By Laurie on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Perspective is an amazing commodity. I think a lot of times that we take it for granted. The idea of seeing a situation from another view, to understand it from a different angle, is a blessing. We can learn so much about ourselves, others, and often times, the world we live in.
“Perspective” was the topic of the day of March 1st, 2010. My daughter, a fourth grader, was sitting with me on the couch; relaxing and just hanging out, reflecting on how each of our days was. She began to tell me a story to the effect of:
“So, we know the earth revolves around the sun, alright? [The Teacher] said like how nice it would be if the earth smacked into the sun at just the right spot to hit Iraq, after all of our Troops were gone, and all the people would just disappear!”
It only took me about two seconds to shift into “wtf?!” mode. I promptly discussed with my offspring how horrible a thing that would be. How it is NOT okay for an entire country to be destroyed, - by the sun -, for any reason. Much less the stupidity we’re dealing with now. I explained to her how terrible it would be for the innocent people there, especially women and kids like her, if oh, I don’t know, they were all abruptly killed by a bajillion degrees. Don’t get me wrong, I have all the respect in the world for our Troops, Veterans, and Men/Women in Service, but it is not okay to perpetuate such a hateful attitude. The world is not Black and White, we exist in a myriad of shades. Life is color. The fact that a teacher at my daughter’s school is continuing to fuel such an awful kind of hatred is sickening and shocking.
Sometimes I wonder if said teacher regretted what she said, if later on during lunch time she thought to herself that maybe that wasn’t the best example of [whatever] to tell twenty impressionable children. I only hope that some day she’s offered some precious perspective. Maybe she’ll get to read the letter I plan on sending Administration. I have to thank her for affording me a bit too; it made me realize how very little you can trust others with your child.
Very sad.
By Laurie on Monday, February 15th, 2010
Simple one hour stroke-painting, give or take. Was fun. No progression entry needed. Click for larger version.
By Laurie on Sunday, November 29th, 2009
So, as some of you may or may not know, I went on a road trip in October. It was a bit spontaneous and not entirely, 100% positive, but there you go. It was very.. enlightening. I’d wanted to go on a Road Trip since I took my Driver’s Ed course. And, when I got my car, I felt it was time.
I visited my good friends Ashval and Kirasha. We had a wonderful time, and I can’t thank them enough for letting me hang with them on such short notice. (and for putting up with me!) This trip didn’t end there, I drifted into Michigan to visit other friends of mine as well. And, again, they are gracious people for allowing me to pop into their lives at the last minute.
The trip itself was long and having taken it alone was both good and bad. Keep in mind that in total, I drove roughly 1450 miles, and about 20 hours total. No, I’m not crazy, honest. I’m just a person who never drove before, got her license, her own car, and felt like proving something to herself. Plus, I got to hang out with friends, see some of the USA I’d never seen before, and bond with my car. Dare I say that I was proud of myself for tackling such a task.
Uh anyway… it was a good trip, it had consequences, though. Like all things do. I’m learning a lot about consequences of late. Every action has an equal, opposite reaction, so they say. I won’t beat around the bush. Things are tough. I’m not gonna whine about it. I’m not going to get all emo about it… well, I’m trying not to. Growing up, I thought I had experienced a pretty broad spectrum of “pain”. Looking back and looking at RIGHT NOW, that was a pretty naive thought. “Pain” comes in so many shapes and sizes and colors and flavors, that it’s impossible to steel yourself completely for all of them.
“Pain” is helping to unhinge me. So to speak. I’m not talking about being crazy or being insane. Instead, sanity has a lot to do with it. It’s amazing when you can see yourself coming “unhinged”. It’s kind of like being in a type of car wreck, not that I ever have been in one, but it is as I imagine it would be. You know, you feel that it’s happening and your mind recognizes it.. but you can’t stop it, you have lost some control over the situation. Perhaps this is too vague, but it’s the best analogy I can fathom right now. Do I have an advantage when I am able to recognize something like this? I’d like to think so. In the past, I have had many words of wisdom for people I care about. How is it that that wisdom fails me when I need it the most?
I don’t normally get personal like this. It isn’t my way. I fear that I’ll be considered “emotional” or “crazy” or “whiny”. I fear what my friends might think of me, it’s true. However, I felt like going there today, and previously, I’ve had a few people approach me about something I may have discussed that was a little personal.. and they’ve said “You know, I can relate to that, I understand”. That’s good enough for me. If none of us ever meet, have a drink, go to a movie together, at least we can sometimes relate to one another in thought.
We can still share.
By Laurie on Monday, October 12th, 2009
Project finished! Click it. You know you want to.
By Laurie on Sunday, October 11th, 2009
I’ll be posting my latest project this week. Yay. I think I’ll go prep the Page for it after I post this. Oops, getting ahead of myself, aren’t I?
I’m sitting here, spending some late night time to do a little gaming, enjoying the super quietness of such a still evening… er, early morning. I prefer sunrise, but this will do. I should get in some meditation while I’m at it. I’ll probably doze off later on, but I don’t care. I go back to my self-study tomorrow, and I hope to finish up the Flash book that I have, this week. I have another book to go through, afterwards, then I can begin on some Flash practice of my own design.
Booooring. Sorry.
I realized tonight that I’d like to do some Sci-Fi related art next. I’m a Sci-Fi geek, so why not? WHAT is the big question. That’ll take some thinking. I’m tempted to pull out a Phillip K. Dick novel and see if it inspires me. Hm, it WILL inspire me, that’s no doubt.. just hope it’s interesting. I don’t want to create something that’s too cold and sterile. We’ll see, won’t we.
In other news, time for another baby update! She’s beautiful. Though, she is very toothy…
She is the first snake that’s tagged me. It was a bit startling but no problem, her teeth are super tiny. Anxiety from the trip probably didn’t help her mood much. I’ll give her a name once she’s settled in and is eating alright. I consider her my crown jewel so to speak, my final snake. I love my corns, but there’s something about a python that exudes “power and beauty”.
Oh, and if you’re terrified by snakes, sorry!
By Laurie on Sunday, October 4th, 2009
Agh!
It tickles me how much art puts me into a good mood. Even when I have issues with it. Art, of late, has become a sort of entity that I have power struggles with. Like a good friend you argue with on occasion. You have very specific opinions that clash, often, yet you can still hang out at the bar and laugh about things. Sometimes, I think this is a good thing. It allows me to feel more like I’m creating something real, instead of forming illusions. I hope that makes some sense. So I’m working on something now. It’s nothing ground-breaking or massive, but I’m having fun.
Fun is important! I’ll post it soon, also the progression is being recorded. Blah blah, yadda yadda.
Fun is also having your own car. Really digging that part. And it’s blue. Blue makes me happy. I hope to go on a road trip at some point. Winter’s kinda going to throw a wrench into that one, though. Honestly, I’d love to just get out of the country again. I can blame at least two people for that. I miss Sweden, damn’t. I think I’d even suffer nasty winters if I could be somewhere that I felt more at home at. Not that The South isn’t “homely”. I just feel disconnected from it. It’s what I’m used to, I believe that’s all it has going for it. Harumph!
Okay, back to my project… I have to get it finished by Tuesday at the latest. Whee.
By Laurie on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Barely!
Seriously, let’s just get this out of the way. My feet are numb, my left leg is blackblueswollen, and my right arm is all screwy! You know what? It was totally worth it.
Dragon*Con 2009 may have flown by way too quickly, but it was full of fun, good times, memories, and pleasant surprises. I am so happy that I didn’t miss it, and I look forward to busting my ass to make it again next year. Want.
So, what went down? Well, I got to meet some GSPers that I’d never met before! It was amazing to see Sammi, Ickk, Brat, and Klinical. I was a tad nervous, I admit, but I think it went well! I just wish we all had had more time to hang out. I hope to see them again next year. It was also very cool to meet Means finally too! Of course, it was so great to hang out with those of GSP/Funcom that I already knew. I’ve known some of the crew for so long now, and it means a lot to me that we’re able to still get together and party.
I do have to say that Registration sucked balls this year. I am not sure why they made the changes that they did, but it was horrifying. In previous years, you might wait an hour picking up your badge the “day before”. This year, I spent a total of 5 hours getting my badge. Can we say “broken”? Instead of the usual multiple lines for different last names, they made one HUGE line for Pre-Reg customers to go through. This line was in addition to the line that streamed around the block, just to get into the Sheraton. Once we got to the front, Samalicious and I found out we needed to be in a totally different line for Ticketmaster customers, and this was not made clear anywhere in the hotel. It was a total mess.
Thankfully, Friday made up for it. The AO panel was brilliant, and the information there is exciting to me, especially as someone who recently returned to AO after an unexpected hiatus. I am stoked that Funcom is interested in stepping up their polishing efforts for AO. It needs it and with the Engine update on the way, AO will benefit from it in countless ways. SQUEE. The Funcon party was also pretty cool. There were some bumps, but overall it was a success. So much so that I have a feeling next year there will be another party. Perhaps of epic proportions! One of the highlights was meeting Democe. I don’t think he remembered me that well, but I remembered him! He was a GSP party-goer a few years back and we saw him all the time. He was absolutely thrilled to meet Gridstream, Funcom peeps, and to top it all off - he won the AO computer case raffle at the party. I was SO happy for him. It was like being at a GSP party and a long time listener winning a huge contest. It makes me smile.
On Saturday, some of us broke out our costumes and paraded around with the other Dragon*Con geeks. Of course, Klinical was dressed in his costume most of the weekend; a lab coat covered in his own blood. Needless to say, the crowd ate it up and he was a big hit. I picked up another leather mask, as I often like to do when I’m at Dragon*Con, from the same peeps too. Always green! I love my green. It fit well with my generic goth THING, and I ended up in a few photos with random strangers. That made me giggle. Mynka wore her costume on Friday, and you may have even heard about it. She totally distracted Means during his presentation. Completely understandable, she was smokin’ hot in her Halloween Bikini! Vallikat made one sexy vampiress. I got a great picture of her! One of my faves of this year.
Sunday and Monday morning were spent hanging about the Hyatt, Marriott, watching people. Some of us went to the Ayria concert on Sunday night. The concert was great, and it was awesome to get some dancing in finally! Once we gathered ’round, a good handful of us went for breakfast at the hotel buffet when it opened up at 6am. Afterwards, we wandered back to the Patio area, which is a kind of back door connection to the Marriot across the street. We hung out, drank, talked, saddened by the end of the con. A few went to bed. You could feel the “aww” hanging in the air. Next thing you know, we’re hanging out at the corner next to the pathway to the Marriot, still on the patio, sitting on the floor. The hotel staff had cleaned up all the extra tables we used to sit on. There were about eight of us left. At some point we started just telling people walking to and fro, “Good Morning!”. For 4-5 hours straight, we hung out on that patio, greeting people. The reactions ranged from ignoring us, giving us weird looks, greeting us back, to JOINING us in our new found mission. We picked up 6-7 different people that stuck around for different intervals of the Good Morningness. From there, the madness continued; pidgeon chasing, recruitment for the Good Morning Crew, hotel staff taking videos, photographs… We met so many cool people; many that had not slept yet either. Several of us agreed; Good Morning! should be a regular con event. 11am ticked by and I gave in and watched some TV/dozed. Even I need sleep!
Monday was another scattered day of everyone doing stuff all over the place. We hopped over to a hotel restaurant for our last Con dinner and then proceeded to a party room for our last Con night-party. The balcony was the place to be for a while, as a lady across the way in a hotel tower had her curtain open and treated us to a view of her legs as she painted her toes. Sorry ma’am! We’re perverts.
Tuesday rolled around and it was almost time for us to leave. We got in our last hugs, handshakes, and for some of us, drinks. I myself was ready to crawl into a bed for a week. Dragon*Con is a magical place full of people that you may or may not know, but share a kinship with. We’re all there to have a good time, praise our geekdom, and meet others under that flag. It’s one of my favorite places to go, and this was possibly the best one yet for me. I just hope I can make it again next year.
And maybe actually go to more panels. Hah!
By Laurie on Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Another pet post! Boring!
Anyway. A few months ago, I put a deposit down on an egg. This egg would rebirth the most terrible creature EVER. A menace upon Mordavia so sinister and evil that even the shadows themselves tremble in fear! Somewhere, Erana is grimacing.
In reality, I received my 7 week old Abbott’s Okeetees corn snake. He seems to be a very curious reptile, and I did manage to get a few pictures of him after he arrived without much of a problem. In fact, he seemed more interested in playing around on my hands than he did hiding away. This is my first hatchling snake, so I’m very curious to see how he grows. His pattern is just gorgeous and I am extremely pleased.
I, being the insane Quest for Glory fan that I am, named him Avoozl. The Okeetees pattern is kind of visually intimidating, and while Avoozl isn’t technically snake-like, I found it a fitting homage. Plus, it’s a fun word to say. Avoozl!
By Laurie on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
So, I turn 30 today. Well, I guess that I already DID turn 30. Okay, sweet. Anyway.. so I planned a little “thing” for myself today. It’s not really exciting, honestly, but I enjoyed it.
First, a little back story…
Thirty years ago, my parents were handed a newborn baby that apparently wasn’t sure she wanted to make it. I spent two weeks in the hospital after birth because my liver was not functioning properly… or much at all, from what I was told. I’m sure that this was very distressing to new parents. Moments after I was taken from the hospital I had a very serious reaction to the Penicillin that they had given me prior to my discharge. Again, very distressing. My parents soldiered on through this rough start and managed to keep me alive for 20 years.
I’ve managed to keep myself alive and relatively sane for 10 years, now. As much as I hate knowing that I’m getting older… today I spent about an hour ritualistically reminding myself of one important life lesson; when Life hands you lemons… you make Limoncello.
So, here we go! Excuse the pictures, they suck, I’m lazy, and my camera battery was like “BZUH?”.
By Laurie on Thursday, April 30th, 2009
My first polymer clay project is done. I’m not completely happy with the results, but I can’t be too annoyed as it was my first time with this stuff. I knew that if I concentrated on perfection, I’d just take forever to finish it and be more displeased. So, I accept the imperfections. (also, Christ, my hand is unsteady these days)
I’m so picky!
There… a semi-unofficial nuka cola bottle. It’s supposed to resemble the one sent out to e3 last year. It was built as practice with clay AND serve a purpose; as a hide for my snake. It’s hollow and he can curl up in/slither through it. I need to finish the, er finish, probably with some matte sealer.
Yaaaay, silly gamer!
By Laurie on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
Not much has been goin’ on. So I thought I’d take a big break and not post for a while. Blah blah blah. Let’s face it, I’m dull.
Working on a commission - may or may not share it. Dunno. Not my usual thing. Puttering around with an update for Second Life. Otherwise I’ve been babysitting my ‘Tiel with a broken foot. Poor thing. :
Today I decided to tackle a tangible project. I won’t reveal anything more until it’s finished, here’s the preview of the basic model; Sculpey on aluminum armature. Fairly happy with it. I haven’t really worked with polymer clay before, just pottery clay, so this was fun and different. I think I’m in love already.
By Laurie on Friday, March 6th, 2009
Welp, my first foray in sorta-kinda-speed painting is finished. I’m mostly happy with it, but could have made more improvements. Yaaaay painting, yaaay.
By Laurie on Thursday, March 5th, 2009
Hour 2. Blah blah. I finish it tomorrow and I can stop spamming for a while.
By Laurie on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
I have more photos to add sometime this week. Snake photos. Concert photos. Etc.
The Unknown Hinson concert was great! He’s freakin’ amazing; with the guitar; with his persona; with fan service. I managed to get a picture with him this time! I saw him at D*Con 2007, just didn’t get a picture. Anyway.
Working on a new piece, another experimental one. It will be a “3 hour” painting. Meaning I won’t spend more than 3 hours on it total. Sorta like speed-painting. I call it “Crop Life”, and it has its own progression page here.
BLINGBLONGBLINGBLONG.
By Laurie on Friday, February 20th, 2009
More than one person has approached me regarding my latest painting I refer to as “Folly”, which I have finished today(yay!). I suppose they were curious about the nature of it since it is kind of gory.
With that in mind, I’m going to reflect on what kind of artist I am and how my ideas come about. Firstly, I can say, without a doubt, that my life experiences influence my art. That’s kind of the point. However, most of what I actually do artistically is imagery that appears in my mind; sometimes instantly, sometimes it grows as I think about it. I don’t consciously sit down and try to express “my feelings”. That is very rare for me to do. I can probably count with one hand how many times I’ve actually approached art in that particular way.
Secondly, while my art is influenced by my experiences or feelings, it’s also a creation on its own with its own feelings. That is what makes creating so wonderful; feeding yourself into something new and something singular. I believe that that is why I continue to be an artist.
Folly(or “Feeding Folly”) is a piece loosely based on a previous idea I had some years ago when I was in a different place. That was codenamed “Velvet”. As you can see, there are a lot of similarites between the two. Black hair, bust figure, the color red, an ominous attitude, etc, etc. Folly is a re-imagining of this older piece. With Folly, beyond trying to express my current feelings, I’ve tried to present a dual meaning; a piece in which blood is flowing upwards and downwards, essentially feeding off one another. If you want to be a sentimental person, you could say that the heart signifies something that we long to feed and nourish and is a big part of us, but at the same time can cause us pain and anguish(the slit throat). Voluntary or not. Healthy or not. There is no blood LOSS here, just a shifting.
I don’t often ramble on about what art I do create, but I thought I would discuss this one a bit more considering that it’s probably my most visually disturbing piece. But. It’s just art; a creature on its own.
