Took a stroll through the paddocks last night. It was 30 minutes before dark, bit cool and really beautiful. The sky was full of colour and thin drawn cloud. Kind of a signal really. The lazy days of summer are done. These clouds spelt a change in the weather. They were the forerunner to a series of fronts and systems that are going to send swell in all sorts of directions.

We had the charts out speculating on where would be best, north, indo or other places. Whatever, the only certainty is that as winter draws near the visitors thin out and the locals start looking for a place to break from the extremes of the weather. Personally my mind starts to dream of places of drama where the full force of the swell comes home.

There is however new responsibility in my life with the gallery and all but there also has to be a balance where the creative and the fun pastimes can run their course. I’m still undecided on opening “hours” for the coming months. One week into operation and I already have a clash between the “important, busy” Easter trading period and a pretty substantial swell event. Luckily in this case it’s all going to happen at home. Maybe not the perfection of elsewhere but it’s going to be dramatic for sure.

So what to do in the down time of winter? Open full on, open on weekends only or my preferred situation, open when I am home from travelling and shooting. I think in the fullness of time we will be open for business full time but maybe not this year. If the last two years have been about learning the new skills of the ocean photography and with it a very general “coverage” this year will be about specific events and places. These events happen when they happen and they don’t run to anyone’s schedule. I need to be there on short notice.

So here is the trick/balance for THIS winter. I need to produce and show my work and I need you folk to see it but there will be times when I just need to shut up and go. The best way for me to keep you folk in the loop is right here on the web. Ie blog, facebook, twitter. So please still come to the gallery but please check the website first.

If you are coming to Margaret River the gallery is central and easy to find. Just go to the middle of the main street and look slightly up. Specifically the gallery is located at 6/119 Bussell Highway MARGARET RIVER. There is always new things happening there so do come and have a look.

My first “downtime” call is for next week. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will see the gallery closed. A couple of the new fittings need to be adjusted and it is just too hard with the tradesmen on premise. So come and visit us over the weekend and throughout Easter and beyond. We will post more info and images of the gallery asap. Just waiting on a couple of replacement prints for those that sold on the opening night.

Thanks for reading, Stay tuned.

Tony