I think whirlwind is the best way to describe life right now...we just keep reminding each other to keep breathing. In. Out. It will all happen.
I am gradually catching up on things and wanted to post about a special part of our recent trip; when we went to Bega to see
Ronnie's show at
Spiral Gallery.
We had arranged to meet at the Gallery and hoped that we would recognise each other. We did! and then had a great old chat about the work, a play with some pieces and a wonderful few hours chatting over nice coffee at lunch in town.
Ronnie is a great calligrapher, photographer and book artist who does ten thousand other things all at once. I had 'met' her thru the blogging world; exchanged emails, asked questions about her studies as I pondered returning to study; found lots of overlaps in our worlds and love of books - even getting munched by ticks.
The Show! Ronnie had included some installations with encyclopaedias; beautiful photos of books being set alight and burned, and just randomly placed in settings on her farm; as well as her flower-form coptic stitched books and her incredibly l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng coptic bound serpent books. She also had a nice display of take-aways - small journals and the like at good prices.
Barry and I had a lovely wander thru and ended up buying two photos that really spoke to us. One is books placed along a cow trail on her farm; the other an image of a book alight. Stunning.
We also got to play with the rainbow serpent book - here are the fun shots Ronnie feared might appear sometime!
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| Ronnie shows Fiona how to handle the 'rainbow serpent' book |
The two photos Barry and I bought are in the background of this shot - the burning book at the back and the meandering thru the paddock line of books on the left:
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| Fiona enjoying wearing a book! |
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| It takes two to pop it back in place - apologies for the rear views! |
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| A close up of the reddish section - beautiful stitching! |
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| A black and white serpent book |
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| Ronnie and Fiona in front of some photos and 'flowers' |
In her energetic and effervescent way, Ronnie has just completed more installations at
"Sculpture on the Edge" at Bermagui and taken more beautiful evocative and atmospheric photos - they are on her blog, do go and enjoy!
It was a fabulous fun day; wonderful to spend so much time together; meet each other face to face, see and feel her work in the flesh, hear the stories behind the pieces - and chat about art and life. 'twas grand!
grand indeed!
ReplyDeleteas are your (and includes barry.... can't forget barry!) generous spirits
it was lovely to catch up (I'll even suffer almost silently the 'serpent' and other shots!)
with much affection from the creek x
Sounds and looks like a wonderful visit. Thanks for introducing me to Ronnie work, love the burning books and the serpent is magnificent.
ReplyDeleteIt is always good to know that blogfriends can make the transition to in-person meetings so smoothly and happily! Lovely works by Ronnie, thanks for sharing these!
ReplyDeletethis is lovely, meeting friends and finding out you ARE friends. what a gift. add in books, thoughts, and something to eat...wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThat is one amazing book! Thanks for the tour.
ReplyDeleteIs Rhonda a workaholic? Such extraordinary pieces... painstakingly constructed and exquisite in execution. Would love to have seen this show.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos Fiona - looks like you really had fun! Seems Barry really captured a sense of your time in the gallery. Thanks for sharing with us!
ReplyDeleteThanks Fiona and Barry for the great photos! It's lovely to see the scale of Ronnie's work, and I got a real sense of the 'whole' show.
ReplyDeleteHi all, the whirlwind continues unabated!
ReplyDeleteRonnie - yes, 'twas grand - one day we might the chance to do it again! Thanks for suffering the serpent and other shots!
Liz - its great to discover other talented and interesting folk thru each other's blogs isn't it I found you thru Noela!
TT/Gabriella - it WAS fabulous to meet in person and to discover so much to talk about. Ronnie's work is so interesting, original and totally her!
Velma - yes, friends indeed! And books!
Leslie- a great book and nice to discover new folk.
Jo - I think I can safely quote Ronnie along the lines of "there's plenty of time to sleep when you're dead"!! A ball of energy!
Amanda -I should have credited Barry for all his shots and capturing of us so naturally. Thanks - its nice to meet (we should try it in Brisbane one day!)
Sara - so glad it gave you a feel of the show -it was lovely and interesting and intriguing - I kept going back to things and seeing them anew.
Wow!! I love the serpent book. Looks like it's a lovely show.
ReplyDeleteFiona, lovely to see you and Ronnie together, and a very nice look at the exhibition. Thanks Barry, for the photos.
ReplyDeleteAnnie - that book was so wonderful; it literally slithered. I love interacting with books; but that was beyond my experience - such fun!
ReplyDeleteCarol - yes, slowly we get to make connections in the flesh! Barry took great shots and I'm glad you got to see a bit of the exhibition too.
Annie - that book was so wonderful; it literally slithered. I love interacting with books; but that was beyond my experience - such fun!
ReplyDeleteCarol - yes, slowly we get to make connections in the flesh! Barry took great shots and I'm glad you got to see a bit of the exhibition too.
Terrific post Fiona! The Internet can make the world a smaller and friendlier place. So glad you made the effort to meet up with Ronnie and to share the experience with the rest of us!
ReplyDelete