Bride for a fortnight. Manet painted a copy of Rembrandt’s
masterful The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (from “Vermeer was truly capturing what he saw in front of
1632) in 1856 after studying it on a trip to the Nether- him,” wrote art historian Adriaan Waiboer, yet “wanted
lands. Rembrandt’s famous nude Bathsheba, glowing lumi- to create a special illusion… he wanted to paint light.”
nous amid beautifully-rendered folded linen and golden
draperies, influenced Manet, Rodin, Degas, and Bazille. View of Delft is cited as one of the most influen-
Delacroix and Turner lauded him as major influences on tial works for subsequent artists of the Impressionist
their work. Even Picasso confessed himself particularly in- school, who also committed themselves to the render-
fluenced by the Dutch master, saying “every painter takes ing of light using paint, creating an explosion of new
himself for Rembrandt”, and creating, in the same spirit, techniques to depict haystacks, lilyponds, fields, or-
his own intimate seated nudes and revealing self-portraits. chards of trees in blossom, sunlight, and dazzling energy.

Another artist from the Dutch Golden Age who, It is Vermeer’s interiors, however, made up of com-
like Rembrandt, enjoyed a late renaissance in popular- posed and serene scenes lit by filtered light, which are
ity and recognition - one he would no doubt have sorely perhaps the most famous of his relatively sparse output.
appreciated during his own cash-strapped lifetime - was Other Dutch painters celebrated activities taking place
Johannes Vermeer. This artist’s work was meticulously inside - letter-writing and reading, courtship, domestic
detailed and luminescent - the light in his famed Girl labour, child-rearing, and music-making - but the vir-
with a Pearl Earring, for example, looks almost liquid. tuosic technique displayed in Vermeer’s glowingly il-
Voted by the Dutch public in 2006 as the most beau- luminated subjects and rooms make him justly famous.
tiful painting of the Netherlands, this painting is the
subject of both a novel by Tracy Chevalier (Girl with a The light, for example, in his famous The Art of Paint-
Pearl Earring, 1999) and a film of the same name in 2004. ing (also known as The Allegory of Painting and The Painter
in his Studio) is not the dazzling golden hot sunshine of the
Of Vermeer’s three landscapes of his hometown, View of south of France or Italy. It is a diffused, northern Europe-
Delft (1660–61) is considered a masterpiece, showing roofs an light pouring through a window, but it suffuses the rich
and steeples reflected in a rippling, shimmering canal and blue folds of his subject’s draped dress, her pensive face,
and the extraordinary, detailed wall map behind her. The
soft Delft daylight illuminates microscopic details like
loose threads in tapestry and the clothing of the artist at
work, and falls upon a curtain drawn back to allow the
viewer the illusion of entry into a quiet, glowing interior,
where an empty chair is placed in the foreground, a fur-
ther invitation to enter the room, sit, watch, and reflect.

Despite his impoverishment, Vermeer never sold this
painting, which suggests he was not only fond of it but
saw it as an exemplar of what he was capable of as an

The Jewish Bride, Rembrandt

Art history 113 CULTIVATING GENIUS

View of Delft, by Johannes Vermeer

artist - a perfect vehicle for showing pro-
spective patrons. When Vermeer died, much
of his work fell into the hands of those he
owed money to, but his widow fought to
keep this particular painting. There have
been a succession of ‘owners’ through the
centuries, particularly after 1860; before
which the painting was wrongly attrib-
uted to Vermeer’s contemporary, Pieter de
Hooch. It was finally bought in 1940 by
Adolf Hitler, for his so-called ‘Hitler Col-
lection’ at the Linzer Museum. Countless
valuable artworks were bought, seized, or
stolen during this time and stored in secret
locations to avoid being damaged by Al-
lied bombing. The Art of Painting ended up
in darkness, hidden alongside 6,500 other
masterpieces, in a salt mine in Austria. Nar-
rowly spared being bombed a second time by
the retreating German army, it was finally
placed on public display in Vienna. Among
the other treasures of an extraordinary era in
European art, this small painting stands tes-
tament to a meticulous vision: a gently but
brilliantly-lit window into another world.

The Art of Painting, Johannes Vermeer, 1666-1668

VAN GOGH 114

“I am always doing
what I cannot do
yet, in order to

Vincent van Gogh

Illustration by Monica Barengo

THE BEDOUIN 116

The
life of art

Culture 117 THE LIFE OF ART

When viewing art it’s easy to conflate the artwork with
the artist’s life.

Wo r d s
ANGELA SMITH

Photograph on page 119
PIERO CRUCIATTI

In her 2015 memoir Hold Still, American photogra- As arts writer and biographer Ashleigh Wilson has
pher Sally Mann made a clear distinction between her observed, from Vasari onwards, we have been encour-
life and work: “I’m going to go out on a limb here and aged to ask questions about the lives of artists, to look
say that I believe my morality should have no bearing for connections between the life and work. The ten-
on the discussion of the pictures I made… It should tacular reach of the internet, social media, publicity
make no difference in the way the work is viewed, machines, and the cult of the maker have made it much
tempting as it is to make that moral connection… If harder to separate the life from the work, to avoid the
we only revere works made by those with whom we’d dumb literalism that has us reducing the work to the
happily have our granny share a train compartment, life. While the story of art is a human story, art being
we will have a paucity of art.” made from the stuff of an individual’s life and times,
sticking our noses into an artist’s personal life has us
Mann’s opinion appears to be an increasingly un- seeing the work through the lens of the life, making it
popular one. While the question of whether an artist’s difficult to view the art as a material object with a sepa-
behaviour can or should be separated from their work rate existence from its maker.
is hardly new, it has assumed a renewed urgency in
the wake of the #MeToo movement. The pendulum The gift of making great art is arbitrary and un-
has swung from the cliché of the maverick art mon- just. Artistic talent is not bestowed according to moral
ster (mostly men, women having been relegated to the worth. However, the conflation of a creator’s life with
supporting roles of model and muse throughout much their work has given sustenance to the idea that artists
of art history) to an expectation that artists whose with poor morals don’t, or can’t, make good work, the
work is exhibited in public galleries should be moral art being tainted by the life.
exemplars. Their licence to depart from conventional
social norms seems to be nearing its expiry date. So, Artists, like the rest of us mere mortals, are flawed. It’s
what should be done about the works of artists whose a comforting illusion that great art is always made by good
lives are less than exemplary, who can’t be trans- people. Despite the idea popularised since the Romantic
formed, even by the most creative spinner of PR bumf, era that art is the emanation of an artist’s ‘true self’, both
into paragons of virtue? exemplary human beings and contemptible ones can
make great art, work that is tender and compelling, just

THE LIFE OF ART 118 Culture

as both versions of humanity can make execrable work. Cash-strapped public
We might be discomforted, even feel deceived, if there galleries... are keen to
is a dissonance between an artist’s life and their work, avoid controversy. It
but the material object is not the life. would be all too easy in
this cultural climate for
While not wanting to mystify, creative people bring public galleries to retreat
something beyond their everyday selves to their work.
While the work emerges from the life, it is not a mirror from complexity.
of character. Creation doesn’t occur entirely within the
bounds of a maker’s personality. Once the fingers touch complexity; to gravitate towards anodyne, family-friend-
a keyboard or the brush swipes a canvas, something else ly exhibitions that no one could find objectionable,
come into play. whatever their cultural or political affinities.

We shouldn’t expect or require artists to be moral A gallery of orthodoxies would be a dreary place.
exemplars. While it’s long past time to kick so-called Rather than gatekeepers banishing the works of artists
outrageous geniuses from their pedestal, we shouldn’t deemed controversial, I want an opportunity to make up
replace one myth with another: the sinner with the my own mind about the work on gallery walls.
saint. It’s reasonable to expect that religious leaders and
others in a position of moral authority whose ethics are I’m not suggesting that an artist’s work should never
inherent to their role should lead exemplary lives. But be excluded from public exhibition because of their be-
why expect this of an artist? We don’t require it of a haviour. In the case of a living artist who may profit from
butcher or baker or builder. being exhibited, exclusion may very occasionally be jus-
tified. Relevant considerations may include the serious-
Admiring an artwork does not equate to condoning or ness of the transgressive behaviour; whether it is part of
excusing the maker’s behaviour. Knowledge of an artist’s a pattern of behaviour or an isolated incident; the lapse
life may affect how you experience their work. But unless of time since it occurred; whether the artist has shown
you take the naïve view that a person who behaves badly remorse; and any connection between the artwork and
can’t create great work, I think it is possible to appreciate the victim or victims of the behaviour.
the art without it being contaminated by the life. That’s
not to say that we shouldn’t reconceptualise an artist’s As for deceased art monsters who are also great art-
work in the light of contemporary cultural debates. ists, they are part of art history. They can’t be erased or
expunged. However, history keeps being rewritten. Art-
Shortly before Australia’s borders were slammed shut ists are not exempt from a reassessment of both their
because of COVID-19, I visited the Picasso Museum in work and their lives. While continuing to display the
Paris. I found myself looking more closely and critically work, public galleries can acknowledge the problematic
at how Picasso depicted his female subjects. The artist’s life in written material about the art and the artist.
mistreatment of the women in his life served for me as
background information rather than a reason not to look Bulldozing over nuance flattens rather than illumi-
at or appreciate the works. Others may feel that Picas- nates. Complex issues involving irreconcilable antago-
so’s life irredeemably taints his work. How much weight nisms and contradictions do not lend themselves to easy
one gives to an artist’s biography will depend upon the answers or neat conclusions. Art purists may be able to
perspective of each individual viewer. Art can only be separate ethics and aesthetics, however for those of us
subjectively apprehended. It is, I think, impossible to who acknowledge a messy entanglement of life with
make general rules about the nexus between ethics and work, an artist’s bio matters. It is part of the picture.
aesthetics.

In a time when the flames of reactive outrage can
be stoked in a matter of minutes on social media, cash-
strapped public galleries with an eye to reputational risk
are keen to avoid controversy. It would be all too easy in
this cultural climate for public galleries to retreat from

1 9 THE BEDOUIN

BOOKS 120

Books

“All that humankind has done,
thought, gained, or been; it is lying

as in magic preservation in the
pages of books.”

Thomas Carlyle

Old Woman Reading, Gerard Dou, c. 1631 - c. 1632

121 BOOKS

The Woman Who Stole Vermeer The Yellow House

By Anthony M. Amore By Martin Gayford

The extraordinary life made off with millions From October to Paul Gauguin and Vincent
and crimes of heiress- in prized paintings, thus December 1888 a pair of van Gogh lived and
turned-revolutionary became - to this day - the largely unknown artists worked in one of the most
Rose Dugdale, who in only woman to pull off a lived under one roof in intense and astonishing
1974 became the only major art heist. the French town of Arles. creative outpourings in
woman to pull off a major history. Yet as the weeks
art heist. Dugdale’s life is passed van Gogh buckled
singularly notorious. Born under the strain, fought
into extreme wealth, she with his companion and
abandoned her life as an committed an act of
Oxford-trained PhD and violence on himself that
heiress to join the cause prompted Gauguin to flee
of Irish Republicanism. In without saying goodbye to
1974, she led a gang into his friend. Art, madness,
the opulent Russborough genius - two artistic giants.
House in Ireland and One small house.

Girl with a Pearl Earring Niksen

By Tracy Chevalier By Olga Mecking

Author Tracy Chevalier and muse. But then he The Dutch people are nothing. Niksen is not a
presents a fictional gives her his wife’s pearl some of the happiest in form of meditation, nor
account of Dutch artist earrings to wear for a the world. Their secret? is it a state of laziness
Johannes Vermeer, the portrait, and a scandal They are masters of or boredom. It’s not
model, and his famous erupts. niksen, or the art of doing scrolling through social
painting. Those eyes media, or wondering what
are fixed on someone. you’re going to cook for
But who? What is she dinner. Rather, to niks
thinking as she stares is to make a conscious
out from one of the choice to sit back, let go,
world’s best-loved and do nothing at all.
paintings? Vermeer can Backed with advice from
spot exceptional beauty. experts on happiness and
When servant girl Griet productivity, we discover
catches his eye, she soon how doing less can often
becomes both student yield so much more.

D O C U M E N TA R I E S 122

Cover, Womankind, #9. Charis Tsevis Cover, Womankind, #11. Charis Tsevis

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123 MAP

Cover #24, Womankind, #24. Alvaro Tapia Hidalgo Self Mastery, Womankind, #25. Catrin Welz Stein

Princess, Womankind, #22. Aida Novoa & Carlos Egan Queen of Media, Womankind, #26. Alvaro Tapia Hidalgo

D O C U M E N TA R I E S 124
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Documentaries

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125 MAP

Maya, Womankind #6. Monica Barengo All Woods Must Fail, Womankind 28, Catrin Welz Stein

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126

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Poem GEORGE ELIOT

By George Eliot

If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went -
Then you may count that day well spent.





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#30: Dec 2021 - Feb 2022