I’m sure Mother’s Day is synonymous with sleeping in and doing nothing all day.
Someone should have mentioned that to the AFL organisers. Our son had an AFL match up at The Entrance with a 9.00AM kick off and of course, we had to be there half an hour beforehand. So instead of sleeping in, we were out the door at 7.45 AM. From my perspective, that’s the crack of dawn. Such early mornings are always painful but on Mother’ Day, it was cruel.
Yet, somehow I managed to stagger out of bed and crawled out to the kitchen for my cup of coffee.
However, before you see me as some sort of crazed Supermum, I’d better confess. I had a huge ulterior motive. Photographer Ken Duncan was going to be in his studio and that was on the way home from football. Sacrificing my Mother’s Day sleep-in was a small price to pay for meeting Ken Duncan.
I don’t know what I expected to happen when I finally met Ken Duncan. I always seem to hope that meeting someone inspirational is going to rub off on me somehow…a bit like rubbing the proverbial genie’s lamp and getting my three wishes!
Well, perhaps I was granted my three wishes after all but not in the way I’d expected.
We went to meet Ken Duncan and we did but we also met another perhaps equally inspiring photographer, Steve Fraser. Just because you haven’t heard of Steve Fraser, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to get out of your couch and make an effort to see his work. Just do it!
You can get a bit of a sneak preview at http://stevefraser.co/Default.aspx You can experience his recent trip to the Sub-Antarctic by downloading his newsletter here http://stevefraser.co/Subscribe.aspx
I have taken a lot of photos of sunsets in my time and these days they have to be pretty spectacular. However, Steve had taken this photo of the sun shining through the clouds that just blew me away. It felt like I was encountering God in such an amazing personal way. This was heaven. Not just because it was a beautiful photo. It was also spiritual in the purest sense of the word. I just sat down and stared so deeply into that photograph trying to almost absorb it. Eat it with my eyes.
We not only had the opportunity to see Steve’s work but we also met him and he explained some of the shots to us. It was so fabulous to get that personal insight and walk in his shoes for a bit. It makes such a difference.
Ken Duncan’s work was also amazing and needs no introduction. I have to admit that seeing his work “blown up” in the gallery was amazing. There was one shot with a field of purple flowers and I could feel myself diving into them. It was amazing! So amazing!
Next stop…we went into the theatre and saw Ken Duncan’s work on the big screen. It was just breathtaking and if ever I find myself in a bit of a black hole, I’m going to get in my car and come back. There is such incredible beauty and wonder on this planet. We need to climb out of our despair and go find it. Grab onto it. Be inspired!
View Ken’s work online at http://www.kenduncan.com/sanctuary/sanctuary.php
A little bit later on, we met and had a chat with Ken Duncan. His photography has always been an inspiration but the man behind the photos is out of this world as well. He is a humble man and there were no trumpets or fanfares when he arrived at the gallery. He just wandered around like a spectator. By this stage, the kids were quite restless and were being a bit silly but it didn’t bother him. He wasn’t precious.
I should also add that Ken Duncan had invited Steve Fraser to exhibit in his gallery and it seems has been very encouraging to someone who could be perceived as “the competition”. That’s a bit of a lesson to the rest of us, don’t you think?
After all that inspiration, we came home for pancakes, presents and had a nap. Later on, we made the finishing touches to the Devil’s Food Cake Amelia had made with a bit of assistance…nothing like a bit of home-made caramel sauce poured over the top for true decadence and we brought out the tea cups. Geoff’s Mum is no longer with us but she was the Old Country Roses set and my grandmother was the crinoline lady. Amelia had the butterflies and Jonathon had the Three Sisters Set. We went there last year on a family holiday. We had celebrated Mother’s Day with my Mum last weekend when we were in Sydney.
So there we have it. We managed to squeeze in football, photography, eating , sleeping all into a wonderful Mother’s Day. I could have slept in or had breakfast in bed but look at all the wonderful things I would have missed out on!
Yet another reminder to carpe diem…seize the day!
I hope you and yours had a sensational Mother’s Day and if it was a day of quiet reflection without your Mum, our thoughts are with you!
XX Rowena
Beyond the Flow 