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June 8, 2024 |
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Newsletter for the
Offshore Residents of Pittwater, Australia - Volume 25,
Issue 1209
We acknowledge and pay our
respects to the Traditional Custodians of
Pittwater, as well as our Indigenous readers
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TRACY SMITHA celebration of her life53 Squires Rd, WoottonSaturday 15 June, 11 am onwards
As reported in the
most recent newsletter, Tracy Smith, a long-term
resident of Scotland Island, died on 31 May.
In this edition Tracy's former neighbour, Jane Morgan, describes some of Tracy's many contributions to island life, while Emmie Collins, another islander, reflects on Tracy's talents as an artist. Tracy's Life On And Off The IslandJane Morgan
Tracy and her husband
Paul arrived on Scotland Island in 1981, bringing
their gifts of art, friendship, community and much
more.
Over the 39 years they
were here, Tracy and Paul lived on Robertson Rd, but
at five different addresses. The first was number 30,
the log cabin at the right angle bend behind
Quarterdeck. It was while they were there that Luke
was born, in 1986. Tracy was already running art
classes for some of the neighbours' children,
beginning the generous sharing of her talent for
teaching that continued throughout her time here. At
this time Tracy was working at Killara High School
until she took leave when Luke arrived.
House number three was
at 63 Robertson Rd, not far from the stairs down to
Catherine Park. A recently built large modern place,
it was very different from the log cabins. They lived
there for two years from 1990.
Tracy went back to work
when she and Paul began team-teaching at PLC Pymble in
1990 until 1992. By now they were in a position to buy
their own place, and moved into number 28 in 1992.
Paul built a studio
behind the house and the day his large, very heavy
printing press was installed was memorable. Tracy’s
Dad, Bill, had moved to the Island after the death of
Tracy’s mother, and was in charge of the four-wheel
drive car and large team of friends and neighbours who
eventually got the press into place after several
hours of enormous effort.
Tracy was one of the
founding members of the Words, Wine and Waffle book
club, which is still going strong, and continued to be
an active member after leaving the island, attending
meetings via Zoom, as do other ex-islanders. She
painted and sculpted a beautiful mural on the wall of
the dining area of this house, which watched over some
of the meetings of the book club held at her place.
Tracy and Paul's final move was to number 45, on the waterfront, in 1997, where they stayed until they moved to Wootton in 2020. The lovely boatshed there became the venue for many get-togethers, including the waifs and strays' Christmas party they hosted for those who didn’t have somewhere to go on Christmas Day. It was also the venue
for some of Tracy’s art classes for islanders to
benefit from her expertise in everything from fresco
making, paper making, painting in all sorts of media,
and so much more.
During the years they
lived there Tracy and Paul became involved in the
Woody Point Yacht Club. Tracy was a reliable presence
on the starter’s boat for the Wednesday twilight races
and served as Commodore in 2018.
After leaving Ravenswood
in 2008, Tracy decided to focus on her own practice
and began working on a wide range of projects. A joint
exhibition of work from the Island at Newport Gallery
ended tragically with a fire that destroyed most, if
not all, of Paul’s collection of prints that was a
large part of their joint superannuation. This was an
enormous blow, not just for the loss of the value of
the work, but for the physical record of Paul’s life
work.
The boatshed, with some
improvements, became a very successful B&B, looked
after very capably by Paul.
Outside of her demanding
job, Tracy managed to sing! She was a valued member of
the On Quay A Cappella choir, for her low register
voice, and she also joined the Christmas choir on a
regular basis.
Over the years she had
joined the Island Players’ productions in many roles.
Of note was when she played Magenta in the Rocky
Horror Show.
Tracy retired from
teaching in 2020, when she and Paul moved off the
island to Wootton, and began the long road of cancer
treatment followed by palliative care, a process she
was all too familiar with, having been a part of it
with both her mother and father. This, of course,
being the person she was, didn’t stop her producing
art and invigorating the local artist’s community over
the four years they were there.
She has been the
backbone of her family, and they have cared for her
with great love. She leaves behind Paul; Luke and his
wife, Hillary, and their daughter Billie Rose (born
2022); Luke’s daughter Taylah Kay, now 14 years old;
Eleanor and her husband, Matt, and their son Beau Paul
Wells (born 2023) and another baby on the way, whose
heartbeat Eleanor heard for the first time last
Friday, just as Tracy’s heart faded.
Tracy was a truly extraordinary person and we have been blessed to know her. She will be greatly missed, but remembered with gratitude and love by all of her island community.  Tracy Smith: The Artist & Her Community LegacyEmmie Collins
Alongside any
recollection of remarkable Tracy Smith lies the
fundamental truth of her fierce creative spirit,
her prodigious body of work and the sharing of
this exceptional inner life with the outer world;
in particular her students and community.
Tracy embodied the artist of myth and legend – her
diminutive frame driven by a towering, almost
otherworldly quality, which was expressed in a
broad variety of media. It told of great depth and
feeling. Her work speaks to people on a visceral
level and consequently the homes and gardens of
many, many Islanders and Bay dwellers sing with
Tracy’s vision. How fortunate we are.
Highly regarded more
widely and interstate via her numerous
exhibitions, this is also the case around
Australia and internationally. The vast series of
land and seascapes on wooden board, for example,
evoke the ever-shifting weather window from the
home of Tracy and her creative soul mate. They
give expression to what we all see but, perhaps
more significantly, how that view feels.
To realise this need,
she would rise five mornings a week before dawn,
her commute and day's teaching to create as her
children slept.
Tracy and Paul
transformed their houses and their gardens into
wondrous, living, three dimensional installations
giving expression to their shared experience.
Staring down cancer, this of course, continued in
Wootton.
The island and offshore community was irrevocably transformed by Tracy’s energy. Always generous with her knowledge and formidable drive, she helped herd creative cats into an ongoing series of successful exhibitions over 35-plus years on the Island, ‘Tarrangaua’ in Lovett Bay and various mainland galleries. The founding in 2010
(with Paul) of the ‘Gone Fishing Gallery’ at the
Pasadena and the ‘Offshore’ Group Exhibition and
accompanying program at the Manly Art Gallery,
2011, were the culmination of these fertile years
and much unseen, tireless work. The significant
exhibition as part of the Island Daze festival of
2019 was Tracy’s swan song and final gift to our
community before moving to Wootton. Needless to
say, Tracy went on to light up their new local
community and pull together group shows in the
blink of an eye.
The lyrical painted poles around the lower road and Catherine Park, amongst so much of her work that lives on here, are a lasting reminder of Tracy’s luminous creative spirit and what she inspired and shared. To explore more of Tracy’s work and vision, click here. Missed out on a previous newsletter? Past
newsletters, beginning May 2000, can be
found at https://ymlp.com/archive_gesgjgm.php.
To ContributeIf you would like to contribute to this newsletter, please send an e-mail to the editor (editor@scotlandisland.org.au).Subscription InformationTo subscribe or unsubscribe, go to: http://www.scotlandisland.org.au/signup.
Scotland Island Community CalendarFor further information on island events, click hereThe Online Local Contacts GuideClick here to loadSIRA Photo Archive |
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