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Alex Davern |
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Renee Spurr – Betty, 1956
I am a 25-year-old Tasmanian woman. However, more importantly, I am a granddaughter who in 2007 almost lost her young-at-heart, witty and caring grandmother to a life-threatening strangulated hernia, which, without warning, ruptured. This single event in both our lives made me come to the realisation of how fragile our bodies are. The indisputable importance that my grandmother holds in my heart and life emerged with new clarity. Her strong influence on me as a child and teenager has helped shape me into the woman I am today. For this reason I have chosen to draw my grandmother’s face at the age of 25, my current age. My grandmother Betty was born in the Private Hospital in Cypress St Launceston in 1931, a hospital that no longer stands. The early years of her life were nestled in Newstead where she lived with her mother, Ellen, step-father, Lindsay and two brothers, Roy and Geoff. This remarkable woman left school at the age of 14, the current trend at that time; although this was a decision in which she had no choice. From here her life entailed office work at Perrins, reception work at the Cornwall Hotel (now Batman Faulkner) and departmental manager at McKinlay’s (now Harris Scarfe). Between 1952 and 1957 my grandmother had three children. In 1973 she lost her husband; she was only in her 40s. My grandmother’s words of Tasmania: At this point in my life I could honestly not imagine drawing any other Tasmanian. This woman is one of the most important Tasmanians I personally know. I say this without hesitation because she represents those who keep families together, workplaces functioning and history alive.
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