art gesture sunday - week 21....

one funk and wagnall encased in ice,

melting in a pool - sams creek



(ps who spied the hint of what I was up to earlier in the week?)

....

lovely on the inside...

step this way to spy all the yummy bookbinding gear inside my bookworks studio....

(I dare you not to drool at the sight of 'Maria')

....

wanna spend some quality time with me at sturt?

For the first time ever I've got a class on offer at Sturt Winter School

(oooo look! - a hint of something I've been up to this week...... )

If you'd like to join me for five days of texty excitement - enrol NOW (one more enrolment in the next week will ensure the class goes ahead!) ---- if you drop by the Sturt website you'll see details of the workshop on offer - BUT I wanted to let you (my bloggy maties) know - that I'm always v. keen to go with whatever anyone wants to pursue - so if you have a 'special something' you'd like to undertake - I hear you! (drop me a line and we'll work something out...)

ps - I've got another workshop (in Sydney) on the cards in November AND a guest arteest stint happening at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery late June and into July...

 stay tuned for more news....


....

steal like an artist?....

so how does that work?

I first saw this poster and idea here ...

which lead me to the book  (and the flickr site where indeed I was allowed to steal that thar image ^^^)


'Steal like an artist' is a best selling book by Austin Kleon.... and aside from the strategically provocative title and implication, the book appears to contain snappy platitudes regarding creativity (and noice grafix) -  Kleon seems to be serving up a well known dish - (which perhaps unsurprisingly has little to do with 'stealing'.... but I'll get back to that in a minute...)

first - a confession - I don't have and haven't read the book - I've just glimpsed some excerpts so I may have everything totally wrong

In some of the book's earlier pages Kleon writes:

Every artist gets asked the question -
'where do you get your ideas?'
The honest artist answers - 
'I steal them'

I don't know about you, but my first response was - 'WTF?.... speak for yourself Austin baby! - I don't steal nothing!!

that's because the 'S' word really gets up my arty nose.

When you 'steal' something  there's an implication that something is taken away from its lawful owner... burglary, car theft, plagiarism, copyright infringement are all examples of stealing..... but Kleon is not really talking about 'stealing' ... its more like 'be inspired' ..... but 'take inspiration like an artist' doesn't sound anywhere near as sexy 'steal' eh?

(ps I note in Kleon's bio that he's an ex-advertising copywriter..... hmmmmmmm.... yep 'steal like an artist' sounds like something an adman would pen!)


I think all artists (visual artists, writers, musicians....) take inspiration from everything, everywhere, all the time. They... WE...  take it all in,  mix it up, digest, add seasoning, continue to refine  - adding and subtracting... until the moment that we have something fresh, and all our own. I'm NOT a fan of post modernism that huffs and puffs that there's nothing new under the sun..... For me - every day is new and fresh... every minute is a moment that has never existed before and will not come again. But a moment is not isolated - it does not emerge from nothingness... instead it exists as part of a continuum..... and creativity is just the same. No, I'm not a world-weary, post-mod gal... and I don't think that real artists 'steal' (that's an activity for charlatans and con-artists) - rather they 'take inspiration'......



what do you think? has anyone read the book?

(anyone stolen it? no... don't tell me!)


*ps - the 'S' word aside - I really like some of the other points - especially #8 - Be Nice  (the world is a small town) .......
I dare you to try stealing something in a small town - oh boy - not nice!


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art gesture sunday - week 20....

 

 one book page wrapped river rock

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art gesture sunday - week 19...

 

 

 

 'An Australian Bird Book' and found dead wren

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autumnal...

come with me for a tour of my garden

on this glorious autumn day....

 

  

 

 

 

 

thanks ya'll for the nice comments regards hitting the big 400 last post - 

I will be wheeling bits to those I have the postals for.... 

and for those I don't have a postal contact - welllllll I've just have to send a virtual 'something'!

....

celebrationaries....

guess what?

this is my 400th post

yep its the double bi-centenary!

(what a week of celebrations)

to everyone who has dropped by here over the 400 posted thoughts

I've got to say a huge TARRRRRRR!

(sams creek for 'thanks') 

 and to everyone who has sent kind thoughts 

in person or in other mediums over the last few days for all the 'other' momentous things

more thanks on thanks (tarrr tarrrr!)

I feels the lurve

On my studio open day I printed a heap of little tags on the C&P
to give to the kiddies at the school....

ps if you'd like - I'll send one to you too (its just a little something)..... 

and for a couple of you, my bloggy friends, 

how about I send you one of my little limited edition zines - like this or this ?

or how about

one of these?

drop me a note

rhonda.ayliffe [at] gmail [dot] com

and 'something' will be wheeling its way to your door 

in two shakes of a lambs tail**

xxx

updated update!


today - thurs 17th I'm popping an armload of envelopes in the mail

 with tags and zines about to fly off to far flung places - 

from Iceland to America... and just down road

wheeeeeeee!

(hope those who got their postals to me in time enjoy the teeny tiny treats)

xxxxx

** in the off chance that I'm inundated by requests 

I suppose I should put a teeny bit of fine print here saying 

'limited to the first 25 respondents'

there. done.

art gesture sunday - week 18...

self portrait
with orange bookworks studio doors 

and 'The Bookshelf for Boys and Girls - Art and Music'

....

before...

 earlier in the morn I took some pics as I fussed with things...

 under the eaves

in the studio...

 

 and in the garden...

then the hordes arrived...

and... welllllll I forget all about pictures!

big thanks to Cobargo P&C (foooooood) 

to Annie D (Cobargo Primary's amazing principal) 

my wonderful mum & dad 

(when one is having an open day its important to have clean windows.... so saith so doeth my parents!)

to everyone who came (yay to you!) 

most particularly to a couple of my dear *old* friends who travelled a stoooopidly long way

(kisses to you all)

and most of all (even though they don't ever read the blog) 

biggest love to Sass and EJ (who worked so hard for little kidlets...) 

and to Phil - without whose HUGE effort and support this wouldn't have happened 

it was a wonderful and memorable day.....

progress...

a billion and one last minute jobs
to get everything ready for May 5 Bookworks Open Day....

painting...

lifting....

creating order from chaos...

placing books in interesting nooks....

making aaaart with the school kiddies...

sewing book page bunting....

installing faithful friends...

....