GEMMA BLACK : ARTIST / CALLIGRAPHER

Oh my god, it's crazy out there on the streets and canals of Venice. Two nights before Christmas and the "buon Natale" love & fever is all around us.  Imagine the scene, lane ways crammed with shoppers, boxes, parcels, people of every race & creed, strolling, running, dashing here and there ... wait ... was that Santa Claus I saw in a gondola just now?

Better late than never. These photos are my snaps. I am hoping under good lighting to get much better images. Enjoy!   Prepping the gallery.     David & Deirdre Kelly (Scuola curator & artist) bumping in.  Not a good pic but you'll get the idea:       Ready!  Tomorrow evening the opening is at 6pm with music by none other than David Nuttall Principal Oboist, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and my gorgeous partner. Wishing all our girls were here to join in the fun. To Amy Ellen & Laura I dedicate this show.

It is the trip of a lifetime. Invited to the exciting city of Madrid I have fallen in love with another European city and it's people. Thanks to my friends and great calligrapher and teacher Anna Coll & her husband Pepe. I attended an amazing exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornmeisza Gallery ... ... and spent a day at the Prado. I certainly got my steps up at these galleries. Amazing works.  I was thrilled to come across one of my absolute favourites Georgia O'Keefe.  I have fallen in love with Madrid. A pic of the class on our final day. These were the early-birds to class and... ... here were the wonderful mischief makers. I loved every minute of it. I am so fortunate.