In the words of three others:
Opening speech given by Viv Szekeres, The former Director of the SA Migration Museum. Janet's of 2011/2012 exhibition at the Hahndorf Academy
I met Janet about three years ago when I retired and began to attend her watercolour painting classes here at the Hahndorf Academy on Tuesday mornings. So being one of her pupils it's a great honour to be asked to launch my teacher's exhibition. I want to talk about Janet the artist, the teacher and the delightful person that I have started to get to know. This exhibition brings together a collection of her paintings and etchings that reflect her responses to her homeland both here on the Mainland and on Kangaroo Island where she grew up. The other day when we were talking about her putting this exhibition together, Janet used the German word Heimat which means homeland to describe this work and you can see why. It seems to me that Homeland in this context isn't just about a sense of place, it is an identity that is central to Janet and her work. Apart from the very personal nature of these paintings and etchings I believe that Janet is also keeping faith with a long tradition practised amongst many women artists. She observes the world from the perspective of the inside. She gives us her very particular indoor world but this interior vision is not a confined one because she always invites us to a view to the outside world
Janine Burke in her book about Australian women artists who painted from the 1840s until the 1940s analyses this interior perspective pointing out that many of the early Australian women artists had a passion for detail and for the minutia of daily life. She says they had an absorption with the commonplace that infuse their works and she describes how many of the women drew the very stuff of their art from what was closest to them - the immediate domestic and rural setting of their lives. I think Janet's work, whilst being very much of our times continues some of this artistic tradition. It reflects the processes and experiences rather than the grand statement. You can see that her indoor paintings are full of the much loved clutter of domestic life, quirky, busy almost to the point of chaotic. They are joyful and poetic, reverential with a quiet peacefulness too. Pets have a privileged place in this world. They aren't just pets or objects to be painted but personalities with their own comments and observations to make about the outside world. They might be 'counting possums or fish' or just encouraging Janet in her bottling or jam making activities, or sharing a small patch of sun with her while she works. We feel we know these pets, dogs called Oscar and Molly, Norman, Pepper, Albert and Milly. Geese called Gordon and Minnie. They share Janet's interior world but like her they take a most keen interest in everything that goes on outside too. And the landscapes are painted with such love. You can feel Janet's deep connection with the places that she paints. She gives us the big panorama, the large vista and then takes us beyond and behind the obvious to the detail that only she knows exists. She knows these details from living in these landscapes, of playing in and on the rivers, lakes and seashores from the time she was a small child. She knows the creatures that inhabit this world from observing them and she very deliberately draws our attention to those smaller creatures with whom she shares the canvas such as the water-boatmen, dragon flies, black cockatoos, ibis, moorhens , beetles and fish.
Janet's paintings and etchings are carefully layered yet also bursting with her curiosity, her love of life and appreciation of everyone and everything about her. We get a glimpse of the world she values and treasures. It is an eclectic world, one which is completely open to ideas of all shapes and sizes. Like her conversation Janet's work is full of visual references as well as poetic, musical and literary ones. Her art classes are like mirrors of her work. We move seamlessly between discussion about watercolour painting techniques and the work of great artists to the latest good book, yesterdays politics, religions and non religions, human rights, recipes and remedies just to name a few. Which brings me to Janet the teacher. She is always so diplomatic and encouraging. The biggest, muddy mess never daunts her. "Can I have a go?, she will say tentatively and while we watch the mud pie takes shape and is transformed in a way that always gives us hope to try another day. She brings new life and new ways of seeing to our work and to us. And when the inspiration flags we can just look around the class room and see examples of her work and be inspired again. For me Janet is definitely an inspiration. Her work makes me feel good. It makes me smile. It's like being in Janet's company where the sound of laughter is never far away. She has a great capacity for making people feel good. This exhibition is just the latest example of that great skill.
Thankyou.
A WORK OF LIFE, LOVE AND MEMORIES
By Petra deMooy, Publishing Editor and Managing Director of Fleurieu Living magazine
As I drive up the steep single lane road that leads to Janet Ayliffe’s home and studio, I am aware that the views are spectacular, but I dare not take my eyes off the road as I may go over the steep embankment. What if someone is coming down while I go up? The ascent creates anticipation. Where am I going to end up? And how many times does this road wind up the hill before I can stop gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.
Finally I’m at the the peak of the hill and there are three homes in front of me. The winter rains have created a lush pasture across the gentler slope at the top. As I wind my way down Janet’s driveway, I see her two donkeys Mary and Munch.
It’s a truly special place. Janet and her husband, artist Glen Ash, bought this land over forty years ago with a group of friends – most of whom are still their neighbours. It is a kind of alternative to a suburban strata title, but on an acreage. The like-minded souls who had the foresight to create this little paradise, are now well settled in their private haven just above the Kangarilla township.
Janet greets me at the bottom of her rambling garden. After being there for only a few minutes, I begin to sense that she is a woman of great integrity and grace. She lovingly acknowledges all of her children within minutes and has a great love and appreciation of her parents. She is also conscious of paying homage to her influences and sources; if she borrows an image of a map or chart she always asks permission.
Janet puts a high value on reusing and recycling. Much of the home and studio is created from recycled products. ‘Our son Gabriel made this whole studio while he was studying architecture out of second hand stuff,’ Janet proudly tells me. The building has excellent features, like good natural light and high ceilings. Glen’s painting studio is downstairs and Janet has a small studio upstairs. There are windows facing north, south, east and west, giving a nice even light, with gorgeous views of the landscape.
Janet’s drawings are created in this formal studio. ‘This is one of my new ones,’ she says, pointing to a finely detailed work on a large table. Native birds are often the central image in the work. This one is of Nankeen Night Herons. She uses pen and ink and brush and renders the etchings onto architectural tracing paper. The inspiration always comes from places she knows, and the works have a strong narrative theme, inspired by her personal experiences. They have great appeal in their use of layering and colour. Janet is a master at creating mesmerising compositions. In the images you will find fragments of landscapes, beautifully illustrated plants, trees, waterways, skies and many birds. ‘I love birds,’ she explains. She also draws inspiration from her home, including images of her pets, her house and her gardens. The compositions are created using multiple plate etchings, printmaking and watercolour.
Inside her home Janet has another lovely little studio that she calls her ‘factory’. It has a large printing press and is full of supplies and books. It also has photos of her family and countless interesting curios. Things that matter, things that have meaning … and things Janet needs.
For some time Janet taught alongside her art enterprise, but she has made a good living from selling her work. ‘Glen and I both do,’ she says honestly. ‘Not company cars but absolutely keeping afloat. I am saying that not to be boastful or immodest, but people have a stereotypical view of artists – that we are all starving and love to starve. Well, I don’t love to starve. Also there is a misconception that we might be layabouts waiting for inspiration, but most of us work very hard.’ Janet has good representation through galleries both interstate and overseas, and she is very careful to maintain those relationships.
Janet grew up on Kangaroo Island and it has remained an important influence on her work. The Ayliffes now go back five generations on the island. Closer to Adelaide the family history is also evident, with one of the city’s main arterial roads named in their honour. ‘That was after my great grandmother bought land and sent her sons over,’ says Janet. ‘I was born in a very fine place on KI. I was really well cared for and looked after and it was wonderful growing up. My mother made an arrangement with the school that we only had to go if we wanted to and she gave us all a wall in the house to draw and paint on.’
The children were quite free, but they did have to keep themselves busy so that work could get done. Despite this freedom, Janet actually did want to go to school and went a fair bit. ‘But it was lovely having a choice,’ she says. ‘So we drew and painted and roamed around and became filthy – we were so lucky.’
Once they entered middle school all of the children were sent to boarding school. ‘So we went to Australia (referring to Adelaide) to finish school,’ says Janet. ‘I was so homesick, almost crippled by it, but I made lovely friends and had amazing teachers.’
As a young adult, Janet thought she might study microbiology and had put all the plans in place. ‘I remember being at the KI airport with Dad and suddenly saying, ‘I have changed my mind, I want to go to art school’.’ Janet appreciates that her father was happy to hear this and supported her decision. ‘I went at a time when it was very formal and learned great technique,’ she says. Janet learned printmaking and had a wonderful teacher in Franz Kempf. Janet deliberately chose printmaking and likes the democratic approach, where she can sell both original works and also prints, which she creates in limited editions.
Some forty years on from the fateful decision, Janet has created a life of work, love and reflection. ‘The work is about where I live and what I have known,’ she says. ‘It is about the island and here (Kangarilla) and our travels.’ Janet has a deep connection and care for the natural world, and she imbues her artwork with this, gently paying homage to all of the places, people and animals she holds in her memories old and new.
Janet’s work is available on the Fleurieu at Artworx Gallery in Goolwa and at Fine Art Kangaroo Island in Kingscote
Exhibition at the Adele Boag Gallery in Adelaide 2006 the full opening address of Jonathan Wells QC
First, I acknowledge the Kaurna People and the Ramindjeri people, on whose lands we stand. I pay respect to their ancestors.
Can I thank you, Janet, for the privilege of opening this exhibition of your work – such wondrous works.
Can I also thank Adele [Boag] for making available this lovely place in which to present Janet’s Art.
I want to speak briefly of what Janet’s art means to me. It must be brief because art is to behold, not to be prescribed. But because brief, I must select. I am glad to do this, because the most profound works of art cannot be pinned down – and no attempt should be made to do so. I am happy to leave lots of loose ends.
Art is to be seen or heard or felt, even smelt; often all of these.
It is a unique form of communication in which the artist is both prophet and mediator. Prophet – because she is one in whom the spirit moves, mysteriously, wonderfully, imagining our future. Mediator – because she brokers a meeting between the beholder and the unseen. Through her we enter into a relationship, not only with the shape and material substance and smell of a painting or etching, but with Truths to which our eyes are opened – Truths about our world, Truths about ourselves, Truths about relationship. As my friend Philip Carter puts it - profound artists are like the canary down the mine – truth-telling, life-saving, the frontier people.
Here are but FOUR Truths that meet me in Janet’s work – that strike me – that stir me – ultimately, that bespeak, with quiet resilience and assurance, Hope, Joy, Love, Freedom and Justice.
First, We Belong;
Second, We are Connected;
Third, We are Blessed;
Fourth, We need not be Afraid.
There is much more besides; but these are some of the Treasures. And they are present in Janet’s paintings and etchings in a way that Niall Williams described in the novel “As it is in Heaven”. The passage is a treasured one for me, because it so appealed to my dear wife, Jane (who was a student of Janet’s, and friend), that she wrote out the passage in her distinctive, open-hearted handwriting.
“We shall be there because we believe in that finer world where the things of the heart endure and matter and are “the secret magic which can entangle the varied and ingenious knots of life like the fingers of an ancient mariner””.
We Belong
Those who have made the cliff –hanging journey to Janet and Glen’s home – up the track dug out of the hillside, past nonchalant sheep, past those two philosopher donkeys, [DonQuixote and Gandhi] past their abundant vegie and herb garden, past their lovingly constructed fish-pond with each goldfish individually named and befriended – who are met at the door by Millie and Albert (dogs) and escorted to the place of honour alongside the wood-fired stove, or even into the Holy-of-Holies, Janet’s studio, dominated by the venerated, hand-turned Press – Such of you who have done that will need no persuading of the importance to Janet, and to her work, of the sense of belonging – celebrated in her cherished childhood on Kangaroo Island, in the treasures of memory and re-membering, giving honour to parents and family and community in whom we have our roots and our being.
“Living is dailiness [says Judith Wright], a simple bread that’s worth the eating”.
And importantly, she speaks for those who have been separated from their roots and deprived of their belonging; she gives honour to them, and to their cherished memories.
Which brings me to the next of my chosen Truths.
We are connected
Here, we find Janet’s deep attachment to this ancient land; her sense of its connection with the First Australians, and their indissoluble connection with us who have intruded upon this holy relationship; her wonder at the generosity and forgiveness of both; her sense that we are all precious and we all matter; and that we, too, are connected, one with another, and with the land we live in. Here, again, family and friends – our daily bread – are life and love and hope.
And thus,
We are Blessed
This is no Pollyanna view of life – for reasons I shall come to. But here is her prophetic work: her resolute declaration – delicately washed onto the paper, and intricately pressed into colour – that joy and love and hope are all around us, if only we would see. This is Grace.
Janet is fond of William Blake’s blazing statement from Auguries of Innocence:
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand”
Which explains, I think, the breath-taking detail that she works into her observations of the natural world – little magnifying glasses of rich detail that take us into a beautiful world that thrives, literally, under our noses – always connecting. But hear how Blake completes the stanza:
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand,
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.”
Emboldened by cherished memories of Janie, I turn also to her beloved Wordsworth, and her favourite lines from Intimations of Immortality:
“Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears”.
Do not be Afraid
Janet’s is no fair-weather view. She knows about sorrow and travail.
But here lies the rub.
Ultimately, Janet’s Art is subversive. In celebrating these Truths, she quietly, gently – but resolutely, defiantly – subverts the destructive forces of fear, exclusion, oppression and dishonour. The very medium throws down the gauntlet. It is why she is so committed to print-making; there must be nothing exclusive or inaccessible about her art. It – she – reaches out to embrace.
And to every one of us she says: Do not be afraid: be steadfast; here is how things can be.
And so back to Judith Wright:
“Maybe there was once a word for it. Call it grace.
I have seen it, once or twice, through a human face”.
I am thrilled and delighted to declare open this exhibition of Janet’s Art.
Welcome to the Feast.
