“As well as evoking emotions, triggering memories, and providing aesthetic pleasure, art can at times amuse. I have chosen this painting from Joan Grehan’s work because it is both delightful and amusing. It is from her children’s book, ‘Dibble, Dabble and some Doubles’, published around 1951, and is the illustration that appears on page seven. The Sarjeant Gallery has reprinted this charming Joan Grehan book and it is now available for purchase at the Gallery shop. The painting is a charming depiction of one of the troubles during the adventures of a little yellow duckling who, in this painting, has fallen down an empty post hole. It also reminds me of my then two year old son who fell, head first down a hole I was digging for a strainer post at Mangamahu, and had to be dragged out upside down, by his feet.”
Jim Norris, a retired farmer and company manager, for the March 2020 instalment of the My Choice exhibition series.