How Math Class Finally Came in Handy

Two years ago I bought these tiny 4x4 prints from British photographer Cassia Beck. Something about her work really reminds me of my early childhood in Denville, New Jersey. Maybe it's the vintagey feel, and maybe it's the perspective -- so much of it is "from the bottom looking up" that it reminds me of being a kid and having everything tower over me. But I mainly think it's the colors and the subjects. Everything she shoots looks foggily like something I've seen before in my life.

I chose 9 of her prints, which was like choosing goodies from a candy shop! They then sat around in my desk for the past 2 years because apparently no manufacturer has ever had the brilliant idea to MAKE 4 x 4 size frames, dammit. Finally, after fruitless searches at Ikea, Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and the rest, I gave up and brought them to a frame shop in LA.

I decided to group them together to create one larger "piece" that reflects images that resonate very strongly with me. This one's my favorite. It reminds me of the forsythia that grew on the border of our yard in my childhood home.

achoo!

I lived on Magnolia Avenue, so we naturally had magnolia trees in our front yard and all the way down the street. This perspective is something I saw a lot.

This too. This reminds me of noticing telephone wires on my street for the first time in my life, and learning all about cardinals and bluejays by watching those little perchers waiting for my brother to come home from school.

chirp chirp chirp

Ok, this one I just like. It's a tea cup. I likes me some tea. This makes me think of sitting in a deserted coffee shop at night.

i'm so lonely

This one too. It makes me feel like I should be typing this on a cute vintage typewriter instead of this worn out Mac Book Pro. Beep boop boop beep technology.

clickety clack clack clack

This one makes me think of the lake at the park we used to go to for family picnics. The frozen one that my childhood dog Ginger ran onto during the winter to chase after ducks and then crashed through the ice into freezing cold water. Don't cry for her, she's already dead.

squawk!

We had tulips planted in a bed in a row along the front of our house, so they were probably the first flower I remember becoming super acquainted with.

This one reminds me of my brother's toy box when we were little. Man, how we smashed the crap outta those cars! They've recently been recycled and passed onto my brother's son/ my nephew, along with a battered Voltron and a green He-Man Battlecat/Cringer figurine, which stayed surprisingly newish over the past 25 years. A family heirloom, I suppose.

vroooooooom!

Here's a pic of the actual childhood. My 2 favorite things about this: 1) I'm holding the construction hat dog upside down, and 2) my brother is holding a very real looking weapon.

I carefully measured the space between two of our windows in the living room so that I could create a uber-symmetrical canvas. Lessee,  58" divided by 2, divided by another 2, minus 2 inches for the frame....gee, math is haaaaaaard.

excuse me, ma'am. no photos please.

Here's the final product! If I were to do it again,  I woulda shelled out the extra $100 for the matte, to make them bigger. Oh well. It's like having a mini photo gallery in our living room. Don't worry, I fixed the crooked upper right frame after the photo, ALRIGHT?

The blue phone hidden in the left corner is a prop from my short film, Mouthbreather.

On a side note, the apple blossoms I picked up from Rolling Greens the other day are opening quite nicely.

I like to live on the edge.

And my new rug for the office finally came in. I love chevron! And so does this guy.

What a cat-astrophe!