Update - Thesis & Work

It's been a long time since I have updated here, but it needed to be done. I am now in my last semester at Otis and working on my thesis project entitled, "Pulse & Parcel."


This is Side Street Projects, the place that I have been working as the Community Programs Manager and Alternative Routes Teacher. I am also been allowed to execute my community component and sculptural land component at the sight.


Here is a detail of the flagging tape that I am using to demarcate an individual plot.


This is a photo of a test plot. I am trying out the materials to see how they hold up to weather.

More updates to come!

Thanksgiving 2010

For Thanksgiving this year we decided to spend it together. Between the both of us being in school, we haven't had real quality time together. It was a real treat to get out of the motorcycle and head up to our favorite little spot: Morro Bay. We weren't able to get a room at our usual hotel, so we opted for another, pricey place and decided to only stay one night. We drove up Thanksgiving day, encountered a little traffic on the coast, but made it by 3pm. After checking into the hotel we changed and headed out to our favorite little wine shop for a tasting, where I had a great Beaujolais. Next to dinner at Windows on the Water, where we had a front row seat to the sunset. It was very romantic and the food was great!


the sunset during dinner


the view from our hotel balcony


Ready to ride back home!

Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween James andn I dressed up as gnomes. I didn't get a photo of the both of us, but here is a photo of just me. We went to a friend's house for a party. We also baked 2 large pumpkins, and picked our pumpkins from Cal Poly's pumpkin patch again this year.

My Costume:


We also went to a dog costume at our neighborhood dog park in Silver Lake, CA.


Good Times!

Back to School...and Work!

Months have gone by since I swore up and down that I was moving on from Otis and not going to finish my MFA. Well, over the summer I spent my time job searching and interviewing for the few jobs out there. It was scary times, and while I got real close to a few jobs, it was a lot of rejection.

It was down to a week away from when school would have been starting for me, and I had just had an awesome interview with a really cool arts education non-profit in Pasadena. I had pulled out all the stops for this interview and felt really good about it. After a couple of days without hearing back, I started feeling bad about leaving another program, and felt like I just wanted this degree for what ever reason, that I couldn't explain or quantify.

I talked to my program director and somehow had convinced her into giving me more scholarship money and accepting all of my transfer credits. That means I would only need to take 4 more classes to finish this degree. Finally I heard from the job that they had hired someone else, someone that had just graduated from my program. This really made the decision for me, and with the new deal I had worked out with the school, I was going back, just like that. Months worth of stress and laboring over decisions, how to make decisions and utter denial was all resolved in 3 days. Sometimes time fixes things.

In going back to school, I was able to convince this non-profit, to create a position for me, and hire me on part-time. They would partially be paying me through my work-study. So going back to school actually gave me a job. At least I won't risk spending a year job searching and can finish this degree--part-time at that!

I am also still planning to apply to 2 graduate programs this year for the following year. One is in Urban Planning, and could be finished part-time while I start working. The other is a full-time program in Public Health. I realized that no one job path/degree is going to give me what I'm looking for. So the plan is that I will do both. Create a professional option where I can make money in an ethically responsible way and fund my own artwork.

This is of course only the plan for now, and I am open to new opportunities and change, so only time will tell, but I'm looking forward and enjoying the present.

Meditation Challenge

Its summertime and I'm in between all kinds of important life decisions. If ever there was a time to learn meditation, now is it. I had been thinking about meditation for some time, but never really "got it." Thanks to a random email from the Deepak Chopra Center, they made me an offer I couldn't resist. The free meditation challenge is 21 consecutive days of using guided meditation. Each day they send me an email with a different technique that I can try out. These meditations are short, like 10-12 mins. I was surprised to realize that after 3 days I was actually feeling a sense of calmness. Call it what you will, but I call it a new addition to my life and routine. Those few minutes of quiet each day feel like a total gift.

I am currently on day 11 and will update after I am through the 21 day challenge.

Field Trip!

On the fifth week of James' graduate program his incoming class was invited to attend a field trip for 4 days in the Sierra Nevada Mountain area. This educational experience included tours and trips to Mono Lake, Yosemite and a ghost town called Bodie. We camped for 4 nights with his class in Lee Vining, just outside of Yosemite. The most amazing thing about this trip was that it brought us back a previously visited location on our big cross-country trip on the motorcycle. This area was the place that was the hardest day on the trip, as we ran from snow and crossed Tioga Pass (a road that is closed most of the year, with no guard rails and a 9,000 ft. drop). Traveling on this route again really made us both feel like we were right where we needed to be in life. We had make it through that difficult journey and now we had the pleasure of experiencing it through an educational and professional capacity.


Mono Lake

The group trip ended on Thursday. We spent the previous day hiking through Tuolumne Meadow in Yosemite where we crossed streams, climbed on top of a granite hill and found cougar prints. We broke up into smaller groups: hiking, discovering and drawing. The utter pristine conditions of this location was spiritual. We ended the day by all of us hiking up Lembert Dome. It was incredibly steep and the white stone looked like snow. We sat there as a group waiting for the moon to come up and soaked up the sites.


Where we crossed the stream.


On top of Lemert Dome

After the 4 nights as a group James and I continued on to spend 3 more nights camping, making this our longest camping trip ever. We continued through Yosemite, crossing through the valley and continuing straight through to a campsite just outside of Yosemite called Summerdale Campground. A wonderful spot with a stream that I jumped into.

The next day we were on the road early and made it to Kings Canyon National Park. We found a great campsite called Crystal Springs and spent the rest of the day seeing: General Grant Tree (the biggest in this park), we took a panoramic drive and hiked to see the vista, and finally made an awesome campsite dinner with veggie sausage, mashed potatoes and rice.


James down in the canyon.

The following day we woke early and drove over to the Boole Tree, which consisted of a few miles on dirt roads and a hard hike uphill until finally you're alone with the big giant. This site is one that most don't get to see because of the difficulty of the hike, but that really just made it that much more awesome. On the hike down we discovered that the trail we were on was also used for cattle, and we encountered a cow that was lost from its herd. After the hike we got back into the car and drove down to the Cedar Grove area, which was in the canyon of these mountains. The views were dramatic and unlike anything I had seen before. The final stop was by Hume Lake and then back to the campsite where we had pizza.


The lone cow.


The Boole Tree and me.

The last day of the trip we woke knowing that were where going to see the biggest tree on Earth. We had saved the best for last and boy was it! The first stop was right to this tree: General Sherman, and its was definitely worth the wait and the mile hike. We had wanted to see this tree 3 years ago on our big cross country trip, but couldn't fit it into the schedule because of the difficult location of the park. Next we drove over to a meadow area and hiked around a while while it lightly rained. There was a whole grove of giants, and we even drove through one. The hike in the meadow was amazing, and we were able to see a bear and a deer within 100 feet of each other. The final stop before we left the park was Moro Rock, which is a round boulder on top of a mountain. There is a trail of mostly stairs that you can hike up to it. Once on top you are higher than anything else in the area. The trek down was a little scary, but the most frightful part was the lightening we saw in the near distance once we were off the rock. The rest of the day we spent driving home, arriving by 6:30pm.


Driving through a tree.


Walking through a tree.


The Bear!


An average tree in the meadow.


Hiking down from Moro Rock


Together on top of Moro Rock

3 Year Anniversary!

This is an image of our second night of camping. This is the bounty of food that our camping neighbors gave us.


This is the wonderful restaurant that we had our anniversary dinner at: "Windows on the Water." An amazing meal, which was referred to us by the local wine tasting store downstairs.


This was our first attempt at kayaking. A ton of fun!

This year our3 year anniversary found us in Los Angeles. Last year we celebrated our anniversary in Boston, and the one before must have been Florida, I imagine. Given our flexible schedule we decided to take about four days--the first 2 for camping, and the next for our favorite spot in Morro Bay, at Bayfront Inn. We spent the first night camping in the Los Padres Forrest. THe following night we had planned to stay at a different camp site in the park, but this required a river crossing on the motorcycle. We attempted it, fell and then decided to head over to Morro Bay early. We spent the second night camping at the state park in Morro Bay. This campsite, though very crowded, ended up being one of the best camping experiences ever! That afternoon we made our way over to our hotel. The Bayfront Inn is a wonderful little hotel that has some great deals, and is right on the water. The first day we went to a small local music festival, the farmers market and walked around the little beach community. Later we kayaked, went to a wine bar and then an awesome dinner. It was a great couple of days that made me feel lucky to have James in my life.

Florida Trip - May 2010

Best Buddies on the Beach



Hollywood Beach Brunch with Lynlee


Mother's Day with Mom



As I mentioned in my last post, I recently visited Florida. With only 1 week to see friends, family and meet James' family for the first time as his fiance, the trip was really packed. I didn't get to see everyone I wanted, but I did get in some much needed lady time, with some of my favorite ladies.

We arrived the day before Mother's Day. Luckily one of my best friends was off that weekend. Lynlee and I spent the whole weekend together, and even got in a sleepover. That sacred lady time was reinvigorating. I also had the chance to see Alison, who I hadn't seen in at least a year. Another highlight was my first pedicure with Lynlee and Tera. Seeing my mom on Mother's Day turned out to be really nice, and I appreciated catching up with her. Some of the last people I saw were Andrea and Sarah. This was a real treat because Andrea is moving to Tallahasse this summer to start Law School.

Visiting James's family is always nice, but this visit was especially important since we are engaged now. We were both wished much happiness, and they have all welcomed me into the family with open arms.

Seeing Grampie was a fun treat. We did our usually, just like I was still living next store, only it was much too abbreviated.

Lastly, I sadly didn't get to see my brother, or my dad for a second time. Unfortunately, time was short and didn't allow the quality time that was needed. Next visit I will surely have to make more time for them. I did however get some much needed lady time, with my favorite ladies. Thanks for a great visit Florida - see you in December!

Looking Back and Moving Forward

Aventura - Miami Townhouse - Lived there 2+ years


James' Family's House - lived there part time


Last Family House for the Crooke's

A few weeks ago James found out that he would be attending school out here, thus we would be staying in Los Angeles for 3-4 more years. This reality was a tough one to swallow, as I really still consider Fort Lauderdale to be my home. The solution to this problem - visit Florida to see the difference and try to remember why I left. I had one week to visit my family, ,friends and see James' family for the first time as his fiance.

One of my goals when I was there to take pictures of the last 2 houses I lived in, as well as my last family house. This process was about preserving those fond times in my life and remembering that those times have past, and that I am creating new memories, as I am now in another stage of my life. The pictures in this post show those different locations. Of chose they are all slightly different then they were when I lived there, but that too is a great reminder that time has pasted.

While in Florida I felt reinvigorated, and inspired about the path that I am on. Leaving Florida was partially about school, but a lot about finding myself and creating my life the way I want to live it. I was reminded of the small scale of Florida when I was there and the limited options. I really enjoy the diversity of where I live.

So while my plans have greatly changed since I have left Florida, especially in terms of school, I am still on a path that is developing, graduate degree or not. I still believe that I will get through graduate school, and find a career path that I feel strongly about, but in the meantime I am loving California and the awesome nature it provides.

Another School Year in the Bag

On May 4th, I completed a year of art school in the graduate program at Otis College of Art & Design. With only one year to go, I feel complete in my educational experience there, and am ready to more on to an education that can create a job for me. This experience has fulfilled my dream of going to art school, and before I drop another 30 grand, I'm ready to explore a more financially sound future. While I still believe that a person can survive, and even make-it as an artist, there is a life-style choice that has to be made and a lot of luck.

While the good-bye has not been finalized, I am at a point of no return mentally. I have lost my faith and trust in the idea that art with be able to sustain me. I suppose I always knew this, but thought I might have a chance at becoming one of those rock star artists. Upon meeting some of those artists types at school, I've decided that that life is not the one I want.

This last school year was good. I had a successful community based project with the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic, a good LA Times Review, meet some amazing people, got to think and talk art a lot, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of LA.

Now, what do I want to do next?

He's Grad School Bound!

During the first week of March James found out that he will be moving on into grad school. He was formally accepted to Cal-Poly Pomona for their Landscape Architecture Program. This is a 3 year program, with the option for a fourth to double major in Urban Planning. He was also accepted to Cunny in NYC, but we've decided to stick it out here in LA, and see what happens. Beside, Cal-Ploy's program is much better.

As James is about to begin his career path, I am floating around in mine. A year through my MFA and I have a terrible feeling about the direction of this path. Everyone that has come lecture through our program is broke, and has been working odd jobs for the last 10 years and making art on the side. If this is the case I don't think I need to waste another year's worth of money to make that happen. Ah, yes the option to teach in a university. Well, there is always that, but apparently that's just as unlikely as anything else.

So while I'm thrilled for James and our life together, and I'm back at the drawing board for my career. Two masters programs down, how many more to go? For the first time I'm considering the most practical of career paths, and am finally ready to make money. For the time being I'm looking for work, and looking for a new direction.

Spring Break Trip - Part 2

DSCF8341, originally uploaded by JJriders.

Spring time in the desert! Hard to imagine, but around this time of year the desert is full of flowers popping up here and there. While it is still obviously the desert, there are some amazingly, unique flowers that you'll find no where else. This is where the second part of our trip lead us: to Anza-Borrego State Park, which is north east of San Diego, CA.

We reached the destination on motorcycle in one day, and camped for two days.

We were excited to use the motorcycle off-road, and since all the campsites were reserved, this was a perfect spot to test out the capabilities of the new bike. The camping turned out to be great! The first site we visited we dropped the bike, but this time the bike slowly kicked out from under us. We both were able to catch ourselves and immediately stand up. The site we actually stayed at was so amazing and free! We were close to one group of people in a RV, but there were totally quiet and well behaved. This site gave us the best sunset, and was utter wilderness besides this other group.

During the day we hiked around the area of our campsite and found some amazing sand stone. We also saw lizards, a jack rabbit and heard coyotes howling at night. It definitely was still hot and dry turning the day time, even though it's only Spring. The temperature reached about 90 degrees, and I was really happy we had the protective clothing, sunscreen and hats with us, as there was little to no shade.

On the way back home we stopped by Salvation Mountain, Salton Sea and Sonny Bono State Animal Reserve. All really great stops, but would be unlikely as a destination, but if in the area, its worth the stop.

Spring Break Trip - Part 1

During the second week of March I realized that I had a week of Spring Break coming up the following week. Time was wizing by, and I had been hoping to make it down to a friend's wedding in Florida. Unfortunately, between time and funds that trip was not going to happen.

So it was on March 11 that we decided that we would take a short weekend trip to start off my Spring Break, then come back, work on homework and James would go to his classes. We chose Paso Robles as a destination because of the wine county. We have not yet made it over to Napa, so this was our wine country warm-up.

On Friday morning we realized that while we had a destination we had no plans. And since we were traveling over the weekend we knew we needed to make arrangements for a place to stay. Since it is only March, which apparently means it is still cold many places, we chose to stay in hotel. My task for this trip was to find and book a hotel. I had about an hour to look at our options around San Simeon, Morro Bay and Paso Robles area for anything cheap, but not skeezy. This was a large area, and before James had left to class he suggested Motel 6 and said, "Honey, I know you'll find somewhere nice."

So the pressure was on to make this a nice trip, and the proper location of the accommodation was key to this. I decided that we could probably do a little better than Motel 6 and broadened the budget to $100. After looking at Google maps I realized that staying by the ocean would be a real treat. I figured it would be expensive, but also knew that it was the off season, so there were probably deals to be had. I made several calls, looked at the maps, and finally found a great little, independent hotel.

Bayfront Inn was the little gem that I found. It's an older building, but updated and clean, and right across from the bay. At $83 out the door, this was a steal. And on top of that when we arrived to check in our room was upgraded to the king-size bed, with private jacuzzi.

Morro Bay is a lovely little town to visit. That weekend there was a Chili Cook-off that was so popular they ran out of food and drink. We meandered around and found a lovely Farmer's Market where we picked up some snacks for the room. We head back toward the bay to find some food and found a great lunch spot called Hofbrau Restaurant. This is where we took this photo.

Later that night we watched the sun set over the ocean and walk around Morro Rock that you see in the photo.

The next morning we woke up and knew that we had to get over to Paso Robles to check out at least one winery. Before leaving we had breakfast at Frankie and Lola's, which had amazing, original, vegetarian selections. Our destination was Pipestone winery. A sustainable and organic, family-owned operation. This is one of the far-out wineries, meaning its not on the main drag, but totally a great find. We were the only ones there, which allowed us to try many wines and have a great conversation with our host.

It was 5pm already and we were hours from home. We knew that we would be driving through the dark, but were lucky that clocks had just rolled back that morning for Day Light Savings Time. On the way back we saw some amazing flower patches and drove for miles without seeing anyone else. The final last hour was of course the hardest and coldest, but we pushed through it and made it back to LA by 9pm. This trip was a major success.

Next weekend we'll be heading to Anza-Borrego to catch some more amazing wildflower patches.

My First Earthquake

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On Tuesday morning, at 4:30am James and I sprung up and out of bed to a terrible rattling of everything in the house. We looked at each other, and James immediately thought it was the motorcycle that had fallen over. We rushed downstairs to our garage and everything seemed to be in order.

We got back into bed, and tried to figure out what had just happened. Nothing was out of place, or had fallen over. Wasn't that suppose to happen when there's an earthquake? Apparently, it just sounds like a freight train blowing past your house. It reminded me of some friends' places in NYC that lived over a train stop.

It was a 4.4 magnitude earthquake that hit 10 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. We live about 3 miles west of downtown, so I guess we felt the tremors. Nothing was reported damaged, and there were no injuries.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/16/los-angeles-earthquake-44_n_500431.html

Losing a Friend.

On Saturday March 6th, 2010 my childhood dog and friend, Jinger, pasted away at the age of 17 years old. We had brought her home when I was about 12 years old, so she was a real friend during those tough adolescent years. When I moved away for school she stayed with my parents who took great care of her.

Since I'm living in California and am so far away on this day I decided to bake her a biscuit with chocolate chips. James and I hike up a really steep hill and found a little spot my a tree, where I said a few words and left some wild flowers and her biscuit.

Jinger had a good long life, and though she will be missed, she will not be forgotten.

RIP - Jinger Crooke - Dec. 1993- March 2010

My First Art Review

On February 26th, the art exhibit that my program and cohort put together was reviewed by the LA Times. The review looked at the role of community art projects and discussed how sometimes the projects work, and sometimes they fall short.
Here's what they had to say about my artwork in the exhibition:

"Jamie Crooke's partnership with the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic provides one possible answer. Crooke walked the streets around the clinic pushing a cart selling health-related items–bandages, apples, wheat grass seed, Emergen-C packets – in exchange for a dollar or a bit of conversation. In addition to examining the cart itself, gallery visitors can watch a video and flip through a photo book documenting the project. The cart also features a price list including the above mentioned items as well as the cost of one year of employer-provided health insurance (about $13,000) and the annual compensation of United Health Group's CEO (more than $9 million). With this sly, humorous gesture, the piece makes its critical point about inequities in healthcare spending, whether one sees it on the street or in the gallery."

While I am not sure what the future holds for me with this profession and type of art making, one thing is certain: I will also have my LA Times review when I was 27 years old :)

You can read the whole review here:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/02/art-review-love-in-a-cemetery-at-the-18th-street-art-center.html#

I'm Engaged!

On Feb 14, 2010, Valentines Day, James Powell asked me to marry him at the geological site called Devil's Punch Bowl. It was a complete surprise, but perfect timing. We were both ready to let each other and the world know that this is where our relationship is going.

I have to say that the whole thing, the proposal and accepting, was less scary than I thought it would be. As a girl you see so many movies and moments about engagement and always wonder how it will happen to you. Will the ring be in my food? Will he ask me on national television? But in the end, my husband to be picked the most natural - literally in nature - way to ask, which I loved! I imagine that when you have the right person, and you've both already talked about your dreams and expectations, it makes the whole process a lot smoother and enjoyable.

About the date: as of now we are thinking of a longer engagement, maybe 2 years, so that we can both find a little more stability either academically or financially. This April James will know about his school options, which may constitute a move back across the country again. So I think after April we will set a tentative date.

So needless to say, February has been a very full month. There was my birthday on the 10th, our engagement on the 14th, and my LA Times Review on the 26th, which I'll blog about later.

Best Weekend Ever!

On Feb. 13th we set out on a weekend excursion for the long weekend and a much needed break from school. We had a 3 day trip planned, which was mostly a surprise for me since my birthday was that week. So I was lead to believe that this extravagant trip to the mountains in Angeles National Forest, just outside of LA, was a birthday gift, but it was actually much more.

I had asked to go somewhere with snow, as I was actually really missing it, and I wanted to try an outdoor activity like skiing or snow shoeing. We went with the snow shoeing, which was amazing. You can see a picture of us here on top of a mountain, quiet as could be, looking down at an amazing vista. I felt like a mountain climber, or maybe a mountain goat. So on the first day of our trip we went with a small group of people on this snow shoeing adventure before we even checked into our cabin.

James had found this cute little cabin in Wrightwood, and had booked it for the weekend. He did a great job finding this place. It came with a fireplace, full kitchen, television and board games. We did it all: roasted marshmellows at the fire place, played the board game pass the pigs, and of coarse argued about the movie Pretty Woman. And that was just the first day.

The next day was Valentines Day. We had decided to spend it at Devil's Punch Bowl, a geological site on the San Andres Fault line. The pictures I took completely do not do the place justice. I really needed a wide angle lens, but the views wasn't even the best part. As I was staring of the vista, I turned around the find James on his knee with a beautiful ring, asking me to marry him. I was shocked, surprised and elated all at once. I agreed, and we continued our hike as an engaged couple, which I have to admit was really hard not to tell everyone we passed on the hike.

I can't really remember what happened the rest of that day, except a pure state of bliss. On Monday however, we packed up our stuff, loaded the car and decided to go sledding. We found a pretty quiet spot, and thought we would give it a go. I was having second thought about the hill we chose, as it was quite steep, but James went for it. And this was one of the scarest moments in my life. As he slid down the hard ice hill his body vibrated in an unnatural way. I stood there on top of this hill thinking, I've only been engaged for 24 hours and I might have just lost my fiance. When he finally got up I raced down the hill to him to find his hands bleeding. I ran to the car to get the first aid kit and wrapped up his knuckles.

The whole thing worked out. We were both ok, so we decided to just snow shoe a little before leaving this beautiful landscape.

My 27th Birthday!

On Feb. 10th, 2010 I turned 27. I couldn't feel more comfortable and solid about this. Ever since the new year, I've been feeling that this year is going to be a good one, which it is definitely shaping up to be. I feel grounded and ready for what ever will come my way.

This year I decided to have a low key birthday, without a party or friends around. Since my birthday feel on a Wednesday I first had to go to class to talk about my thesis, which was actually a treat. Next I got home, changed into an evening dress and James took me to dinner at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Restaurant in Pasadena. The food was great, and the company and conversation even better.

After dinner we went home where James had a homemade cake waiting for me. It was chocolate with white cream cheese icing, totally made from scratch. That man is just amazing, and gaze me a wonderful day!