Paintings of Zinnias from My Garden

 

September 25, 1993: Spastic Cracker @ the Loft

September 25, 1993

30 years ago, I was 17, in my first year of college, and the singer in a band called Spastic Cracker. I recently found a VHS tape in a box and I took it to get digitized.

The lady who transferred it to a flash drive had a lot of questions and a lot of apologies. First, she said, “It’s very dark and so loud. I tried to brighten it and I can’t do anything about the sound.”

It was a show at the Loft in Baltimore. As I was standing there, I was thinking to myself, “Sounds about right.”

Then she asked, “Is that you singing?” “Yeah, I was 17.” She then said, “Well, this is nice to have then. Do you stay in touch with your bandmates?” “No, sadly, we’ve lost touch, but I can share it with them on social media I guess.”

One of my favorite songs we wrote, “Thistle,” is at about 10:30, followed by “Level 3” where I scream a ton (a fun song to sing).

Looking back, one of the best things about being in Spastic Cracker was all of the great people I met at the shows we played. It was also really cathartic to be able to create and perform with friends at that time.

You can view the video here:  https://vimeo.com/858998170

In 1994, we released a split 7” with Big Heifer from Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Big Heifer / Spastic Cracker - Big Heifer / Spastic Cracker | Releases | Discogs)

Photo by Brian Storms. *I’m not sure who filmed this, but thank you.

*My friend Mike has written a tremendous amount in incredible ways about this time period.  You can check it out here:  The Retarded Dogs, Spastic Cracker, and the first underground concert in Glen Arm | Towson-Glen Arm Freakouts (wordpress.com)

And here:

Think Baltimore Music Is Weird? In The ’90s, Towson And Glen Arm Music Was Even Weirder. | Bandwidth (wamu.org)

You can hear “Thistle” here: 

https://nunsliketofence.bandcamp.com/track/spastic-cracker-thistle

 

 

When I taught Design in Clay, I made little scenes.

 This summer, I've been cleaning out and organizing.  I've come across quite a few pieces of old art.  When I taught Design in Clay I and II for 7 years at Parkville High School, I made these little scenes.  One was titled "33" from 2008 and the other was titled "34" from 2010.  The numbers represented how old I was when I made them and the scenes were how I was feeling inside.  They are two of my favorite pieces of art I've ever made and they still stir strong feelings of nostalgia when I look at them.  Nostalgia and ennui.

"33"

"34"

Egress

This all started on June 10, 2015 when I took my first photo of a TV antenna.  My parents were both ill and I was driving back and forth between their house and mine a lot and started noticing the TV antennas along the way.  It was an extremely heavy time, but the drives were a pause to reflect and think (if I was alone and my son wasn’t with me asking lots of questions).  I ended up taking 57 photos of TV antennas between June 10, 2015 and April 9, 2022.  (I feel that I probably will still take photos of them, even though this project has ended for now.  It might keep going.) 

Part 1:  The Obsolete:  A crankie in a cigar box with a little security envelope pattern border around the window.  I included 46 of the 57 TV antenna photos in the scroll.  I played static from my dad’s radio and occasionally played single notes on a xylophone (sort of like the tone on tapes or records that accompanied film strips/slideshows to call you to attention to turn to the next image) while scrolling through the photos.  

Part 2:  Intermission:  A zine explaining what led to the TV antenna photos and the security envelope collages.  After the center, it becomes a poem or list of single moments of care given by me to my mom in the days leading up to her death. The last lines: “Ingress/Egress. Static rolling, static.”  An entrance/an exit…..searching for one who left through the static. 

Part 3: Egress:  A large collage (11” x 14”) made from my mom’s mail (security envelopes I’ve saved) and hand stitched (sewing thread inherited from my maternal grandmother and mom) pieces of vinyl with seed beads and a few photos of TV antennas, representing when someone leaves through an exit.  I’m really interested in how the sunlight will interact with the vinyl piece and what the subtly changing shadows throughout each day will add to the piece because it is about change. 

So, in parts 1 and 2, I state “a story of loss and change,” but I do feel that this project is also about the inanimate objects we view and/or things we do or create to keep ourselves intact when everything is disintegrating or changing in uncomfortable ways around us. For me, photographing TV antennas and making collages out of the security envelopes from my mom’s mail (something that caused me a great deal of stress in the weight of the responsibility of handling finances and decisions, etc.) brought me peace and helped me continue through a heavy time.

 

Intermission

https://vimeo.com/795745430

The Obsolete

      

    

*Thanks to my friend Scott for cutting the window out of the cigar box.

 

Postcards from Summer, June 2022

 At the beginning of summer, I attended another BCPS painting workshop for art teachers.  This time we went to North Point State Park for inspiration and I painted a few quick paintings there.  Then over the summer, I worked at home on the rest. In total, I painted 10 "Postcards from Summer." Towards the end of summer, I put stamps on them and mailed them to friends and family.