The daughters of Eileen and John H. Glover, (l to r) Margie Glover, Ellie McCutcheon and Cate Whitehead, with opening speaker, David Crofts.
Ararat Regional Art Gallery officially opened it's latest exhibition, 'Parallel Lives: The Art of Eileen Glover and John H. Glover' on Thursday, 13 January 2011 at 6pm. 'Parallel Lives' is a tribute and celebration of the lives and work of Eileen and John H. Glover, well-known community identities in Stawell and across the Western region, who died in 2007. Despite a very wet evening - and the floods that subsequently followed - people travelled from far and wide to celebrate the exhibition opening. Melbourne-based writer and friend of the Glover family, David Crofts, provided opening remarks that were marvelously evocative and gave a sense of Eileen and John's respective and shared personal and artistic journeys.
'Parallel Lives' has its genesis in conversations between the artist's three daughters about their parents' creative lives and the rich legacy and influence it has had on them and their individual creativity. The exhibition spans 60 years of art making and includes paintings, drawings and mixed media works dating back to the 1930s. The exhibition features a range of journals and artist's books produced by Eileen and John early in their artistic lives, and these are a real highlight. An extraordinary comic book depicting the Australian countryside is an early example of Eileen's life-long interest in horses serving as source material for her art. John is represented by a number of journals, including one from 1934 that was completed while he was resident at the Boy's Training Farm, Tally-Ho. The journal shows a sketch from a photograph of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was opened in 1932. John was to later draw the newly constructed bridge on-site after riding his bicycle from Melbourne to Sydney in 1937, and this drawing is also featured in the exhibition. This is just one of the fascinating stories that emerge when viewing 'Parallel Lives' - an exhibition that aims to capture the spirit of Eileen and John's life-long commitment to art that was passionately pursued from their youth to their later years. The exhibition continues until 13 February 2011.
