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Point to the pictures to see the captions
 

This month we feature Gay Strickland, who has been a prominent member of the Art Society for over five years, giving unstintingly of her time and talent in serving on the Committee and playing a valuable role in the various exhibitions and activities.

Gay Williams was born in Geelong, where she enjoyed a happy childhood  despite the dreaded drawback of being the middle child!  

Both of her parents were artistically inclined and Gay and her two sisters grew up in a rich cultural environment. There were family visits to chamber concerts and art galleries, and they attended  performances by renowned visiting singers and orchestras. They belonged to the "World Record Club" and were familiar with the classics at an early age.

Gay can trace her roots back to some interesting forebears on both sides of the family: a direct ancestress was a  Miss Pellew, and Gay has a charming contemporary picture of her, by an unknown artist.  A "likeness", it would have been called in her day!  She was a lady of the Regency era, and it is easy to imagine her in one of Jane Austen's novels.

ï On her mother's side, Gay counts among her forebears Great-granddad Benjamin Abel, who was a lay preacher in the Methodist Church. According to family tradition, his Jewish father was spurned by his faith when he married a gentile bride, so young Ben was brought up as a Methodist despite his unequivocally Jewish name.

To read Gay's poem about Great-granddad Ben, click on his name or on his face.

Her maternal grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Ringrose, came from Northampton,  in the vicinity of Naseby, where the famous battle took place. The name Ringrose appears on some of the headstones in the little church at Naseby. Could some of these be Gay's ancestors? Which side did they fight on: Cromwell's or the King's?

Dux of her primary school, Gay enjoyed music and art – she took piano lessons, participated in school operas and painted scenery. She also sang in the church choir.

Having been form captain for four consecutive years, she  graduated from Geelong High School.  Gay joined the staff of the Bank of New South Wales, but when John Strickland made her a better offer in 1963, she left the paid work force in order to concentrate on her home and family for the next ten years.  During this time she was on duty 24 hours per day instead of eight, and wasn't paid, but she got lots of affection from those she worked for, so she didn't mind.

In 1974, she went back to work outside the home, this time at Hallmark Cards Australia, where she started in a minor role.  However, her artistic ability was soon recognised and she was transferred to the newly opened photography department, where she quickly learned display techniques and a professional standard of photography.

Before long, she was in sole charge of the photographic department, where she produced advertisements for trade magazines,  corporate portraits, photographic sales material and even uncovered a long-standing problem in the computerised stock system, improving the overall efficiency.  Talk about multi-skilling!

 Her multifarious skills enabled her to achieve outstanding results in different fields: on the artistic side she helped  design and photographed successful Christmas cards, wrapping papers, created backdrops, sets and props,  and had input in the design of murals for major retailers, to name but a few of the projects that brought her accolades from her employers and clients.

In addition, she brought her excellent business skills to bear on liaising with outside suppliers and negotiating quotes, work schedules and dealing with budget matters.  Nor were her technological skills found wanting: she embraced digital scanning and manipulation technology when in was in its infancy, enabling her department to be on the cutting edge of production.

In 1994 Gay retired from the corporate world and settled down to enjoy a more leisurely lifestyle and pursue her art. She started to study pen and wash with Jack Montgomery, but unfortunately he was injured in a car accident and the course was completed by botanical art teacher Suzy Parry.

Gay joined the Waverley Art Society in 1999, but at that time she developed health problems that caused her to have double vision, so she did not start painting, but served on the committee for four years.  When she was able to paint again, she took lessons in watercolour from David Taylor, and is now in her fourth year of oil painting under the tutelage of the nonpareil Carol Boothman.

Gay considers herself a late starter and regrets not taking up fine arts when she was younger.

"I feel like a beginner", she says ruefully. "I am inspired by beauty in all things and I aim to express that in my painting. Now, in 'retirement', life is such a smorgasbord of responsibilities and distractions... I find myself torn between those and a somewhat selfish desire to devote more time to painting.

"I am trying to become more impressionistic as I progress - "a loose woman", as Carol puts it!"