I first came by Gerry Bobsien via @carolduncan, our local ABC Radio's lunch time announcer, who tweeted a link to a video of Gerry and her family 'robbing' their suburban backyard bee hive of honey. When I clicked play and Summertime by The Sundays kicked in, I couldn't help but smile and feel joyful.
Little did I realise just how much of a dynamo this woman is. Gerry's one of those people who follows their heart and is up for giving just about anything a go. But more than that she gives 100%. She's also super-friendly and totally unassuming. Lucky for me I had the pleasure of sharing ride to Sydney last Saturday with Gerry to attend TEDxSydney. We shared lots of stories and ideas and I have a feeling we've only just scratched the surface. I am really excited about the next exhibition she's organising at The Lock-Up, called Brought To Light. Really excited.
Lucky for Newcastle there's people like Gerry around.
Gerry
GERRY BOBSIEN
Condensed CV:
I always wanted to be a writer from about the age of eleven when I read Press Story and I ended up graduating from the University of Technology in 1993 with a BA Communications. I was far too distracted to be a journalist and got sidetracked by all sorts of things. I got myself qualified as a librarian and worked concurrent jobs as a librarian and media advisor. I also really wanted to make things and I was hanging out with some very clever metalworker types and ended up training in the trade of industrial blacksmithing and fabrication engineering. Here I learnt how to make tools and weld and forge large pieces of steel into elegant ornamental works. I worked in an industrial forge in Melbourne called Loft & Sons and, alongside Jeremy my husband we set up an artmetal business in Newcastle called Fe26.
I was Public Art Curator at Newcastle Region Art Gallery for a few years and I’m currently Director of The Lock-Up Cultural Centre in Newcastle. My first novel for young adults, Surf Ache was published last year by Walker Books. I’m trying to finish a PhD and I’m writing another book for teenagers based on two very resourceful fifteen year olds with a passion for art, design and notoriety.
Gerry the blacksmith.
What has been your most memorable project?
Sorry…I have a few.
Writing a novel and getting it published!
Working at Loft & Sons in Melbourne and making a very ornate set of traditional internal gates for a church in Prahran (I love the longevity of this kind of work – I’ll show my grandchildren this one day).
Curating an exhibition based on Newcastle’s iconic Star Hotel.
Setting up Fe26 with my husband, Jeremy Robinson.
What would be your dream project?
I think I’d like to mash all the things I love doing into one project. This would make life a lot more convenient. But I’m not really sure how to combine a project with art, metalwork, writing and surfing. I’ve had girls asking for a sequel to Surf Ache and in my dream project world, this would mean bundling the family up and setting off for an international surf adventure to do some serious research and writing on the road.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
That would have to be my kids Skip (14) and Pollyanna (7)
What is your most treasured possession?
We have a very spunky 200 wt Massey air hammer. It’s used for forging large bits of steel and it looks and sounds like a beast and at the moment it is sitting idle until we find somewhere a bit more permanent to house it (it needs lots of space, a hefty foundation and no neighbours.)
Gerry, lover of heavy machinery (in this case a 200 wt Massey air hammer)
What does a typical day at work involve for you?
A typical day is very hard to define however it can go something like this:
I start the day surfing if the tide and the winds are in my favour then it’s home to get the kids off to school, jump on my bike and head into town where I work at The Lock-Up Cultural Centre.
During the day I could meet with our resident artist who lives in the apartment upstairs or knock heads with the Hunter Writers Centre on one of the various projects we have together. I could talk to our amazing tutors for our Little Architects program and prepare marketing material for the changing exhibitions, events and education programs we run.
At the moment we are in a frenzy of preparing the cultural program for 2011 and this means approaching artists to take part in our residency or exhibition program or negotiating with their gallery or dealer. It also means applying for funding, doing budgets, managing the three heritage buildings in the care of the Newcastle Historic Reserve Trust and taking the bins out.
We are also doing a capital works project for the prisoners exercise yard (where we hold performances, readings and events) so that means coordinating our architect, suppliers and our builder.
One of the great things about my job is the creative freedom I have to curate exhibitions, work with great artists and engage with the community. The scale of the Lock-Up allows for this and because we are small, we all do a little of everything and although this can be a bit exhausting, it’s a great asset to take through your career.
I am also currently writing another novel so at night I try to write a bundle of words before bed.
Gerry the surfer
What is your most valuable pearl of wisdom gained since starting your business?
Well in terms of our business Fe26 : do not get annoyed with your husband and co-worker with an angle grinder in your hand. I have so much to say about having a business with your partner that it needs at least a chapter to fully explain the frustration, pitfalls and joy of it all.
Where do you derive creative inspiration?
I recently discovered a real link in some of the various things I have done in the past decade or so. I love to throw myself into new things and I think I’ve finally worked out what rocks my boat; I love being a NOVICE. I get a real fire in my belly when I start something new. I had this feeling when I started the blacksmithing trade and then when I started surfing and now as a new author. I relish the newness of it all and my fledgling place within it and I think I will make it my thing to be a novice in something for as long as I can.
But I also get inspiration from all over the shop…films, books, magazines, the blogosphere, the ocean, my children, music, the garden, hearty discussion, my great mates. I am also heartily inspired by the emails and letters I’ve received from girls who’ve read my book and there is nothing more inspiring for my writing than hearing how something you’ve written has struck a chord with a young reader.
Which other designers, artists or creative people are you most inspired by at the moment?
Writers Melina Marchetta, David Sedaris, Margo Lanagan and Aimee Said, poet Mark Tredinnick, curator Lisa Slade, artists Darren Siwes, Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy. I also have a young friend and colleague Belinda Howden who is a joy to work with and although she resists calling herself an artist – she so is. My husband Robinson is about to embark on a project to make a wooden boat in the backyard as a design challenge using only the materials he has hanging about in his shed. This will be documented as a blog and promoted to design and technology students and targeted at backyard boat enthusiasts.
What are some of your favourite websites or blogs?
Gerry the author
Apart from your work, what other interests, passions, hobbies do you have?
My work and passions collide so these are writing, art and surfing. I am also a committed ballet mother (or trying) so I love to watch contemporary dance with Skip, my fourteen year old.
How long have you been a Novocastrian?
I don’t think I’m allowed to call myself a Novo. I’ve only been here ten years…but I have bred one of them so that may give me some Novocastrian credentials.
Newcastle in a word?
What do you love and hate about living in Newcastle?
I once had this lovely bit of wisdom thrown my way that will make sense when I say what annoys me. The trick to living in Newcastle is to keep your body here and your mind elsewhere. Having said that, I kind of think this should apply to anywhere you live. I think it can be a little anaesthetizing living in the one place for a long time (particularly a small city like Newcastle). It’s important to get perspective outside your patch and sometimes I do feel a little insular here and share the frustration of a lot of people about the missed opportunities and serious lack of attention at all levels of government to design some awesome public infrastructure. And yes I’m referring to the neglected state of Newcastle’s Post Office and Yes I’m directing this angst at the State Government. BUY IT. (Ed's note: They did!)
Now to the things I love. Gosh. It’s beautiful and full of character and I love living in Mayfield between several kooky concrete stormwater drains and I love King Edward Park and the hot showers at Bar Beach. I love the remnants of the map of the world in the Canoe Pool at Newcastle Beach. I love that my friends are all in a ten minute radius of me and that my children have an extraordinary lifestyle and freedom.
Gerry the beekeeper and video editor.
How is Newcastle different to anywhere else?
Although Newcastle is beautiful and perched conveniently on all that fantastic coastline, it’s not a shiny city designed for leisure only. The industrial history and incredible fabric of the city gives it colour and a strong sense of identity. It is idiosyncratic with a kind of ratbaggery that takes the showy gloss off all that prettiness. I really really like this about Newcastle and hope that it never gets too carried away with being another post-industrial waterfront city in need of a makeover. The last thing we need are streets full of interpretive signage and mediocre public art telling us who we are and where we came from.
Gerry, keeper of chickens(Bob St. Francis Toolbox Jnr the Third and Ice-Cream)
Where are your favourite places in Newcastle / Hunter to:
+ eat
Nor’ East (150 Wharf Rd, Newcastle 02 4929 6444) for lunch
Snows Patisserie (144 Union St, The Junction 02 4962 4733) for a toasted croque monsieur (I’m addicted).
The Oriental Kitchen at the Bennett Hotel (146 Denison St, Hamilton 02 4940 0329).
+ drink
Coffee at 23 Hundred (cnr Scott & Pacific Sts, Newcastle).
Beer at the View Factory (cnr Scott & Telford Sts, Newcastle 02 4929 4580), Lass O'Gowrie (14 Railway St, Wickham, 02 4962 1248) or the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club (9/91 Hannell St, Wickham, 02 4940 8188)
I wish I could find a great little wine bar that isn’t overpriced or mediocre so… for wine it is my friend Kate the Great’s back deck.
+ shop
AKK Dansey Supermarket (643 Hunter St, Newcastle, 02 4929 7883).
Newcastle City Farmers Market (every Sunday 8am-1pm, Broadmeadow Showgrounds, Broadmeadow).
Cardiff/Wallsend op shops.
Two daughters at ballet school = no disposable income. Most of my money goes into the soak fund for red wine.
+ play
At Bar Beach.
+ relax
In my garden, made with love by my husband.
What is Newcastle / Hunter’s best-kept secret?
I’m really excited to be working on an exhibition about three of Newcastle’s hidden secrets. Here they are here.
Website: Surf Ache
Blog: Eucalyptus & Honey
Twitter: @gerrybobs
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