Ten batches of icing.

Ten batches of icing achieved (FINALLY).
That's about 30 cups.
Phase 1 of my brother's wedding cake is complete.

Siri Woodget's blog

Siri Woodget was kind enough to write a review of my installation at the Caerleon Art Collective on her blog, My Life in Second Life:

Bittersweet memories -
...Severine built an evocative and typical scene for many children shipped off to summer camp each year, called Summer, 1985; a platform tent in the woods; sleeping bag resting on thin mattress, bag of clothes stuffed damply beneath the rusty springs of the bed, can of repellent rolling across the floor. Visitors are asked to lie on the bed and listen to the radio. Stations quickly change as though someone were spinning the dial looking for a good tune...

(full article here)

Thanks so much, Siri! I'm glad you were able to visit, and I'm glad you enjoyed group show as well.

Veggie wraps ftw.

Went shopping at Trader Joe's recently, & they had samples of a Mediterranean veggie hummus wrap that were just so amazingly good I had to buy the ingredients and recreate it at home.

What I used in this particular photo:

- Sundried tomato tortilla wraps (I prefer spinach wraps, but the store didn't have any at the time)
- Hummus (Cedar's original tahini)
- Green leaf lettuce
- English cucumber
- Trader Joe's Feta cheese with Mediterranean herbs

For the dressing:
- Lemon juice
- Trader Joe's white balsamic vinegar
- Olive oil

First I made the dressing -
I whisked together one tablespoon each of the lemon juice & vinegar, and two tablespoons of olive oil to make an emulsion (this will make enough dressing for 4 wraps).

To assemble the wrap --
I spread about a quarter cup of hummus on each wrap, right to the edges (it helps the wrap to stick closed).

On top of each went a shredded lettuce leaf, some slices of cucumber (wash but don't peel), a tablespoon of feta, then a tablespoon of dressing drizzled over that.

Wrap 'em up and EAT. Obviously, there are probably a zillion different variations you could make with this basic set of instructions. Could also very easily be adapted into a vegan version.

Srsly, this is my new favorite sandwich-esque food item.

SL Blogger Meme: Who Inspired Your Avatar?

Found on New World Notes:
Spread This SL Blogger Meme: Who Inspired Your Avatar?

My answer:

My avatar isn't based on anything other than perhaps my subconscious; it is a self-portrait of sorts, and strongly resembles many of the ink drawings I've done in the past - which are symbolic self-portraits as well.

I consider my avatar as an extension of my art - it is a very stylized self-portrait in itself.

Arthole Season 3 - July 18th 2009

Tune-in to Arthole Radio on Wednesday 24th June from 9pm UK time to hear details on Season 3 ...

1pm PDT / 9pm BST / 4pm EDT

Listen here.

(reposted from the Arthole blog, which was most recently updated by Arahan Claveau)

Latest doodle

Throes
Ballpoint pen on paper
Approx. 8.5. in. x 11 in.
(2009)

Wedding cake process

Today I began the long and labor-intensive process of making my brother's wedding cake.

I have to start making the icing in advance, as this will be one of the most time-consuming steps.

First batch is done - I have to repeat this process 9 times more.

Summer Camp, 1985

This installation is the Second Life counterpart to my painting "Bending Trees," for the Aequitas group exhibition in both NYC and the Caerleon Art Collective sim.

When I was first approached to be in this exhibition, and was told that the theme of the show was to be based around childhood memories, I instantly knew which of my own experiences I would revisit:

I was a pretty sheltered, innocent, carefree child until I went away to summer camp when I was about 9 years old. The two weeks I was away destroyed me emotionally; I was terribly homesick, and was completely ostracized and rejected by the other kids in the camp (including my friend, whom I had gone with specifically so that neither of us would feel totally alone). It was really the beginning of a huge complex I still have to this day over my fear of rejection. Obviously, I've come a long way since I was 9 years old, but that experience with summer camp traumatized me deeply. When I returned home, finally, I had separation anxiety from my mother, and I had to go to therapy for a long time afterward. I did end up a stronger person in some ways, and my independent thinking & my resolve to fight and stick up for myself grew as a result. So, for what it's worth, the experience, though mostly bad, DID turn out to be positive in many ways, and really helped to make me what I am today.

In this installation, I attempted to capture an experience I had every sunrise while away at camp. As I'd slowly wake in my sleeping bag, for the first brief moments I would believe that I was home, in my own bed; and as I'd fully gain consciousness, the horror of my situation would set in once again.

I have a recurring fear that perhaps the past 24 years of my life have been a dream, and someday I will wake up, still in bed at camp.

Instructions for viewing:
- Set daylight settings to Sunrise (World -- Environment Settings -- Sunrise)
- Turn up the volume on Sounds
- Touch the bed (Disable your animation override, if applicable)
- Touch the radio underneath the bed

Teleport - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caerleon%20Art%20Collective2/63/31/21

Great advice from a wise friend --

"Let all your expectations disappear and just BE."

Found in one of my old high school journals --

Frustration is one of the great things in Art, satisfaction is nothing.

-- Malcolm McLaren, college notes (winter 1967/8)

(I am not a huge fan of M. McLaren, but this is a pretty wise statement.)

Why

There are times that I feel like just walking away from all of this -- Second Life, an art career, stuff like that.

I can't help but wonder: what is the point of it all?

Do I really have anything important or significant to say to the world? I mean, really?

I struggle with the notion that my work is mediocre at best, for the most part; and that I just can't hack it. I feel some joy at minor accomplishments & small victories, but it's not enough; I am unfulfilled. I keep trying, but I'm still left feeling empty. I'm not satisfied.

Plenty of artists & creative people are perfectly content to retread familiar art territory; and plenty of good, even GREAT art comes out of that process. But that's not enough for me. I struggle to find something NEW, to discover something that has never been seen or done before. Second Life art is a start, but... it doesn't quite fill that void yet for me, not yet anyway.

And even if I found sudden success in that respect -- What the hell would I do with the whole art world rat-race anyway? I couldn't handle that, at least not now, as I am.

These are all simply rhetorical questions; the only answers I can really expect are from myself, and with time.

I'm not giving up, I CAN'T give up. Just having an existential crisis, again. Questioning, re-examining, searching, wondering, thinking.

Twitter

Oh yeah, by the way, I use Twitter sometimes --

http://twitter.com/Nebulosus

-- if you wanna follow me.

I'm still getting the hang of it, & still not posting all that regularly, but I'm getting used to it & more use out of it.

Sometimes I post pictures, too.

New commission piece - 'Talk To Me'

About twelve hours ago, I finished my latest painting, Talk To Me; and about 8 hours ago, I delivered it to its recipient.

Pics:

Title: Talk To Me (diptych)
Year: 2009
Dimensions: Approx. 32 in. X 20 in.
Media: Acrylic on canvas

Detail 1, Detail 2


Raw sketch

Aequitas -- first pictures of the real-life show

Photos courtesy of Stephen Beveridge/Sowa Mai.

(If you can't see the embedded slideshow, click here to view)

Aequitas
Artspace OSA
June 1 - June 30, 2009
Reception Friday June 19th. 6:30-8:30
178 Bennett Ave @ 189th St, NYC
1 train to 191st Street | A train to 190th Street

Second Life Version
Caerleon Art Collective
June 26 - July 3, 2009
Reception June 26th. 6:30-8:30slpm
slurl.com/secondlife/Caerleon%20Art%20Co llective2/108/48/24/