Red Clay Wings

Montreal

2010-05-16T09:54:00.001-07:00

A super speedy trip up to Canada (less than 48 hours between my door and my door again) proved a packed and perfect send off for my friends Annie, Lydia and Karen as they leave the east coast for their respective new adventures.

Resolutions

2010-01-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

1. Get organized. I am at work, I should be at home, too.
2. Finish projects or let them go. Either way, stop hording these particles of unreached potential in boxes under the bed.
3. Take an Art Education class
4. Keep running. I'm less concerned by how far and more by how often. Let's keep it to 3 times a week, shall we?

You are very welcome in my life, 2010.

A little communication goes a long way.

2009-07-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks for listening, Boston.

Seeing more

2009-07-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

Travel is a hardy meal of meat, and I'll be chewing on my recent adventure to New Zealand for awhile.

Ahem

2009-07-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Boston,

I have something to tell you, and you know I wouldn't tell you if I didn't care... but it's time for you to grow up. It's July. It's summertime. You know, it's that season which is usually doused in the taste of lemonade, the smell of freshly mowed lawns and the heat of the sun. Time has passed, you are older now, and honestly... I think you're ready to stop spilling rain all over yourself. This undulating and brooding moodiness is increasingly out of place. Own up to your years... maturity means moving on, dude.

Your friend, Heidi

Battles

2009-05-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

Choosing them is harder than fighting them.

i finally can pack up my winter coats. now it's time to set goals for the summer.

2009-04-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

an annual tradition that i began in 4th grade, this list is a direct result of my love for the seasons and a desire to milk this one for all it's worth. the summer always feels like an opportunity to catch up. especially on all the things i couldn't do during the busy school year or winter. this summer is going to be great!

1. read Maytrees by Annie Dillard
2. backpack in rural new england
3. finish my website
4. pray with people
5. row on the charles
6. take that ballet class

...and then there's the trip to New Zealand in June! Though I'm not counting that as a goal, cause it's already decided/booked/planned. and how can you set a goal for something you've already expended most of the effort to accomplish?

It's my birthday, indulge me

2009-01-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I crossed the line into a new year and MassArt declared today a snow day, which leaves me some time to remember my favorite memories I made while being the age I used to be. Here are some highlights, in something resembling chronological order...

1. Community Dinners: irreplaceable.
2. Riding bikes and picking lemons with Katie: the way the sun breathed on everything.
3. The trips to San Fran: especially the one with the sticky stuff on the fire escape and Sara's Popeye impression.
4. Anticipating the move: it was so exciting and big.
5. Haircuts with Angi: they always felt like a collaborative art project and/or the fulfillment of a significant feminine tradition.
6. Send-off party at Number 6: a room of favorite faces I'd never seen together and couldn't get enough of.
7. That week in San Diego: it was so difficult to leave everything behind.
8. The flight: I'm not normally so talkative.
9. Lunch at the Otherside when we decided to become friends: I'm so glad it worked.
10. Standing beside Rachel and Steve in Stockton: I felt so honored.
11. Collecting furniture from all over the city: especially getting my dresser from that couple in Arlington. Talk about a steal.
12. Movie Club at the Gandys: Sunset Boulevard, the Maltese Falcon, Casablanca and homemade popcorn.
13. That rainy night we ran the long way to Matt Murphys: Annie move here soon!
14. The One Home Many Hopes art show: progress was made for the girls that night.
15. The chopsticks night at Pho: it solidified us as a group in my mind.
16. Hiking in New Hampshire and all the leaves: i took in a breath deeper than most that day.
17. River Fire trip to Rhode Island with Charis: the glass installation at RISD and that guy with all the pens and that guy with all the hair with the sword on the boat, so weird.
18. Exploring the speaker project: it reminded me of why I'm here.
19. Exploring Fenway Park: i can't get enough of that place.
20. The rooftop party: a rare treat that I got to share with a girl who gets why its so lovely.
21. That Sunday afternoon in China town with the fried pancakes and that sesame seed ball and the fabric store: frantic frolicking.
22. That afternoon at the Omni Parker house with Casey, Matt and Kerry and delicious pie in all it's forms: the whole weekend was great come to think of it.
23. Head of the Charles: they really did look like water bugs.
24. Avery's first birthday: I would have been devastated to miss it.
25. Thanksgiving: sage infused creme? Booya.
26. That night with the dancing snake: I still laugh thinking about it.
27. The last snow day with all the soup: my house became a cocoon of friends and warmth.
28. Wally's Jazz Club: so glad they made it a historical landmark.
29. Making it home for Christmas dinner with the family: I am so lucky. I like them.
30. The drive up the coast with Katie: something inside me uncrinkled and remembered.
31. Sleep overs and a midnight doughnut run: I like that our newest addition likes Delilah so much.

Thanks for making it such a great year!!

Oops, I dropped my very important thing.

2009-01-26T04:20:00.000-08:00

Boston artist Katie Rowley draws with an eye dropper and adds text by writing words backwards on her finger and pressing it to the page. Lovely.

Katie's Etsy

It's back on.

2009-01-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

If Boston is my boyfriend, then we've been on the fritz for the last few weeks.

He had gotten so cold. I'm not getting what I need, we've been bickering over insignificant things and I have had enough.

But then today he warmed up and reminded me of all the reasons I loved him in the first place. Brick. Iron. Ivy. Thin alley streets. Lampposts. The black lines of the trees with their thin white snow piles against the red brick behind.

Today was what I needed. Today my boyfriend and I made up.

Baby, it's cold outside

2009-01-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

But I've got Bruce Munro's Feild of Light to keep me warm

California

2008-12-31T11:46:00.000-08:00

For the holidays I flew to California and back in time. The weather reversed to how I remember it was 3 months ago and the places and people go back even further for me. My how I miss everyone already!

A Little Bird Told Me We'd Be Happy

2008-12-24T05:47:00.000-08:00

A song by Evelyn Knight.

Download it.

Love it.

Everything is gonna turn out swell.

Celeste Potter

2008-12-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

Celeste designed this album cover for the band An Horse from Australia

She illustrated this video for Dodge.

See her website for more

I adore Illustrator

2008-12-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

Why? Because it lets me do things like this!

Happy Birthday, Avery!

2008-11-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

Be still my beating heart

2008-11-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

I fell in to a burning ring of fire

2008-11-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

The iron pour is an annual and public event produced by the Metals Department of MassArt. It's held outside in the courtyard between four of our classroom buildings, where students melt and pour the iron into molds.

Head of the Charles

2008-10-22T04:54:00.000-07:00

My city was taken over by giant water bugs last weekend.

Art Nouveau Jewelry Exhibit at the MFA

2008-10-14T20:24:00.001-07:00

Currently on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Designed by Charles Desrosiers sometime between 1898-1901. Note the light coming through the petals... it's translucent/backless enamel called plique à jour!

This necklace reminds me of pea pods. The pearls are ones that formed on the wall of the ouster shell.

Juan's Song

2008-10-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

One of the amazing benefits of my job at MassArt is having immediate access to exhibits like the "Speaker Project", which is installed in one of the galleries on campus. It is a giant sculpture/speaker created by Chicago based artist Juan Angel Perez using all found objects collected on the streets of his city and mine. The band Goli began the month of performances given from inside the piece.

Dear Mr Craig, you really are the best man.

2008-09-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

I took her home on the subway.

New York Fashion Week

2008-09-12T04:30:00.001-07:00

I LOVE OSCAR DE LA RENTA

Thanks to you, Mr Craig and your list.

2008-09-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

Wise Blood

2008-08-19T21:22:00.001-07:00

So, on Sunday afternoon this woman who was wearing white polyester pleated pants and who reminded me distinctly of my Aunt Rosie (my Grandmother's sister), leaned over me and said, "okay honey, I have to call it quits. The blood is coming too slowly, we'll never get a whole bag out of you."

That's when I started to cry.

In the middle of the gym. On my back. Staring up at the two rubber bouncy-balls that had gotten caught in the rafters and pipes. One was red and the other one blue.

Part of it was the pain (I still have a bruise), but most of it was the disappointment. I knew what was expected of me. I knew what the finger prick and the invasive questions and the waiting in line was all about. And it was clear that I was not performing up to par. Aunt Rosie explained that sometimes the vein triggers something in the heart and in order to protect itself, it will clot up and stop the blood flow.

How often it seems I've been on the table of a relationship, squeezing my fist and praying for the blood to flow, only to have to pull out the needle. Am I really saving myself from something bad or are my perceptions of safety skewed? Can I turn off this instinct somehow? Or maybe I should stop asking that question and let the vein be. If it clots, it clots. It is what it is.

Etsy!

2008-08-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have officially started uploading items for sale on my Etsy account!

Okay so there's not much up there yet, but I've got to start somewhere, right?

Anti-gravity

2008-07-11T13:02:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had a dream or vision you felt to be so impossible, or at least so unlikely, that you put it aside and indignantly named it "Someday?" You get used to the thump of the longing and eventually you loose consciousness of it. It blends in with your own heartbeat and you can't hear it anymore.

I just feel so obscenely lucky that so many of my hopes have been realized recently. I'm standing on the other side of a door that was suddenly unlocked and I'm in shock. This is a view I haven't seen in awhile, looking back across the threshold of what felt like an enormous risk, so forgive me if I have to stand here until I can believe that it's real!

For instance,

-I just moved back to a city I suspect I'll never tire of exploring

-I just bought my dream computer (I've been without since the move, which is why I haven't been posting) which means I will be able to do even more with my art

-I get paid to support young artists in a fairly unlimited capacity while I take classes towards my MFA for free

-I watched the fireworks exploding over the very site that independence was actually declared from

-The video I posted here... a spontaneous concert on a porch down the street. By nightfall there were more musicians crammed up there than there were of us audience members who stopped and listened, as I did, on my way home!

So I guess it goes to show... there are times when the wings you've gotten accustomed to seeing sitting quietly up on the shelf reveal their capacity for flight. Occasionally, the laws of physics don't apply. Occasionally, gravity let's up.

2008-05-09T16:04:00.001-07:00

So I chose the name "Red Clay Wings" for a couple reasons, mostly because I love paradoxes. And I'm definitely partial to any that concern dirt and sky, ground and flight, the physical and non-physical.

I was also drawn to this name because it speaks about the malfunction of purpose. Wings are made to push down on air, allowing their owners to see from a removed place, freeing them from the bounds of their own weight. Most days, it feels like my wings are the weight. And they are crumbly and broken like red clay earth.