"Life imitates art, or so it is said, and this could well describe the journey of Vera Cervenka.

Bohemian by birth and bohemian in life, Cervenka's early years in Czechoslovakia were spent as the focus of her extended family of grandparents and six aunts who doted on her.

History records the devastation and suffering of war and fascism and the debilitation and cruelty of communism and totalitarianism. Cervenka took flight and her life became a gamble at border crossings and in displaced persons' camps.

Barely into her teens and with no English, Cervenka found herself in a tent camp during a Bathurst winter, comforted only by a greatcoat given to her by an old Anzac.

Hers is a story familiar to hundreds of thousands. She was never to see her family again, nor regain the privilege of her early years.

After meeting her husband, John, life continued on the move in pursuit of his career as a stage designer; work that took them to many parts of the world.

Whether in spite of her life, or as a result of its influences, Cervenka's desire to creatively "play" has grown. Since settling in the mid-Blue Mountains 15 years ago, she has found space to express her need to build her "playthings". Always whimsical and perhaps a little crazy, these works use found objects and other recycled materials in their construction. Not readily fitting the 'art trouve' label, they nonetheless are made to last, unlike many of the sculptural works of Degas, I am reminded, for which he used inferior ingredients, such as flour and pebbles. Still, the Master and Cervenka have some parallels. It was Degas who said, "... one amuses oneself only with what one doesn't know how to do, when one is as badly balanced as I am."

There is no accident, however, about these works. The ideas come in a flash, are made with abandon and the results are always fanciful. Vera Cervanka is a collector of all things. She thinks the desire to collect comes from having nothing. The works have been made for herself and for her husband, until now.

Like Grandma Moses before her, her naive work has endured a long gestation period and her desire has been to uplift the spirit. It is fitting, then, that you join Vera Cervenka on her serendipitous journey.

Alan Leek, Breewood, November 2000