traditions (part two)

Warning warning warning - I'm about to tell you a rather sweet personal Christmas story that contains genuine christmasy sentimentality - it may cause sudden attacks of 'bah-humbug' in the less christmasy minded....

On Christmas Eve the population of our small township of Cobargo and surrounding district will gather in the local park (there is little or no advertising about this – it just always has been – and so everyone figures it always will be...). About 500 or so people just turn up (more than actually live in the town) – kids will scramble over and under the overburdened few playground items. There will be a chocolate wheel and everyone will buy tickets to support the Cobargo Rural Fire Service. Santa will arrive in the local fire tanker (with full lights and siren – which must scare the hell out of poor unknowing tourists and bystanders!) – where he will give out balloons and ice-creams to all the local children. He will then preside over a variety of lolly scrambles before heading off on the back of the fire truck (more lights and siren action). The crowd disperses and all go home with thoughts of the Christmas day to come after the sleep.... Few will be thinking about where this tradition came from or what it is all about..... and few outside our small world will think of this quaint small moment as anything other than a quaint small moment.

This is the 60th year that this has happened – for 60 years my family has been the force behind the tradition.

(here I am with Santa and Nana A - Christmas Eve circa 1967)

Christmas 1949 my father's mother – my Nana Ayliffe - wrapped some little trinkets in Christmas paper, blew up a couple of dozen balloons and invited the local children to come down to the General Store on Christmas Eve for a 'christmas tree' party (I have no idea why it's called this...). My Ayliffe grandparents had moved to the township of Cobargo a few years earlier to take over the general store – they came with my father and his younger sister. I suppose her small gesture might have been seen as a way to ingratiate the family to the community....


But her gesture actually held a very sad tale, rarely retold to happy christmas crowds.

In 1942 my father's elder sister, Frances, suddenly, mysteriously, tragically died at 3 years of age. My Nana Ayliffe was understandably completely devastated – and never really got over her overwhelming loss. The family moved to Cobargo in the mid 1940s to make a new start – and my Nana dispensed little presents, balloons (and then also ice-creams - a rare treat in the early days of refrigeration!) in memory of her lost daughter – my unknown aunt Frances. As she told me when I questioned her sometime in the 1970s: 'well I would have spent this, and so much more on her anyway.....'

So every year since 1949 my family blows up a few hundred balloons, gives out a few hundred ice-creams and throws a few thousand lollies for the local kids to scramble after.

(sorry it's a terrible photo – its also from the late 1960s... and THIS is what Christmas looked like to me as a child – by Christmas Eve my Nana's entire staircase was a mass of balloons – hundreds of them were tied to the rungs. From about 7 years of age my Christmas Eve job was to maintain the balloon supply to Santa – a very responsible position and one I took very seriously - I was even allowed to use a nifty pocket knife to cut the balloon strings free.... I remember once threatening some interloper with that knife when they got too close to my balloons... decades later despite this 'incident' I'm still the balloon girl....)

And each year I think of my Nana who found solace and renewal in a small act of giving.


Through this act and story I've come to understand that traditions don't start with a grand vision (I know my Nana never set out thinking that this was something that would still be happening 60 years down the track) – mostly they are understood retrospectively, when folk look backwards and forwards simultaneously – and realise the significance of a small act that recurs without much fanfare.

(Nana A and Santa and Cobargo kids - 1968 – check out my nan's mini dress....
way to go nana! That'll hold back the hordes of kiddies!)

I hope to continue this Christmas tradition until my final days – and I hope it inspires my children (or dare I even imagine, grandchildren?) to do likewise.

Merry Christmas everyone

Traditions (part one)

Christmas 2009 - featuring my efforts at hand marbling

Every year since the middle of my teens I've made my own Christmas cards. I can hardly believe that I've been doing this for almost three decades now – as I never set out to create a multi-decade tradition

If 'life is what happens when you're busy making other plans' - then traditions are things that sneak up on you and unexpectedly announce their presence.

Christmas Card circa 1983 (this is one of my earliest - so don't give me a hard time about it!)
I remember making these - it took me about a day to make each one (see subsequent development of rules below...) This card is also significant as it sparked my interest in the craft of calligraphy (mind you I had NO idea how calligraphy was done - these rather pitiful letters were hand-drawn)

Anyway

these days I hand make around 50ish Christmas cards– and over the years I've developed a set of 'rules' that govern the making of my Christmas card collection

rule 1. each card must be hand made (only minimal mass reproduction techniques may be employed)

rule 2. each year's design must be unique – never before used and never to be used again

rule 3. the materials of each card must be unpretentious and not precious

rule 4. the entire collection of cards must be able to be made in a single day of construction – so only very simple designs and techniques can be considered

rule 5. the card design must capture the 'zeitgeist' of the year ( by this I mostly mean what is happening in my little world....)

Christmas Card of 2004
features my then very pregnant tummy wrapped up with a Christmas bow...
the 'Unwrapped Presence' was of course EJ

Its a fun and delightful challenge and a tradition that I enjoy immensely – In giving a handmade card I feel that I am giving my friends and family a moment of time – a tangible token of our relationship.


This year - I'm adding a new part to my Christmas card tradition – I'm posting a digital version of my 2009 card here, at flickr and on my fb page - a gift of sorts for all my online friends and with it I'm sending everyone a special Christmas greeting –

peace, love and joy to you and your loved ones.

From ronnie by the creek

artlink

ooooooo such excitement here at the creek – I collected my mail and looky what I picked up.....



it's the latest edition of Artlink magazine – volume 29 edition 4

if you turn to page 21.....




its 'scientia inflammatus' (knowledge on fire) by lil' ole ME


ooooooooh * faint


yes I knew my work had been selected for this edition – but I didn't give myself permission to believe it until I saw it in print ….. now I'm a believer!

Before I dissolve into a gooey puddle of drivel I've got to send out into the blogosphere a very big THANK YOU to my Monash Uni Masters supervisor for the past 2 years - Julian - who made me aware of the call for works relating to climate change and urged me to send something in for possible publication – who'd of thought this would make it through the selection process!


Here is the work (shrunked in size!) when it's not a dodgy photo of a print of a photo.....

Rhonda Ayliffe - scientia inflammatus (knowledge on fire)

Its a part of my 'codex incendium' series of works – to date I've only shown a couple of bits from this series. This was the third of my burning book towers – ephemeral sculptural works documented as digital stills and HD video.... (I know I still haven't shared the video....yet.....I will....eventually... somewhere....)



right now I'm just basking in the glow..... its a nice way to end to my 3 years of MVA study at Monash.

marbling marvels

I've been trying to gather together a few moments to write a fitting post of my time spent in a marbling workshop with the delightful Joan Ajala last weekend (but it's been one of those weeks....)

(my favourite marbled paper from the w.e. -
joan called this pattern 'flame' - and in margo's pattern book it was named 'wavy dutch cockerel')

I did a quick think and realised that its been almost 15 years since I spent a glorious week studying watercolour marbling with Margo Snape (where HAS that time gone?!!!) I always had visions that I'd hopefully continue to fiddle with marbling from the comforts of my rustic little Sams Creek studio – but the reality has been that I've had difficulty finding the resources, confidence or time to have a go.


So I was peachy-keen to really throw myself at the opportunity to spend a weekend reconnecting with the craft

The workshop has held in the small but sweet headquarters of the NSW Guild of Craft Bookbinders which shares space with the NSW Writers Guild in the parkland grounds of Rozelle hospital. It's a funny space – and I was strangely always aware of its past history as a psychiatric hospital (the staircases gave me the heebie-jeebies!)

In the Ralph Lewis Bindery, where we set up our trays, we were surrounded by all the paraphernalia of bookbinding – bookcloth, millboard, presses, type, letterpress.... I wish I could have had a really good look around....

(from my little corner of the room - there were many distractions!)

Oops – mind on the job Ronnie!


Apart from gaining access to specialist equipment the other (and greater) advantage of attending the workshop was gaining access to Joan's wealth of experience – and the first thing I noticed (after I stopped eyeing off all the booky stuff) was a magnificent booklet that had been produced for all the workshop participants – pages and pages of notes (paints, size, patterns, suppliers...) it is without doubt the BEST handout I've ever seen!

(paints and whisks... ready to go!)

Oops get the mind on the job – don't get distracted by the good looking notes


My marbling partner for the weekend was our ASC Guild Secretary, Vicki – and I couldn't have picked a better person to team up with – we rather quickly developed a supportive rhythm




There was only one fly in the ointment of a wonderful weekend of marbling:

The Weather

I've got to tell you right now the weather last weekend in Sydney was appalling – I mean really really really really YUCK! It was horribly hot (in excess of 40 degrees in parts of the city) Marbling in hot weather is NOT ideal – aside from almost dying of dehydration there's all the technical hassles....

our alum water kept evaporating …. our paints kept evaporating... our size kept evaporating.... our alumed papers kept drying out and buckling (despite that they were stacked under boards) and this made them crispy dry (not great for trying to smoothly lay in a marbling tray)... our completed marbled papers dried as we tried to hang them on the line..... whine whine whine...

still, when I watched Joan in action all this seemed also to evaporate!

(laying paint on the size with the whisk)

(using the 1/4" comb - first combing)

(2" bouquet comb pulled in a zig-zag motion)

(behold the results! - rinsing the marbled sheet)

Ooooo and to top off a wonderful w.e. My dear friend Julie (who graciously gave me a bed and delicious food for my visit) sent me home with her marbling tray, rinse board and combs.... I see marbled papers at last being created at Sams Creek.....

stay tuned....

finding a free moment

Last weekend I finally got to attend the postponed paper marbling workshop with Joan Ajala in Sydney. Despite appalling heat I had a brilliant time reconnecting with the skill of watercolour marbling that I first encountered in a week long workshop with Margo Snape waaaayyyyy back when...

I'm trying to find a few moments to share a highlights of the weekend but life is conspiring to keep me away from the blog at present - so I'll just give the sneak peak of a sample I posted at Book Art Object




(the paper is a stormant design - I've created for the forthcoming book-art-object group project)

and when I can resurface from the mountain of pressing obligations before me I'll show a few more bits and pieces....

something 'out of the box'

This week I've been making a small something for 'out of the box III' at the Bega Valley Regional Gallery later in the month - and yes I know the photos I'm plonking here are really, really terrible.... my long thin things are a total pain to try to take a quick shot of (and I'm too lazy to take a proper pic at the moment)

Ready Reckoner

The work I'm submitting is a 'book' of sorts - created from the pages of an old Ready Reckoner (and of course I've given the piece that title) - with percentage and interest calculations covering the pages (ahhhhhh remember the days before the pocket calculator - it was such bliss to get a calculator in later high school and hand in forever those dreaded logarithm tables....uggggh!).

The piece is a bit over 3m high/long but folds down neatly to fit into a small Aust Post gift box (which is the whole point of the exhibition!). The pages have been backed with tea dyed muslin (I don't like the harsh white of store bought muslin... by immersing it in a big tea brew the cloth develops a colour similar to the old book paper)

After creating a single long column of old pages and muslin, I collected images from which I carefully cut paper stencils - these were used to put all the images onto my 'book'

detail

It's quite amazing how detailed and resilient a paper stencil can be - well you can see from my dodgy photos that I created stencils of various animals, and bugs, birds and butterflies (these are mostly at the top of the work) - and two focal images: a line of soldiers, and a large beetle.

After the painted images were dry I got out my trusty sewing machine - threaded it with red and then green thread - and sewed up a networking storm! (I DO so love a good network... as an image or an idea..... I've long had a fascination with diagrams of networks - like those explaining ecosystems or computer configurations or DNA sequencing.... )

bugs detail from toward the base

I hope that it gets a sympathetic hanging in the space - I'd like to have it pinned on the walls - with the top of the work as close to the ceiling as I can get someone to climb!.... but as the display will be out of my hands, it will be interesting to see what treatment it receives... not to mention what reception it gets!

ahhh well - that's the lot of the artist isn't it.....

ars gratia artis

I have one week and one day to go until I'm finished with this Master of Visual Arts – my, it only seems like a couple of months (and a lifetime) ago since I started – these 3 years have passed by in a flash!

One part of me can't believe that I made it through – when I started the journey our boyo was in preschool (for one day per week) and girlie wasn't quite 3 – insane!!!!!! (at times my poor long suffering partner MUST have been tearing his hair out – living with an artist aint much fun...)


Next weekend I'll make the looooong (1400km) round trip to my Uni to deliver my work for marking the following day – I'll be presenting a selection of 'book' works – many of which I've posted here over the last little while (the two 'serpens volumen', 'verbatim' and the recently completed 'hora libri') or uploaded to my flickr account – as well as a folio full to the brim of large scale photographic works – pieces that I view as documentation of ephemeral sculpture/performative works... and with these I've only released a few images....so over the next wee while I'm going to share some more of these – and perhaps will tell a little bit more about the making and thinking behind each....


for now I'll leave you with another of my 'carved' book works that will be making the trip with me -

ars gratia artis (art for arts sake)

this was actually my high school art text that I ...um....failed to return, way back in the 1980s... shhhh don't tell the school or they might ask me for it now!


and although I describe these 'carved' - they are in fact very carefully cut with a scalpel - a few pages at a time... it's a long process...

and talking of process and books - I've recently changed over my 'currently reading' list.... whilst I still have library access at the uni I'll continue to dip into the catalogue and gorge myself on the booky goodness....