When I woke on October 31st, I realised I’d run out of month for October’s Little Adventure, so I had to move quickly. After breakfast, I set off for Ballarat, where there was a Clarice Beckett exhibition.

Seeing as it’s around 2 weeks before I set off on the Ligas’ Crazy Road Trip, I thought it was worthwhile taking a 2 hour (each way) drive the day before I get my trusty Golf serviced. I loaded up my podcasts and my water, and off I went.

Clarice Beckett was a woman who was pretty much thwarted by the societal expectations of her day. She spent her adult life caring for her elderly parents and died at the age of 48, after painting the sea in a storm at Beaumaris and catching pneumonia.

She was only able to paint in the early mornings or evenings on most days, as the rest of her time was spent running the household as the spinster daughter.

She had a portable easel that she’d wheel around after her, and she’d set it up and paint what was directly in front of her. She’d squint, to make the objects and landscapes appear blurred, as she was most interested in exploring the tonal aspects of what she was painting.

She had a few exhibitions when she was alive, but then interest in her work faded away for decades.

This one reminded me of a Monet painting that I saw when I was in Paris back in 2015. I bought a print and it hangs in my sewing room.

Russell Crowe is a huge collector of her work. But does she fill up MY cup?

The answer is, not really. Most of her paintings are just too smeary and misty, but I like the ones I’ve shown you.

Dad joke of the day: