Little Dress Ups

For getting dressed in the dark when the weight of the world is heavy and a brave front is called for.
**Jo Sabey,** *Brave Front,* 2022, collage with hand painted papers, float mounted on Arches archival paper in box frame, 45 x 45 x 4 cm

For revealing what has been hidden the whole truth nothing but the truth — cross my heart and hope to die.
**Jo Sabey,** *Cross my Heart*, 2022, collage with hand painted papers, float mounted on Arches archival paper with oak box frame, 45 x 45 x 4 cm

For moments of quiet contemplation and deep listening when a poem is taking shape from a tangle of words within and about to rise to the surface.
**Jo Sabey,** *Deep Listening,* 2022, collage with hand painted papers, float mounted on Arches archival paper with oak box frame, 45x 45 x 4 cms

For transforming rags to riches knowing that a stone is not just a stone but a priceless jewel holding power beyond measure
**Jo Sabey,** *Rags to Riches,* 2022, collage with hand painted papers, float mounted on Arches archival paper with oak box frame, 45 x 45 x 4 cm

For weather watching and learning the names of clouds — by heart.
**Jo Sabey,** *Weather watching,* 2022, collage with hand painted papers float mounted on Arches archival paper with oak box frame, 45 x 45 x 4 cm

For writing a long poem about a remembered landscape and what it was like to love with great tenderness.
**Jo Sabey,** *Remembered Landscape,* 2022, collage with hand painted papers, float mounted on Arches archival paper with oak box frame, 45 x 45 x 4 cm

Little Dress Ups — made by hand in Metung from upcycled scraps and offcuts

Years can slip by before the moment for an idea is ripe. This small collection of Little Dress Ups has quietly flirted with my artist’s eye since December 2013 when I wrote a journal entry titled Happenstance . . . .

As I clear my workspace I discover a palimpsest that has built up in layers of colours and marks around the edges of the work in progress — unplanned and beautiful in their serendipitous happenstance — holding all of the spontaneous abandon of the paintings of my small grandchildren — uncontrived and magical in their appeal . .

I began to save scraps — offcuts and palettes that told the colour story of each evolving painting from that time onward — becoming precious to me in a way that I couldn’t explain.

Recently during the long days of retreat of 20/22 and holding thoughts of “making do” I found myself rediscovering and looking through my strange treasured collection and I knew that its moment in time had come.

In the same spirit as my grandmother Anna who stitched warm blankets for her family from worn coats and woollen jumpers during the Great Depression of the 1930’s I began to see what I could make from nothing other than what I had before me. As much as anything my priorities were to counteract the overwhelming feelings of a world wide despair and anxiety with a feeling of curiosity, playfulness and fantasy.

And so it was that these Little Dress Ups came into being — a happy interruption that may in the way of The Road Less travelled spark a new direction and a rediscovered joy that comes from wandering off on a side track without any particular outcome in mind other than the simple joy of Happenstance.

Post Script — a tribute

As I put these words together I have been remembering the enduring songs of John Lennon from the 60”s. Two in particular are anthems for the time that we find ourselves in. Lines from Beautiful Boy — Life is what happens to you while you are making other plans and more particularly for this moment Imagine.

Jo Sabey | April 2022