Merry Christmas from Rhondah

Twas the night before Christmas,

and all through the flat,

not a creature was stirring,

not even a rat.

The stockings were hung up, tattered and torn
in hope that the soggy toes'll dry before morn.

the children (rory and leonard) are snug in their beds,
while visions of pavlovas danced in their heads.

And Rhondah in her pudding hat,
and John in his Pjs
play sitar and cello
to the noise of the freeway.

The christmas tree sits
in the corner aglow
with cardboard limbs
and fake silver snow

This christmas is colder
than ever before
Snow, ice and rain,
no sun and seashore.

Parcels from home
lie under the tree
wherever we roam
we can still be

ONE BIG HAPPY
AFL FAMILY

Love from Rhondah, John, Rory, Leonard, and Claire.

And I'm not joking about the cardboard tree. This may just be the only one of it's kind in the world.
We love brown cardboard, and cheery UPS delivery people who provide us with most of it.

Bright lights and cupcakes of a big city

Today I was walking down bedford ave past one of my favourite stores, Pennylicks.
It's a vegan/vegetarian bakery and icecream parlour. You can get tiny miniature icecream
cones for $1. They don't have many flavours but they do have some very good ones, like
choco-hazelnut and chocomint.

Today I walked past with my roommate Sena, and we saw a sign:
TODAY IS CUPCAKE DAY! So of course, I went in.

We enquired about the sign and were introduced to a range of delicacies flavoured with various holiday and christmas flavours. We went for the red/green velvet cake with peperment ball and sprinkles. SOO good.


Sena got one too.

Vegan food has never looked so good..

I have printed a few 'knit me a dream' tshirts and other designs, but screenprinting is proving extremely tricky to get right every time, especially with the large amount of detail I have in my sketches.. But anyway, on a recent trip to MoMA I found this in the window display. All the neon lights and wool of your dreams!


The wool is really thick, like rope, if you can imagine.

with neon lights flashing through it..





So, I tried to make some gnocchi, with purple potatoes. It turned out pretty average, slightly edible but I chucked most of it out. It took me 3 hours.

Goopy, gluggy sticky potatoes..


I found these life size anti-fashion models at Moma.




Some of my favourite MoMa art:

Chair on wall.

cornered man.
people city..still from video animation about new york from 1970s.

view from my bedroom window, at sunset in williamsburg. Beautiful brickwork.


Williamsburg street art.
My brother sent me 50 crayola washable markers for my birthday..doodles ensued..and now
is taped to the fridge.
Happy birthday to meee...Rhondah's birthday was a great affair, with two kiwi pavs and many new
american pavlova fans!

Byeee now.

8 most underrated muppets

Hi peeps. 

Well as most of you know who survived the 80s, Jim Hensons muppets originated in new york city. Before the insanely annoying Elmo, there were muppets with substance, with real personality. Here, you can explore the 8 Most Underrated Muppets and view videos and pictures of them.

Tonight I am puppeteering in a work in progress showing of David Michael Friend's EGO. Check it out here.

Bye for now..and don't forget to check out our vice-president's blog here. It gets updated much more regularly...

~Rhondah

Ok, So like, NEW YORK!

Punters, I am so sorry I have neglected thee over the past few months.
You see, I have moved to the big dirty old USA. I will be based here for the next 6 months,
and so, when I left in september, I had a lot of settling in and music shiz to deal with, but now,
I have quite a few posts to fill you in on anti-fashion league happenings in brooklyn and new york.

Firstly, I have to be slightly undercover, as my flat mate is a fashion designer who works in midtown
manhattan..I think she suspects something..


I now live here, in williamsburg, brooklyn.


View Larger Map
The people in williamsburg:
1. Hipsters (kind of like emos but with pointier shoes, less black, and MUST HAVE oversized glasses and a macbook of some sort with them at all times.



hipster A



Hipster B



Hipster C


Now, in williamsburg, hipsters are everywhere, so it confuses me why people are so negative towards them..they are trying to be different, so they are all the same, if you know what I mean.. I think they make it a colourful place, and a lot of them wear second hand clothes, which is nice and green and friendly..

This is the subway stop closest to my house. Some unfriendly person has tagged it..

So anyway, the Anti-fashion league is slowly starting to come to fruition in williamsburg. I have decided to do all the printing myself, and after several failed attempts to expose using the sun, and a squeegee to apply the emulsion, I forked out for some essential tools of the trade, -and emulsion scoop coater $23, a fabric squeegee $7, a 250w light bulb $8, rubber gloves $2 and lots of second hand silk screens and ink, sellotape, emulsion, screen cleaner, activator, photocopies, mylar copies, masking tape, pieces of glass.. the list goes on and on and on..

It's finally working properly now, and I've got the exposure time down to 25minutes. This is pretty cool. The only problem I have now is I stained the bathtub black with ink the first time I washed out my screen. So I need to figure out a cleaner way to wash out my screens. I could do it outside with the hose possibly, but it'll be snowing here soon and not so pleasant to be hosing outside. Big plastic tub methinks.

So, some new designs and improvements on old designs are in the making.

The Cornsuit, new and improved.

Knit me a dream. The new knitting enthusiast tee.


Gnomey... societial outcast - where does he belong?


The new poppyseed bikini (and the heads that didn't make it.Still up for comments on which head might be the best model..


''wrinkles are cool?" Ok so I just want an elephant print, so I drew one.

The new designs will be available soon in a variety of colours on tees AND sweatshirts, in the new etsy shop. News and a link to that soon when it's well stocked.

~Rhondah

Down with fashion

I am wanting to create my own version of this, as a poster, with the words 'down with fashion' accompanying..
but it's proving hard to find a photography space that looks like a runway, but isn't a runway.. I shall keep trying though.
this is pretty entertaining, cringe-worthy.. but it certainly shows you the stupidness and HAZARDS of silly footwear the poor models have to wear.

Art Spam

Hi Everyone.
I haven't blogged for a while as this month has been extremely chaotic in my other life. However, I wanted to share this piece of spam I received, it stood out for me as being truely unique and a fine piece of junk.

So thankyou, Rasim Kabi, or, indeed Mr Nob..


CHAMILLION GALLERY INC .
MOTTO : IN GOD WE TRUST ALL THE TIME .
Hello ,
My name is Nob , i am a talented artist . i can create a world ( MONDE ) as pronounced in french for you inside a painting .
I base in NIGERIA and i have a gallery called ( CHAMILLION GALLERY INC . ) , i like to paint and also like chilling alone .
I believe you will like to have a piece of my artwork , like making an order for a portrait of your ownself , the moment you see this mail .PLEASE FORGIVE MY IGNORANCE , AM NOT TRYING TO BE RUDE . I JUST BELIEVE YOU WILL LIKE TO HAVE A PIECE OF MY ART - CREATIVE , AM SERIOUS .
Nevertheless , i like beautiful girls with skill and style that can be usefull to me and the world . I am single , 21years in age . I school in ghana . I have been painting for 5years now , am good in it and i really love the act of painting in general .
it's a world of my own . We only got one life , i want let you fall...
I need you and you need me too . I KNOW THE WAY I FEEL WITH YOU ... Don't be afraid to move a little closer . I want to be were you are , i am made to be creative and usefull .
Please don't hesitate to call my HOT LINE , if you see my mail as a usefull information ; + 234 705 666 1910 , ghana branch number + 223 247 243 319 .
NOTE ; This is not a scam or false , i pray you understand my mail . Is like moving mountain , just live it .
The moment you reply to this mail , i will send you picture piece of myself . So you will be able to know who you are dealing with in person .
Make an order for your portrait now . My mail address is carme_art@yahoo.com , don't fail to mail me .
Well wishes from CHAMILLION GALLERY INC . ONE LOVE ...
Lots Of Love ,
Nob
CEO,
CHAMILLION GALLERY INC .



So, I'm sure you'll agree this is an outstanding piece of spam and should be applauded in a slow, two hand, full bodied, trembling clap. The sort where you clasp your hands together after the sound has died, and sort of shake it back and forth before beginning the next clap.. you get my drift?


So, my AFL display at te-tuhi has dramatically reduced, but the manny and barbies are still there, albeit shoved into a corner to make way for the new painter's t-shirts.. who's exchibition by peter stichbury is quite cool. I particularly like his tom-hanks inspired shotput paintings. They are like little portraits on shotputs, all perfectly round and lovingly detailed.

On trademe I am buying up woolly jumpers..in the shops it is hard to find real wool! So many crappy synthetic jumpers that end up not keeping you warm at all.

I have however found a nz brand of down jacket which is quite cheap and very snug.. www.core-3.co.nz
These are not fashion jackets by the way..pure necessity keeping warm.

IF you are reading this blog, drop me a line or a comment, It will make my day, and fuel my addiction to electronic mail delivery..

Has anyone seen batman? Is it good?

~Rhondah~ in winter woollies.

I bought these slippers from the 'friends of the earth' shop in melbourne. Aren't they just adorable?

AFL visits Melbourne

Hello again. Two posts in one night. Well aren't you lucky.

I thought I'd better report back on my melbourne adventure, before I can't be bothered.
My sister emma lives in melbourne, so periodically I feel an urge to travel the ditch and be completely spoilt by her wonderful cooking and generally having a wonderful crafty arty yummy time. I love this city.

I knew I was in Australia when I saw this man on the airport bus to southern cross.
My sister assures me he is from the gold coast. By the look of his attire (it is WINTER HELLOOO)..I think he thinks the rest of australia is that warm. Well at least his mullet will keep his neck warm.

We visited Sticky, an artists platform for zines and other things. It's actually in a subway tunnel. They have this cardboard box by the door which you can take anything you want as long as you swap it for something. We took that triangular book thing in exchange for a badge that we'd just made. (you can go in and make badges there.)
Me and my brother visited the Melbourne centre for contemporary art. Didnt think much of the show but the toilets were choice.

We found this in a train underpass. We think it's art. It's filled with rocks from somewhere, leaning casually on the wall, for people who are running to the train to completely ignore. But Emma noticed.

Here, somebody wants to sell some fish. I wonder if they sold any. Pretty good marketing words.



The little cupcake shop. One chocolate and one strawberry. delish.

I wanted to make a chocolate cake with raspberry coulis. Here's how it's done. MMMMM

Cook up some raspberries.

Moosh them with a fork. Add the juice and a few pieces of mandarin.



Serve over your chocolate cake.. which i'm sure you can find a recipe for..add lots more chocolate than reccomended and make it DARK.

OH OH OH so good..and still warm.
the next morning, add some blueberries to the coulis and make pancakes to go with it. Some Agave syrup also is good. mmm.


Made this scarf with some fabric from the op shop. The little green scraps were emmas though. She collects them and folds them neatly on her craft supply shelf. She has a whole floor of her house for art and craft supplies. OH the wonders.
Here are the badges we made at sticky.

In a set here. Alphabet. Banana. Bird.


Fabric badges. The few that turned out. damn it.


Misc. badges.

I made emma a scarf with a donkey on it. She is donkey crazy.
I am wearing my bird one now. It is very warm.

Some things that make Melbourne cooler than Auckland:

-They have a transport system
-They have dedicated cupcake stores
-They have camper stores everywhere.
-They have lots of specialist chocolate shops.
-People know what good food is.
-They're not all wanky like sydney types.

This is all for now. Have fun making raspberry coulis. I HIGHLY reccomend you doing that right now.

~Rhondah~