Woke
to overcast morning but by 8.30am the sun was out and shining brightly.
John
and Joc took us to McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery in Langwarrin near
Frankston.
On
the way we passed the big silver gnome that had just been erected near the main
road.
The
Park is set in 16 hectares of bush and landscaped gardens. The Sculpture Park
showcases over 90 sculptures by major artists. The Park is named after Harry
McClelland who was born in Flemington in 1887 on the family’s property,
‘Bolinda’ (which is still standing) and was a renowned artist. In Melbourne he
created a studio replicating a primitive pioneer bark hut. He later constructed
another studio here. In the booklet John had it mentions that Harry would
collect ti-tree branches for his buildings and attach them to the roof of his
1935 Oldsmobile ‘Sloper’ but occasionally the branches would be held down by a
thrill-seeking local child lying on them with his arms outstretched – now that
wouldn’t happen these day!! The property was made into a gallery in 1971.
Certainly
was a lot of sculptures – some ‘use your imagination’ and others were very
good. Wandered along the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch path. Through her role as
Trustee and Patron, she has been instrumental in helping McClelland achieve its
reputation as Australia’s leading sculpture park. The Elisabeth Murdoch
Sculpture Fund was established in 1989 which has developed this collection.
Elisabeth is the mother of Rupert Murdoch and her house and property is nearby.
Desert
Arch 1964 (bronze) by Norma Redpath born Australia 1928 was donated by Mr
Rupert Murdoch in 1990.
A
couple of interesting shapes.
The
boys thought the work in this stainless steel sculpture was impressive –
something for Dan to create!! Not sure the significance of the numbers.
Some
sheep in the paddock. At least you can see what they represent!
‘Snuffle’
was interesting, stainless and astro turf.
A
few more interesting sculptures. Lots of rusty bits of steel that I didn’t
think worthy of a photo too!!
Andrew
Rogers created this intriguing path that we all followed around to the middle.
The
huge ‘Snake in the Grass’ was created by Year 10 students from the Elisabeth
Murdoch College.
Another
interesting stainless steel creation called ‘Wall Veil’ was made in 2005. Got
the engineers thinking!!
The
water tank was different. We went inside and closed the door then peered out
through the hole across the pond. There was another one which was a stainless
steel room that was black inside and you walked into total blackness then
turned into a room with little lights on the ceiling like stars. Really!!
Now
this I am impressed by because I can see the work involved and it actually
looks like something. It is called ‘Alexander the Great’, made in 2010 by Dean
Colls.
This
one wins our prize. ‘Anno Domino’ 2009 by Geoffrey Ricardo.
A
working traffic light is classed as a sculpture too!! Then there was a
footpath, gutter and seat as well.
This
guy was huge.
Steve
and John commented that this would have been a challenge putting up. John said
that when the sun is shining it creates interesting patterns under the rocks.
‘Annulus’ 2007
Statue
of Joan Sutherland – La stupenda (There is nuthin’ like a Dame) 2003 by Peter
Corlett.
A
couple more big sculptures.
I
liked this wooden carving from Atlantic cedar and oak.
Steve
thought this one was about Harry Potter but it was ‘National Anxiety Index’.
‘The
Mickey’ 2007.
These
more traditional statues were originally commissioned in 1887 for the lobby of
the Federal Coffee Palace 1888-1897; renamed the Federal Palace Hotel in 1897
and the Federal Hotel in 1923 but the building was demolished in 1973. They
were made by William Scurry.
As
we were heading into the Gallery I snapped this chap – didn’t get his details.
A
few more around the lake.
This
one swings around and is quite mesmerising.
Inside
the Gallery (I couldn’t take photos in here) there are three exhibition areas
and the restaurant. There were lots of different items from photography,
paintings, aboriginal funeral poles, sculptures and a huge naked man (Wild man
2005 by Ron Mueck) who was sitting on a chair. Certainly was eye catching and
the skin and hair looked so real. The lady had some of the material and the
hair (horse’s hair) for us to feel. This photo is from the brochure. It doesn’t
show the others bits of his that were on display!!
Lovely
lunch in the restaurant overlooking the lake. Nice and warm inside as it was
quite cold out – probably only 10 degrees but the wind was a lot colder. There
was another nude male sculpture across the lake. Reminds me of the people on
the news recently who erected a huge statue of ‘David’ in their front yard and
the neighbourhood were not happy about it.
Had
a great chat with Kaylene. Her mum Dawn is still in Cairns so we will see her
when we get home.
Claude
and Trish (friends we made at Whipstick Nat Park) are in Clermont and have
found a good collection of small nuggets and another bigger one. Oh well,
hopefully Steve will have more to show when he comes back from the Palmer.
Another
lovely evening chatting with Joc and John. It has been so great to be able to
spend time with them both.
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