ELSEWHERE

Small fairground scenes

Tiny scenes from yesterday's fair (to see more head here), including Gracia's postcard collages, With a certain sense of security, the swamp wallaby paused and took in his new surrounds and I thought I saw you there.

Thanks Rona and St Heliers Store + Gallery for inviting us to be a part of The Wonderful Creative Things Fair once more. Echoing my thoughts from September, "...the venue was superb, the coffee delicious, the company swell, and the crowd a delight".

A formal introduction to Gracia's eight beautiful new postcard prints soon. There are still a few remaining editions of her earlier prints, but only a handful, so if you had your eye on one, make haste.

A White-browed treecreeper flies into a book

On the back of last night's ceramic exhibition opening, Tooth & Nail, today, with my parents, I popped in to Hand Held to view for one last time before the show closes, Gracia and my work for In Suspense. For those of you in Melbourne, tomorrow is the last day of the exhibition, so do pop in if you are at a loss for something to do on your Saturday and would like to turn the pages of The first aerial travellers.
 
Though somewhat blue, I thought you’d enjoy seeing this small taste of our work made especially for the show.
 
Also of interest, you might like to watch this short video about artists’ books in the State Library of Victoria’s collection presented by our good friend Des Cowely. In it, you can see Gracia’s book, Find your place (2007), and other papery delights.
 
Enjoy!
 
And I hope to see you at the fair on Sunday.

1933 in the studio

Before this work was sent to Sydney (alongside Modifications in Pictorial Education (ii)), Omar gave it the sniff seal of feline approval.

For those of you in Sydney, you can see it exhibited as part of Shelf Life, an exhibition curated by Catherine Benz, at Delmar Gallery.

Delmar Gallery
Trinity Grammar School
144 Victoria Street
Ashfield (NSW)

The exhibition (now) closes December 9th, and after that both Modifications in Pictorial Education (i) and (ii) will go to the State Library of New South Wales. The State of New South Wales also purchased Gracia's ballooning adventure book, The first aerial travellers, too. We are both delighted by this recent news.

For those of you in Melbourne, see you at the fair on Sunday. Gracia and I have new prints to show you.
(THE WONDERFUL CREATIVE THINGS FAIR, The Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford)

A spectacled owl speaks

Spectacled owl
(Pulsatrix perspicillata)

Interview: Gracia + Louise on TAKE.AWAY:

What are the benefits to working together, what do you each bring to the mix? Any secrets to successful collaboration?
Working together on the one artists’ book or image allows us to  each bring something of our own aesthetic to the fore and together let both elements grow into a composition not possible without the other. This is something that has come about slowly. We have been collaborating on artists’ books, zines and prints for over ten years now. It is something we are both very comfortable with and there is a sense of knowing what the other will bring. Our collaboration is one of harmony, for want of better word. And perhaps one of reliability too.

Louise leans towards a light palette, and works with pencil and  watercolour, whilst I favour collage (both by hand and digitally created), and my palette is a little darker and muddier. I like backgrounds and narrative, a stage, if you will.

The work seems really intricate and considered, kind of like visual poetry really. Where do you find inspiration and all the wonderful vintage source materials for your collages?
Thank-you. Our use of imagery from long ago is in one sense nostalgic, but as we did not live through the early 1900s and sometimes earlier, this nostalgia is misplaced. Our use of imagery from periods long ago (coupled with those more recent, be it drawn or otherwise) is desirable to us because it is so freeing. We bring no personal association to the image from many decades ago. To us, it is an image that we can add to and manipulate. It is an image that brings only a small suitcase, not great baggage. We know something of it from history and reading, of course, but it is not from our day-to-day. If we were to  cut out imagery from a magazine or book recently published, we might actually know something about the image or film or event that would in turn restrict how we used it within a composition. We sometimes find when working that it is best to know as little as possible about the source material so that we can make up own narrative.

Of course, in saying this, sometimes the reverse is true and it is what we know about the image/event/moment in history that is precisely why we seek it out and select it. There are always exceptions to every rule.

Continue reading...

Wonderful!

Sleeping during the day (detail)
Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison
artists' book
2010

Popping up with a yellow bird on my shoulder this warm spring morning to invite you all to The Wonderful Creative Things Fair. Gracia and I hope to see you there, friends. We'll be there with several brand new prints, as well as a host of our paper things we've recently made.

Rona Green in association with St Heliers Street Store + Gallery presents:
THE WONDERFUL CREATIVE THINGS FAIR

Sunday 27th of November, 2011

11am–4pm

St Heliers Street Store + Gallery
The Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford

The wonderful exhibitors:
Rona Green | Middlemost | Kathy's Finger Puppets | Paul Compton | Bonnie Hanlon | Carla Dawes | Sheridan Jones | little red fish books | Sally Darlison | Clare Whitney | Charlie Sublet | Di Ellis | Annelise Scott | Deborah Klein: Moth Woman Press | and us two too

(Psst... We're on Radio Valerie talking about artists' books and zines with Camila Galaz.)

The arrival

It seems Percy is no longer content to sit behind-the-scenes as we take a few photos of our work, be it small publications or zines. Here he comes bounding into frame with me in tow. Clearly, we are all thrilled to be in this year's Visible Ink, The screen door snaps.

The arrival
Gracia Haby and Lousie Jennison
collage
2011

A work made especially for our part in Visible Ink 23, The screen door snaps. For those of you who missed the launch, you can discover more about the great Visible Ink here.

And now because it is sometimes (only sometimes) fun to look back:



Sleeping during the day (detail)
Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison
artists' book
2010

(An earlier look.)

Over my shoulder (VI)

Above Gracia's The first aerial travellers flies my Barn owl (Tyto alba) in our piece for In Suspense at Hand Held Gallery.

You can see more here and here, with further details to come. Thanks to those of you who made it along to the opening or whom have since popped along to see the exhibition.

For those of you not based in Melbourne, this is for you especially:

Over My Shoulder (VI) from gracia & louise on Vimeo.

The sixth tiny film in an ongoing series, this time we are taking you to the moon in our hot air balloon.

(This artists' book, The first aerial travellers, was made especially for Hand Held Gallery's In Suspense exhibition, November 2011. This film is our record of said book. This film is for you to turn the pages, as it were, as Rudy Vallee (Home) sings in your ear soft lullaby. Shh... we are in a library.)

Morran's dreams of the stage take amazing form

Morran's dreams of the stage take amazing form is a collaborative collage of Gracia and mine that we have submitted for consideration for Camilla's forthcoming bumper book of many Morrans. It is one of three collage works we made, all featuring my pencil drawings of Morran, the Danish Swedish farmdog, and what we thought she might dream of upon occasion.

You can see more contributions for consideration over on Studio Morran, including ours in a circle (of sorts).

Happy Sunday.

Tuesday's retreat

The Retreat.

Popping up this Cup Day morning to let you know about a group exhibition Gracia and I are part of called In Suspense.

Thursday November 3rd – Saturday November 26th, 2011
(with opening night festivities 6–8pm, Thursday November 3rd)

Hand Held Gallery
Suite 18
Paramount Arcade
108 Bourke Street
Melbourne (VIC)

Gallery opening hours
Tuesday–Saturday 12–5pm

We've created a new work of suspended parts for this group exhibition. Expect a new collaged artists' book featuring tiny hot air balloons and an owl in flight. For more details, you'll have to pop along and say hi.

(A small interview to cast your eye over until then, on the Book Art Object blog: Artists, Books, and Interviews #1: Gracia & Louise.)