Event name: EVENT: SAILING, A YEAR ON EL ORO with RICHARD & MATILDA DUMAS, Friday 29 November
SAILING, A YEAR ON EL ORO with RICHARD & MATILDA DUMAS, FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER
“An offer comes out of the blue from an old family friend to borrow his magnificent 70ft timber ketch…”
“El Oro is a beautiful yacht, elegant and stately; built in the 1970’s with ocean racing in mind. She’s so heavy, complex and there’s a lot to go wrong…”
So begins the brief summation on the back cover of Richard Dumas’ recetly published book A Year on El Oro; a very personal account of Richard and Matilda’s year long sailing adventure…on the high seas, the calm seas; the ports, the people, the friendships…the challenges and frustrations encountered. It’s a real life story that begins in Australia, takes them via England to the USA, the Caribbean, across the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean and eventually…to Ithaca…
About: Richard Dumas grew up in the UK and after a short stint as a British Army Officer, met an Australian girl and followed her to Sydney. With a longstanding career in the wine industry, he has lived in Australia ever since. Post sailing adventure, he and Til live on their farm in country NSW and from time to time Richard can be found staring out the window dreaming of the sea. A Year on El Oro is his first book: @don_ricardO
About: Matilda Dumas is an artist whose work “straddles ground somewhere between abstraction and reality as she aims to relate her responses to both
the physical and atmospheric conditions of the Australian landscape, her work tapping into her emotional response to place..its energy and power”. “Mixing wax with oil paints to obtain a buttery paint consistency that is applied gesturally, using palette knives and brushes”, her recent body of work Journey to Ithaca (resulting from her year of sailing) as recently exhibited at Maunsell Wickes Gallery, conveyed a whole new experience as Til became “obsessed with all the different sea going vessels on their constant quests, from tiny fishing boats to massive tankers and container ships..vessels in motion, looming out of nowhere, changing shape, growing as they near, receding to a tiny pinpoint on the horizon…”
www.matildadumas.com.au | @matilda_dumas
Event details: Join us at 11.00am for a glass of elderflower cordial on arrival in the Hayshed, then have a quick garden wander before taking your seat in the Dairy by 11.30 for Til and Richard’s co-presentation via slides and entertaining conversation, as we hear and see their year-long adventure materialise before our eyes. With time for q&a, you might need to find your land legs to reach the nearby long tables in the loggia, where we’ll enjoy a shipboard-inspired lunch! Of course so much of Til’s time in port was spent re-stocking supplies as well as sourcing local produce – keeping the crew well-nourished was a huge part of her experience. After lunch, with plenty of time to continue the conversation and for Richard to sign a copy or two of A Year on El Oro (available to purchase on the day), you may just find a painting or two of Til’s on exhibit in the Barn too…before you float away home!
Cost $135.00 per person 11 am – 3/3.30’ish pm