Getting Angry

Okay maybe this post doesn't belong on my art blog, but it's my only blog to really survive the 2nd year grad school stress to some degree (I guess besides twitter, which doesn't count).

So here goes.

I don't like getting angry. Okay, I do, but only because getting angry means I have moved past the disempowered, sad, self-deprecating stage. Getting angry means I feel have power over what's going on. Feeling sad and hopeless means I feel I have no power to change my current situation.

Today in class we had to make "anger monsters." Although we didn't have too much discussion about our anger monsters, I wanted to show the art work that came out of my time today. You have to excuse the picture because I still haven't replaced my good camera and the lighting is awful.


I don't like being angry because I have a hard time feeling that I deserve to be angry. But I do deserve to be angry. I also don't like being angry because I think people will dislike me if I get angry. This is something I have to get over. Being angry shouldn't also make me anxious.

I didn't get to talk about my anger in class, I just got to get angry at my teacher later, who was trying to help but I didn't feel heard. I think what makes me angry the most is when people say they hear you but it still feels like you aren't being heard.

My anger is smoldering. My anger builds slowly over time. My anger lingers, waiting quietly for the perfect time to come out, the time when it can make the biggest impact. My anger feeds on itself and on me. But my anger is also my power. It can be destructive and constructive.

Today my anger is acting on my behalf. I feel like I am not getting support I need and my anger is giving me the voice I need to garner that support. I feel like I'm not being told when I do things well, only when I need improvement, and my anger is allowing me to hold on to my victories and now wallow in the feelings of hopelessness, the feelings that I will never improve, that no matter how hard I try there will never be a positive remark in there for me.

Is this what most people consider anger? I don't know. I don't like being angry all the time. But when I'm angry, people listen, maybe because I'm not angry much. I might be passionate and loud but not angry. I might get pissed off and vent at my friends and family, but that's not anger, because when I'm angry I tell it to that person's face... no mistaking what's going on there.

My anger can be nasty, though. I know that.

I named my anger The Russian Bear, alluding to images of Russia being represented as the sleeping bear. I wrote (and said, in class), "Do not wake me up or I will fuck you up." That is the bear. The bear sleeps, and stirs, and yawns, but the bear does not wake up unless enough poking and prodding makes it impossible to remain in the passive stance.

So today I said everything to my teacher. About how I don't feel like I'm getting the support I need in various places, including the classroom. About the reasons I am having trouble at my internship. About what I need her to do for me. I didn't even pretend to sugar coat it, it just came out, plain as day, my thoughts, no diplomacy.

Now I feel anxious about it. Does she hate me now?

I frequently get frustrated at another teacher in my program and have full-on arguments in the middle of class, but I've never told her straight up how I feel about being in her class. I wonder what she thinks of me?

And when I go down the list of people who I have spoken to their face, told them how I feel about what's going on, it's always with authority figures. I one time called out the president of a synagogue, head of the Southwest region of Young Judea, principle of the religious school, and two rabbis all at the same time. So I don't know what the deal is with that.

Anyway, I had to get this post out. I think that somehow putting it on the internet where anyone can see it makes me feel better, so that maybe the people who have been involved in the recent things that are going on in my life can understand how I feel about being angry. I don't like it, but I need it in order to find my voice.

Old Camera Keeps on Truckin'

Today we went to a farm for a bit of a vacation from our worries and a double date :) I was desperate for a camera and thought it couldn't hurt to pull out my old camera that I got for my birthday in 2001 that I retired in 2005/6. It's an old hp photosmart 318, 2.3 megapixels, takes 4 AA batteries, and will go from off to finish snapping a photo in about a billion years. Also the screen is really dark so we took pictures the old fashioned way: through the viewfinder and you never know what it's going to look like until you develop them (in my case, in iPhoto).

I used to be really good at taking photos with this camera. It took a lot of getting used to, specifically because of the time delay between when you push the button and when the photo is actually taken, but also because the viewfinder and the lens are not in the same place - though this is how point-and-shoot cameras used to be anyway.

However there is some quality to the way that this camera takes pictures that I didn't get on my latest camera (that just died), which I had forgotten about but now I see it again in my newer photos. Something a little old school, and for lack of a better word, it seems a little creamier. What does that mean... maybe even though the resolution is lower, it somehow seems closer to the old film cameras than my newer (dead) digital one.

(For the record, I am going to get the newer version of the one that died, maybe for my birthday............)

Anyway, the farm:

Imagination Land

No pictures yet, still no camera, so ... IMAGINATION TIME!

Imagine my current project, a living wall tapestry, visually connecting family members to their namesakes. A fiber base made of fused white flexible plastics that makes a pattern when back-lit, hung with twine. Names of family members inscribed in green (not enough time to do what I wanted to do, which was embroider all of the names onto the fiber). Living plants are sewn onto the fiber connecting name to name, beginning at the bottom (roots hanging off of the tapestry) with the namesake, and ending at the top with the living relative, continuing above the top of the fiber.

Sound cool?

WELL MAYBE ONE DAY I WILL HAVE A CAMERA TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THIS (hopefully before the plants die!!!)

Lack of Posts

My camera is dead.

It is a sad day for us all.

I have to buy a new one... the autofocus does not work and it's impossible to take any pictures. I don't know when I'll be able to get a new one, either, so unless I can scan it it probably won't be on the blog! :(

I know, it is a tragedy. But I'm working on it!

Rooting

To see what it looked like before, scroll down to a previous entry or click here.

Craft Fair Finds!!!!

Today I went to the Renegade Craft Fair, which I had been looking forward to all year. Last year it was cold and rainy and all I came back with was my favorite mug that I used almost every day until it broke when I poured boiling water on my hand. D'oh. Anyway, here are some of my finds from this year's fair!


I didn't get the card from the place where I bought this awesome necklace, which I regret! They were selling a lot of jewelry made from recycled or found materials. This is a flexible wooden necklace.



This fried egg hair pin was a huge hit. I bought it early on and wore it right away. Everyone was complimenting me! At first I thought maybe I looked really dorky, but I guess I looked dorky in a good way. I'm wearing it to school tomorrow! I got this from spinalfusion.etsy.com.



Since most of my newer jewelry is big and chunky I decided it would be a nice purchase to get some jewelry that was a little more subtle. This is about an inch long and looks like a little bundle. It's also made from recycled metal. I got it from pearandpeacock.com.

I also got some fun earrings I didn't take a picture of, and a present for someone who might be reading this blog so I won't post it.

LOVE the Renegade Craft Fair! Maybe I'll be in the Renegade Holiday Fair....

Another Plant Day

A few weeks ago I made some clippings of my pink spotted plant and let it sit while we traveled. Today I saw they all had roots so I decided to plant them.


It wasn't until after I planted them that I realized that I had just helped this plant to reproduce. The act of clipping and rooting and planting was a reproductive act. It was a really interesting moment for me, planting these clippings that I had made. Until now, I had received clippings from others and planted them or bought already-grown plants and repotted them. Now I am making my own plants. I've never reproduced anything living before; all of my animals have been spayed or neutered, and I have never had a baby. So... this is the first time I can think of where something I took care of started as one and became two.



Also, I have never been very good at keeping plants alive. But now, not only was I able to create a new plant, but the plant that was clipped is growing new shoots in the places where it was clipped.


My succulent has also been progressing but some of the lower leaves have shriveled and fallen off. My mom says this might be due to over watering, so I am cutting back.



I'm not sure why it's getting so tall - when I bought it, it was a short wide plant. Now it is getting tall? I'm not sure what kind of plant this is so I don't know what it's supposed to look like.


This is a close-up of new clippings I made today in their water. Soon there will be roots coming out of that stump. I also like the air bubbles trapped on the leaves.

Fluffy Texas Sky

These pictures were taken with JewishGuy's iPhone because my camera battery died (of course) soon after arriving in Texas.

Wedding Present

Since I'm fairly certain they don't read my blog, its probably safe to post this here (also I already gave them the gift). My cousin got married this weekend and I made a painting (and framed it) to give to them as a gift from Ilan and me. I thought it would be nice to give them a separate gift since they gave us a wedding gift separate from the rest of their family.

I started out by looking at their wedding invitation and made an abstract form, then painted it how it needed to be painted. It doesn't look anything like the invitation nor does it have the same palette but I was thinking about them when I made it and this is what came out.

Street Food (Austin)

Unfortunately we didn't eat any of these street food trailers because it was so hot we wanted to sit somewhere in the shade when we ate outside. This one was apparently involved in a Bobby Flay Showdown.