Joy Hester

I mentioned Joy Hester after my trip to Heidi in May. I was pretty much obsessed with Joy Hester's work throughout uni, which was timely because Janine Bourke came into her own publishing books about Joy, the Reeds and Heidi. It is an amazing story, and incredible times.

To fill you in, John and Sunday Reed were patrons of the arts and bought a big old dairy farm in Bulleen which became known as Heidi. Many famous Australian artists lived and worked at Heidi - Albert Tucker (once married to Joy), John Perceval, Charles Blackman and Sidney Nolan to name a few.

Janine Bourkes book are a beautiful documentation of Heidi, the art and the relationships that were so intertwined. Dear Sun is very personal - an exchange of letters between Joy and Sunday Reed. Sometimes I don't feel comfortable reading the letters, because they certainly weren't written for me to see. But then again, Joy's innocence and beauty of words, and her struggle with creativity give such an insight into a vulnerable, brilliant soul.

Excerpt from letter April 1947 as Joy traveled to Sydney to seek medical attention for the lump she found on her neck.

Dear Sun

I would have liked to have seen you before I left but somehow things caught up with me and all I knew was that I had to get out and I'm sorry to admit that it sort of became an obsession, the words 'get out' - this is not how one should work - but it seems to be me since I was a little girl in long green grass at school - I would have liked to see you, Sun, but I blocked out on everything just about - except those two words.