The Old Garage

Hello again my lovely reader.

Well, I must say I didn’t think I would be back writing so soon. But I had to share my latest painting which I have just finished. It took me nearly 3 years to complete. 

“The Old Garage” Oil on Linen. 

I am so thrilled to have finished. This painting is the largest I have ever attempted it is 1.5 meters in length and 80cm in height, it took up most of the space in my little art hidy hole. Along with it size the journey for this piece has been quite lengthy. I had just finished up my King Parrot painting and was wondering what I should do next. 

I found myself contemplating this as I walked through one of my most favorite art supply shops. A warehouse tightly packed with everything wonderful an artist could need, want, and desire. 

At the back of the shop was a wall of blank surfaces you can paint, such as thick card, wooden planks of all shapes and sizes, loose stretcher frames and large rolls of unstretched canvas leaning up against a stack of pre-stretched and primed cotton and linen canvas.

I walked along this aisle and my heart stopped as my eyes fell on the loveliest fabric this little artist/textile enthusiast had seen. Over the years I have painted on some pretty cheap and average canvas’ but what was standing in front of me was this beautiful stretched Linen already primed and waiting for paint. The fabric was a soft purple grey with a weave so fine and tight, if it was not stretched over a frame I would have thought it a shawl.   

It was love at first sight, however I did pause at the price for a couple of minutes and had to do another lap of the shop before my mind was set. I couldn’t walk away. Before I made my final decision I stood in front of the frame hypnotized for heavens knows how long. But there was nothing to it I had to have it. (Thank God it fit into my car.) 

So, I had this beautiful frame to paint on. What was I going to paint?

This question was moving around my head as I drove home. I knew I would use oils, there was no doubt about that. This fabric needed to have the best. But what subject was I going to paint? It had to be something amazing I couldn’t just paint willy nilly crossing my fingers hoping it would look alright. It had to be something important to me. It had to be something profound. It had to be something that no one would expect. It had to be something that quietly asked the question, are you the artist? And it scream back, 

“YES, I AM.”  

So, this was swirling around my head filling my body and tummy with nervous, excited butterflies. As I got home and carried the canvas down to my little art cave, I leant it on my easel and stepped back. 

Instantly it came to me. I knew what I was going to paint. The Old Garage. 

WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! I hear you scream; how can an old garage be profound. Well, anything can be profound when looked at the right way. You see this garage was one of the main reasons why we found ourselves living in these beautiful sparkly hills. Moving in and around such a wonderful creative community 

Several years before I found this canvas, my little family were looking for a place to put down roots. This was not an easy task, constantly getting out bid and knocked back over and over again. Also, hubby and I disagreeing over what was good and what was not. It was a very stormy, fly by the seat of your pants kind of time. Until we came across the one. 

Similar to discovering this canvas we walked into the open home for inspection and we just knew. Then after all the proceedings and back and forth, we got the house and even better we got it for a great bargain. One of the reasons for this was because of this old and ugly garage.

 The main house was perfect, nicely renovated, beautiful and pristine. But it couldn’t get sold and had been on the market for months because of this old decrepit asbestos riddled garage. The old owners had had several parties interested but all fell away because no one wanted to deal with this huge ugly mess that was parked half a meter away from the amazingly beautiful house and the old owners were desperate to get rid of the property so took our first offer without hesitation. 

Now, we were not stupid, we did know the garage was a mess and that there was an asbestos issue. But the deal was so good and everything else was awesome, we took it. When we moved in, we really couldn’t afford to get rid of the garage straight away as that was a massive job involving a lot of contractors and money. So, we just lived with it using it mainly for storage. 

We never spent any time in that building, as it was pretty much falling down. The stumps were rotting and there was a massive hole in the floor that was covered by loose MDF board and something else we couldn’t identify. The roof and walls of the building were stained with years of services marked with oil, old paint splatter, and mold. The cladding was literally falling away exposing the frame and the broken-down asbestos. 

In a nutshell, I hated this building and was mildly frightened of it. I would do anything to avoid going in there, stock piling items for storage at the front door. When I had to go in, I would move quickly, focusing on all the dangerous obstacles avoiding the weak boards and holes in case I fell through, praying with all my might that the stumps held their strength, so the building wouldn’t collapse around me. I always wore a mask and held my breath just in case I inhaled some of that scary dust. Suffice to say I was so pleased when we got the green light and were able to bring the whole thing down. 

After finding the right companies and permits etc, we had the massive job of getting all the stuff out of the building, so we went to work. It took most of the morning and into the afternoon, but we emptied it completely ready for the demolition. 

As the task was done and I took the rusty padlock off the front doors and turned for one last look inside this horrible building. I finally saw it. The Sun had draped its rays from the window spilling into the room and filling the space with a soft gentle light that changed everything. All the years that this building had sat through all the events and bush fires it survived shone like a faded memory that had moved into physical form. 

The sight stunned me, this building had been used and loved. The lives it had carried, all the different owners that had come and gone, were like ghosts standing inside the broken old building. 

The bench and vice on the back wall were a little warped but still solid, the shelving, however slightly collapsed with the weight of time was still strong. The floor that still remaind had survived bouts of termites and years of neglect was a solid redgum that had been covered and stained with liters of grime and oil from many Sunday afternoon tinkering’s. The light fixture that had been dormant for many years still flickered to life and the walls that were disintegrating gave off a silver blue light leaving the impression of a frozen hologram. 

This building was magnificent. I felt sad that this was the end. How beautiful this old garage was, and how valuable its service, however unacknowledged it had been. 

Now being practical, it did have to go, it was a hazard, but I couldn’t help but feel a sadness at its loss. As I stood there, I took a photo, desperately needing to record its last moments. 

After the deed was done, and the garage had been taken down with its contaminated walls shipped away. I could not get this image out of my mind. Something so wonderful had been buried deep under the preconceived ideas of its redundant uselessness. The building had fallen into the void of underestimation and unappreciation. But I was the lucky one to see its beauty one last time. 

With this photo I felt I had captured its last chapter, I was the final guardian of this story, what an honor this was. Now, I do acknowledge that this may sound a bit dramatic for an old building, I understand that, but at that moment I felt something a-kin to this old structure. After years and years of time blanketing layers of life and journey, a person can stop seeing themselves as beautiful or even relevant and at this time of the garages demise, I was experiencing a similar feeling of doubt that was creeping into my mind. 

It didn’t stop when I saw the empty garage of course but ever since whenever I feel too old, ugly or useless, I think of this amazing building and its hidden beauty. And see that no matter how I present to the rest of the world I am reminded of how easily people are blind to their own preconceived notions without truly seeing what is underneath the “mess” in front of them. Even people that have known you for a very long time sometimes they neglect to look underneath the passage of time, they forget to see the beauty underneath the journey. 

I know I have my charm even if it is hidden deep underneath layers of a short temper, emotional reactions, and too much wine and cheese. I smile at the realization that only a few of the luckiest people will ever truly get to view this beauty I have inside.

With this I feel better allowing the existence of the journey revealing in the magnificence of my broken-down parts or unstable supports even the holes and missing fragments are all beautiful. We just have to let the sun in to show us what has been there all along.

So, this is what I painted on my amazing canvas the beautiful Old Garage. Me.

It wasn’t easy to paint I can tell you that there is not one straight line in that building, it may look linear but every surface and wall had its own particular lean. Colour matching was another challenge that took my patients to the extreme. It was a nightmare each shade was so murky and obscured by dirt every time I thought I had got the right colour I would move my brush a couple of millimeters and have to change again. Sometimes I had to walk away before I did anything hasty. But I did it, I finsihed. I guess that’s why it took so long. (Well, there was also a point in time where I couldn’t walk down the stairs to get to it thanks to breaking both my ankles, but that’s another story.)

So there you have it my latest painting “The Old Garage” I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Now on to the next one fingers crossed it won’t take me 3 years to complete.