“Verandah Ghosts”
How it came to be?

I was on a weeks trial
For the position as PHN’s personal assistant
I was setting up photo shoots, for guests all the while
Then Di “said” Janey, you have a very good eye, her camera she lent

She set it up on a tripod
We had just had dinner and a few ports
I didn’t have a clue, “Oh My God”
My mind racing with thoughts

So I just went what the hell
I’ll experiment a little here
Maybe they won’t be able to tell
How many ports I’ve had, so held the camera near

And dragging the tripod, back and forth
I held the click button down, a second longer
I was just playing, looking the pro! For all it was worth
Then about 5 shots later, I got a mind boggler

We looked at the replay, they were like how did you do that
Next morning Di brought the camera to PHN’s office
Staring at the computer screen, In wonderment they all sat
Tell us your technique, come out with it, confess!!!

Well I said “A bottle of port, and uninhibited”
You guys are so much fun, non judgmental
What the hell if I look stupid
I just gave it my best shot that’s all

So that is how Verandah Ghosts came about
Then I wrote the poem about it
Di asked may she paint it, I was overwhelmed, started to sing and shout
So I guess that pretty much gives you the gist

By the way, Di added Peter, Father Paul and myself
Just to complete our little group
Of fun times, we have a great wealth
So here’s cheers, to many more years, I hope????

Verandah Ghosts 2007

"Verandah Ghosts" was one of those creations which only happen at Norville, where a group of us like minded souls enjoyed what was to become one of the memorable and creative occasions at Rock Dhu, April 26th 2007.

After a wonderful meal and wine at Cottage No.1 I decided to bring out my camera and play. After a while realizing a tripod was needed for night time shots, which Paul Ambrose kindly supplied. Janey eventually became the ‘Director’ of stage, props and design on the verandah, and I have a clear memory of her standing the tripod on one leg and flicking the shutter intermittently, Voila! A wonderful abstract of broken images resulted – Beautiful as I had ever seen.

So impressed was I with the extraordinary image that I thought it deserved to become a painting, here was my challenge, not one portrait but many.

I have included characters that were not in the original image because it became important to me to have a composition of characters that have helped to build the spirit of Rock Dhu. These persons are Janey Burton (who was behind the camera), Peter Norvill and his good friend Fr. Paul.