So… in that little pocket of time that was life before the current lockdown, we managed to host a wee exhibition titled - Teresita Rosita was here. It ran from June 10-14 at a lovely little local art gallery named Gallery 371 in Marrickville. It was the culmination of exactly 365 days worth of “work” which had seen me do a daily sketch of the life and times of Teresita Rosita and share it with the world via Instagram and Facebook.

Day 43: Teresita Rosita was beginning to see a pattern... Tuesday’s were generally a bit of a non-day. Not in a bad way, just in a sit back and relax and it that wash over you kind of way..

Now, that had been more than enough to keep me happy. I had never intended for Teresita Rosita to be anything but my own little creation, my own daily journal (albeit one that then went out onto social media for anyone and everyone to see). But some of those close to me had bigger, grander, much more ambitious plans and somehow (somehow!!?) I was convinced that an exhibition would be a good idea. And so began 6 months of planning, production and preparation.

While Teresita Rosita was essentially a digital character, living in a digital world, I had always leant towards to textuality of watercolour paper and the fluidity and organic-ness of watercolour paints out here in the real world. So I decided to create a bunch of original artworks, reimagining the initial digital sketches and adding an element of randomness and mutability with the flow and wash of watercolour.

Teresita Rosita was here exhibition still

But why stop at creating just one type of original artwork, when you can go all out and create an entire army??

Yes, that’s right. Not only was there original art for the walls of the gallery, there was also a horde of 3D printed, hand-painted figurines of Teresita Rosita and Dr Chicken that we foolishly decided to produce (another long story, that warrants it’s own post sometime in the future). Long story short, they were printed and painted and I vowed to never do anything like that ever again (unless you ask me very very nicely).

Oh, and there was framing and printing and merchandising and designing and crying and laughing and more crying and then a bit more laughing.

Teresita Rosita was here exhibition image

And then fast forward to June 2021 and we were suddenly bumping in at Gallery 371, Marrickville, NSW, Australia. Many hands made light work of the setup, with friends and family (all the way from WA) helping arrange and hang artworks. We (almost) looked like professionals by the end of it. Almost.

And wow, it really blew me away, seeing everything up on the walls, on their stands, arrayed across the merch desk! An entire gallery filled with Teresita Rosita - it was beyond anything I had ever imagined. As was the reception she/I received on opening night. So many friendly faces came to see the panda-hatted Teresita Rosita in all her glory. There was wine (very generously donated by someone lovely at Audrey Wilkinson wines) and there was food ( even more generously provided by my dearest friend, Leanne, who was instrumental in getting the whole event out of our heads and into the world).

There was a panda hat and a chicken hat worn by the IRL Teresita Rosita and Dr Chicken. And there were red dots!!! Wow. Really. It was overwhelming. The support, the love I got from all the beautiful people who came along. Anyway. I don’t want to gush too much, but gee, thanks.

Like I mentioned earlier, Teresita Rosita was here - the exhibition ran for 5 days. It was short and sweet, just like her. It was a wonderful opportunity to see people I hadn’t seen for a long time as well as spendsome quality time with those I saw on a daily basis. It was a chance to meet new people, encounter fans who had stumbled across her exploits on Instagram, or who had just happened to glance through the window as they walked by. It was a joy to know that my little Teresita Rosita was going to go home to share her smile, her life, her panda hat with so many new people. It was yet another grand adventure.