Diary Of An Artist In A New World

Walking With Surreal Horses, Leaves, And Rain

I love rain. It is a wonderful warm experience to wake up with heavy rain on the roof. It starts as a sound as if a distant part of a dream and then the realization that the wet is outside and the sheets are dry causes a womb-like feeling of protection and safety. It doesn't happen very often so it is a mixture of familiarity with unreality.

Later I had to go to Macquarie Street to take photos to upgrade a website. On the way back I saw dozens of Sacred Ibis digging worms in the park. Photographing them lead to photographing reflections on the path and then to leaves and then to two leaves that seemed to interact with the lights and darks on the wet path in an extraordinarily beautiful way. I couldn't stop. Well, I could, but only after around 300 photos and the battery was getting low. I loved those leaves.

Walking further I discovered blue shed like constructions around two large equestrian bronze sculptures. A Japanese/German artist, Tatzu Nishi has enclosed Gilbert Bayes bronzes so that they now appear to be inside a room. My favorite is the one in the photo that looks like the horse and rider are stepping onto a bed. I know that it is a rather fashionable idea to dress up someone else's artwork to give a new appreciation from a new perspective, but this was a particularly good version of that genre. Like the rain on the roof it had a delicious unreality about it, as if it was a Magritte painting that had just come to life.

Organ And Choir Music At St Mary's Cathedral College

St Mary's Cathedral is an important part of my life. Its beauty and elegance have always inspired me and now that my boys are attending or have graduated from the Cathedral College my appreciation of this special place has multiplied. Over the years an extraordinary set of memories has revolved around the wondrousness of how choral and organ music rise up and fill that great space.

Gian Graduates From The Cathedral College

On October 1st and 2nd my son Gian graduated from the Cathedral College and was awarded with a medal for coming first in software design and development. Graduation ceremonies are conducted over two days starting with services in the Cathedral. The next day starts with a Graduation Breakfast followed by the Graduation Dinner during which Academic and Service Awards are made for outstanding achievement. Parents attend the Cathedral service and the Graduation Dinner. 

The Cathedral College is located in the heart of Sydney CBD and is attached to St Mary's Cathedral with its graceful spires rising impressively above the piazza below and to the sides are Hyde Park and The Domain. Cathedral College has a remarkable reputation for academic achievement that is second to none. Music of the highest standards possible is its hallmark. The Cathedral Choir was founded in 1818 and is the oldest musical institution in the country. The beauty of the music performed by the boys of the College is evident throughout the video. When the first classes were held here in 1824 those first few students would not have been able to imagine the rich and proud educational history that they pioneered nor the spectacular graduation ceremonies for so many Cathedral boys 185 years later.

I used the iPhone to produce about four hours of raw footage of the events and then cut it down to two nine minute videos for upload to YouTube so Gian has them as an ongoing memory of this important part of his life. There is a particular poignancy about doing the videos for shortly after the graduation I received news that my father is seriously ill. I went to Queensland to see him and did the editing while there so that I could show them to my father and he could share in the pride of his grandson's achievement. He appreciated being able to see how Gian has become a confident young man making the transition to adulthood.

This video is part one and shows highlights from the ceremonies inside the Cathedral. This includes the graduates procession into the Cathedral, presentation of the graduates to the congregation, mass, the presentation of school emblems to the next years class, headmaster's address, the procession out of the Cathedral, and photos from outside.