Words and pictures by Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”]T [/dropcap]alented Warrnambool visual artist Ella Webb is combining her creative and education skills – she also holds a teaching degree – to counter a steady decline in art classes being offered to kids in school.

“It is terrible, but the fact is that many kids don’t have any exposure to art, or very little,” she says.

Ongoing budget cuts, which were at their worst in the 1990s, have seen many public schools scale back on art, music, drama and other subjects considered less essential to an ever-changing curriculum focussed on meeting national testing standards.

“I wanted to do something about giving kids a place to enjoy art. Where there is no marking, no ‘hurry up and finish that’ and where they can just hang out with other kids,” Ella says.

After a year of plotting and planning and literally walking around Warrnambool to find a suitable venue, Ella has opened the doors on Loop Studio, right in Liebig St and just a few doors down from that other end of the cultural spectrum, McDonalds.

Ella has set up a space for kids of all ages to come and learn art after school, or during the school holidays, and what they learn will vary from drawing, to making their own cards and wrapping paper for Christmas, through to painting, sculpture and screenprinting.

“(It) is a space for kids to be artists, creators and makers, and be with other like-minded kids.

“It will always be fun, it will be bright and it will be messy,” Ella laughs.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”]K [/dropcap]ids mucking around with paint and printmaking while cool tunes play from the ipod (Ella also plans to offer free wi-fi) is a 360-degree turn from the venue’s former life as the legendary Olive Ketels’ Salon that specialised in corsetry and lingerie.

“I was sitting here on my very first day and I got really excited when my first customer, an older woman, walked through the door but then she stopped, looked and said ‘oh, you’re not Olive Ketels’, and walked out again,” Ella says, laughing at the memory.

Despite only opening in late September, Loop Studio already has 20 children who attend regularly and is growing steadily as word spreads.

It is an affirmation that Ella is on the right path, despite all of the usual fears and nerves about going out on a limb: especially in a high-profile retail space.

“I have had an absolutely brilliant business mentor in John Costello (from Koroit), who just gave me the confidence to believe that it will work.

“I still don’t know if it will work, but it feels so very nice to be here, in this space,” she says.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”]F [/dropcap]ortunately for those adults who love Ella’s work – and there are many – she will also continue to develop and expand her own creativity.

Already she has taken her skills in intricate drawing and applied them to large-scale murals and chalkboards. Her huge, golden whale adorns the steps of the Whaler’s Inn, on the corner of Timor and Liebig streets, and was completed using dozens of gold-coloured crayons that were worn down to stubs.

There are also hopes of staging a solo exhibition in Melbourne, so that her art is pushed beyond the borders of the south-west. It would be her first solo exhibition since she began to focus on developing an art career in 2012.

As for Loop Studios, Ella is already planning exhibitions of the children’s work and, one day, would like to be able to take Loop on the road.

“I have always wanted one of those big Airstream retro caravans and drive it around the countryside as a mobile studio, pulling up in the main street of towns: wouldn’t that be brilliant?” she laughs.

Knowing Ella’s drive and determination so far, it is most likely just a matter of time.

[box] For full details about classes, parties and other events, you can find Loop Studios on the web here and on Facebook here. Contact Ella on 0401 877 365 To see more of Ella’s work, see our first story here.[/box]

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Words and pictures: Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] I [/dropcap]t is without doubt Warrnambool’s oldest and most iconic motel: a genuine throw-back to the 1950s when the motor vehicle created a whole new form of accommodation for travellers.

The Turn-In Motel sits on what was once the corner of the Princes Highway and Simpson St, with its red, illuminated sign (that originally said only ‘motel’) a beacon to those arriving into the seaside town from Melbourne.

The highway has since been diverted, and there are now far more motels in Warrnambool, but although the Turn In has halved in size, it has never gone out of business and still attracts a steady stream of loyal guests.

“We don’t do any real advertising, apart from the RAA website,” says current owner Ken McRae who, with wife Merrin, has managed the Turn In for the past 16 years.

“The same people just keep coming year after year, they just keep turning up, and the only time they don’t turn up is when they have died: we have lost a couple,” he says.

Indeed at the time of our visit, there was a French couple who were on their third visit and this time they bought some friends from China along as well.

“If we were to go on (the online booking site) Wotif or that sort of thing, we would be over-run I reckon,” Ken says, laughing.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] V [/dropcap]isitors are attracted to the budget pricing ($70-100 per night for a couple) and the homestyle feel of the motel, which has retained some of its original fittings from its earliest days, although much has changed.

“When we bought the place, it was in a very bad way. All of the shower stalls had to be replaced, all of the carpets had to be torn up, it was a real mess,” Ken explains.

The motel once had 51 units (it now has 15) and the in-house restaurant is long gone. Even the much-photographed, much-admired Turn In Motel sign is not the original: it disintegrated in the salt air, but the McRae’s invested $10,000 in an identical replacement.

Ken is unsure who built the motel (can anybody help?), but it has the tell-tale crazy paving detail on planter boxes inside the foyer that suggest it may have been the work of Tag Walters, Bruce Auty or John Downie, who specialised in American-inspired designs.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] T [/dropcap]he foyer also features the original timber reception desk, together with a set of thin, sliding wooden drawers that keep track of the paperwork for bookings: the McRaes still use it. The original phone switchboard, where calls were manually put through to each room, is also intact, but no longer functional.

One – actually two – precious items that remain in two of the 15 motel units is an art-deco style bathroom mirror made from thick blue and clear glass, with working lights on each side.

Not surprising, Ken says he has had offers from a number of people keen to buy them.

“I say, ‘sure, but they come with a motel attached’,” he laughs.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] A [/dropcap]nd the motel is for sale, with Ken and Merrin keen to retire, although they will continue to live in the house next door for at least the short-term.

“We have done 16 good years. Most motel managers average around five years,” Ken says.

Because of the hard work and around-the-clock availability required, Merran has actually talked some people out of buying the place, which doesn’t sound like a fast track to retirement.

“It has to be the right person: someone who knows what they are getting into, rather than dreaming about what it might be like,” Ken says.

The perfect buyer, perhaps, would be a realist with a penchant for retro who could turn the Turn In back to its full, mid-century self.

Interested?

 [box] Did you know the word ‘motel’ is a hybrid of motor and hotel? The Turn In Motel is on the corner of Simpson and Verdon sts, Warrnambool. You can contact Ken and Merrin on 03 5562 3677.[/box]

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Words and pictures: Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] O [/dropcap]n the surface, Warrnambool and its surrounds may appear to be a very Anglo-Saxon kind of place, but professional photographer James Mepham and his partner Emily Reeves are seeking to capture another side.

The couple – who recently moved back to what is Emily’s hometown – have travelled the world and immersed themselves in various cultures, particularly across south-east Asia and India, but their latest project involves documenting the many cultures that make up south-west Victoria’s largest city.

“When I moved away 20 years ago, Warrnambool was thought to have very little culture and seen as very mono-cultural, but that has really changed,” Emily says.

About six months ago, the pair launched the Cultural Diversity Photography Project – “we could probably do with a better title,” James laughs – where James would photograph local people who were born overseas, while Emily recorded an oral “snapshot” of their stories.

These people and stories would be contrasted with local residents who were born and bred in Warrnambool and who have never been abroad: there are quite a few people who fit that category too.

“We are not here to judge, we are not here to put people in boxes, but to simply get this information out there – these stories out there – and hopefully generate a bigger conversation,” Emily says.

“Yes,” adds James, “in that way it is a documentary: it is documenting a moment in time, capturing how things are in Warrnambool right at this moment.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] W [/dropcap]ith the help of Phil Hoggan from the Warrnambool City Council’s now-disbanded skilled migrant program, the pair has made contact with people from a number of countries, including China, India, Sudan, the Philippines, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Poland and the USA, but are keen to hear from more volunteers.

The stories are already proving to be fascinating.

One Polish couple, for example, was asked by Emily about their dreams for the future.

“They said ‘there is no dream for the future, because this is our dream: this is it,”’ Emily said.

While the experiences captured so far have been overwhelmingly positive, the pair know that not all migration stories have a happy ending – racism and isolation can make living in a regional area very difficult. These stories, if people are prepared to tell them, will be included too.

James and Emily are still in the gathering and interpretation stage of the project, but hope to have an exhibition ready by next March. Both the Warrnambool City Council and Warrnambool Art Gallery have shown a strong interest in showing the work, which will be the first time those involved will see their portraits.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] B [/dropcap]efore coming to Warrnambool, James worked as a professional photographer in Melbourne, having taught himself photography while in the army and going on to become a photo-journalist for the military. His assignments included East Timor, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Sumatra and being the first photographer on the ground after the tsunami hit Banda Aceh.

Such experiences not only left him worldly, but open-hearted to suffering and how fortunate we are to live in Australia.

“I have always been interested in people’s stories and meeting people from all walks of life: it’s a world I have always enjoyed and I want my daughter (Elliott) to enjoy,” James says.

While in Melbourne, he was part of the Free Photography Project, offering free portraits to low-income earners, homeless people, or unemployed people who needed a photograph for a job.

Emily, meanwhile, has just returned to work after the birth of Elliott and it says a lot about how much Warrnambool has changed that she is the Asia-Pacific manager for World Animal Protection, yet works from home.

Both are loving life back by the ocean and say the cultural diversity project has provided an instant friendship circle.

“I must admit that was another one of my motivations: it is a great way to get to meet really interesting people,” James says, smiling.

[box] If you would like to be photographed for the Cultural Diversity Photography Project – either as a migrant to Warrnambool or someone who has never travelled overseas – you can contact James on 0414 833 012 or james@warrnamboolphotography.com.au. There is no charge. Visit the Warrnambool Photography website here for more details.[/box]

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By Carol Altmann

[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] A [/dropcap] little more than a year ago, Susie Alexander received the news that nobody wants to hear: the lump she had found in her right breast was malignant.

“I had a shower and I never really look at myself in the mirror, but this time I noticed a puckering on the right side of my breast. I felt around and felt a lump and thought, ‘oh no’. It made me feel quite nauseated, because, well…” Susie, from Warrnambool, said, her voice trailing away.

It was to be the beginning of a journey that, like only cancer can, turned Susie’s life completely upside down.

Susie, 49, was a nurse for 28 years and is married to paediatrician Dr Greg Pallas, so she wasted no time in having the lump tested the same day as she found it. That was a Friday, her step-daughter’s birthday, and the distraction of a party sleepover made the agonising wait for results over the weekend a little easier to bear.

A strong history of cancer on the matriarchal side of the family – her mother, Jan, died of lymphatic cancer last December – meant that Susie was highly conscious of the risk, but previous lumps detected in mammograms had proven to be harmless.

By the Tuesday, however, the result was confirmed as cancer and three days later Susie had the breast removed, together with 32 nodes under her armpit because of concern that they might also be cancerous.

“You have no time to think. I turned into a robot and I think I was a robot for 12 months thereafter because between Mum and myself, you just have to get on with it,” she said.

[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] A [/dropcap] layer-by-layer inspection of the removed breast brought more devastating news.

“(My doctor) came in and gave us the results: I not only had one cancer, but two cancers in that breast. Ductal and lobular. The lobular…was in 11 different areas of my breast, but it hadn’t shown up on the scans at all, because it is so minute,” Susie said.

“I was hysterical, I have never cried so much, because even though (the cancer) wasn’t in the nodes, I was not guaranteed of anything anymore.”

Given the insidious nature of Susie’s particular cancer, she made the seemingly radical decision to have her remaining breast off, even though scans had not shown any sign of disease.

“For me, it was an easy decision. Knowing what had happened with the lobular, there was no doubt I was going to have the left breast off. I just had this feeling about it that said ‘get that breast off,”’she said.

The left breast was removed last October and post-operative tests revealed ductal cancer in situ: cancer cells that are contained, but which can become invasive.

While a double mastectomy before the age of 50 is a psychological and physical mountain in itself, it has been the reconstructive surgery since that has been an equally demanding challenge.

[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] S [/dropcap]usie blames nobody, but feels the decision to have reconstructive surgery was “rushed” and, in hindsight, she wishes she had taken more time to recover emotionally and physically from the mastectomies.

Not only is the pre-implant process quite painful, where an expander is fitted into the chest muscle and gradually filled with a saline solution, but Susie has no sensation in or around the implants.

Worse, she has had life-threatening sepsis three times as a result of the reconstructions and been hospitalised for up to a fortnight each time.  A year on, Susie still requires surgery to fix the complications.

Yet here she is, alive, laughing, making art, and doing what she can to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research and support. Just like last year, Susie will again lead a fundraising walk along the Warrnambool foreshore in early December.

“It is good for me, because as a survivor of cancer I want to be able to do something to help other women. I want to be able to help.”

Given her vitality, it is a shock to hear Susie say late in our interview that she has “a sixth sense” that her cancer will return.

It does not depress her, however, but makes her more appreciative of each day of wellness.

“You can’t afford to not live your life now. I try to live in the now and so that is how I survive. I don’t look into the future too much, or the past either, just the now.”

[box] Bluestone Magazine will provide updates on Susie’s foreshore walk planned for December to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Network Australia. You can read our story on last year’s event here.  To find out more about the Warrnambool Social Breast Cancer Support Group contact Ann at annkrause56@gmail.com or phone 0400 800 499. [/box]

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[dropcap style=”color:#DC943C;”] I [/dropcap]t began as a good idea for a housewarming party that has taken on a life of its own as a regular rug-twisting, hip-swinging, good-time-guaranteed-get-together for a group of friends who love LPs.

If you know what the acronym LP stands for, then you are off to a good start to be a “Spinner”: a person who loves listening to actual vinyl records rather than CDs, MP3s or digital downloads.

“It is the sound – the richness and quality of the sound – and when you hear it again after not having heard it for a long time, it is wonderful,” explains the founder of the Spinners in Warrnambool, Claire Jennings.

Claire inadvertently started the Spinners when planning her housewarming party in 2011 – a year after she had moved in – and decided that because she was a year late with the festivities, the party had better be something out of the ordinary. Why not set up a stereo and play some records?

“But I didn’t have a record player and I didn’t have any records – I had nothing,” Claire throws out her hands and laughs.

[dropcap style=”color:#DC943C;”] T [/dropcap]he solution was to borrow a couple of turntables and ask the guests to bring along their favourite records to “spin a set” in a seamless transition between one turntable and the other, just as DJs used to do when Claire and her friends were in their teens.

“I organised for a bit of a practice-run a month before the actual party, just to see how it would work, and the few people I invited ended up dancing all night…I basically ended up having two housewarming parties,” Claire says.

Like all memorable nights, the talk the next day was all around “we must do that again!”

So they did.

And then they did it again.

And now a core group of around 12 people meet four times a year, with other “Spinners” included by invitation-only, to play their 25-minute “sets”, enjoy some food and, if they feel like it (which they usually do), to dance.

“To hear Smoke on the Water again on vinyl after so many years, well, it’s just magical,” Claire says, adding that she loves rock and roll and is a mad Beatles fan.

[dropcap style=”color:#DC943C;”] S [/dropcap]pinner Toni Jenkins said the group reignited her passion for music – she has eclectic taste from The Cure, to Janis Joplin, Bette Midler and just about anything from the 80s – and that there is a particular joy that comes from hearing great songs.

“There are still songs out there that you have never heard before and, every now and then, someone will come up with an absolute gem,” she says.

Toni admits she has her favourite Spinners – Roy Reekie, Paul Sheehan – who can keep her on the dance floor for most of the night.

“To dance through a whole set of about 10 songs is not for the faint hearted,” she laughs.

A few rules have been added in recent times, such as playlists being written down rather than chosen at random, and each Spinner bringing their own glass and taking their shoes off at the door, just to save on dishes and floor damage.

In the end, however, it is still all about the music.

“The songs represent a particular time and a particular era – it is our history – and there is great joy in being completely immersed in that again,” Toni says.

[box] The Spinners are hosting a farewell and tribute night to Warrnambool’s legendary Capricorn Records and owner Mick Fitzgerald (who is a Spinner) on Sept 20 at the Ozone Room, Warrnambool Hotel. Tickets are $10 from Long Gone, 115 Fairy St, Warrnambool. [/box]

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