Arting Laurel

fun with genealogy

2010-03-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

I figured out today that Prince William is my 17th cousin once removed. Ha!

knickers!

2010-03-21T14:52:00.001-07:00

"From William Henry Wright to his Uncle Arley. To wish you many happy returns of Christmas and New years day. We all send our love and best wishes as we could not send you any thing for Xmas. Yours with love, William by his mother Blanche"

The upside down text reads "William is all most to la laugh. Well by by. love to you. from (burt?) (bunt?)"

W.H. Wright is my Great Uncle, and "Uncle Arley" is the cowboy in the post below. I'm guessing William Henry (aka Bill) is about 6 or 7 in the post card, which means this picture was taken in 1915 or 1916.

hey there, cowboy

2010-03-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

Is it weird to think that your Second Great Uncle was pretty stinkin' cute?

old school long beach

2010-03-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

Circa 1930's, I'm guessing.

check it out!

2010-03-15T15:22:00.001-07:00

I have a piece in this show :)

digging

2010-03-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

I never specifically said what I was going to do with all the photos in the boxes, now did I? Well, I intend to scan and organize them. After my grandma passed away, several of my cousins expressed interest in having copies of certain photos. If I can get the pictures scanned and organized, I can burn the digital copies on CDs to give out to my family.

Another reason why I want to scan them is to preserve them. And yet another reason is that I'm curious as to what kind of stories I can discover. For example, I discovered these badges tucked between stacks of photographs:
Then I found this photo: This is a picture of the volunteer Air Raid Warden crew in my grandparent's neighborhood during World War 2. My grandpa is the man to the far left, and my grandma is the woman with the dark hair and flower print dress in the middle. See the triangular insignia? It's the same as the badges I found, though I had them pointing the wrong way. I tried to do some research, but there isn't much information out there on the internet about American Air Raid Wardens, and almost none about Air Raid Wardens in Los Angeles. I did find this site, and this site, which has a handy chart of all the different badges. Apparently, the little triangle badge denotes the rank of a Civil Defense volunteer. I'm still not sure what the tan badge is... service stripes maybe? -shrug-

boxes

2010-03-13T17:07:00.001-08:00

Practicing doesn't make for interesting blogging. I have been practicing (with variable diligence), but the technique I've been refining involves carefully placing millimeter lengths of hair in a particular pattern. Yeah... slow, tedious work, and terribly unconducive to blogging ("Here's the 1/2 inch long squiggle I made today!"...and the next day ...and the next day). So, I'm going to post about a new project. It isn't an art project (though it quite possibly could become a source of inspiration), but it's an interesting project.

Behold!
What is in the beheld boxes? Hundreds of old photos and negatives from my late grandma's house. I love looking at old photos. They carry a sense of mystery and nostalgia, even if I have no idea who the people are in the pictures. But the photos in these boxes directly relate to me. They are my family's mysteries; they are my mysteries, and I'm excited about exploring them.

practice

2010-01-23T14:53:00.000-08:00

This current project is going to take knowledge that I don't have yet, and I don't have the emotional well-being to fight through this to the end. Not right now at least.

Grief is a marathon, and I keep thinking that "I'm fine", but the truth is I'm not. I'm not full out depressed, but any obstacle I encounter in the art-making process becomes demoralizing and instantly lose the "umph" to keep working on the project. Losing "umph" is bound to happen in art-making - obstacles are inevitable - but I'm just not emotionally capable of mustering the "umph" to overcome these things. It's really hard to admit this to myself, but it's true.

Ugh. It's frustrating, because I feel schizophrenic. I keep looking for an art project to restart my practice, but nothing quite works. And so, I bounce around from idea to idea, starting and restarting projects, but metaphorically I'm spinning my wheels and getting no where.

So, what am I going to do? I'm going to keep making, but I'm going to change my approach. I've been working in a very project oriented manner, which means I'm focused on the short term: develop project, make project, show project, repeat ad infinitum. This is how I made work in school, because that's how the work needed to be done. But that approach is not an art practice. An art practice is about the long run. It's about practice. It's about learning, repeating, and refining. How did I not make that connection before!? "Practice" is in the freaking term "art practice"!!! Approaching art as a series of projects doesn't give you time to refine and learn the nuances of your media. So, I'm going to use the skills that I already have and refine them. I'm NOT going to think about showing the work. I'm NOT giving myself deadlines. I'm going to practice.

experimentation

2010-01-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

So, now I have this little guy:

Aww... isn't he cute!? But he's got some problems and his electronic innards don't quite fit correctly, so I'm makin' another one. It takes 2-3 days for the stuff to dry, so I must be patient. This is where I just need to keep experimenting until I figure out a technique that works.

2010-01-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

is it tuesday yet?

one giant leap for my art practice

2010-01-17T22:07:00.000-08:00

Behold! The awaited for supplies:

Steps two, three and four have already been done, but I forgot to document them in my enthusiasm. Heh. Fear not! Step five will commence on Tuesday or Wednesday, and I will be sure to post more pictures.

One small step for Laurel

2010-01-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

I got some supplies, which means -gasp- that I spent money.

First, I got some alginate, which is the material dentists use to make impressions of your teeth. It is my new best friend. It's by far the BEST thing to use to make plaster copies of smallish things. Plus, it's completely safe to use on skin and biodegradable.

The other batch o' supplies is for a new art project that I'm really excited about. They've been ordered and are on their way. Yay! I can't wait!

Denied

2010-01-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

I got three messages this week from potential employers that I didn't get the job, two of which came today, leaving my opportunities almost all but exhausted. Poopy. Maybe I should take this as a sign from heaven to do something else?

No really... I'm serious.

The fact of the matter is that I've been putting a lot of thing on hold until I have the security of a job and an income, like spending money on art supplies, or figuring out when I want to go to grad school... or... well, those are the two relevant things for this blog.

But I could just do them now, and not worry about money. Afterall:

Do not worry then, saying, `What will we eat?' or `What will we drink?' or `What will we wear for clothing?' [...] But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:31-34)

Now, the grumpy, skeptic part of me is thinking: "so, you're just going to sit around and wait for God to do everything for you, eh? Well, when your bank account runs dry, you'll know that you were wrong." Ah yes... encouraging as ever, grumpy skeptic part.

The answer is: No. I'm not just going to sit around. I'm going to do stuff, namely art stuff. I'm going to need to trust that God wants me to be making art, and He'll support me if I do it. Sure... I could be reading this situation completely wrong, but we'll find out, now, won't we?

I've learned in the past that making art takes faith - faith in myself, in the idea or art-piece - and now it I'm beginning to see that making art takes faith in God as well.

Here's to a new year!

2010-01-03T16:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New year folks! Allow me to introduce:

My thoughts rarely stay neatly confined to a single genre or subject, so I thought I would allow myself to write down whatever I want whenever it comes to me, and see what happens. Those pesky free-range thoughts make it difficult to have a "themed" blog, as this is supposed to be. Honestly, I'm still figuring out what this blog is (or should be) in the grand scheme of things, but at least I'm still writing posts, which is better than my other short-lived blogging attempts.

So, here's to a New Year, new free-ranging thoughts, new books to write them in, and new blog posts!

ho ho ho

2009-12-25T12:40:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

May your holidays be warm and restful!

career-ing

2009-12-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

Interning is like dating a career. That said, I'm not sure if miniature making is the "love of my life" career. It seems to be more like a "eh... I could live with this" career - enjoyable, but that industry tends towards a certain kind of stress that could really get under my skin in the long run. Sooo... we'll see.

In other news: I have an interview tomorrow at the La Habra Children's Museum! It's not an amazing job pay-wise, but that's what I get for interviewing for a non-profit. On the same note, this job definitely appeals to me because of the work it does for the community (as non-profits tend to do). The museum encourages kids to be curious and explore the world around them.

Curiosity and exploration... that's where art starts, if you ask me.

oranges 2.0

2009-12-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

Making marvelous movie miniatures is, indeed, marvelous. So far, I've sanded off the flashing from lots and lots of casted miniature railings. This was described by one of the guys as a "shit job" to be stuck with, but I didn't mind. Also, I now know how to cast with urethane resin! Woohoo! Oh, "flashing", by the way, is the material that seeps out along the seems of a mold and dries.

In other news, remember that pile of oranges? Well, after adding big bowl of sugar:

...and cooking for a while.

Voilà! Orange Marmalade!

Now I need some english muffins. Mmmmm....

finding gravity

2009-11-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

"My dad died earlier this month."

It's surreal to acknowledge that as a fact.

...beyond surreal.

My life, for these past few months, was ordered by my family's life, like a planet in a neat orbit amid some larger system. I had a clear role that I was happy and proud to assume: to help my dad feel more comfortable, and to help my mom take care of things around the house.

But what held that system in place is gone.

........I am suspended

.............................. .without......... the guiding pull

..................... ................ ..of gravity

..... ................. .to orient,

..................................to order.

...................................I float

................until I feel

....that securing force

draw me towards the solid ground

and, grounded, find my home again.