Last day of pre-Script Frenzy discretionary time

I doubt I'll have much time during April, so today I took advantage of wanting to attend a session of this script-critiquing group I go to occasionally to add in a visit to the Art Gallery of NSW. There I nourished my soul by looking at lots of art. I had been wanting to see the Archibald Prize works, but they were charging eight dollars to get in, and I figured I could wait until the exhibition toured to Wollongong.

My two favorite things (on this visit, at least) were a scroll depicting a hyakki yako (or "parade of the object goblins") and a picture entitled "Ogre chanting Buddhist prayer" (see graphic, which, since the thing dates from 1864, I'm assuming is in the public domain). It instantly became my very favorite painting* ever (an honor it will retain until displaced by another).

The script critiquing was an interesting experience. It was my turn, to the extent these things are formalized in this group, to present stuff for critiquing. I submitted two 10-minute (or so) plays. One, the group loved (which gratified me, as I've always been rather fond of it myself). One, they so didn't love (which surprised me, as it got short-listed for the Sydney Short & Sweet play festival a couple of months back — go figure).

All in all, a very artsy, I-wear-black-all-the-time kind of day. Even though I wasn't wearing any black at all — and, indeed, tend to avoid the complètement-noir look. (Oh! An untranslated French phrase! Now I am so artsy I cannot be standing myself.)

*Actually, it seems to be a woodcut, but if it's hand-colored, is it a painting or a print?