CARVING A LIFE

Kay Norton-Knight does not let things get in the way.

When Kay Norton-Knight needed a job, after moving to a run-down pisé farmhouse called Rosby near the New South Wales wine town of Mudgee with her husband Gerry and their two young daughters, she invented one. She got hold of a truck, some fabric offcuts and set up shop as a travelling saleswoman, flinging open her truck doors to sell affordable material to the housewives of western New South Wales.

Kay grew her business into a bricks-and-mortar chain called Material World and within eight years she had 15 shops throughout regional New South Wales and Sydney. That could be the story, right there. With a cameo from the lawyer who would buy fabric from Kay just to support her—‘Local mates are so loyal,’ says Kay. ‘He probably took it back to his office and chucked it out, who knows?’—and then there’d be stories from Kay’s four daughters (she and Gerry had two more after moving to Rosby) about how Kay would pick them up from boarding school in a van filled to the brim with rolls of fabric, which they would have to somehow mould themselves around for the trip home, suitcases on their laps.

But during this time, Kay had also enrolled in a fine arts course in Sydney, a four-hour drive from her Mudgee home. This decision sent her down another track with a whole other story, which started like this: every Monday morning, while Gerry was sleeping, Kay would head off to Sydney before dawn and arrive at the Meadowbank TAFE classroom ready for the 9am start, buzzing with energy for the two days of art classes ahead. (Can I just point out that I have friends in Sydney who don’t like to cross the Harbour Bridge for a dinner out?) Kay enjoyed the practicality of sculpture and chose to focus on that, juggling her fabric business, raising four daughters and running the household in tandem with her art studies.

It took Kay 10 years to finish the course, because she was a part-time student, but also because she kept losing her driving licence. Opportunities for speeding, with all the driving she was doing for art school and her shops, were many. During these periods of suspension, Kay would jump on a bicycle to cover the 10 kilometres from Rosby into town to her Mudgee shop. She’d cycle back to meet her daughters at the bus stop after school. Kay said it was ‘the horror of all horrors’ for her daughters, who would sink into the seats of the school bus as they passed their mother and her pushbike on the road.

Kay eventually reached the end of the course. As part of the finishing requirements, she and her classmates had to put on an exhibition and curate the class’s artworks. ‘We couldn’t find anywhere in Sydney to stage it,’ said Kay. ‘And I said, jokingly, sort of, “I live at Rosby in Mudgee, you can have it at my place”, thinking they wouldn’t even contemplate doing that.’ But they did. Kay invited a few other sculptors in the region to join them and what had begun as a TAFE assignment quickly turned into a successful exhibition of 80 works and 500 visitors.

Ten years on, Sculptures in the Garden is one of the largest sculpture exhibitions in regional Australia. It offers over $50,000 in prize money; attracts more than 3000 visitors each year; has exhibited more than 2000 sculptures; and has raised nearly $200,000 for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT. With sale commissions, it has funded a public sculpture walk in Mudgee’s Lawson Park. The walk, jointly funded by the local council, leads to what will be the new Mudgee regional art gallery, slated to open this year.

But beyond the numbers, this event is the reason women >

Words Annabelle Hickson Photography Pip Farquharson Opposite page Wearing gloves to protect her hands from the twigs and a hat to shade her face from the sun, Kay wrestles with vines to form a sculpture in the garden at Rosby.

Clockwise from above The homestead at Rosby; a horse sculpture made by local schoolchildren under Kay’s supervision as part of a Watershed Landcare program called Greenday; Kay’s kitchen; fresh produce is just one of the attractions, as are sumptuous baked goods; Kay Norton-Knight and her family in the garden. From left: George, nine, Kay, Annabelle, ve, Gerry, Jimmy, eight, Amber and Cameron; the dogs are Dash and Pepper.