Lil has a memory of us dancing on our (solid recycled rimu) dining table in Seatoun, New Zealand.
Ha ha, I have memories of her dancing on the table!
I do remember the feeling, though, intense joy! The feeling that almost involuntarily makes you want to dance, and is so powerful that it makes you want to dance on the highest thing in the room! Some people experience this feeling when they are drunk. 😂
That’s what this painting means to me.
Dancing on top of the world with my daughter.
If creating a playlist of songs for this painting, I’d pop these two on it:
Top of the World by The Carpenters—the love that I found the moment my little daughter came into my life—has put me on top of the world.
The Long And Winding Road The Beatles—will always lead me back to you. Not to mention treasuring every second of the long and winding road we’ve already been on.
On Top of the World
Acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 30.5 cms (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, December 2024-January 2025. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.
A different style for you today, a painting inspired by the first Australians.
Today’s painting is of 7-year-old Lillian, dressed up in oversized clothes, my pink gardening hat, and my pink satin high heels, checking out a Seatoun sunset from the back French doors of our little cottage in Seatoun, Wellington, New Zealand.
Our beloved Seatoun cottage.
Those memories are intertwined in our hearts.
Seatoun Sunset (Lillian aged 7yo)
Acrylic on canvas 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, July-Oct 2024. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.
On our Easter family gatherings, before the splinter, a small group of us, usually led by Mum, would get up before sunrise and head down to the beach to go Iceberging.
Sometimes Lil would wake too, and I’d rug her up and bundle her into a stroller. She’d sit, snuggled in, on the shore with my phone. He he, she took some fun pictures and videos!
We’d take stale bread with us to feed the fish, I think we stopped doing that in the end because it was attracting young sharks? Or maybe I’m remembering incorrectly. It did attract little fish, I can’t say I liked that feeling of them brushing up against my legs.
Home for hot showers.
By now, the rest of the family would be awake, and with the verandah in full sunlight, we’d blissfully soak up the warm rays with our milky tea and museli.
Iceberging (at Sunrise in Woolgoolga)
Acrylic on canvas 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, June 2024. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.
When I lived in Sydney in my younger years, I’d drive up to Woolgoolga (and then, more often than not, on to Green Pigeon). My favourite was when the wattle was blooming along the Pacific Highway. Isn’t it incredible how memories can make you feel! Memories of cruising up the Pacific Highway, with wattle blooming and gum trees zipping by, make me feel peaceful.
Kurnell is a Sydney suburb on the southern headland of Botany Bay.
Botany Bay used to be synonymous with transportation/convicts/early colony. As generations pass, I’m not sure if it is any more.
Before Governor Phillip and the first fleet arrived, Botany Bay and Port Jackson were pristine, touched only gently by Australia’s indigenous peoples. Back then, you might be hard-pressed to find evidence of human inhabitance, maybe a small shell midden, remnants of a fire, small bark huts, or canoes.
Today, Botany Bay’s suburbs are full of humanity, a hub of industry, sea and air traffic, and home to thousands.
There are parts of Australia that remain relatively pristine. Sharyn Munro, my cousin and fellow blogger, frequently finds these places and takes us there. If you aren’t already, I highly recommend subscribing! https://sharynmunro.com/
From my earlier years living in Sydney, Kurnell was known to me as having a waste plant, not really a place for a Sunday drive.
But in 2020, I read that the best place to see the whales migrating north for winter was Kurnell!
Lil and I bundled up and went exploring!
We found Kurnell; I mostly remember a quiet place with a mix of industry, suburban houses, and hardy, bushy coastal trees. We drove past the waste plant and the desalination plant, but they haven’t made an impression on my memory.
Beyond Kurnell, we arrived at the great sandstone cliffs of Botany Bay’s south headland in Kamay Botany National Park. COVID was new and scary, so there weren’t many folks around. We found a single food truck and a few folks milling around. Everyone keeping their distance from each other.
There was an old two-railing wooden fence to stop folks from going out onto the cliff tops, but everyone was ignoring it. Being good lemmings, we did too.
We found comfy seats on the ancient, eroded sandstone, perfectly curved for our bottoms, and settled in to be entertained by the migrating whales.
Not a fin or a fluke was to be seen, and no manner of patience brought them forth.
Before heading home, we took some photos. The creamy, soft pink sunset made everything a bit dreamy, a little Picnic at Hanging Rock feeling.
Today’s painting is from this spot looking north up the coast toward Port Jackson/Sydney.
Kurnell Sunset
Acrylic on canvas 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, May 2024. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.
It’s full Autumn here in Vancouver now. I wish you could all see what I’m seeing out my window: the deciduous trees from up here are mostly golden with splashes of red, pink & orange, vibrant against the dark green conifers and cedars they live amongst.
In 2018, after more than 14 years in New Zealand, when Lil was 10, we packed the contents of our house into a container and headed back to Australia, to Adelaide.
Being a New South Welsh girl, I knew of Adelaide, but it didn’t feature as a place to visit or live.
And true story, when I was in my last senior management meeting at Weta Digital, one of the execs laughingly said, ‘Arwen is moving to the Palmerston North of Australia.’ Google will fill you in more on Palmerston North; the exec’s comment is mostly in reference to John Cleese’s remarks about the city.
Imagine our surprise upon arrival to find an incredible city, with graceful tree-lined streets chock-full of gorgeous stone houses! An amazing, generous green belt surrounding the town centre. The Adelaide Hills with beauty and history galore on one side of the city and stunning beaches on the other!
From the moment we landed, we loved Adelaide.
Kerrie & Josh came to help us settle in! Thank you, Kerrie & Josh! ❤️❤️
We found a lovely little half-house in Dulwich (they call them semi’s in Sydney), just half a block from the green belt.
We enrolled Lil into Norwood Primary. Once she was settled, off to work I went, walking from Norwood to the city, it’s quite a distance! I would love to be able to say I kept that up.
It was my first VFX producing role, and I loved it. I still do; it’s the best job in the world. To me, it’s the perfect mix of creativity, people, and numbers.
Some memories:
❖ The Adelaide Hills in Autumn.
❖ The Beaches and the great, brilliant blue expansive windswept skies!
❖ Roaming Rundle Mall with the ballet girls every Saturday between their classes.
❖ The ballet girls fitting for their first pointe shoes!
❖ The Fringe Festival, it gets HOT in Adelaide!
❖ I ruptured a disc in my spine! Thorin came down to look after Lil while I was in hospital for surgery. I’m grateful beyond words for my brother.
❖ The Barossa Valley, a gentle restorative road trip after recovering from surgery. I remember a little cafe where we found a little sunny corner, and settled in with our coffees and books, my little daughter and I, two peas.
❖ The French Crepe place, yum!
❖ Anthony got a job at The Mill! He’s moving to Adelaide!
❖ Football with Anthony, Lillian is still an avid Port Power fan!
❖ The heat! Luckily, it’s a dry heat, but even so, holy moly!!
❖Cats! That one goes into the infamous bucket along with The Island of Dr Moreau.
❖ Anthony saved Lil, with a dead phone, she was stuck downstairs after ballet, unable to get hold of me/access up the lift. He brought her up to me, and a couple of days later gave her a portable phone charger. We miss you Anthony!
And then, just like that, our time in Adelaide ended.
Next stop Sydney, off to the big smoke!
Beach Dancing (10 year old Lillian)
Acrylic on canvas 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, April 2024. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.
Beach dancing with Lillian, we both felt lighter in Adelaide. In this painting, she is stepping into a front flip.
To get to the vantage of today’s painting, after dropping Lil at dancing class in Darlinghurst, I would walk past the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf and Marina, where rich people live and play. It was here, at one of the restaurants, that I had my first taste of Dom Pérignon.
I was working on a film and the American lead and his wife took me to dinner to thank me and also to offer me a job. I really liked this duo, but I couldn’t see a career path from being an assistant to an actor. They were gracious and kind, and the champagne was delicious! I forget which year they chose; I do remember them talking about their favourite vintage, imagine that! And I didn’t see the price tag, but no matter what vintage, I feel certain it would have made my eyes water!
The point of view of today’s painting is similar to yesterday’s, but from the other side of the Domain/Royal Botanic Garden Sydney peninsula, looking toward Garden Island.
Garden Island is home to a major Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base, and on this day, the great grey ship gleamed like silver, and the water was blindingly bright.
My Uncle Doug was in the Navy. He was only about five years older than my eldest brother, so he felt like a big brother to us all. I remember exploring the rock pools at Mullaway with him when we were little; the best fun!
My cousin Joe was in the Navy, too. Joe was the youngest cousin for a long time. Our young cousins were all so cute, gorgeous little sun-kissed beach angels. Those are treasured Woolgoolga memories, when we still had Nan. All of those memories, in my mind’s eye, are bright, golden, overexposed. Filled with laughter, I can hear Nan’s laugh; she would laugh with her tummy, her whole body. We are the luckiest people on earth to have her. This memory lane is a well-trodden favourite: sitting on the sunbathed verandah with her. Uncle Horrie is there, too. And Dog. The warmth of the sun, the scent of salt air, sunscreen, and hot chips! Beyond a doubt, we are the luckiest.
We have a song in our choir’s Christmas concert this year called I Wonder as I Wander. I do, and boy, I love wondering as I wander!
Sparkling like Dom
Acrylic on canvas 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, April 2024. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.
I can’t say I love this painting, I do like parts of it, but the memories are precious, which makes the painting precious to me.
Lady Macquarie’s Chair sits regally at the point of the Domain/Royal Botanic Garden Sydney peninsula. I love that Governor Lachlan Macquarie celebrated his wife this way, naming the road they’d built after her and inscribing as such on the back of her sandstone-hewn chair.
Some treasured memories from this corner of Sydney:
❖ My daughter danced at a studio in Darlinghurst. I’d drop her off at class and walk. Sometimes I’d walk toward the harbour, other times I’d wander around Darlinghurst, one of the oldest parts of Sydney. I can’t get enough of Sydney’s old buildings, especially anything from the early convict era. Those sandstone bricks the convicts made for the Darlinghurst Gaol, with their marks to track quota and to earn privileges. I stared at them for hours, and filled my camera! My imagination had a field day time traveling.
❖ Walking toward the harbour is a bit more dreamy, with crystal-clear, sun-soaked water lapping the sandstone, ribboned white and caramel next to you. That is, until you get to the west side of the peninsula, and a cold wind wakes you up, making you zip your jumper to the top!
❖ The OpenAir Cinema with Lil on a beautiful Autumn day. Though a gentle reminder to oneself, it’s a good idea to pack a jumper if you’re heading harbourside for the evening in Autumn, no matter how lovely it feels at home!
❖ A rainy evening at the Phantom of the Opera at the open-air theatre with the Munros & Chloe. This evening has put a smile on my face as I think about it!
❖ Christmas Eve picnic by the harbour with work friends and then up to St Mary’s Cathedral in the hope of getting into an evening service. Upon arriving, we found the cathedral grounds packed and buzzing, with a huge, mesmerisingly beautiful and colourful animated projection of a Bible story filling the face of the cathedral, along with food stalls and music. It felt a bit like Disneyland. The queue was too long to get into a service, so no stories and carols in church for us this Christmas Eve. Even so, we traveled home with full hearts.
Sydney’s Crown Jewels
Acrylic on canvas 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, March 2024. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.
Beautiful Sydney Harbour and its crown jewels, the Sydney Harbour Bridge & the Sydney Opera House.
From our apartment, we are spoilt with an incredible view of the Lions Gate Bridge (and Stanley Park, Burrard Inlet, Vancouver City, and Mount Baker!).
Pink and golden sunrises and sunsets glint off the city’s glassy skyscrapers, sometimes so bright you have to squint, and in squinting, the whole city looks to be made of gold!
The sun and water swing between chattering animatedly to smoothly reflecting each other throughout the day, delighting my eyes.
Gracie’s Pearls light up the Lions Gate Bridge from dusk til dawn.
At night, Gracie’s Pearls steal the show!
It was another painter at one of my painting classes who told me the lights on the bridge had the nickname Gracie’s Pearls. I loved learning that! (Gracie was Grace McCarthy, a Canadian Politician who was instrumental in getting us our lights. It sounds like it might have been a bit of a battle! Imagine having to battle to add something so beautiful and heartwarming to the bridge!!).
Gracie’s Pearls
Acrylic on canvas 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, March 2024. Upstairs Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.
This painting is a snowy day at dusk, Gracie’s Pearls have just been illuminated and the Stanley Park flag is at half mast as an expression of collective sorrow of the death of the former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney.
