Automobile

Grew up on a farm and learned to drive in my mother’s canary yellow Toyota Corolla

Celicas sleek and sharp invaded our wide brown land decades ago.”

Celicas – sleek and sharp – invaded our wide brown land decades ago. Some people still love ’em. A broken badge on the road signals … What? A crash? Thievery? Abandonment? The only clue is a missing ‘T’. By the magic of art a mystery is solved, identity restored, and pride returned. And I’m in the driver’s seat, racing back to the 80s.

Heather draws people and things. She prefers natural materials and is in love with charcoal for its sharp, messy, unpredictableness and big, tough rag papers for their capacity to enhance the making of marks, whether with burnt sticks, brushes, hands, erasers, pencils, pastels, or knitting needles. Found objects are another, continuing interest. Busy roads and gutters in industrial suburbs yield up treasure for reworking into art pieces. Heather is a late, but enthusiastic starter along the art road

Me & My Toyota

In 1967 it was all about Crowns and Tiaras. I was working at a country Toyota dealership – Sale TOYOTA. It was a time when local businessmen and wealthy graziers bought the king of cars – the prestigious Toyota Crown, and women chose the princess – the Toyota Tiara. And then along came the sleek Toyota Celica coupe for the free-spirited, wind-in hair, get-yourself-looked at people. Toyota’s sold at an amazing rate. It was time for a change of ownership – the older generation made way for the new – sold the dealership. It became Colin Lucas TOYOTA and was an exciting era. Innovative new premises were built – the Toyota range now displayed in a Japanese-temple-style building that is still impressive to this today. The Holden and Ford dealerships looked dull in comparison.

Toyota catered for everyone. The Corona and Corolla sold rapidly, appealing to the astute buyer requiring a practical, stylish and economical vehicle. As Office Manager, I was supplied with a vehicle – a Corona or a Corolla. Television advertisements were made – me and my TOYOTA Corona

The dealership changed hands again – a new name, Rose TOYOTA. The Toyota range, having gained a reputation for quality and reliability, continued to claim a large proportion of the motor market in Sale, Victoria. In 1982, after 15 years working in Toyota dealerships, I said goodbye, proud to have been associated with Toyota from its early days in the country.

Susan Jacobsen

My marks, rhythms, and lines tell of emotional responses and personal history. Rapid deliberate gestures are etched, dripped, and dragged: then partially removed. This response to my Landcruiser is haphazard and unrestrained, yet fluid and lyrical. Loved like a child’s favorite “brown bear”, my Toyota is reliable, tough and adaptable, flexible, dependable, and ready to “ESCAPE” at moment’s notice.

My Toyota is reliable, tough and adaptable, flexible, dependable

Art is my life to keep my culture strong and make sure I pass it on to my children and grandchildren. Clay is fun to work with and it’s the same as we do with carving making figures of our ancestors, island life, hunting, ceremony dancing, going out fishing, it’s all culture. That’s what my art is all about. I feel really good when I am out fishing or hunting and I smell the country and am part of the surroundings. Then I come back and can make something new. This sculpture is about a  hunting trip to Tarntipi – a beautiful beach near Nguiu on Bathurst Island. A party of Tiwi Design artists and workers set out.

Summary

In the art center, Toyota is in search of bush tucker. This vehicle is also used for collecting ironwood and ochre to create carvings and other artworks and we go hunting at the same time. This Toyota is important to us because we can go bush, go hunting, and get back to the country. I decorated it with mingatiwi body painting design for the ceremony (jilamara). It is special that truck. All my friends and artists are in that truck. We went hunting for a wallaby and we fished all day. We caught a couple of fish, a couple of crabs, three wallabies. Afterward, we had a feed and went for a swim at the waterhole.

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