Mrs Harris’ Shop was once a neighbourhood ‘corner store’, run by consecutive Mrs Harrises, 1930-70. Then, this Mrs Harris appeared… and flew about… clapping hands, clicking heels, and deftly remodelled this iconic site into a funky fringe venue in 2012. With lofty ceilings and traditional ambience, its quaint shop-front appeal makes it almost irresistible, for intimate arty shows, by makers of most persuasions.
The November 7 vernissage of the new exhibition, Lisa and Michael Celebrate 2020, by Lisa Young and Michael James Rowland, aligned with the US presidential election’s ongoing vote count: far across the ocean – yet weighing on pandemic-stricken minds. All on tenterhooks, I slipped into the scene, for a much-needed glass of bubbly and some non-virtual chit-chat.
Dreamy linocuts by Young reference Willow chinoiserie patterns. They lure us, beyond anthropocentric frameworks, towards an idyllic, floating world. Those who built palaces may have vanished, but flora and fauna still thrive, quite innocent.
Rowland’s austere woodblocks explain: How to build a Hut: A Guide to living the Dream – gently printed in Prussian Blue, on handmade (Tasmanian) paper. My glass of bubbly trembles, personally implicated, with his incisive advice: “Refine your thinking though models.”
It really wouldn’t surprise me if these two printmakers are also zen magicians, behind the scenes. Their elegant hand-made work, delicately carved and printed, conveys the confident clarity of their vision and process. Board your spacecraft and get there!

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Lisa and Michael Celebrate 2020, 
An exhibition of prints by Lisa Young and Michael James Rowland
Mrs Harris’ Shop Gallery, 36 Jervois Street, Torrensville, South Australia
Website: www.mrsharrisshop.com.au