‘Wherever you look for beauty, you will be sure to find it. Wherever you look for darkness, you will be sure to find it. Both exist but what we look for is what we’ll see’…….Livonne

Most of my Sundays are spent on my own, bumming around the house. Whether I spend it watching some tv or making some art, it is a lazy day and usually spent on my own. This is not a pity post, not at all. I like my own company, so usually it’s okay. But sometimes, it gets a bit lonely. So today, I decided it was up to me what my Sundays would look like. I can’t just sit back and wait for invitations to turn up, I have to make my own opportunities and find things to do. That’s when I thought I would take up an invitation from the lovely Selena at Wild Valley Art Park, to come to an open day of her gallery. It turns out that my friend Lyn had also been invited, so we headed off together to go explore.

For those who don’t remember, I had my first solo exhibition, From Fractured to Fairytale at Wild Valley Art Park. Selena was wonderfully supportive in helping me lay my life out for the world to see. From Fractured to Fairytale was the story of my life told as a fairy tale and was so incredibly personal, that once I had put it up, I went into panic mode about people seeing so deeply into my life. But it was also the most healing thing I have ever done.

So this morning, off we went to Wentworth Falls to immerse ourselves in some wonderful art, set amongst the beautiful Australian landscape in which the gallery sits. We had a wander around, looking at all the art there and we were enthralled with it. Some I had seen before as I follow Selena and the gallery but there was so much new work of hers and other local artists. Selena does a lot of different kinds of art including stunning mosaics, which are in evidence all over the place. And I do love me a bit of mosaic.

There were lots of people turning up which was great to see, so after doing some browsing we sat down to a cup of tea and coffee while we chatted to Selena, which was delightful. We both did a bit of early Christmas shopping which was great. Buying from a gallery and as such, a local artist, is always a good feeling. It’s not the mass production of gift we are used to buying but something handmade, which has come from a person’s imagination and is a one off.

When I went to pick Lyn up this morning, I took a few photos of the stunning flowers in her garden. That is of course, when I realised that thanks to my forgetful brain, I didn’t bring my camera, so my phone camera had to suffice today. Thankfully the cameras on phones today are so good that it’s never too much of a worry to use them. All in all it was a lovely Sunday, and something I need to do more often instead of lazing away the day at home.

Wild Valley Art Park will be open again next weekend, the 5th and 6th October from 10-4 and is also open by appointment. You can tour the sculpture garden, gallery and native bush gardens. Immerse yourself in the latest exhibition, explore the garden art, mosaics, plants and beautiful artworks. Fantastic if, like us, you want to make a start on some special Christmas shopping. You can also speak to Selena about group bookings, workshops, team building days or you could join in mosaic, ink painting or kids workshops. Whatever you choose to do there, remember to look for the beauty. It’s everywhere!

Happy looking for beauty….Livvy xxx