Visiting SALA Galleries

It didn't start off as a very good day, weatherwise, back to winter with bleak skies, wind and rain. So instead of going to Adelaide on the train to see the Waterhouse exhibition, we opted for local ones, using the campervan so that we would finish up at Normanville, get some fish and chips, drive to the Carrickalinga headland and have lunch in the van overlooking the sea. Went to the McLaren Vale visitors center first where five male artists were displaying their work. The sculptures were beautifully crafted but aggressive looking.I'm sure young people would love them.Some interesting drawings and very good impressions of local scenes in strong blocks of colour. I loved Glen Howlett's Four Season slumped glass tiles, great depth and beautifully mounted. The other impressive paintings were of female figures, again in strong colours and very evocative.
Because not all the galleries are open at present, we went to Normanville instead and got a "box" of fish, chips and "fresh garden salad"...what has happened to our piece of fish and minimum chips?? such luxuries we get now!! It was lovely sitting up high in the van overlooking the wild ,raging sea, so stirred up, it was brown in the foreground and a dirty green with white caps in the distance.The Second valley hills barely visible in the distance. There were two little kestrels swooping on the wind and then hovering over the beach edge looking for food. There was a raven next to the van on the railing feeding its young so they have hatched early. Amazingly there were no seagulls at all and that is the second time we have observed this.
We drove back via the Myponga reservoir road and took the back roads to Chapel Hill Winery where there is also a SALA exhibition. We were given some chardonnay while wandering around looking at the art works.The main works were very intriguing, with such a different perspective you have to get your head around them and some looked somewhat phallic, or organic or both.They would be great talking points.I didn't go much on the pale coloured paintings and the chooks left a lot to be desired as did the sheep, not many people can paint those particular animals I find.

Now we are home and it is raining heavily again, the chooks look like drowned rats.