Five artists from the Margaret River area have got together and presented work for an exhibition at the Willyabrup Dreaming Gallery called “Mid Life Crisis”.  I’ve spoken to a couple of them and I’m sure that what we see will be neither all a downer, or a flippant gloss over treatment.  People are really feeling the passage of time, and their responses are sure to make us think.  A little research into the story leads me to find people who’ve done what they see as useful.  Moved out of one career, or shifted their life from one area to another, and that chase for the right way to live really attracts and intrigues me.  Just as exciting - these are people who’ve made it work after they took the leap of faith.

The discussions included one artist who was ready to “purge the demons of mid life” by their contributions, and the tag line on the invitation goes “five fearless artists take a personal peek at the dark underbelly of maturity”.   That’s enough to get me there

The Gallery will host works by Peter Scott (Paintings), Trish Durham (Sculpture and Jewellery), Steve Pease (Glassforms and Jewellery), and sculpture and pottery by Bill Meiklejohn and Helen Foster.  The work will be great, but if you get to the opening you’ll meet the artists and also get comments from Ian Parmenter, South West identity and chef.

Willyabrup Dreaming Gallery is on Willyabrup Rd, Willyabrup.  The opening for the exhibition is on March 18 at 6:30 pm, and it will run until Sunday 26th.  RSVPs can be made to Bill on 9755 6204.

Finally, here are quotes from two of the artists in the exhibition:

Steve Pease:
"So  you  have  come  to  peek  at  the  underbelly  of  maturity.  You  have  made  it  through  childhood , adolescence , adulthood  and  now  stand  at  the  doorway  that  heralds  mid  life.   All  of  a  sudden  your  birthday candles  threaten  to  melt   your  ice  cream  cake  and  if  you  do  manage  to  blow  them  out  you  don’t  know  what  to  wish  for.    You  have  climbed  the  corporate  ladder  of  success  and  are  now  looking  over  the  landscape  that  is  your  life.

' Mid  life  is  when  you  reach  the  top  of  the  ladder  and  find  it  is  against  the  wrong  building'.  Joseph  Campbell

I  love  this  quote.  For  me  it  seemed  to  sum  up  the  feeling  that  most  people  experience  when  they  reach  mid  life.   In  my  work  the  ladder  represents  the  achievement  of  our  life ,  the  boat  represents  the  journey  and  the  water ,  our  sub  conscience.  The  rest  I  will  leave  to  your  imagination.  My  peek  at  the  underbelly  of  maturity  offered  no  answers   to  the  question  posed  by  mid  life  but  I  hope  the  work  will  bring  a  smile  to  your  face  and  lighten  the  load  of  the  crisis  that  is  about  to  befall  you."

Helen Foster:
"Most of my work has addressed the aging process that women have to face whether they like it or not such as sagging boobs, love handles, wing spams, contemplation of life alone and all the twists and turns that life throws at you.

Midlife means you become more reflective.  You start pondering the big questions. Why am I here? What is life? How much healthy choice yoghurt or cheese can I eat before it’s no longer a healthy choice?

I have found this coming together with four other artisans and discussing the complications of Mid Life exceedingly funny, thought provoking and cleansing as we don’t have any say in aging it is a fact of life so face it, enjoy it and I hope we give people some laughs. "