Weavings

A tradition of weaving exists in my family, dating back to at least our roots on a southern plantation during the civil war. I can remember playing in our back room underneath a loom that had been built by my great grandfather in the 1930s. My great grandmother was the primary user of this loom and her work is all over our house in the form of place mats, and afghans, but primarily in the form of hangings. My aunt also has some claim to fame in this medium, and my dad once made my sister a kilt on our loom. Here are some pieces form our collection.
This is a watercolor done by my aunt of my great grandmother, Ella C. Rundstrum also known as Cookie, working on the loom.
This is a small hanging, in my bedroom, done by my aunt.
This one is by great grandma Cookie.
This was a wedding present for my parents, done by my aunt Jean.
This was done by Cookie; I hung it as part of my womans history month art show last year to surprise my dad and my uncle. Weaving has a long held artistic association with woman's art work, I thought it appropriate to include it in my show.
This was done by Cookie. It used to hang behind my grandmother's char when I was little; I always thought it an appropriate back drop for such an ellegant woman.
Finally, this hanging was done by my aunt Jean. I always loved the bells she chose to hang from it, so creative, and musical.

White Stuff

I wish I had some interesting work of art to discuss, but lately it's just been this white stuff that holds my attention. So here are some pictures of our snow covered hill.



I happened upon this coyote on my way home from my exploration.

It came!!!

So here it is, the most expensive piece of paper I've ever owned came in the mail today.

Betsey Johnson

Recently I've come to the realization that I am now the typical college graduate; broke, with a breaking car, and slightly annoyed that I am now overqualified for most of the available jobs in my area. In order to sooth my weary soul I took a trip off the hill to clean and fuel my car, but ended up taking a detour to try on shoes that I can neither afford nor do I have a reason to wear. Not to mention that I hardly need an extra three or four inches of height added to my already 5' 10" frame. However, the words "Betsey Johnson" are guaranteed to add glee to even the gloomiest of days. Bright pink soles, flowers, frills, and glitter; it was a wonderful afternoon.

Mighty Shopping Plaza

The Citadel shopping outlet is one of the strangest buildings I have ever encountered. The shopping center is located just off the 5 freeway, which happens to be the freeway I took to get to the LACMA during the time that my Ancient Art class was studying the Citadel of Sargon the II. I immediately wondered what an ancient fortress has to do with shopping. Well, it turns out that the building was actually home of the Samson Tire company in the 1920s; the owner liked the idea of playing off the Samson and Delilah story by designing the building after an ancient Assyrian palace. The idea was that the building would convey "strength and style of a mighty civilization". It wasn't until 1990 that the building was converted into an outlet mall; complete with added adornments that complement the original design.
This is a sketch of the palace of Sargon the II.
This is one of the guardians from the Palace of Sargon; this winged creature is called a Lamassu, intended to intimidate all intruders.
This is a Lamassu, atop a giant electronic sign that diminishes anything impressive about the sculpture. This building weirds me out, the way past and present meld is not seamless. It does make for an interesting advertising gimmick though.

Aux Natuaral

I've been in Berkeley...

Kites

My sister and I were given tiny kites for Christmas, a gift from our father when he saw how our homemade kites spun rather than flew. On my visit this past week we tried to fly them, but the wind was minimal and they pretty much hovered. They were kind of fun as streamers though, and the marina was beautiful.

We gave them mighty names to counteract their small size. On the left is my kite Thor and on the right is my sister's kite Gunther.
Thor liked the ground.


This is the ground squirrel that was all too comfortable with humans...I think he was trying to give us the plague; this is probably an assumption I've gathered from too much extra curricular reading. My current book of choice is called "The Great Mortality" and now I feel like all rodents have plague, even though I'm sure they don't.

A Clean House

Tracey Emin, the creator of this 1998 work "Bed" is auctioning herself off for a charity event, her skill that's up for auction? Housecleaning. I'm sorry, but if she leaves a house in any sort of array that "Bed" is in, I might pay her to not clean my house. "Bed" was her actual bed, in all it's messy glory, placed in a gallery to demonstrate the humanity of the artist as opposed to a miraculous creator; as early art historian Vasari often asserted artists to be. Who knows, maybe "A Clean House" will be better welcomed by the critics than "Bed" was.

Some Sort of Rodent

Currently I'm applying for a job at the private arts high school in town; on my many trips there to apply and follow up I kept seeing this giant rodent thing next to the gallery. My assumption is that it was some sort of class project. It's made out of chicken wire, plaster, found objects and has been a little damaged. The giant thing perplexes me though; is it a squirrel or a chipmunk? Why does it have a mustache? Who broke it's golden egg...or is that an acorn? Why is there a pink cardigan draped across it's back? Was it cold and some student took care of it? Was there a rodent parade at ISOMATA and this is part of a remaining float? The most interesting thing about this rodent though? It doesn't really seem out of place. For some reason an art school in the mountains is the perfect place for a giant rodent with reflectors for eyes, because artists can get away with pretty much anything.

Bob Ross Feeding a Squirrel

Yes, Bob Ross not only painted "happy trees", he also fed squirrels.

Zach Galifianakis Portrait Painting