artsyfartsydownunder

..... on distractions, distractions....

2012-01-07T00:49:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to work. Honestly I am.
But a lot of things get in my way.
There's this excuse....

and there's this one.....

Yes, I know all babies are cute, but this one kinda takes the cake doesn't he?
His beautiful big 3 year old sister was sitting next to me, drawing babies as
I was painting icebergs, and the conversation went like this....
"Nana, what are you drawing?"
"An iceberg sweetheart."
"What's an iceberg?"
"Its a big piece of ice way bigger than a person"
She draws a person bigger than my iceberg.
"No its not."

I was wrong. Again.

....

2011-10-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Its official,
but it will be brief, short and quick.
Minimalist.
Will there be a cooking demonstration?
Maybe.
But it will be..... you know it already....

If you live here, come along and see me. Have a cuppa and a snack.
Briefly.

If you are in Finland or Latvia or Jamaica, the book can be purchased in my
ETSY shop
Each book is hand bound and covered. An edition of 100. Each one signed and numbered.

This is the finished volume.

This is the deluxe model.

...on taking a break

2011-08-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

....yeah well sounds like an excuse.... and it is..... but I just had to learn bookbinding. Proper bookbinding.
So, off to the Melbourne school of bookbinding for 8 Saturdays (wish it was 28).
Here's a link to Phil's website in case you want to know more.... here
And a few pics of the bindery.

That's Phil.

and a few of his hundreds of different bindings.
I wanted to learn everything, but gee, there is so much.
I think I learned about 1% of what I need to know.
But here goes.... some of the books I did.....

These are all for sale in my etsy shop here

More to come. Its very addictive.....

...on what we should hold dear. (and what we shouldn't.)

2011-05-30T04:26:00.000-07:00

Here are the next few offerings from the "Relic" series.
I'm on my 4th readers digest atlas and my umteenth illustrated children's encyclopedia.
Look carefully and you might be able to spot some trees torn from my dad's hand written doctoral thesis!

.....open studios coming up.

2011-05-04T06:20:00.000-07:00

But before all that,
is the exhibition
(sorry about the twee title. Wasn't my fault!)
We will gather at the opening and dress up (or down) and raise a glass or two of red and congratulate ourselves.

Here's a sneak peek at my offering for the upcoming show.
Its called "Relic"

NZ Book Council - Going West

2011-04-28T06:10:00.000-07:00

This little video has been around for a while, but I stumbled across it again yesterday and wanted to share it.
I guess its the charming animation and expertise of paperwork....
But I really guess its the unthinking destruction of texts for the greater good of "art" that appeals to me most.

on real work..... or not......

2011-02-27T00:30:00.000-08:00

Real work. everything gets in the way of it. Its Monday. You have all day with no interruptions anticipated and no banking or shopping to do and the studio is waiting for you...... and somehow floor washing seems really attractive. Or the car needs a paint job.
So, meet Gertleford. She's the old girl with the new paint job. Feebie is the old girl flicking her tail and pretending not to be interested.
But admit it. Haven't we all wanted to paint a hippie van?
And a car is just a pile of metal that's going to eventually rust away anyway.
So enjoy my folly. It was more fun than washing the floor.
Next post I'll show whats happening with rusty cars in my red shed.

on end times.....

2011-02-25T03:35:00.001-08:00

.....of course the world will end. One day. But I'm not wasting my time preparing for it. Not when there's stuff to make fun of.

Now, on to some real work.

....... make a date....

2011-01-29T00:54:00.000-08:00

I'll be there again with a table devoted to "end times" and other apocalyptic matters.
You know the sort of thing.....
pocket pop up books on how to recognize and then manage the inevitable end of the world.
If it should happen in our time.

You want more information? click here
Want to know what a zine is? click here

....... on leaving home.....

2011-01-29T00:32:00.000-08:00

......me or the kids you might well ask.
Well the kids, by and large, have moved on and out (with the exception of the 16 year old baby) and the occasional, predictable and hopefully temporary return of one or the other.....
Its me that's moving out. Well, the studio.
Out to the red shed.
Well, the yellow shed with the red floor.

Advantages.... no phone, no kettle, no washing machine, no stove..... and 8 (yes 8) power points and 4 huge windows, and did I mention the red floor?

Disadvantages..... well, its a bit unbearable on a 40c day........
and um, I can't think of any others.
The next body of work is probably called "Reliquary".

I'll post a few of the beginnings very soon.
But expect rusted maps and burnt encyclopedias and old cars.

on christmas is coming...........

2010-09-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

.....Christmas is coming and the geese are getting plump,
The shops are filling fast with presents destined for the dump.
If everybody tried to to sew and make their gifts themselves,
Then how would we employ those bored and lonely little elves?

No I don't mean that. I've always encouraged (pushed, railroaded, forced my kids to make rather than buy any offerings for others. It worked when they were little, and was totally rejected as entered the self-ful era of teenagegerhood and now they are adults..... I see the philosophy of "real value" creeping inadvertently into their thinking.
Hmmm. all that mothering not wasted after all......?
So here I am making more wee ones .

on being humbled by the creativity of others.........

2010-09-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

A week teaching at the Australian Sewing Guild Convention has humbled me.
Total beginners, open minds, wild enthusiastic artistic endeavors.
And I thought the sewing guild turned collars and stitched interfacing......
This is what my students produced.

and these.......

and these........

and these.....

.....on trees + rain = green

2010-08-05T01:39:00.000-07:00

....on holiday.
New Zealand, land of the long white cloud.

Poetic way of saying that its always raining. Yes. lots of rain.
Guess that's why the trees are all green....
not the leaves, they're gone to leaf heaven for the winter.
Its the trees and the trunks and the roots and the branches.
Green. Lovely

except for this one......

2010-07-16T02:25:00.001-07:00

.....aahhh.....the little details.

2010-07-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

...ever noticed how when things are bleakest, the tiniest beam of light, the eeniest little reflection, the smallest pleasure seems magnified?
Ive always liked winter best. The sunshine is lovlier. The colours are gentler. The details are clearer.
Just back from Jenny's farm where the people are sparser. The air is fresher.
So here is the trip up
.

.....on partys and openings

2010-05-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

...... the opening of the OPEN STUDIOS (more info on open studios here) was a hoot.
"Out of the Blue" is the exhibition theme and well worth a visit prior to a tour of all the local hills artists on the weekend of 29th-30th May.
Encouraged to dress up, many of us happily made complete fools of ourselves (even before the red wine was served) in peculiar getup.
Here's me with our didgeman Stax who doubled as MC on the night.
I'm dressed as a cloud ......

and with my daughter "The mad hatter" who won the best dressed prize.....

Three blue beauties ..... the one on the right is Tilla who runs the exhibitions at Burrinja.

...the wandering musicians and their muse Fyona

Thanks for the photos Stax.

....... on masochism and open studios

2010-05-23T00:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, well, the idea of opening one's entire home and studio to several hundred strangers (and friends) to traipse through, display one's artwork for them to handle and be available (and smiling) to talk (again and again and.....) ..... is clearly only one step away from madness.

But here we go again. .....and it is a time to gather and assess the years work (or lack of), a time to spring clean the studio (long overdue) and meet friends and strangers who appreciate one's artwork and, quietly (because one should never count one's unhatched chickens) to make a sale or two.

So, if you live in the neighborhood (Melbourne) come along and visit a selection of the Dandenong Ranges best Artists. And their studios.

If you want to see the artists involved, a map of the area and information on Burrinja Gallery who hosts the whole deal, click here.

2010-05-02T00:04:00.000-07:00

I wish I could report that my life is not as messy as my studio, but, alas it is.
That doesn't mean that I don't function quite well within that chaos. In fact, I seem to thrive on the house being full... and loud.... and messy. Its just that I function best when its late.... and they are all in bed asleep... and quiet ...... and the phone doesn't ring..... and no-one pops in for coffee.

Its about setting boundary's to work within. And keep others out.
So the daughter can come home. Of course. but she will sleep out in the bungalow.
And the boy and his girlfriend can trawl the curbside hard rubbish for furniture, but it goes under the house.
The good man can live with me. On the weekend.

Here is that semi functioning chaos.

I have a few new artists' books... pages finished and ready to be bound.

"Wandering among the living and the dead"

"the shows of confusion"

Another bunch of life drawings waiting for their 2nd incarnation

........ and another

......... and another

..... on the circle of life

2010-04-05T06:18:00.001-07:00

..... no, nothing so deep, just playing with circles and a bunch of pics from the thousands that seem to accumulate . Isn't that the problem/wonder of digital photography.... you can snap off 625 images every time you walk out the door.....
There's a great little photoshop tutorial here that guides you through the process of making these cool images

.....and these ones are just playing around with the "spherize" filter

...... zines

2010-03-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

zines.
.... something about the simplicity and immediacy of a zine is appealing.
Arty, but easy. Permanent but quick. Huge, but small.

Here are a few pics from the recent zine fair in the degraves st subway at Sticky's
festival of the photocopier.
These are from their facebook page.

This is the table I shared with my daughter Maara.

Thats me on the right with the glasses.

... and a taste of the other cool stuff on the day

..... and a few of the recent additions to my etsy zine shop

........ on feisty elders

2010-03-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

...... another feisty old girl.
Jean Stone, basketmaker, beader, dollmaker, knitter, teacher and general expert in almost any craft you care to name.
She lives alone among the thousands of creations she surely must spend 21 hours a day working on.
Small, wirey, feisty, seventy something, and constantly creative.
Oh, to be so.

2010-02-22T03:50:00.000-08:00

......no huge exciting projects happening just now.
so I'll post a few recent pages from my sketch book.

.....on the privilage of having a mentor

2010-02-18T04:15:00.000-08:00

...... my dear Isabel Foster is my mentor and friend.
A woman ahead of her time, she has been involved in the spinners and weavers and embroidery guilds for 40 years.
Isabel doesn't do pretense. doesn't do fancy. doesn't do pastel.
Big, bold, bright, beautiful is her style. In weaving, stitching .... anything textile ..... including wire, glass plastic, just so long as its fabulously outrageous.
At the moment she is working on a roomful of balls, from 1 cm tiny to a metre across.
Did I mention she is 87?
I love you Isabel, and thank you for sharing your immensely creative journey with me.

2010-02-18T03:16:00.000-08:00

........ went for a walk. Don't like spiders but am fascinated by their talent .

....... aaah Melbourne

2010-02-15T03:22:00.000-08:00

......Melbourne, and the over quoted joke, "if you don't like the weather, just wait a minute...."
But I love that you can wake up in the middle of summer and see the mist descending on the hills.
....... and I love that its never too hot for too long.......
.......and its always in drought and perpetually raining.....
......a place of this, and a bit of that.....

... another local artist....

2010-02-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

.........introducing Lyn Forest. Friend, artist,master of creative arts and sacred ceremonies, reiki, massage and crystals.

She's kind of an "anti-specialist"...... producing papier mache, paintings, collage, textile works metal work and so on.......

....and a detail...

here is an amazing piece of her crystal and metal work.
Her ceremonial and healing wand.

....and of course her home is just an extension of her creativity.

.......on beginning another new year.

2010-01-27T04:19:00.000-08:00

I love throwing away the Christmas tree. It almost always necessitates a good clean up and rearrangement of the living room...... which in turn leads to a spring clean of the studio
...... and here down under, it is still summer holidays and time to go away. Anywhere.
This year for the first time, we went away alone. Well with each other.
The last kid is 15 and chose to stay home with older siblings.
Aaahhhh. Who am I to argue?

We drove along the south east coast of Victoria...

I did a few Andy Goldsworthy impersonations...

...enjoyed the solitude...

...photographed hundreds of rock lines....

I even got out the sketch pad a few times and tore some bits of paper....

even did a bit of crochet....

but now, its back to work and routine and family. Not so bad, that.

.......on the trials of christmas

2009-12-23T02:39:00.000-08:00

....... I always thought that as I got older, the time would pass more gently... that one could move a little more quietly, carefully, sedately. Not so. As the sands trickle on, there is less left and you have to move faster and more efficiently to use that time well.
So Christmas's come quicker and quicker and the time between seems to diminish.
But, the next exhibition is hung.

Here's the blurb for it in case you happen to be in hills outside of Melbourne in the next weeks.

Joy Serwylo
In The Beginning
(In the beginning, fable and religion were inexorably intertwined,
causing no end of confusion. They still are.)
Exhibition at
Burrinja cafe gallery
351 Glenfern Rd, from 1st Dec -10th Jan 2010

....and here's a little taste of whats to be seen in case you're not.

Yes, a lot of torn bibles and encyclopedias and dictionaries.

Now its time to trim the tree and wrap the presents because deep down there beneath the cynical shell I am a lover of family times and shared festivals and any excuse to gather around the table with roast potatoes and a glass of red and a few good jokes followed by a game of monopoly.

chrappy histmas , sorry, happy christmas to you all.

...on working in a kind of ordered chaos

2009-10-29T03:17:00.000-07:00

No, this is not my place, but you'd be surprised at how similar it is to my own ordered chaos.
Folk walking into my studio tend to note how incredibly organised it is ....... or how incredibly messy it is! .....and nothing in between.
If you are creating all the time, where are you supposed to put everything?
The artworks, the art materials,
the really cool box of books that you may one day turn into something great,
and the pile of magazines full of images that you have to keep for inspiration,
and the box of little plastic toys that you got for $2 at the opp shop that will one day be incorporated into a sculpture
........ and in Max's case, the mountain of mountains of corrugated iron
and the buckets full of shells
and the trailer load of steel
and .......

Yes, that was Max's house above.

and the kitchen....

and Max himself.

Now I must tell you about our little ragamuffin group of local artists.
We call ourselves "Book Club"
Not because we discuss books ..... but because we cut and tear and add to and change and remake books.

..... and dolls.

As well as lounging around each others studios and imbibing in too much red wine,
we do a kind of round robin art project each month.

Books.

Sculptures.

....and dolls. Max has no problem finding new dolls to burn and paint and remake.
He's got them by the box full alongside the steel and the wood and the wire and the trees.

and a walk among the garden through winding paths is a delight of discoveries.

Hmmm.... if only I could produce as profusely as Max.

I'm madly preparing for an upcoming exhibition and I'm not even really sure what its all about.

I'm thinking along the lines of a title.... "in the beginning" and maybe a bunch of frivolous dioramas ..... mmmm .... here's a peak at a couple of bits in progress.

and of course there are the dolls. My bread and butter items.
... all for sale on etsy

Etsy is a huge, overwhelmingly USA based online store with an awful lot of junk.... but boy are there some treasures to be found!

I bought this zine from "the juzzard" check out her shop.

..... on being in all places at all times

2009-10-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Introducing you to...

"PAPER CUTS"
An upcoming exhibition in Melbourne

Here is the lovely young lady curating the show,
Kelly-Dee Knight.

Featuring:
Ahmararnya Price - ahmarnyaprice.blogspot.com
Elyss McCleary - elyssmccleary.wordpress.com
Jonathon Oxlade - jonnyapplehead.blogspot.com
Joy Serwylo.... thats me ..... and this blog
Nicholas Jones - www.bibliopath.org
Kelly-Dee Knight
Lotte Lille
Nikita Burt

If you are in the vicinity during October, come and check it out.
The Nicholas building, for those not familiar with it, is a wonderful multi story historical bunch of artists studios and galleries and best of all its located right next to Flinders St station .

Not all the books and artworks pictured below are in the exhibition, but this will give you a taste of the drawing and tearing and pasting that I am currently dabbling in.

This is titled "Amid the confusion of the dayshadows"

This is a larger paper collage made from drawings on torn pieces from children's encyclopedias

"Dictionary of the daintree"

A bible butterfly.... the soft thin pages of revered books, torn and remade into an artwork to held and revered.....

A little torn booklet called "far, far away"

The other place to see me and my makings is

Rose St Fitzroy (Melbourne)
Open Saturdays and Sundays 11 am to 5pm.
Crammed with wonderful, strange and odd artworks and their creators.

I'm just there on Sundays, in case you quickly plan on hopping into your car to come and see me.

Mostly, I'm showing "The little Cabinets of Curiosity" and teeny weeny dolls.

Here are a few more of my latest creations.

This one is housed in a book called "I Find Australia"

A little french apothecary box.

..... and a book on Africa.

....on curioser and smaller

2009-08-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've always collected tiny things.
I have a sculpted olive pit, painted grains of rice, minuscule dolls.

So its hard not to gather a million little knick knacks, especially considering how little storage space they demand.

But eventually, they need to do something..... or they become just more things that my children will have to dispose of when I die......
One of the other things I'm always keeping an eye out for at the thrift shops, is containers. and boxes. and little things.
Marry them all together, head in the opposite direction to the cutesy dolls, and you have

THE LITTLE CABINETS OF CURIOSITY

Then when you have so many of these collections that your studio is a museum of plastic animals and shells and bleached chicken bones and you wonder why you ever started because its just becoming another obsession and you have even more bits and pieces than you had when you began.... yes, make another one.

This is my mantelpiece.

.... and a bigger box...

Now, to make some more.

I'm scared of miniaturizing myself into oblivion .........

2009-07-14T05:15:00.000-07:00

There's pros and cons in the making of tiny things.

The materials are cheap.
They don't take up too much storage space.
...and the biggest pro, as far as etsy is concerned is that "tiny" is cheaper to ship.
...and as 90% of my little dolls head off to the USA, that's pretty important.

I'm making these miniature volumes now.
They feature 32 images of the amazing and obsessive work of Ernst Haeckel.
....... They will be selling in my little book shop
probably from tomorrow 15th July

Here's a picture of the man himself

...and the cons of too tiny?
too anal
too fiddly
and the fear of miniaturizing myself into oblivion.

...... on making a living

2009-06-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

This is Angela's family. Well not actually her family, my little interpretation of her family.
5 kids. Just like me. She must be crazy too.
Or maybe that's what life is really about.
A household of precious children teaches one to balance issues, prioritize jobs, think beyond oneself ..... and beyond one's own life and into the next generation.

So how do I feed the crowd ... (you'd think it would be easy now as they are one by one choosing partners and flying the coop .... but they come home in couples now!)
Forget making a living from the "art".

Little dolls is my guilty pleasure.
and "Etsy" is my online shop.
You can click on either of the two shops at the right of this page if there's anything you want to see close up.

Here is the latest addition to my little etsy shop

...on introspection and indulgence

2009-06-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

...here is my first anti-introspection entry.

Meet my friend Jenny...
Ceramist, (and I think, closet goth ) maker of extraordinary sculptural goddesses, gargoyles and other beings. Oh, and grower of pistachio trees.

A wander through her forested property and over the bridge brings us to her studio crammed full of works in progress.

Did I mention that she sees dead things. oops, I mean collects dead things.
Bones, skulls, mummified animals and other bits and pieces.

..... and is about to plant and graft 1800 pistachio seedlings and works on huge ceramic and mosaic murals and pathways. and has a bunch of adult kids . and a fella. whew.
She says its ok to put her email address here in the event of galleries and collectors rushing to buy her out. jenny_odea@yahoo.com.au no spam please.

Now back to introspection.
I finished the big collage
.

and a detail.....

its now called "entangled among the delusions of understanding. You figure it out.

I'm going to make some little dolls now.
Great art never put food on the table.

on working to a deadline...

2009-06-23T06:01:00.000-07:00

The wonderful thing about a deadline, is, that until the actual due date, you can keep saying there is still time....
so here I am procrastinating again.
.... but the deadline is 3 days away.
The piece is for the Blake Prize exhibition. (They've rejected my last 2 entries)

This is what the new piece (still untitled) looked like 2 weeks ago....

and a week ago... (I think its called "the delusions of understanding..")

..and this is where its at now.
I think its now called "entangled in the delusions of understanding"

3 days to go and its probably halfway there.
I love deadlines.

.... on how to begin

2009-06-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

Hmm, to start. I always said I would never be glued to a piece of technology.
Me, who wanted to create my environment from scratch.
I did try the permaculture garden bit.
The communal house bit.
The wander around the world bit.
The make my own bread and yogurt and clothes bit.
The breed a bunch of kids bit.

But here I am. A mac on my lap.

What has stuck, it seems is the need to live in a little haven of my own with the power to isolate myself at will.........
but also, the need to fill my life with wonderful people.

But to do it all just when I please.

The need, that is. The reality is always a little different.

So, I'll introduce myself with a bit of anonymity to start with.
And then, some of the wealth of other wonderful artists around this area and beyond.

Here I am.

and here is where I live.

and here is my cat. Feebie.

'

and the wall of my studio