Ballarat is preparing to host its popular annual antique fair next mnth as part of the city’s heritage festival.

The antique fair happens over May 17-19 in the Ballarat Civic Hall, a classical Art Deco building in the CBD.

The event will feature over 26 antique dealers who will be exhibiting and selling a wide variety of items such as jewellery, furniture, silverware, ceramics, artwork, linen and objets d’art.

Professor Diane Kirkby is presenting a guest talk on the socio-political history of women running pubs in Australia at Ballarat’s Eureka Centre on Thursday May 2.

The featured discussion is scheduled to start at 5.30pm as part of the centre’s ongoing Talking History program and is free to attend.

There has always been a deep connection between pubs and Australian communities. Usually the first, and sometimes the only building in a country town, and on every street corner in cities, pubs were run largely by women.

Pubs provided communities with so much more than drinks and accommodation, being vital gathering places, hosting everything from weddings to wakes. Deeply entrenched in Australian cultural life, the pub is largely perceived as a masculine space.

But pubs were often owned by women, and the bulk of the labour was traditionally done by women, in dining rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, and bars. Dianne will explore why and how pubs were a vital source of waged work for women, and the pub’s fascinating history of cultural and social change.

Professor Diane Kirkby is a respected historian of women, work and the labour movement. She has authored several books including the highly-acclaimed ‘Barmaids: A History of Women’s Work in Pubs’.

Professor Kirkby’s work has won the Australian Historical Association’s WK Hancock Prize, and most recently awarded the 2023 Australia and New Zealand Law and History Society Prize. She is a Professor of Law and Humanities at University of Technology Sydney. Diane is an elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and the American Society for Legal History.

Nella is one very lucky rolden retriever after being retrieved herself, from a very hairy predicament earlier this month.

Torquay and Bellbrae CFA units joined forces with their counterparts on Tuesday April 2 in a multi-agency high angle excercise to rescue the dog from atop a cliff face at Bells Beach.

At around 12.27pm that day CFA units alongside SES and Fire Rescue Victoria had responded to reports of a dog stuck on the edge of a cliff on Bells Beach Road in Bells Beach.

Two-year-old golden retriever and beach enthusiast Nella had wandered from her owner, Taryn, in a Bells Beach carpark that adjoined a walking track, before finding herself stranded on a ledge, 10 metres down a cliff just above the water.  

CFA District 7 Commander Nick Callan said an anchor point was set up for the high angle rescue team to retrieve Nella, with two firefighters required for the daring rescue.

Nella safely ascended to the top of the cliff at around 3.28pm in a gear clothing bag with the crew members, before being reunited with a much-relieved Taryn and her husband Matt who had been at the bottom of the cliff on the beach keeping Nella calm.

Torquay Fire Brigade 2nd Lieutenant David Muir said it was a good ending, with everyone safe and secure, and that the family was very grateful for the work of the agencies after an emotional few hours.

Words & Images: CFA

One of Australia’s leading historians, Professor Marilyn Lake AO will present a talk on colonial radicalism and democratic equality as part of next month’s Ballarat Heritage fetival.

History and politial buffs are being invited to join Professor Lake as she delves into the achievements of radical colonial reform in Victoria culminating in the first compulsory minimum wage in the world in 1896.

Taking place at the Eureka Centre (pictured above) on May 17 Professor Lake’s evening guest talk will reflect her research in the fields of Australian, American and transnational history with a focus on the history of democracy and campaigns for sexual, racial and class equality.

Professor Marilyn Lake FAHA, FASSA, AO is Professorial Fellow in History at the University of Melbourne. She has previously held chairs in history at La Trobe University, Stockholm University, the University of Maryland and the Visiting Chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University.

Professor Lake has published a number of books, including ‘Getting Equal: the History of Australian Feminism’ (1999) and most recently, ‘Progressive New World: How Settler Colonialism and Transpacific Exchange Shaped American Reform’ (Harvard University Press 2019).

More information is available through the Ballarat Heritage Festival website.

Regional brigade administrative support officer and CFA volunteer with Orbost brigade and Orbost’s Group Secretary, Kylie Findley is happy to help anyone who walks into her office – staff or volunteer.

“As Arnold Schwarzenegger says in his book Be Useful – Seven tools for life, ‘You’ll get more satisfaction from having improved your neighbourhood, your town, your state, your country, and your fellow human beings than you’ll ever get from your muscles, your figure, your automobile, your house, or your credit rating’.”

Kylie was in CFA’s first intake of corporate peers, completing training online during the COVID-19 pandemic. As well as giving one-on-one support, Kylie has provided peer support during and after major disasters including in Bendigo and Echuca during the 2022 floods.

“Rocking up to a pump station where our members had been sitting for hours and having a chat and running an errand for them was great,” Kylie said.

“When members from my district came in for a meal break, it was like a reunion; they were so glad to see me. Just to sit and talk, give them some relief – chocolate – and a laugh; just being there to make them feel valuable was so impactful.

“There is a perception that peers are only there when someone is down, but we are there to remind everyone that they matter, that they are valuable and that we are there for them.”

Kylie is a strong advocate for the Peer Support Program and encourages other members to join.

“If you have ever thought about being a peer, express your interest, take the opportunity, and run with it. It will enrich your life as well as the lives of the people we serve.”

Tim Phillips has been a volunteer for more than 30 years. He is 1st lieutenant at Digby Fire Brigade, deputy group officer for Merino Group and a BASO in District 4.

“When we come home from a traumatic event, sometimes we need to have that chat to help manage our thoughts,” Tim said.

“As emergency responders, my father and I have always had each other to talk to – I wanted to provide the same service to others.”

Tim is a peer with both the volunteer and corporate peer teams as well as a deputy peer coordinator.

“Mental health is such a huge issue in society. We all have things going on at home and in life and we can all suffer from the black dog. I have always been someone who people feel they can approach to get things off their chests, and I want to be there for those who need to talk.”

Tim recalls a group Psychological First Aid session he and another peer had with a brigade that had responded to a car accident.

“We sat and talked through their experiences, giving those who wanted to the chance to tell their own story. After the session the group officer called to thank us for the time we spent with the members.

“To have the feeling you actually made a difference to someone in their time of need gives you such an overwhelming sense of achievement.”

Tim said there were many reasons to talk to a peer, and sometimes the mere act of reaching out was enough to help people move forward.

“People often hesitate to seek professional help due to stigma. Peers can help reduce that anxiety and encourage people to reach out for further support.

“We can’t give you all the answers. Sometimes people have the answers already and they just need a non-judgemental ear to allow them to get things off their mind, process their thoughts and take the next steps.”

The CFA has led a multi-agency exercise to test and strengthen how emergency services respond to mass casualty incidents similar to the 2023 Eynesbury bus incident.

The exercise, conducted earlier this month, was a huge undertaking with 90 first responders from CFA, SES, Ambulance Victoria, Victoria Police and St Johns Ambulance taking part as well as 27 students from La Trobe University who acted as casualties.

Trawool Captain Sean Kerris said the exercise required significant planning and wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of all involved.

“It was a challenge to bring the exercise vision to life but the learnings will be invaluable for our first responders,” he said.

“Our emergency service personnel will have a better understanding and ability to navigate very confronting emergencies if they arise after this exercise.”

First responders were first briefed on the scenario when the exercise got underway to ensure their response was as realistic as possible.

The scenario involved a hypothetical bus accident in which the bus driver suffered a cardiac arrest whilst in transit.

The bus then veered off the road as a result and into the back of a music festival hitting several campers.

There were more than 30 passengers on board the bus at the time who suffered injuries of varying degrees from the bus rollover.

The scenario was influenced by recent tragic events such as the 2023 Eynesbury bus incident and the 2023 Hunter Valley NSW incident.

The objective of the exercise was to test and improve the way emergency services work together when responding to large scale emergencies.

VICSES Seymour Unit Controller Christine Welsh said it’s important VICSES volunteers are prepared for any scenario and these exercises play a vital role in upskilling and nurturing important inter-agency teamwork.

“These relationships are particularly important in regional areas and have been an ongoing focus of VICSES’ Seymour Unit volunteers over the last 12 months.

“VICSES volunteers pride themselves on being there to support their communities during a challenging emergency response, and these training exercises only strengthen that resolve.”

The scenario was chosen because music festivals are commonly held within the region and the scale of such events can present unique challenges for emergency responders.

The exercise required high level coordination and was supported by Seymour Coaches, Seymour Caravans & Trailers, Rotary Club, Seymour RSL, Seymour Performers Workshop, Cox Solid Civil and Mitchell Shire Council in addition to emergency service organisations.

More than 30 people were on site in a supporting capacity earlier this month in Trawool.

Image & Words: Supplied

In search of the perfect bonsai

Despite popular belief, the practice of growing bonsai actually began, not in Japan, but in China when around the year 700, a group of avid gardeners began using special techniques to create miniaturised trees in small containers and so developed a practice called “pun-sai”.

It was quite some time later in the Kamakura period, that the Japanese adopted this bonsai and incorporated it into their culture alongside such related activities as suiseki (stone appreciation) and keeping koi fish (nishikigoi).

Popularity of bonsai grew, until the 14th century when they graduated from ‘outdoor ornaments’ to a highly regarded art form and became a fixture in affluent homes where they were placed on special indoor shelves for display.

It was about this time that Japanese garden artists, already famed for their delicate artistry and intriguing shaping of their gardens – took up the challenge and added bonsai to their own botanical culture.

The beautifully trimmed and shaped young Japanese juniper (pictured above), has in a few years, already taken on the form and character of its older cousins – through a technique I’m yet to master.

In 1826, a Japanese nurseryman offered the famed biologist and world-wide plant collector, Philipp Franz von Siebold, a plum tree in flower, which was scarcely three inches (7cm) high. This little gem was grown in a small lacquered box of three tiers similar to those which the Japanese carried in their belts.

In the upper tier was this plum, in the second row, a little spruce fir, and at the lowest a bamboo scarcely an inch and a half (4cm high).

Not too many years after this a weeping willow, only 15cm in height, changed hands for about $3000 at today’s values – the Japanese did not hold their hobby lightly.

But for a bonsai to be of such value it must be perfect, and perfection means that not only each branch, but each twig and every leaf must conform absolutely in direction and proportion to the laws which govern the art.

Anything short of this perfection would be worth only so many cents, and thousands of beautiful bonsai are sold at the monthly sales all over Japan for no more than that. Perfection doesn’t come very often.

Although we may not seek so high a standard on our own bonsai, there are certain basic rules which must be observed, otherwise we are not entitled to call our efforts bonsai at all.

The natural dwarf conifers which adorn many rock gardens may be true miniatures but not by definition bonsai and this is equally true of any tree which is allowed to grow as nature intends, no matter how small it be.

Suitable trees for bonsai

It has often been suggested that any old hardwood tree or shrub would be suitable, especially if it’s a bit gnarled and distorted, but this isn’t always true.

Those with large leaves are useless unless they are deciduous, when the pattern of bare branches have an appeal and they start out again in spring with new leaves which will reduce in size in keeping with the proportions of the tree.

Conifers, especially those with small needles are the usual first favourites, as it is easier to ensure correct balance between the foliage and wood.

But most trees and many shrubs which bear smallish leaves and can be easily trained to grow on a single trunk will be suitable.

Got a gardening query? Email glenzgarden@gmail.com

Wines that stand alone

If you look closely at a label from the wine producer Sutton Grange its motto or byline is ‘wines that stand alone’ and tasting through their line-up recently they lived up to their name.

Sutton Grange is located in the Bendigo region, sitting in the shadow of Mount Alexander, a 20-minute drive south of Bendigo and just 13 minutes from Harcourt. It is the same distance to Metcalfe, due south, which is the junction where the regions of Bendigo, Macedon Ranges and Heathcote converge.

The wines coming from this estate cannot easily be seen as Bendigo wines, they have nuances of Macedon Ranges, being grown on granite soils, but are hard to compare because they don’t make a chardonnay or a pinot noir. They make a shiraz (labelled syrah), but not like the full-bodied monsters you get from Bendigo or the brooding, intense Heathcote reds.

There is a theme running through their range. Whites are light, subtle and fresh, signalling the impact of a couple of recent cool vintages. The reds are elegant, medium-bodied and savoury with welcoming lower alcohol, compared to their neighbours. They stand alone, possibly aloof.

Their portfolio is a simple two-tier approach. At a lower price point is their brand Fairbank (the 19th Century name for the property) and then their pricier Estate Range. Here are the wines that caught my attention. 2021 Fairbank Ancestrale Sparkling Rosé was juicy, full of cherries, apricots and nutty lees contact.

The palate is creamy with fresh red apple and yeasty bread notes. Ancestrale means it finishes its primary fermentation in the bottle and then disgorged, leaving some yeast lees in the bottle, so it appears slightly cloudy.

Fairbank 2022 Rosé is a classic dry wine with plenty of red fruits such as strawberries, red cherries and a dash of red apple. Palate is long, firm and a touch savoury. It is simply delicious and has been recognised by some major wine commentators, so don’t just take my word ($35).

They do an interesting sangiovese in a light drink-early Beaujolais style which is very fruity, but dry, as well as a nice, light-bodied but savoury Vino Rosso which is a blend of aglianico and cabernet sauvignon. Both are Fairbank wines and priced at $35.

So far, the wines have all been estate grown, but in 2020 they had to buy in fruit due to a savage frost, so the Fairbank Syrah 2020 was sourced from Heathcote. It’s a lovely medium-bodied wine with blackberry, blueberry and cassis aromas. Some liquorice and plums on a soft tannin, medium bodied, elegant palate.

The final two wines were from their Estate Range and they really hit the mark. 2021 Syrah ($65) had a complex nose with black pepper, blackberry, floral and struck match notes. It was rich but reserved at the same time, with some green and black peppercorns and well-balanced acidity on a medium-bodied palate structure.

Incidentally, I first went to this winery in 2012 and tasted their 2007 estate Syrah and it was outstanding. Price was $60. So only a $5 increase in 12 years.

Finally, their 2019 Aglianico ($65) was elegant and savoury with plenty of ripe tannins that are indicative of this southern Italian grape variety. There are plenty of cherries and rose petal notes mixed in with dried herbs. Again, medium bodied and elegant on the palate.

Clive Hartley is an award-winning wine writer, educator and consultant. His 305 page full colour book Australian Wine Guide (7th ed) is available for purchase from Paradise Books in Daylesford or via his website – www. australianwineguide.com.au

Two Macedon Ranges Shire Council programs driving sustainable agriculture practices and waste reduction measures have been announced as finalists in the 2024 LGPro Awards for Excellence.

The Healthy Landscapes program and a suite of practical Resource Recovery initiatives have both
been nominated in the Sustainability Initiative category as part of the annual awards, which recognise
the outstanding work by individuals and teams working in local government in Victoria.

The Sustainability Initiative category recognises initiatives that demonstrate excellence in the delivery
of environmentally sustainable processes or projects, ensuring present needs are met without compromising future generations.

The council’s increased efforts to ‘close the loop’ in recent years have led to a range of initiatives being
implemented, all aimed at helping residents recycle more and waste less.

The council became one of the first Victorian councils to implement a shire-wide four-bin system.

It also partnered with the Australian Food and Grocery Council on a soft plastic recycling trial in Romsey.

It recently introducing polystyrene and textile recycling at resource recovery facilities.

These initiatives have resulted in, more than 5,700 tonnes of glass, 28,900 tonnes of green waste (FOGO) and 8,400 tonnes of recycling being diverted from landfill.

They’ve also resulted in two tonnes of soft plastic being collected and processed into reusable oil and 300m3 of polystyrene and 11 tonnes of textiles diverted from landfill.

The winner will be announced at the 2024 LGPro Annual Conference Awards Dinner, to be held on
Thursday 2 May at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Ballarat area business owners can now shift to a new 100 per cent renewable energy program to cut their emissions and costs via two programs – the Business Renewables Buyers Group and the Ballarat Energy Network.

The City of Ballarat has joined forces with more than 50 Victorian councils to create the Business Renewables Buyers Group, which helps businesses access more affordable renewable deals.

The group is supported by an external facilitator experienced at purchasing electricity generated by renewable energy, such as a solar or wind farm. The method is set to cut through barriers associated with the switch, such as complexity, time and cost.  

The initiative is open to businesses that consume more than 500MWh (megawatt hour) of electricity each year – spending about $100,000 per annum.

The energy collective leverages off the City of Ballarat’s experience in the Victorian Energy Collaboration (VECO), the largest emissions reduction project by local governments in Australia.

The initiative also compliments the Committee for Ballarat’s recently launched Ballarat Energy Network (BEN), a community-driven program that features 100 per cent locally generated renewable energy for business and industry.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson is encouraging local businesses to get involved to reduce their environmental impact and save money.

“The Business Renewables Buyers Group is a local government initiative that helps businesses reduce their emissions and their impact on the environment while also securing long-term, stable pricing from the energy market,” he said.

“Ballarat and regional businesses now have more ways to embrace renewable energy with two great initiatives providing more choice and opportunity.”

The Ballarat Energy Network aims to aggregate locally generated renewable energy and distribute it locally, as well as trade it on the National Energy Market.

Committee for Ballarat Chief Executive Officer Michael Poulton said there was great renewable potential in Ballarat.

“To achieve energy resilience for regional communities like ours, the grid must evolve to maximise the capability of distributed generation assets like roof top solar and storage systems,” he said.

“These will play an increasing significant role as business, industry and the community in our region, transition to an economy driven by 100 per cent renewable energy.”

The shift to renewable energy is a flagship of the City of Ballarat’s commitment to transition to a net zero municipality.

In 2018, Ballarat Council acknowledged the climate emergency and the need for urgent action. In 2019, Council adopted the Carbon Neutrality and 100% Renewables Action Plan 2019-2025 for its corporate emissions.

In 2022, the council adopted the Ballarat Net Zero Emissions Plan, with an aspirational target of reaching net zero emissions by 2030 for the Ballarat community.

The initiative also aligns with the City of Ballarat’s Council Plan 2021-2025 Goal 1 – ‘An environmentally sustainable future’.

Those keen to find out more are being invited to visit the Business Renewables Buying Group page, hosted by the City of Yarra, to learn more about the initiative.

With council elections set for October, the MunicipalAssociation of Victoria will be running information sessions for prospective candidates.

Topics will cover information about the roles and responsibilities of a councillor and their council, the election campaign process and more.

There is also information on their website where those considering standing for council in their own Lcal Government Area can find out more – www.mav.asn.au/stand-for-council-2024

Japan is a country of juxtapositions. A Fuji photo booth sitting next to a plethora of vending machines offering porn magazines, smokes and booze in the middle of a rice paddy with a handful of workers and nobody else around sums it up for me.

My first interaction with the Japanese folk was as a wee boy of four out to sea with my dad and we happened upon a box-netting vessel just off the northern coast of New Zealand.

This led to some high seas swapsies with knives, food and ice. And when we arrived home Mum had to try to interpret how to cook a “Boil in the Bag” meal. This technology hadn’t made its way to NZ in the early seventies and we marvelled as she tipped the hot noodles on the plate. I must admit it was probably my first encounter with a noodle.

My next rendezvous with the culture was during the late eighties, this time as skipper selling to the Japanese market, making a killing and entertaining a bunch of Japanese for a weekend.

These fellas came over to see how we caught the fish and instruct us on how they liked to receive the fish. But the lessons were short and we mainly showed them the intricate secrets of the inside of the Houhora Tavern.

When I met Donna, a declared Japanophile, in the nineties, I went to the travel agent to enquire and pique my interest on the Land of the Rising Sun, but they had nothing, not even a brochure to give me.

So, I did my first of 10 or so trips to Japan in 2003 and it was a different country then. I stood head and shoulders above the crowd and one little fella yelled to his mother while pointing at me “nan da are”, which loosely translated means “WTF is that”.

She hurried him away from the foreigner.

At first I was too afraid to go anywhere without Donna as it all looked the same, and in those times they spoke very little English. My language skills were also limited – I spoke enough Japanese to order a beer and then a few pints later, find the toilet.

But the further into the sake we got the more we connected with the locals, coupled with a riveting karaoke rendition of Danny Boy which somehow bought a bit of praise and respect.

In that short amount of time since 2003 things have changed, Google Translate ensures a relatively smooth interaction. Not like when I asked a rather surprised massage therapist to be my wife for an hour. All I wanted was to send my wife down in an hour – for a massage.

The kids have grown a lot taller on average and it seems that half the population of Australia is over there at any one time, so foreigners aren’t such a mystery. But it is still a special place in my heart.

We leave the big cities to the tourists and head to the country where not a lot of foreigners have found our little city of Matsuyama.

The culture certainly hasn’t changed a lot, the bars are still a fabulous way of engaging with the locals. I have even found one bar that only allows one patron in at a time – a fair dinkum cardboard and wood box that the dude sets up every night.

And cherry blossom viewing is amazing. If you were to place 100,000 people into a park, ply them with alcohol for an entire day in Australia there would be trouble.

But over there, no worries. There is no disrespect or fighting and harmony is all around as you look for the perfect blossom.

I am now a Japanophile rant over…

Fun fact. Kara means empty and oke is short for orchestra. So karaoke is empty music, or music without words. Te means hand. Karate. Lesson over.

with Eve Lamb

From his earlier days as a rock musician and his years at the prestigious Academy of Art in Dresden, Germany – to his new upcoming exhibition at the Convent Gallery, Daylesford’s Monty Osewald is the sort of vivacious talent whose creative work gets noticed wherever he goes. His personal story could be described as fiery, even phoenix-like. Ahead of his new show that opens later this month, he shared a little of that story.

Eve: Now I know you have an exhibition coming up at the Convent Gallery here in Daylesford,
later this month Monty. When is the launch?

Monty: It opens on Sunday April 28. I’ve been doing a burlesque series of prints of a stunning model, Mini Mayhem who is a burlesque performer. She is going to open the exhibition at 2pm with a burlesque act and that will be followed with me doing a painting of her in her outfit for the day. Of course the show’s up as well.

Eve: Yes. Please tell me a little more about the show. What does it feature?

Monty: It’s forty years of work. It’s called Forty Years of Painting, Drawing and Prints. There are about 50 works and it will run for a month. In one section there is the latest burlesque series done in 2023 and 2024, featuring Mini Mayhem. There’s a section for the Dresden paintings, the Samoan series, a Daylesford series and also a surreal series that I did following the death of my mother.

Eve: Monty can you tell me about your story as an artist? I believe it’s quite eventful.

Monty: I finished my rock n roll career in 1984. I wasn’t getting paid enough in that so I thought, oh I’ll do some painting. I did arts school years before that. I was at the Gordon in Geelong, VCA in Melbourne. But after I finished my qualifications I just went out and played rock n roll for years. I started doing artwork with a group show at the Works Gallery in Geelong and then a solo show at an artist-run space called Artery in Geelong.

I hadn’t painted for years and all of a sudden it just burst out. That went pretty well and I got a show at the Geelong Gallery and was bought up by a Sydney Group called the Sydney Art Bank. In Sydney I bumped into a really famous guy called Kym Bonython, an art dealer and entrepreneur who brought bands like The Beatles out to Australia. He said ‘show me what you’ve got’ . He said ‘bring all of it to my place in Kew’…

I pulled it all out and threw it down on the lawn outside his mansion in Kew. He said ‘I’ll take the lot’ – and we showed it in Adelaide and in Sydney and I ended up in group shows with people like John Coburn, Fred Cress, Charles Blackman. That gave me a lot of impetus to keep going.

I was in Geelong at that time. I ended up making fibreglass paintings and spent more than 12 months making this massive exhibition of paintings, each a couple of meters long and a meter-and-a-half high. They were all finished and ready, and I had booked the Qdos Gallery in Lorne and we had a show to do the next day.

All the paintings were in the factory down at Fyansford. That night I went to bed probably 3am. I lived at Lara. The next morning I woke up to go to school – because I was a school teacher as well – and I got a phone call in the morning. Somebody had set fire to the factory. All of the 17 huge paintings that I’d done were incinerated in this massive fire.

The guy that did it was an arsonist. He had problems. We saw him in the court. He got five years jail. He
had destroyed plenty of people’s businesses and caused millions of dollars worth of damage.

Eve: That’s terrible. Monty, how did you cope?

Monty: It wasn’t aimed at me but I lost out on a fabulous fibreglass show. Who knows what might have happened. I just sort of slumped. I didn’t know what to do next. I hung around for about a year and then decided ‘right I’m out of here’.

I went and lived in Dresden in East Germany for five years. I was actually born in Kiel in Germany so I can speak German. I’d sent a video clip of myself working at my studio in Lara to all of the major cities in Germany. I arrived in Dresden and went up to the front door of Akademie Fur Bildende Kunste, a massive academy. Beautiful.

I said ‘I’m looking for the video tape that I sent’. They said ‘we can’t find it’. I said ‘I’ve come a long way. I’ll wait until you find it’. And while I was sitting there, waiting, one of the professors came over and said ‘can I have a look in your art folder’.

He looked through it and said ‘come with me’ and he gave me a studio which I worked in for four years after that at the Academy in Dresden – for nothing.

Eve: That’s wonderful.

Monty: Out of the despair of the fire comes this.

Eve: And you’re still a practicing artist today. What is your genre of preference now?

Monty: I think that it’s expressionist.

Eve: And what is your preferred medium?

Monty: It’s oil paint. I use other materials but a lot of my collection are monoprints – oil
paintings on aluminium plates and those images are transferred to paper through an etching
press.

Eve: What is your subject matter of choice?

Monty: I’m really interested in people. But I also love doing landscape. Now I just love the fact that I am just painting for myself and just accepting the marks that come out. It’s a very spontaneous sort of mark-making ritual that I do. I’m living the life that I’ve always wanted to live.

By Donna Kelly

A long, long time ago, just after the dinosaurs disappeared and the wheel was invented, I lived in Japan.

It was a very different world. There was no internet, well there probably was but I didn’t know about it, no Facebook, no Snapchat, no email, no Instagram.

We communicated by writing aerogrammes, filling every tiny piece of the very light, and light blue, paper to make sure we got our money’s worth. You could also make a phone call but they were incredibly expensive so you wrote everything down you were going to say so there were no blank bits or ummms and ahhhs.

Anyway, I had been to uni and got a BA or Bachelor of Arts, which my Dad also called Bugger All. I like to think he was joking and it was the days when the government paid for the degree. But still not sure. He was an engineer after all.

And then I found work at a newspaper as a cadet journalist in Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula. My career was going well and over the next two years I moved to Frankston and then to the Mornington Leader where I was the editor.

Yep, at the grand old age of 22 I was chatting with MP Peter Reith as part of my role.

And then Mum found a newspaper advertisement. The Ministry of Education, or Mombusho, in Japan were looking for teachers of English. You needed a degree but no Japanese. I applied and missed out.

But about a month later I had a call from the Ministry saying a position had come up, about an hour out of Tokyo, and would I like it?

The next minute, or so it seemed, I had said farewell to a boyfriend of six years, told Mum to come and visit and I was on a plane to Narita Airport.

I was picked up after a nine-hour flight by four, very stern looking, Japanese men, none of whom spoke English, and we spent the next couple of hours sitting awkwardly in a limo before I was dropped off at my apartment in the smallish town of Ome.

They told me, in a sort of mime, they would pick me up the next morning at 7.30am and take me to the Board of Education, and promptly left.

I think I was pretty much in a state of shock. I had never lived away from home, spoke no Japanese and had left a fun journo job for the unknown of Japan.

I looked out the balcony at the snow covered mountain over the road, turned on the television, watched as Arnie sold some products in halting Japanese, turned it off, and looked around the two rooms which were my new home.

My new employees had already pulled out a futon mattress from the cupboard, and popped sheets and a duvet on top, and I think they left me a loaf of bread, being a foreigner and all, for a breakfast of toast.

Luckily I had a Western-style toilet and there was a lovely deep bath.

The next morning I got up early and was ready and waiting for my ride. We went straight to the office, no sight-seeing going on, and I met all the managers and took part in my first all Japanese meeting. It only went for three hours.

If you think Australian office meetings can be dull, try it in a language you don’t understand.

I also asked for the bathroom and nearly cried when I saw the Asian-style squat toilets. I decided to hold on until something better turned up but after a few days realised I could do some internal damage if I only peed at home.

The next day I started at my first junior high school where the students spoke no English and neither did the English teachers. It was a bit of a struggle at times, especially when the students asked if I was a virgin.

“Yes or no,” the English teacher prompted. Hmmm. I said “no” but I am from Franganistan, where a woman in her 30s is generally the grandmother. Only Frankston people can make these jokes.

What’s a woman in a white tracksuit? The bride. But I digress.

Japan turned out to be the biggest, most fun adventure of my life. I stayed for three years, made loads of friends, learnt the language and ended up being a tour guide back home in Cairns and on the Gold Coast.

I have so many fantastic memories and until Covid hit pretty much found my way back there almost every year, dragging Kyle along after we met in the 90s. And he loves it just as much as me, although you do need to visit to really “get” the place.

It’s all odd and fun and exciting at the same time. And sometimes scary. I was followed home a few times by strange men, had a few others on trains doing things under newspapers that are quite illegal, and worked for a friend in a “hostess” bar where I thought I was just serving drinks but some of the patrons had other ideas.

Mum loved it too. Kept turning up every few months to outstay her welcome – she didn’t care. The last time we went together was when she turned 80.

She had been really crook, almost gone, and then pretty miraculously recovered. We went during cherry blossom season, rented a tatami mat and sat on the ground drinking Asahi beers.

Mum laid down on her back and sighed. I asked if she was OK and she said she was just enjoying the sky and the trees.

I am in Japan this week and missing her so much. She would have loved one more visit. Love you Mum. Just sayin’…

The Clunes writers group is a diverse lot so it’s little wonder that their new anthology has something in it to appeal to just about every kind of reader.

There is short story, fiction, autobiography and memoir, poetry, haiku – even song lyric.

The group, which has been running for well over fifteen years, launched the new 310 page volume called Chequerboard at the recent Clunes Booktown festival.

 It’s the group’s second published anthology featuring the work of members, and it’s being snapped up fairly fast with half of the copies published in the first print run already sold.

The new anthology showcases the  talent, diverse interests and considerable background life experience of the group’s membership – and it’s an impressively consistent membership.

“We generally  have about 14 to 18 members turn up each month so it’s fairly consistent,” says  group convenor and keen local writer Sandra Nichols.

When members gather, as they do on the second Monday of the month, they get the chance to read their latest work out aloud, taking to the mic to test out their creative output on others who appreciate the written and spoken word.

But members like Newlyn’s Julie Moran are quick to  let you know that you don’t have to take to the mic with your work if you don’t wish to.

However, the fact that it doesn’t seem to take long before most are fairly itching to grab the mic speaks volumes of the fact that this is a welcoming and non-intimidating group.

“During our monthly meetings we encourage our members to read pieces aloud with a microphone,” Julie says.

“We have a monthly theme and more often than not we all write to that theme.

“We don’t critique each other’s work. We don’t pull the pieces apart. It’s a very welcoming environment.”

 Fellow member, Clunes musician and writer Judi Palmer who, like both Julie and Sandra has a background in academic research and writing, agrees on this point.

“It’s very laid-back,” says Judi who contributed several original song lyric works to Chequerboard.

The new anthology was also published by Judi who runs her own local publishing enterprise, Harmony for Books, while the cover design features a quilt design by talented local textile artist, Mel Drummond.

Sandra says that for those group members who, like herself, do occasionally want a bit of constructive feedback, they can simply request and readily obtain it during the group’s monthly sessions.

“Quite a few of our members have been writing stories or poetry for a very long time,” says Sandra, reflecting on the benefits to be derived from being able to read your work aloud to others who share an appreciation for good writing.

“It provides an opportunity to have an audience of people who appreciate what you do.”

Among the 20 different writers whose work is represented in the new anthology, Julie contributed three fictional short stories to Chequerboard, while Sandra contributed works of poetry.

Copies of the new book are available for purchase ($27 for those keen to secure one) from BOOM Clunes at 28 Fraser Street, and group members say they’ll also be selling copies at this month’s Clunes Farmers and Makers Market that happens in the town’s main street on Sunday April 14.

Sandra says new members are very welcome to join this longstanding local writers’ group whose current members travel from locations throughout the wider region including Talbot, Creswick, Newlyn, Newstead, Ballarat and Scarsdale, to attend the monthly sessions that happen from 1-3pm in the town’s main street Attitude building.

“I’m not sure exactly how long  the group has been going for now but it would be 16 to 20 years,” muses Judi.

Members say that those  who think the Clunes Writers’ Group may be for them, are welcome to simply sit in on a monthly session and listen to how it all works before  taking the next step and becoming a member for the very nominal $10 annual membership fee.

More information about the group is available from Sandra on 0438-415-715.

Words: Eve Lamb