computer deaths are never pretty...

well we got some lovely welcome rain yesterday and we were all about to do the happy dance at sams creek - when I realised...

my dear old computer didn't make it though the storm...

it's cactus

and that means I won't be posting for the next wee while - it may be into january before I replace my dear dead mac (sob) and can get back into posting what's happening both in the studio - and on the farm (on the sams creek farm blog)

it feels like the 'if a tree falls in the forest does it make a sound?' philosophic question - only in this case it's - 'if I don't blog it - does it really happen?'... and the answer I know is - yep it's life as usual here as sams creek

so I'll 'see' you all again sometime soon... be good!

30 x 30 x 30 exhibition

A quick update - my little piece blogged earlier has been selected for '30 x 30 x 30' - an exhibition of work from faulty and staff of Monash Uni at the Art & Design faculty gallery

whee-har

The show opened last night (and as it's in Melbourne - of course I didn't attend) and runs until Dec 6

layer it! workshop report

WOW!

What a weekend!

I've just spent 2 of the most fantastic days any teacher/tutor can spend - nestled amongst enthusiastic, engaging, talented, generous students - this time in the spacious (ok - cavernous..) space of Primrose Park - headquarters of the ASC...

Primrose Park Paperworks

I felt very honoured - and not a little daunted - to be leading such a marvelous group - I've admired the work of many of those lining up to hear my 'words of wisdom'... it made me wonder what on earth I could add to their already extensive knowledge-bank...

'Layer It!' did have an ambitious program - I was hoping to get through 4 distinct areas or 'layers' during the 2 days: layers in lettering, layers in paint, layers in collage and (my particular pet) layers of meaning...

Look at them all - waiting for me to stop taking piccies and get on with the show!

No matter how long a workshop is - it never feels quite long enough... here are some of the workshop participants works in progress at the start of day 2 - backgrounds have been created and a first layer of lettering has been applied - waiting for the magic of glaze applications....




by the end of day 2 the works are only just beginning really - oh how I wish we had another day (or two)... I can only imagine how some works may turn out... here's Bob's piece after it's initial layers of lettering and glaze... I do hope he works on this at home and sends me a finished pic - this is such a promising start...




and I only had just enough time to start to talk about layers of meaning... maybe I'll just have to talk about that on another visit... ('Layer it some more'?)

Thanks to everyone who came - hope you keep on 'layering it!'

Layer It!

Next weekend I’m off to Primrose Park, headquarters and home-base for the Australian Society of Calligraphers (ASC), in Sydney.

I’m taking participants (victims?) through my 2 workshop - ‘Layer It!’ – I’m thrilled that the 2 day workshop has been booked out (!) months in advance.

I’ve been a Guild Member for the ASC since 1995 – but this is the first time I’m off to teach a workshop in Sydney.

I don’t go away to teach workshops very often – I do have 2 rather young kiddies after all (Sass is 6, EJ is 3) and I’m never all that keen to leave either them or my beloved Sams Creek...
Last year I presented the same workshop for the Coffs Calligraphers as an extension of my stint as their guest artist (for the exhibition ‘Botanical Rhythms’)

'Weight of Words'
Rhonda Ayliffe
from 'Botanical Rhythms' exhibition - Coffs Harbour - 2007

I had such a wonderful time that when I was approached by the ASC to teach, I was keen to repeat the good times… and just like then, I’ll try to keep my homesickness to a minimum…


I’ll hopefully have some nice pics and stories about my time away - and I'll share them when I return (I bet all sorts of things will be going on here in my absence.... I wonder if anyone will be game to record the mischief?)

the debutante series

As hinted in the previous post - I've completed many more portrait works for the debutante series... most I've uploaded to my flickr site (if you click the title of the post it will whip you over there!)

here's a bit of what's there.....

Rhonda Ayliffe
Black/white
sewn drawing on vellum paper overlay, mixed media collage on canvas

Rhonda Ayliffe
Black/white
sewn drawing on vellum paper overlay, mixed media collage on canvas

I haven't managed to come up with a more exciting title for these yet... I don't know that I will - I have always been keen to allude to a certain ambiguity - that few issues can be viewed in black or white terms... 'black/white' & 'white/black', isn't terribly poetic... but it does the job


Most of the series doesn't photograph well - I've been interested for some time now in high key and/or low contrast works as well as texture and surface qualities - things that don't translate in digital form - which is a part of my attraction... so yes it is somewhat ironic that here I am attempting to upload and display these in a digital format....


At any rate, I have these and the rest packed in my dear ole dad's car at the moment - they're off to uni tomorrow for end of year marking (one more year of the Masters to go....) - ahhhh the joy of the 14+ hr round trip... fun for all the family (lucky I've got a terrific father - with a nicer car than we've got!)

new work

It's been a while since I've posted what I've been up to... that's the way of an artist - we work and look and think quite removed from the rest of the world...(well that's me anyway) and it's sometimes hard to know when to show what you're up to - especially when you're delving into unknown territory.

I've been working solidly for some months now on a strange and funny series - based on a photo of me at the 1971 Cobargo Debutante Ball (where I was the flowergirl).... I was almost 5 years old at the time and it was the first absolute 'girlie' moment of my life (my mum always cut my hair very very short - girlie moments were few and far between)

this is the latest in that series - it's 30 x 30 cms (and the smallest thus far) - delustred satin quilted/drawn with a vicious pink thread.

In the next wee while I'll uncover a few more from the series - I just need to live with them all for a little longer yet to see how I feel about them

the studio at sams creek

Here's where I've been over the last while - hard at it in my little studio. I'm extremely fortunate to have a separate space to work in (not that that stops me from sprawling all over the house, the yard.. well the entire farm really is my workplace...)

It looks soooooo tidy with the doors closed... open the doors and it's

eeeeeekkkk!!!!

and all other times I've been working in the garden - trying to get our vege garden re-established (but I promised not to ramble on about farm and garden things here.... you'll have to check out 'the other half of the story'...)

I'll post some new work pics very soon - I've been very busy!