ART AND YOUTH

Southland Times, Issue 23438, 19 February 1938, Page 9

ART AND YOUTH

MRS TOM GARRETT’S INTERESTS REFRESHING PERSONALITY It is not very often that Invercargill is visited by a woman with quite such a refreshing personality as Mrs Tom Garrett, of Sydney. Mrs Garrett is a widely-travelled woman and consequently has a broad view of life and a good supply of interesting conversation. Mrs Garrett, with her husband, Mr Tom Garrett, the well-known Australian artist, has been in New Zealand for a few months, and the real reason for her visit to Invercargill is an exhibition of her husband’s work. Incidentally, Mr Garrett’s work decorates the walls of a number of homes in Invercargill, for almost four years ago Mrs Garrett made her first visit to this city when she exhibited his paintings. Mrs Garrett is a firm believer in the youth of today, and although she has no young children, she has a surprising capacity for understanding youth, hence she makes friends readily with young people. Great changes have taken place in New Zealand since Mrs Garrett was last here. She has watched the working of the Labour Government -with interest, and she gave some of her impressions to a Southland Times reporter yesterday morning. “The greatest change I have noticed is the big increase in the cost of living. Food, household commodities and even clothes, have all gone up in price since I was here. When 1 left Australia to come to New Zealand this time I postponed buying a number of clothes till I got here, remembering that my former experience was that they were just as good but cheaper than in Australia. Imagine my disappointment and amazement when I went shopping in Auckland and found that what I wanted was almost double the price I would have paid in Australia. We have noticed, too, that several times we have arrived at hotels about 7 o’clock in the evening and have been unable to get a meal but have always been able to get drinks—-we think that very amusing.” Although art is naturally her mam interest, Mrs Garrett does not stop there. She is deeply interested in human nature, w’hich she takes trouble to study, and her travels in foreign countries have given her a knowledge and understanding of, and an interest in, the peoples and affairs of those countries. , “I think any change is a good change, and therefore the changes made by your Government must do some good for New Zealand in the end. Australia went through a difficult time and a big upheaval and was all the better for it, and I think New Zealand will do the same.”