Hi Janet,  I applied for work in Wollongong but my qualifications…and being an artist may disadvantage me! They think it will take away from me being a teacher…Education Officer at my local gallery! Humph! Too few advantages

for gaining this much education!

Hi, Flossie,  I agree with them. It will take away from your work and your incentive to work. It’s a hard one, juggling art and work. And dealing with other people’s perceptions of what is good for you or indeed, how long you will stay in the job is what employers see when they realize that you are an artist.

Anyway, something will come along that will be just perfect. Have you tried artists in schools programs or grants for community programs?

Flossie to self: A pathetic excuse! This is like saying to a musician, she can’t sell musical instruments because she plays herself. Being how ‘good’ an artist disqualifies one from being an art teacher? !!!@#%&+

Dear loved ones,

Thank you so much for remembering me with a chirpy card, flowers, chocolate and champers…all favourite vices…on this special Mother’s Day. It is special because I officially have responsibility for only one of you anymore. Unofficially, of course, I will always feel responsible for you – as my mother did before me and her mother and so on. Some of you I gave birth to…I was remembering each of those occasions this morning as I sipped my tea on the balcony.

Most of all I want to thank Tom, without whose agreement and cooperation, none of you would exist in the particular state you are now. I love Tom very much and am so glad he asked me to marry him. Just think what I would have missed out on!

I talked about all of you a great deal this past week as I presented artist’s talks in Wangaratta in conjunction with B, B & B. You are all part of the making of this art. I can’t beat that inspiritation (hmmm … a good title for my next exhibition??) or collaboration but I am doing my best to carry on with those at hand…lucky Tom and Patch (!)

Thank you for making my Day very happy. Now I have to get to work to finish a few pieces of art for Bendigo, help pick up the trailer and pack it to travel tomorrow, pack myself for one month away from home and pack up art materials to make while away… I think Hungry Jacks and Jamaican chocolate cheesecake from the shop are still on the agenda, too.

love each you very much and am still proud to be the mother of ‘em all!

Florence Grace (nee Stumpf) Peitsch

When faced with the seemingly insurmountable odds against becoming ‘an artist of note’, I frequently find myself at the point of despair. This happened again recently with my visit to Paddington where ‘real artists’ are presented daily to a buying public in the best spaces by the best galleries at the best five digit prices. When with immense bravery I inquired about whether I could send in a CV and some images for the Director’s perusal, I was met with a nonplussed stare. The cool receptionist tried her best not to be patronizing but what she said settled that. ‘Our Director only exhibits those who she herself has noticed on the art scene. Perhaps you could try the artist’s run initiatives and work at coming up through the ranks.’ This was actually good advice – for someone just starting out and in their mid-twenties. For me, on the other hand, it was immensely degrading. I am aware that I am not known in any capacity in NSW, but the presumption is that I am, therefore, not a quality artist. Should I believe this? No!

‘Use everything in your life to create art’ is what the playwright, Sidda, in The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood was told by her colleagues when her mother cruelly upstaged her once again.

Yet, in the still, wee hours of the night……..and I am awake, thinking…I could do without this eternal struggle.