art and about

 Over the past couple of weeks I've been working furiously behind the scenes (and occasionally up close and personal) creating a blog network for local artists.... local to the far south coast of NSW that is!

It's called art and about and you can have a look at how its developing here: 

http://art--and--about.blogspot.com/

Over the next little while I'm hoping to get local artists to take the initiative and share information about up coming arty events (and the like) and create some link lists to local artists and outlets..... and as I don't get out and about much myself I'm hoping to enlist a little army of willing bloggy workers to throw their hat into the bloggy ring.....

so if you know anyone down this-a way who's artily inclined tell them we'd like to hear from them!


(I'm going to take a nap now.... )

clean up

I've had a big clean up here at the blog - and installed tabs/pages thingys underneath the blog title for a more streamlined, spruced-up blog (can you see them up there? what do you think?)

I'm still playing with them (I'd like to have something attractive on each tab/page when it opens) - and no doubt will keep fiddling with them over the next while - instead of doing all the jobs that are screaming out to be attended to - not the least being the initial written things that MUST be done for my MFA......

hmmmm now my studio looks like it needs a good clean....

and the garden looks like it needs weeding....

and....

and....

ahhhh, procrastination thou art a familiar friend!

art cafe - tanja riese

I've just got back to the creek after a delightful time at the Bega Valley Regional Gallery 'art cafe' lunch time chat by Tanja Riese. Tanja's solo show 'Journey of Arrival' is currently on exhibition. Man is it FANTASTIC - if you are anywhere near the BVRG you should catch the show before it closes on March 20.

(here's Tanja - after the chat and looking thrilled that I'm making her stand for a piccie

and those are two of her larger charcoal drawings - I want them!)

Tanja is the second recipient of the Far South Coast Living Artist Project (phew that's a mouthful - fortunately most of the time its referred to by its acronym - FSCLAP) Hey - did anyone in oz catch 'artscape' on ABC TV a couple of weeks back? - when the 'living artist film' was shown? (what a hoot!) wellllll you would have caught a snippet or two of Tanja - and I'm sure you'd understand why just about everyone down this way was delighted that she received the living artist scholarship..... this exhibition is the result of her time under that scheme.

Tanja gave a delightful, natural and unassuming talk today to a super-packed gallery audience (I've never seen this many folk attend a lunch time chat - they were madly searching for additional chairs from all corners!). It was insightful to hear her speak about the materials and process of creating this body of work. Most folk (myself included) were very taken by her large charcoal drawings - which we discovered were based on natural little treasures that she collected on daily walks. Her large drawings were amazingly controlled and precise and executed on deliciously warm paper. We found out that Tanja coloured her paper with earth pigments (found, ground, sifted, mixed with water and acrylic binder then applied with a brush) and this gave the surface both a lovely blush of pinkish terracotta or ochre and a nice tooth for the charcoal to grab. Yummy work!

Also in the exhibition were numerous prints (Tanja is best known as a printmaker) - but I'm so stooooopid when it comes to printmaking that I'm not game to even try to relate her explanation of process and materials (I got lost after she started talking about etching and acid and something, something mangle, something, something brush..... see! I'm lost!) the massed displays (sorry my piccie didn't' turn out) were really striking

as was the grid arrangement of shellac and graphite 'free' drawings

(hopefully this is the shellac/graphite work - please forgive me Tanja if I've got it wrong!)

 (5 large charcoal works by Tanja - great aren't they)

I can't say enough good things about the work, the gallery talk or the artist herself - a class act all the way - don't miss the show!

sculpture on the edge....

and I feel like I've gone over the edge!!!!!


oooooh my, oh my I'm about as beat as I ever need or want to be

this has been a C*R*A*Z*Y week - including a trip to canberra ('collect this pallet of books now or else'!) another hasty one to bega ('collect these books now....' oh, you get the picture) an overnight stay in kiama for a zone swimming carnival in dapto (our boyo has only just started swimming club..... and here we were 8 weeks after he swam his first 50m freestyle swim taking him to the southern area primary schools zone carnival - he is now officially the 26th fastest 8yr old in 18 districts or around 200 primary schools.... how can this happen?)

now were was I - oh yes.... after getting back to the creek last night I had to scramble this morning to get 3 sculptures down to bermagui for 'sculpture on the edge' - 2 small pieces (ars gratia artis & serpens volumen) and a new large encyclopaedia-based piece tha I'd been trying to finish whilst all this craziness was going on (and I killed a drill in the process)

here's my sculpture on the edge large work (I'll maybe tell more of it when I recover - right now a piccie will have to do)......

 

Rhonda Ayliffe

'Excubitor' (the sentinel)

2 sets world book encyclopaedia, cement plinth

in situ - 'sculpture on the edge' bermagui headland 

(with gulaga mountain and cloud cover in the background - a wonderful site!)

righto - so after I had my large and small pieces sorted I had a 'fire' sculpture to complete for the festivities later in the evening.... and the clouds were gathering.... but before I rushed back to sams creek I managed to quickly have a look around the large works on the headland - here a very, very, very brief tour....

 

karen charlebois

a collection of 'weedy' works in steel

 

murray ambler

'heron'

 

philip spelman

'inca'

 

michael snape

'upside, downside'

 

ken hutchinson

'falling man'

 

senden blackwood

'takana'

 

jenni yamuna bruce
'coastal pair'

 

richard moffat

'screw up'

and my favourite....

 

'beatle' collins

'bermagui bombora'

I just love this piece - in real life its much larger than this pic would let you think - its quite easy to stand under the 'wave' crest.... and don't you just LOVE the site! every work looked wonderful with the ocean and mountains as a backdrop

righto - so then it was a mad scramble back to the creek and back to work.... quickly finishing off a piece to be set on fire later on.... and of course a quick look at the radar showed a large lump of rain headed our way.... I estimated it would arrive just in time to make the open air festivities rather damp (and yep - it did)

We got back down to bermi to set up around 5pm - nicely in time for the arrival of rain.... still I set up the piece - made from defunct ACT legislation (funny stuff!) - i.e. - made from paper...that was getting damper and damper by the second - and the fire works were scheduled for after dark (after my nervous breakdown more like it)

FINALLY it was deemed time to try to set the (now very wet) works on fire

I didn't hold out much hope... (so I didn't manage to get choice pics - I mean it was actually raining whilst this was burning and I was trying to get a pic)

but I didn't end up looking a total dill after all (IT BURNED!!!! and that's the sass - hands in the pockets of his newly earned representative swimming hoodie in the background looking so totally impressed....)


well - time for a nice lie down and a cup of green tea (or a bottle of something much stronger!)

I'm now officially - TOTALLY BUGGERED (hey - can get a rep hoodie for that?)