Ingrid M. Smith : June 2019

Where the Waratahs Bloom and Mike Sargeant

Mike Sargeant is a hugely talented artist who creates his wonderfully unique pieces from recycled materials. Each of Mike's distinctive works is a legacy to his love of the natural enviroment and desire to protect it.
His pieces range from the Keep Australia Beautiful Awards to Claude (Clawed!) the Crocodile; at 3.5 metres long, Mike's largest piece.
Mike's work travels far and wide and can be found displayed in galleries, at exhibitions, in parks and in many homes and gardens. His work has been showcased with huge success at the prestigeous annual art event at Sydney's Botanical Gardens.
Mike is married to the lovely Christine who often arrives home to find that her kitchen utensils have been mysteriously incorporated into works of art! (see the Forcupine)
I am fortunate enough to be the extremely proud owner of one of Mike's amazing pieces, especially designed and created to celebrate the writing of my novel, Where the Waratahs Bloom.

Here are the details of my piece:

The flower head is created from bent nails, half a plastic golf ball, fish knives, half a champagne bottle top and painted with glass paint.
The stem is made from a golf club and the leaves are cutlery handles.
The whole flower is fixed to an extremely solid piece of slate, a left-over from a new floor.
The wood and the backing, according to Mike: 'are some odd bits salvaged from the shed'.

I hope to do another blog very soon about Mike's awe-inspiring work.
Photo credits: Mike Sargeant and Peter Smith

The very special piece created by Mike for
my novel, Where the Waratahs Bloom

The fine detail of one of Mike's waratah flowers

One of the many awards created by Mike

A vase of native flowers featuring the waratah

The Forcupine, composed mainly of recycled forks!

Claude (Clawed) the Crocodile! He is 3.5 metres long
and has found a happy home.

Fish in Water: originally displayed outside Manly Art Gallery as part of the Framework Project in 2001. Fish in Water is now on permanant display at BreastScreen NSW, St Leonards.

Lest We Forget: an anthology

An Isle of Greece tells the story of Dorothy Measures, an Australian nurse working on the Greek island of Lemnos after the Battle of Lone Pine in 1915.

The dedication inside this anthology, Lest We Forget, says it all:
'This anthology is to commemorate '100 Years of ANZAC' in this centenary year. The stories, articles and poems of fact and fiction are dedicated to the gallant soldiers of Australia and New Zealand who fought diligently to keep this country free.'

I am proud that my story was considered good enough to be included.

Introduction

I have started this blog to showcase my books, short stories and articles and also to write about issues which spring from and relate to, the afore mentioned. I intend to keep the blog pretty tight to the subject and not wander all over the place.
Questions and comments from readers are most welcome.

Quote: 'The pen is mightier than the sword' Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1839

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North of Lithgow, New South Wales, on the edge of the Great Divide lies Cheshunt, a vast property where the rare and glorious waratahs grow. Home to the Richards family since 1905, Max is restoring Cheshunt to its former glory. It is now the 1990s, and the family are keen and active competitors, showing their precious Morgan horses, when Stella, Max’s daughter, is suddenly stricken with an illness that does not respond to treatment. The long hours in the saddle, the days working with the stock and training for the hunter classes become a thing of the past for Stella and her mother, Kirsty. The journey begins to find a cure. But months turn into years... Then the family is told Stella will never walk again. While life at Cheshunt must go on, the Richards family face their troubles with the true courage and dignity of the pioneers from which they descended.

Little Australian Pony Girl is the true story about an Australian childhood, where animals and hard work come first and people take second place.

Emily is the third generation of a family whose lives have been bound up in animals, especially horses, in different parts of Australia. With one grandfather a professional horse breaker and race horse trainer, her father a professional jockey at sixteen years old and a mother whose teenage years were spent on horseback, it is not surprising that Emily can never recall a time when she could not ride.

This fascinating tale is told by young Emily and moves through the amazing range of happenings that make up both her life and the life of her family. Horses and ponies may play the major role in Emily’s life but it is by no means a one-sided childhood. Emily is a musical child who plays the flute, taking weekly lessons. Like her mother and grandmother, she sews, knits, and enjoys craft work.

Emily's young life touches on a wide range of people and places. We see her at home on the family farm, learning that animals mean hard work and always come before people; she takes us to the North Queensland property of Rocking Vee which is owned by her grandparents; we hear all about her first meeting with Dodo the donkey; she tells us how the wild brumby horses of North Queensland became part of her father's own childhood; we learn of the family involvement in Riding for the Disabled; we can see Emily's delight in a father who was once a professional jockey shining through two chapters; there is the pleasure of a newly born foal and the joys of training him for his first show; the list goes on and on and it is hard to believe how much has been packed into Emily's short life.

To many people, this is the sort of life that only happens in story books. I have lost count of the number of times people have approached me whilst I was holding a horse or pony and asked if their children could come closer: these children had never even seen a real live horse or pony.

From sheep to saddles; rodeos to racing; brumbies to bridles; ponies to places: this is an Australian childhood at its best. Unfortunately, the type of childhood portrayed in Little Australian Pony Girl, is becoming an increasing rarity in our rapidly changing country of today.