Wednesday, September 26, 2007

I'm officially division III yipee (kai-o kai-yay)!!




Division III Contract

For my Division III project I will make an artist book and a film that are interconnected. In my Division II, I studied film and photography along with Native American and Jewish cultural studies. I will incorporate the history of these two cultures into this project's theme. The book will include photography, drawing and writing. I will explore cowgirl culture, Native American life and culture, and Jewish settlers in the West at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries as pioneers and traders and look at their interactions with the Native American people.

I want to make a ledger book style first person narrative about a young Native American cowgirl. I plan to make the characters and scenes in the book come to life through the film using animation and hand processing techniques. The major artistic theme of my Division III will be the idea of handmade-ness. I want everything I do to be hand made and mostly hand processed. I will most likely use a vintage ledger book as my starting point for the book and paper. The story will come from my research and knowledge of the history of Native American and Jewish people, most likely set during the turn of the century 19th. I'd like to incorporate the culture of the cowgirl and the idea of the Wild West into my story as well. I will use my mediums of experimental film and photography and book arts to portray the story of an independent Native cowgirl and her adventures through the American west.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

the snake and the toad, the vans and the spiders

on friday, at the bookmill, i watched a snake eat a toad:










I don't quite know what to say about this experience yet. i feel like it was mostly a male bonding activity because there were so many men crowded around watching the whole time. it was also an intense natural experience that took hours.


also, there are vans that pull in and out of my driveway all the time. most are windowless, driven by slightly sketchy older guys who were probably drunk addicts at one time, at least they seem that way. some times they complain to me about where i park my car and last night there were so many vans that they blocked the driveway.


there's been spiders in my side mirrors of my jeep since i was in new mexico. i also discovered the body of a tarantula in the door crack of the jeep. there's a spider by my desk, there was one in my room and a few on the porch. everywhere i go they are there. i looked them up online and apparently they are there to remind us that the decisions that we make weave our lives, much like a spider web. they are there to remind us of our infinite possibilities (eight legs, the number eight turned on it's side is the symbol for infinity), that we should weave a web of love and take in all we can with that web. they are symbols of mystery, femininity, power and growth (among other things). they also fend off bad storms, perhaps that's why the weather has been so nice.

Monday, September 24, 2007

on love and turning points

I know it's been a while since I've updated and perhaps that's why not many people check up on my blog. so here it goes for now:

i'm at a threshold of turning points and celebrations. i would never have suspected that i would be where i am now a year ago. things change so quickly that you don't even notice until you remember where you were before. this time last year i was in a rocky relationship i took to be true love, looking ahead to a year with almost none of the friends i knew around me any more, meeting some one new and taking a huge risk. now that i look back and see where it's all taken me i realize how grateful i am to have taken that risk. i did what was completely against my better judgement and took a movie like leap into the unknown to get myself out of the rut i had been thrown into. i'm not saying that i felt completely hopeless at the time, in fact i was almost clueless until someone woke me up to my situation. now, on the cusp of our one year anniversary, i can look at this year as a year where i let myself be loved. and i truly believe that i can allow myself to love better because of that affection.
i'm also starting my division III project, a huge unknown undertaking as well. i'm taking another risk, going out on a limb and changing what i thought would be my idea from the start. it will now be an adventure tale of a native cowgirl in the wild west, animated on film and told in a book. this is also a huge transition from what i thought i would do, but it seems that every time i've gone for the unknown that just feels plain right it's worked out.
so here's a toast to believing in what my heart says is right now matter how much my mind tends to disagree. here's to another year with less old friends around me and more space for new ones. here's to this hope for my project, my art and my future. here's to my good and much deserved living space (finally), and to all of those around who will continue to love and support me in all my endeavors, no matter how absurd they seem at the time.

cheers.