Autor: Melanie Carter

Heather Gordon (aka Barossa Nanna) is an artist, author and gardener. Heather”s productive, flower filled garden is home to chooks and bees. Heather usually writes and collages what she knows – chooks, gardening and travel adventures. But! Her friend Melanie was walking along the footpath and a child riding a bike too fast crashed into the back of Melanie”s knee, throwing Melanie into the street. This crash resulted in broken bones, surgeries, many hospital experiences and months and months of rehabilitation for Melanie. Melanie and Heather are long term friends. The decision to write about and illustrate Melanie”s experiences came when a direction by a nurse, in response to a genuine question from Melanie about process, was brushed off with „don”t you worry about it, just think about rainbows and unicorns”. Melanie is a fibre artist, has established and maintains a children”s street library, contributes to community environmental groups as well as sings in a community choir. Much of this work was on hold as Melanie struggled through the hospital and rehabilitation systems. Working on the Rainbows and Unicorns story supported Melanie”s rehabilitation. „Barossa Nanna and the Lonely Chook” (2014) was Heather”s first published book. It gently deals with grief and loss in a way that children can understand. „Barossa Nanna and the Chook Collage” featured chooks and gardens and was the first of the Collage books created in self-isolation during COVID-19, 2020. Heather has worked extensively in rural and remote regions of Australia. Heather”s love of the Australian landscape is reflected in her photography, mosaics and Collage. Heather”s garden has previously featured in Australia”s National Open Garden Scheme (2014) and in an episode of „Poh and Co” (2015). Heather”s Mosaics and Collage can be viewed on social media at „Rhagodia Mosaics and Collage”. A modern-day four-way online collaboration between the author in Nuriootpa, her friend in Adelaide, the digital process in Andamooka and the publisher in Alice Springs.