Letters to Shannon & Eva: Kevin Best

Good morning, lovely ladies!

I’m going to keep things short over the next few weeks, since I know you’ll also be following GramE’s blog as she adventures through Australia, but thought I’d take advantage of the timing to introduce you to a few Australian artists!

First up, Kevin Best. Kevin was a stockbroker who didn’t become an artist until he was 45, and stories like that always make me happy, because it gives me hope that someday I might still be able to make my dreams come true. He lived in Australia, and only just passed away a couple of years ago.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE his painting, Yarning the Night Away, because the blues are so amazing and beautiful and with the bright warm reds it just feels like a lovely place to be, although the red area is so big compared to the fire that it makes me feel a little bit like something dramatic is about to happen, so I’m more than a bit worried for the cows! I also feel a little bit bad for the guy at the back right who has to keep working while everyone else is gathered about the fire. I hope someone has at least brought him a cup of coffee. I spend too much time thinking about the lives of the people in paintings….but it amuses me to wonder what they were doing before and after this particular moment in time. I love the dark trees in the front, and it’s so perfect how the glow of the moon is catching on the tops of the clouds at the back. I hope so much that Australia looks like that and GramE gets to see it!

On Kevin’s website, this painting is featured with a lovely poem beneath it, so I’m sharing that here as well!

‘A New Day’
A grey world in silent slumber Does not come forth to greet the dawn The ocean shifts its molten silver Until the birds give their call Gently now the night retreats The stars will not dare the sun The maiden blush on each cloud’s cheek Tell the dark his work is done	In rose and apricot new waves dance Crashing joy upon the sand They celebrate the miracle in the east While colour steals over a lifeless land Suddenly she raises her mighty form Over the ocean’s shimmering side Gold spills forth and touches all Leaving us with shadows to find.
Mary Anne (Best) O’Connor