It's been a few weeks now. Looking back from the humid beginnings of a north coast summer, my time at The Rocks and Sydney's cool sparkly weather seem a hundred years ago. Before I move onto the next episode in the rollercoaster that is my career (watch this space: I have good news), I'd like to pause for a moment and thank all the people who helped me with this exhibition.

I would normally spend 6 months preparing for a show of this magnitude. With the short lead time it did in fact feel like an "all hands to the pumps" scenario, so thank you everyone... especially my family. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you for the problem solving, the hospitality and the general "can-do" that made the project achievable. Thank you for sharing your extended families too - that was fun.

My friend Carolyn Ferguson from Fairway Studios in Goondiwindi checked out the space before we got there, and was able to give me accurate suggestions for how the space would work. It was her idea to have the etching press in the window. She also lent me the hanging system that meant that I could use the picture rail that was in the space. Thank you to Carolyn and Shawn for the Goondiwindi framing as well as Rhonda and Derek at Armisteads for the Lismore framing.Thanks to Michelle, Judy and Kerry who were there in the lead up; all the guys from the Lismore Art in the Heart team especially Stephen Nelson; all the team in Sydney at The Rocks POP-up project; Elspeth and Amy who accidently helped set up; Stef, Rob, Genevieve and her partner who helped pull down.

The opening was a huge success. About 60 people came - the weather was warming and it was a perfect Sydney spring evening. Thank you to Rob Candy from the Australian Watercolour Institute for the great speech and officially opening the show, even if it felt a bit embarrassing at the time; Richard and Ian for doing the drinks; Elspeth and Alice who came to help too; Josefia for the fantastic photos (most of the photos on this page are hers); Louise for being around the corner; The Observer Hotel for support on the opening; Cate and Liz for the ring-in jobs. The others: you know who you are!

The $300 painting draw was won by Louise Trott, one of my oldest friends (in my chronology, not hers). She chose the painting "hanging out in the tack shed I: horseshoe".

Mostly I want to thank Carleen (the camera shy) who flew up from Launceston to help put the whole thing on. She designed the invites and catalogue, was there for all the decision making and generally was indispensible in the leadup, installation, the night of the function and after. I couldn’t have done it without her, no matter how much she protests to the contrary.

It was fun to be able to share this project with so many people. Cat came down from Yamba to be my gallery assistant over the first weekend - this was a great support (that's her in the red cardi, one evening, from the darkened street outside).  A big thank you to all those who travelled distances to be there either for the opening or while the show was on. People came from across the bridge and across the state - some flew in from interstate just for the occasion. (I'm claiming that my New Zealand cousin organised her time in Sydney to co-incide with my show.) Thank you all for sharing the excitement, and for those who couldn't get there in person: thank you for sending your friends and family in.

Thank you too, to the people I met while I was there, those who engaged with the artwork and shared their stories. It was fun chatting to so many interesting people from all over the world. The exhibition was hugely successful, on all sorts of fronts. The sales were the icing on the cake - so thank you to all those people who liked the work enough to take something home. Paintings, etchings, cards and books have now gone to new homes across Australia, to Scotland, England, Europe and the US. I hope you'll let me know how they've settled in if you're reading this.

Without community, art is just another commodity: without you, my community of friends, family and supporters, this last twenty-one years would have been a different story.  I am grateful for the chance to have lived this dream, for having your support and for being able to share this amazing time of creativity and celebration with you. Thank you for being part of the journey, if you’ve joined just a while ago or if you’ve been with me since the beginning. There will be more “small milestones” as this story continues. Let’s see what we can achieve together.

Christine Porter
November 2011

read other blogs about this subject:
"small milestones" exhibition 75 George St The Rocks October 2011
artist in residence award