Saturday, October 31, 2009

A welcome change of scenery

[Ed Clark of SUNY Potsdam doing joomchi action on colored hanji from Wonju, Korea.] I taught a paper felting class today using hanji that I had a friend in Seoul select and ship over at the Saint Lawrence County Arts Council. Good times! I had been so cranky about it b/c I just wanted to sleep in but it ended up being a really nice group, and it was nice to get off base with Ben (who joined class, too).

This is Susan's first piece; I'll post a shot from her 3rd that I really love, later. She had some serious skills. No one used scissors, which I loved.

Velma did amazing things w/my scraps and Hilary was so happy to be pounding the crap out of the paper. I should have made a video just to get the sound effects of everyone slamming the table at the same time. Hilary, Velma, Ben, and I went out afterwards for a warm lunch and very decadent series of desserts.

Ben and I even got to hit the food co-op and Asian market! We drove through a very, very red sunset - lovely, since we never experience sunset together, and eerie b/c of how it turned huge patches of trees red. It almost all faded by the time we got through the gate at the base, so I wasn't able to shoot good pics (I was too busy gawking beforehand to remember to grab my camera. And some roads on base are not very smooth). I was talking to Ching-In and she asked if we were going to have trick-or-treaters and I said, I doubt that parents would want their children coming near the homes of unaccompanied soldiers! I wish that wasn't the case, but at least we saw a bunch of them on Route 11 while driving home. Plus a parade in Potsdam during lunch! That's about as much Halloween as I ever get, so I'm pretty content. On top of that, we saw an inordinate amount of animals while driving: SO MANY cows, a good deal of horses, and even a huge flock of sheep!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Ultra-green mulch

I took my first long walk today since I got back from Miami. Wait, I think this is only my second long walk here, period. Anyhow, it's hard to find things to shoot b/c it's either depressing or I'm afraid someone will come out and yell at me, but I liked this best on my way home, as I was trying to figure out how to get back through a residential area where everything looks the same: houses, fences, roads, everything.

I tried to go down a trail today but wasn't able to get past a sea of ferns and a trailing off of the path, so instead I walked along the back of everyone's fencing and later wandered around the homes that all look the same with Halloween decorations that all look the same. Before that, I saw this sign. There were a bunch of them along the path.

Funny, since when I saw these things from a distance, I thought maybe it was a park, with outdoor sculpture! But it's probably some kind of military fencing that I don't know about. I was confused by the signs b/c I couldn't tell if the space behind the jacks was off limits or the path itself. So I walked down the path anyhow.

To find more railroad tracks! They have these all over, I think, to transport things to other far-off military places. The sad thing about wandering around is that there are so many wooded and grassy areas, but no matter how far you get from buildings, you always hear rumbling of something. At one point, coming out of the "off limits" area, I was startled by a generator that started up as soon as I came out of the woods. But the noise is usually construction, which seems never ending - I went the back way b/c the road in front is being torn up and re-done. Like Korea, only more ominous.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Venturing out

Aside from taking out the trash and checking the mail, I don't think I've walked out the front door since I got back from Miami. So today after my combined workout/trashy TV session (part of the bday indulgences), I went outside, got a fun bday card from lil sis, and then walked in the grass just next to the major construction outdoors and found my way to the arts and crafts center.

[Crossed these on the way.] Studio rental is $1/hour and $4/day here. Ridiculously huge and amazing facilities: wood shop, ceramics, quilting, stained glass, framing, etc. Not necessarily something I can access but it attests to the seriousness of military benefits. Yesterday, we found out that Ben is not going to Iraq in January. That's all we know. I love that they get orders saying only the negation of what their orders said a few months back, but not saying what will really happen. I think the very obvious, easy, and not cool answer is Afghanistan in early 2010. Which means more wrenches in my plans; I had only intended to stay up here until xmas.

On the bright side, I got lots of nice feedback from my Korean contacts and lots of love and wishes and hugs sent my way. I also booked my Dec flight and hotel to Miami. It's really happening, again! Velma also gave me the heads up on a nice little plug [about 3/4 of the way in] by Hilary Oak, the ED of the Saint Lawrence County Arts Council, who is hosting my lecture and class on hanji (the talk is Thurs, Oct 22 and the class is Sat, Oct 31: Halloween!). [One correction: hanji is the actual paper, and jiseung is paper weaving.]

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Images galore: the Miami artwork

Ivan is always fun to have around, except in the ocean b/c he splashes relentlessly and I hate salt water and sunblock in my eyes. This was before the artist talk when we were trying to color correct the projection.

I have spent all morning doing more updates, so here are the images of the new work in Miami, on my website.

And, a mini-tutorial on joomchi, Korean paper felting. I was too busy to set up the tripod so there are no bodies/hands in the pics, but hopefully it makes sense!