Jane Aubourg

Review!

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 07:39:00 +0000

I had a very lovely review written today by the good folks at Timber and Steel! Check it out :)

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 04:29:00 +0000

Here are some little snippets from the gig at the Gaelic Club last friday.

I look forward to playing there again!

Cpt. Jack

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:54:00 +0000

This ought to stave you off until I finish my other blog post.

Lovely love

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:36:00 +0000

So, you ask, what important things have I been doing that have been keeping me away from my blogging duties?

Getting married! That's what. And here for your viewing pleasure is proof.

Photo by Ryan Howes

Photo by Nina Kourea

My beautiful wedding shoes from Wittner

My beautiful bridesmaids wearing corsets from Gallery Serpentine with skirts printed and made ourselves.

The girls again, showing off their handmade gloves, necklaces, capelets and smiles. Their fans are from A Bit Shady.

The groom and his groomsmen, wearing bow-ties "built" by the groom.

The boys in the scene of our ceremony. The items and furniture came from our house and the frames from Retro Wombat.

My Dad walking with me down the aisle. Doesn't he look dapper?

My bouquet/parasol, from A Bit Shady.

Our first picnic as a married couple. We remember the important things.

If you'd like to know what he's reading me, it's Plato's Republic. Very romantic!

Having our portraits taken

The reception!

Everyone grooving to some old time swing

The moment everyone was waiting for: The Dance

That's right, we learnt a tango. We had so much fun learning to dance with Doug from Danceworld

And a costume change! Why have 1 dress, when you can have 2?

A moment with my new husband x

One of our beautiful photographers Nina Kourea

And another, the talented Tamara Elkins

Thanks to everyone who contributed to our Honeyfund; a gift registry for our honeymoon!

Thank you to everyone who made it such a special day, we had so much fun deciding, designing, making and philosophising the day until it became absolutely ours. Our beautiful venue Ravensthorpe was wonderful and all their staff are so lovely. With so many talented and generous friends, we had a fleet of photographers in tow, as well as a string quartet + harmonium.

After giving it much thought we decided not to have a legal ceremony, opting instead for an autonomistic marriage. We wrote the ceremony and vows ourselves and had a dear family friend conduct the service, which was a beautiful finishing touch.

Don't worry - this isn't the last you'll hear of the wedding. I will have some more in depth posts on various details of the wedding. Tell me what you'd like to hear about first!

Jane

My own personal ASLSP performance

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 23:32:00 +0000

Organ² ASLSP is a piece for organ by John Cage written in 1987. The tempo direction (As SLow aS Possible) has been taken to the extreme by performers in Germany, who are currently undertaking a 639 year long performance of the work in St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt. They keep weights on the pedals and have a machine to keep blowing air through the pipes. Note changing becomes a big event at the church, as it would!

On my kitchen windowsill I have one of my many altered music boxes. I surreptitiously switch the combs on them to create "wonky" (and slightly creepy) versions of the well known tunes they play. This particular victim comes from a cheap wind up jewelry box (that I most unceremoniously destroyed) and has become a little stiff and rusted. It's all wound up and very occasionally will surprise me with a note or two. I think it's try to play Swan Lake...

It never fails to leave me with an "Amelie" smile, reserved only for enjoying the smaller things in life.

Jane
x

Orpheus & The Underworld - The Lost Souls

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 01:13:00 +0000

Gustave Dore (whose other works are also pretty amazing. You should check him out)

The Lost Souls scene (or The Shades) will be a group piece, with many people dressed in white and grey doing handkerchief juggling and other suitably ghostly circus acts through the audience. There will be a bit of a poi show going on mid-stage before Orpheus enters searching for his Eurydice.

We liked the idea of choral music for this scene, but nothing too hard, so the vocal parts have ended up being small phrases that the vocalist will improvise how long or fast to sing and repeat. This creates some lovely dissonances and destroys any sense of time or beat, creating almost a sound scape.

There was some concern that the poi people (what do you call poi people?) would struggle to co-ordinate with no beat, so I've added some piano and drums for when they appear.

If you don't hear from me in the next little while it's because I'm lost in wedding land. I will DEFINITELY post all of the lovely little things we've been creating after the glorious event.

Enjoy!

Jane
x

Greek Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:54:00 +0000

Many apologies for being dead on the air for a little while. Wedding madness has set in! 7 weeks to go, and we are madly designing, making, writing and deciding everything for what promises to be an amazing day. I will have detailed posts on all aspects after the great event, to avoid spoiling any surprises.

In other musical news, I'm sure you're all wondering what has become of Looking For Blue. Well I have decided to spread that particular project over a bit more time. Partly to get it just right (and I will be releasing each piece as it's finished to whet your appetite) and partly as I have another exciting project that is eating up much of my time and creative thoughts.

I am pleased to announce I will be musical director and composer for a theatrical circus production of Orpheus and The Underworld to be put on by SURCAS (Sydney University Recreational Circus Arts Society). The show will run in early October in the Seymour Centre in Sydney.

For those who don't know the story of Orpheus and the Underworld, it is an ancient Greek myth. Our hero, Orpheus, is a virtuosic lyre player (to be played by a violinist) who is married to Eurydice at the beginning of the story. Tragically she is bitten by a snake at the wedding and dies. Orpheus, overcome by grief, laments on his lyre. Hermes, the greek messenger god, is so moved by his playing that he offers to help Orpheus get down to the Underworld to get her back. Orpheus makes it over the River Stix and past Cerberus (the giant 3-headed dog) to get to Hades. Hades refuses to release Eurydice, but Persephone (Hades' wife) is convinced by Orpheus' playing. Hades strikes a deal. Eurydice will follow Orpheus all the way to the overworld, but if he dares to look over his shoulder to see if she's there, he'll loose her forever. Orpheus leads Eurydice back the the Overworld with his lyre, but at the last few steps is tricked into looking back, only to see Eurydice dragged back to Hades forever.

Don't say I promised you a happy ending!

So, instead of posting Looking For Blue songs, I will be posting my musical ideas for this show. The music will be slightly different, as I'm writing for an ensemble instead of violin and loops, but I'm sure you'll still recognise some of the "Jane Magic" in there.

Til next time,

Jane x

I get mail

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 22:51:00 +0000

I very nearly squealed with joy the other day when I opened a letter from the vet. I'm not sure if everyone's vet does this, but ours addresses all mail to the dog. So what did I first read?

Dear Mr Darcy,

...

Made my day.

Your Sunday Beagle

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 05:37:00 +0000

I'm pretty sure he's actually so cool and laid back he's asleep.

Festival Wrap Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 01:06:00 +0000

Another year, another wonderful Illawarra Folk Festival. This big little festival just gets better every time. I had a catastrophe of a start to my programmed set (missing cables, misbehaving PAs) that, none the less, ended well with the wonderful support of my audience. I also managed to get a blackboard slot and play another set on the Sunday, which went much smoother! Thanks to everyone who came and supported, you made the weekend!

As part of the festival, my Song For The Rain was dedicated to the victims of the recent floods and $5 from each CD sale has been donated to Lifeline's Flood Appeal. Lifeline are training counselors in psychological first aid to help with the mental and emotion needs of the people who have lost family or homes or, devastatingly, both. Here is the link if you would like to donate.

I have a dragon in my garage

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:31:00 +0000

I am reading the fantastic "The Demon-Haunted World" by the one and only Carl Sagan. His story called The Dragon in My Garage is wonderful and I think it should be made into a children's book. It teaches so many important parts of skepticism in such a simple way that doesn't bring with it the baggage of an already contentious issue. You can find the whole text here and I would highly recommend the read, it will only take a minute of your time. If you like it, try the whole book.

In other news, Beautiful Fiancé and I went to our first tango lesson tonight (we want to be able to dance for the wedding!). Learning to dance is so much fun and I feel I already have a greater appreciation for the years of practice people put into it to keep improving.

Toes were stepped on, but smiles were had.

Sleeping in opulence (Part the first)

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 05:58:00 +0000

Beautiful Fiancé and I went to Cabramatta the other day and bought this gorgeous fabric for a very delicious price. It will soon adorn our bed, in the form of a new doona and pillow set.

Curtain and upholstery fabrics are so much more divine than the dress fabrics you can get at the moment. Doesn't everyone want to wear damask? I bought the end of a roll to make a skirt from.

I will share what can only be wonderous results soon.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 00:38:00 +0000

I hope the New Year finds everyone happy, excited, determined, inspired, and anything else you desire to be. I have made a few resolutions for the new year, one of which is, of course, to be a little more consistent on the blog-waves.

So to start the year on a super-cute note, here is a picture of my two favourite beagles; Cpt. Jack (R) and Mr Darcy (L).

Jack turned 2 on New Years Day and Darcy is just 13 weeks old. They are both mischievous, hilarious, loyal, beautiful dogs who make everyone fall in love with them wherever they go.

In other news, the Illawarra Folk Festival is fast approaching. I am doing a workshop as part of the Folk School on Wed 12th and playing in Nag's Lounge on Saturday afternoon at 2pm, I hope to see you there or hanging round at the other great slots of the Festival!

Happy New Year!

Jane

PS. The album is coming along (slowly) but wedding plans have also been taking over my life, as well as a new project I will share with you soon...

1 day to go

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 04:25:00 +0000

With only a little over 24 hours before the inaugral performance of Looking For Blue, I am practicing hard. I read this very interesting post over at Extended Violin Diary (the blog of Mari Kimura, champion of subharmonics and electronics with violin) about "saying something" with your performance. This is definitely something I hope to convey tomorrow night.

Wish me luck!

Jane

Médecins Sans Frontières

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:13:00 +0000

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) is the world’s leading independent organisation for medical humanitarian aid. Mum always had plans of doing some medical humanitarian work once my brother and I had jumped the nest, whether it was with Médecins Sans Frontières or as a rural doctor in outback Australia. We set up a Médecins Sans Frontières donation fund in her name last year and now I will be donating $1 from each Looking For Blue album sale to Médecins Sans Frontières in memory of her work as a local doctor and counselor, as well as her goal to work in humanitarian aid.

If you are interested, here is some information from their website. This is such a worthwhile cause that improves the lives of so many.

We provide relief after natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes. We help victims of conflict. We run emergency feeding programs during nutritional crises. We tackle neglected diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and kala azar; and we organise mass vaccination programs to prevent epidemics spreading. We are also involved in health projects that train local medical staff and put in place safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.

Médecins Sans Frontières work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. Because we wish to remain independent we limit the amount of funding we accept from governments. More than 80% of our budget internationally comes from private donations, and in Australia 100% of our budget comes from private sources.

This funding structure means that our teams on the ground can be free to define operational priorities. Our interventions are based on needs alone, not on political, economic, religious or social agendas. Thanks to our independence and impartiality, we are able to provide health care to people who otherwise would not receive it.

Our teams in the field often witness the result of conflict, neglect and disaster which very often escapes broader international attention. We are committed to speaking out about these international crises in an effort to alert the public to the plight of the people we help.

In 1999 Médecins Sans Frontières was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

I will try to keep you up to date with a tally of money raised.
Yours sincerely,

Jane

Tea?

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:52:00 +0000

I see your smile

I still see your smile

and sometimes I lie awake at night trying to remember

what your voice sounds like

Sounded like

And that little smatter

of a grammatical correction

brings with it a tinge of blue

which I find myself quite drawn to

less like a moth to a flame

than a child to the bottom of a rock pool

Has.

Was.

Should have been.

Could have been.

But too soon I fear

I've filled that pot too many times

each sip I take seems more and more diluted

until i think i must just be

imagining the taste of tea

The idea for this poem came from two sources. The first from the correction of tenses that I needed to get used to (and sometimes still do) and still seems highlighted in big letters whenever I verbalise it. Second, from drinking jasmine tea at a restaurant the other night. Our pot was continuously filled by the waiters until we were just drinking hot water and the little person in my head screamed Metaphor! Metaphor!

I find myself always returning to the image of tea. I am by no means a connoisseur (I am much more likely a tea-pleb, milk and sugar in my Earl Grey if you please). Somehow it's the connotations of tea, particularly the personal ones, that fascinate me.

Tea as a comfort; making, serving and drinking.

Tea as a social centre of gravity.

Tea as a stress relief; drinking AND throwing.

Tea for warmth; cupping it in your hands and feeling the spread of heat through your body.

Tea as art; through ceremony, pottery, stains and dyes.

It forms a large part of my memories from between Mum going missing and her body being found and I'm sure it will continue to be a large theme because of that.

Yours infused,

Jane

PS. Thanks to the whimsical and wonderful Blindhope and Jan Tolley for their comments on the giveaway post! I will be sending some little whimsies your way.

My Day Throwing Tea (in Polaroids)

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:15:00 +0000

1. The kettle boils ominously
2. A cup for me and a cup for myrtle
3. A couple of practice throws reveals that my Curry Powder jar (usually used for paint brush water) is the best for throwing tea
4. Myrtle innocently enjoys the sun
5. Bam!
6. A moment of shock. I am suddenly unsure if this was a wise idea.
7. Of course it was! Tea is very stress relieving. Throwing tea is doubly so.
8. Just a few dabs here and there with a tea bag
9. The damage is done
10. Spattered doilies
11. Get in there and smell the tea leaves!
12. The aftermath

In hindsight I may have got the two pictures of Myrtle in the wrong order but I'm not sure you can tell :)

Yours sincerely,

Jane

Vintage Love

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:42:00 +0000

I chanced upon a site today with vast potential for time wasting and vintage goodness.
Patricia (pilllpat) is a french blogger (Agence Eureka) who has an enormous archive of *mostly french* vintage pictures and scans. I found her flickr easier to navigate (as my french is not the best).

Here are my favourites so far:

Bien à vous,

Jane

GIVEAWAY - a little bit of whimsy

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:36:00 +0000

Inspired by my clouds that feature in the artwork for "on Morning Thoughts" I have created some little whimsies, cute little felt versions with a brooch backs so that you can wear them all day long.

These will be available as part of my unique set of Looking For Blue merchandise and I am offering up this little set of two for free to the person who leaves the most whimsical comment on this post.

Good luck!

Jane

PREVIEW: Music to metamorphose to

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:57:00 +0000

Performance is rough and recording unmixed, but that's what this is all about. A quick snapshot of some loops I recorded tonight on my *finally working* new technology (more details in a post to come).

Yours frenetically,

Jane

Music success in 9 weeks - Week 4

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:27:00 +0000

Week 4 was all about Web 2.0 and watering my social media garden. That means talking to you my lovelies! I am doing my best to keep you in the know. I'd love nothing more than to chatter to you.

So myspaces and twitters and facebooks are all connected by the intertubes...and flickr!

You know what this means. Photos! Here they are!

Up early in the morning to catch the sunrise, we had to move quickly to capture the moving light.

It was a gorgeous morning, but I was freezing in my little slip!

Some behind-the-scenes shots of the shoot taken by Beautiful Fiancé, featuring the wonderful Nina Berry.

Props laying on the wayside.

The hurry scurry to and fro.

Many thanks to Nina and Beautiful Fiancé for getting up so early for me!

I am now in the editing stages, sitting in the dark looking over the photos. This stage is definitely warmer!

Some musical ideas that will go with these photos - harmonics and 'bird calls'...audio coming soon.

Yours warmly,

Jane

Music success in 9 weeks - Week 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:08:00 +0000

Help! I'm drowning in a sea of things to do!

Trying to get on top of things - I'm doing TWO weeks of Arial Hyatt's Blogging Challenge at once.

Week 3 is all about making sure my web precence is consistent in look and feel. I would want to confuse you darlings would I?

I battled with myspace for a while (they have a new beta profile system running at the moment) but here's the new profile look:
www.myspace.com/janeaubourg

and do I hear a chirp or two?
www.twitter.com/janeaubourg

I have also set up a little freebie as part of my mailing list setup (oh fancy!).

I'll post week 4 up tonight when I have a bigger intertube to upload some previews of the photoshoot for "On Morning Thoughts" (the piece has a name now, it MUST be progressing!)

Yours industriously,

Jane

Mum's song

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:42:00 +0000

This was a short song I wrote a few days before Mum's memorial ceremony. Mum always wanted to sing in a choir and loved a cappella and gospel music. I wanted to write a song in these styles, but with lyrics that reflected her personal philosophies rather than a religious text.

Don't speak your language

But I see your smile

The sun will always set

To let the stars shine

See black clouds coming

But there's still blue sky

And though we must part ways

You'll always be in my heart

Post consumer recycled

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:46:00 +0000

Uni's back and now I'm starting to feel even more butterflies about the amount of work I need to do. I have been hunting high and low for environmentally friendly CD cases and posters and the search is not over yet. I find it surprising that it's so hard to find without shipping it from the other side of the world, but I suppose we're not nearly as green as we think yet. I promise I'll find something though, post-consumer recycled card stock and vegetable inks all the way!

I also want to give you guys a really good booklet in the CD, but the number of pages is becoming so big that it's not going to fit in the case! So I've decided that I'm going to do a folded poster instead. Pictures coming soon...

Yours post-consumed,

Jane

Three Deaths

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Aubourg) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:48:00 +0000

After watching Packed to the Rafters on Tuesday night I spent a lot of time thinking about what Chel said to Ted about dying three deaths. I felt it was very poignant and so I have been searching the inter-webs to find it's origin. The philosophy appears to be part of the mixed pot that is Mexican culture.

"In our tradition, people die three deaths. The first death is when our bodies cease to function; when our hearts no longer beat of their own accord, when our gaze no longer has depth or weight, when the space we occupy slowly loses its meaning.

The second death comes when the body is lowered into the ground, returned to mother earth, out of sight.

The third death, the most definitive death, is when there is no one left alive to remember us."

Victor Landa, from San Antonio, Texas.
Los Dias de los Muertos (the Days of the Dead)

In Mexico, death is celebrated and received with happiness and acceptance as a natural cycle in our lives. Altars are build and graves cleaned and decorated. This is time each year for families to turn their thoughts to those they have loved and lost. I feel like this is a wonderful way to think about it, one that resonates with my own belief that death is necessary for life, and that there is no afterlife waiting for us so we need to make the most of our precious, but insignificant moments of conciousness.

La Catrina – In Mexican folk culture, the Catrina, popularized by José Guadalupe Posada, is the skeleton of a high society woman and one of the most popular figures of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico.

Perhaps these are images and ideas that will make their way into my work, along with Adam Savage and his dominoes.

Yours culturally enlightened,

Jane