Angel Baby

BY AYESHA JOY CLIFFORD ©

I FIRST met Angel when she appeared under the microscope slide glass as an embryo barely a week old having just been flushed from our lovely stud cow Uptown Girl.

We were staring intently at two little lives under glass in The Old Farm Dairy and the vet declared that we might as well implant both of them as "they wouldn't grow on the ground".

Defying the odds, Angel and Bella were born to their surrogate cow mum and Angel being the weaker and smaller of the two at birth, became my first fully hand-raised poddy heifer.

I've always loved nurturing animals and people and I would dash up to visit Angel and sit on the hay and stroke her ears, sing to her and just spend time with her. I wondered whether she would ever make a cow mother herself because she was raised with humans.

Would she be a good mother? 

She joined the herd and nature and nurture have triumphed as she has just welcomed her own second heifer which we named Angel Baby.

She is an adorable, pink-nosed bundle of Charolais fur entertaining us with her leaps and bounds as she finds her feet in the world and her place in the herd.

One of the best things about farm life is the everyday connection to the seasons and cycles of life. 

Small moments make me stop every day and appreciate my life right here, right now.

Thanks little Angel Baby!

New Web Site Coming Soon!

BY AYESHA JOY CLIFFORD ©
 

QUITE excited here at the farm on this Creative Friday.

Firstly my new web site is coming along nicely and I hope it will be up and running in the near future.

Progress not perfection is my mantra with this exercise as doing anything that requires substantial download speed and technology in country areas is challenging.

Creativity and new life on our farm and in my artistic activities seem to be mirroring one another.

Beautiful new calves arrive daily, the spring pasture is such a green is looks as though nature is Photoshopped, and the energy is inspiring and a reminder of the vibrant cycle of life. 

The web site will offer a store with some of my artistic endeavors to share a little of the beauty of this amazing part of the world with others. 

In the meanwhile, here's a little mini collage of digital textures and impressions I am working on at the moment. Spring is all about amazing vibrant colour to me.

The digital works begin life as textures and sometimes (very!) organic forms on our farm.

Northern Rivers in NSW is referred to as the Green Cauldron and is a remarkable departure to what many people picture as hot and dry country Australia.

I use the organic forms from this beautiful part of the world  as inspiration for images as the basis for multi-media works and Giclee prints.

We have unique and unusual textures and patterns in the rainforested areas that are World Heritage listed. This fertile valley thrives in the caldera of an ancient volcano with the mystical Wollombin, the remnant volcanic plug reigning over the surrounding landscape.

Look forward to sharing more of this magical part of Australia with you.

Warmest Regards

The Grass Truly Is Greener

BY AYESHA JOY CLIFFORD ©

WHAT a difference a year makes. 

We started our planned grazing routine just over 18 months ago and we're amazed at how quickly we are seeing results.

Could bore you with figures on grass density and kg/ha but what can beat a photo of happy spring calves in beautiful pastures?

Still have to pinch myself after all those years of two-minute showers and hairy legs and bore-water straw hair, when I ride over our little gully that has clear spring water flowing clear in it all year round. 

Must be the Irish heritage coming out - green is starting to feel as much a home as the CQ dust.