Panel 1

Designer Mary O'Brien says:

The first tapestry speaks of Elaine's life as a child. Each design within it depicts incidents from her childhood as related by Jenny Beacham, Elaine's sister.

Elaine Lee grew up on a farm near Birchip in the Victorian Mallee. She was the second child in a family of four, an older sister and twins (brother and sister) a couple of years younger than herself.

'Every night after school we went down to the lake to get cool. We never learned to swim, we just chased frogs and each other.

'One day Elaine got a leech on her and rather than tell Mum and Dad, we went home and looked it up in the encyclopaedia to make sure it wasn't dangerous. I guess we didn't want anyone to put a stop to our daily routine.' 
Jenny Beacham

When the twins started school the four children would ride there together in a cart pulled along by Dolly, a pretty chestnut pony with a white blaze on her face. They would set off on the ride for home and begin to read their books. Occasionally the cart would tip over and the children, books and belongings would end up on the ground. They would get back in and continue on their way, but at home they didn't tell their parents. One day they were helped back on to the track by a reporter for the local paper. He published an account of the Lee children's accident.

'Mum and Dad were a bit shocked to read about something that had happened a couple of weeks before and they hadn't been told.'
Jenny Beacham

The school the Lee children attended was a small wooden structure at Naarput, They were very proud of their school.

'At this stage there were eight girls, almost enough for a proper basketball (netball) match. There was a tiny fenced area for a garden, but only larkspurs grew.

'Elaine was a very good basketballer and went to Melbourne to compete in Country Schools Basketball in the school holidays.'
Jenny Beacham

The fresh water tank was an important school landmark for drinking water and to sit by in the shade to keep cool.

Christmas gathering of the family was very important and at Birchip always included a political discussion which was loud and often heated.

Life for Elaine the child was contented with play, sport, reading and the responsibility of helping her Mum with cooking, dressmaking and looking after the twins. She was one of the first girl students from Birchip to go to Melbourne University.

The tapestry design is open and simple, as childhood was in the bush in the 1940s and 50s.