Mirka at Heide

Fifteen years ago my friend and then boss Suzy, took me to Heide for my 40th birthday to see the Mirka Mora retrospective and to look through the famous kitchen garden with its rare old fashioned roses. At that time it was unusual for us to both be away for a weekend, as we had always been tied down to cooking at the restaurant. A weekend with both of us away was unheard of. Now fifteen years later and a few weeks before my 55th birthday, Suzy and I went back to Heide to see the From the Home of Mirka Mora exhibition. I don't know where those 15 years went but they certainly seemed to have passed at a fast rate! This is a silk tapestry, woven in China. It is more like a tufted pile, certainly not a flat weave. But it brings out the colours in the image.

The exhibition was displayed in Heide 2, the Reed's second home. A much more modern building than the original old farm house that was on the property when they bought it. High ceilings and lots of glass makes it a perfect place to display large colourful works.

 This photo is a bit brown because of the tungsten lighting.

 Another more recent painting by Mirka Mora.

Beautiful charcoal and pastel works.

 The first time Suzy and I went to Heide together the artist and poet, Barrett Reid was still living in the old farmhouse. Since his passing the grounds and house are now open to the public. This is the kitchen garden, planted by Shannon Bennett for the Cafe Vue at Heide.

The famous heart garden created by Sunday Reed after her long term affair with the artist Sidney Nolan had ended.

The outside of the sun room windows at Heide 1, painted by Mirka Mora.

What survives of the old milking shed. Many books of art history have been published over the years about John and Sunday Reed and the artists who gathered there and were known as the Heide Set.....if the walls could only talk!