the man from Sacramento

Refusing to Specialize, Creative Clones Self

2011-07-13T11:15:00.003-05:00

"Jack-of-all-trades" has a real nasty sting to it. Yet after reviewing the job postings recently, that's what employers seem to be after. Sort of.

Problem is finding the right combination of skills. Most frequently the ability to design front and back end on websites. Well, that won't work for this guy because I'm not a code jockey.

Other than that, is there any way to stay diverse?

@SpencerReady: "@mloreno Nope. Unfortunately, while looking for a job you really want, you have to advertise only exactly what you want to do."

My skills are a little different. Graphic Design, Filmmaking, Industrial Design, all are good skills in and of themselves, but together the make a stange multi-headed Hydra that sends up warning flares to potential employers that this guy is clearly "Master of None."

What do I say to that?

Well, you have a good point.

Clearly there is some Zen to selective ignorance, but all of my interests are my babies and I can't bare to kill a single one. Especially when I'm not currently being paid for any of them.

One set of advise says to create single-minded portfolios and resumés, but is it really better to show very little experience than to show diverse experience? Which things go on which iteration of the newly split self? How flexible is the definition of each job?

So, the pairing begins.

How do you prune your resumé? I'd like some good input on this one, please.

Why Art? Why now?

2011-03-31T14:46:00.002-05:00

Earlier this year, the TED prize was awarded to JR, a French street artist. In his presentation, he requested that everyone participate in a global art project to “turn the world inside out.” He has a very specific vision of how anyone could participate in this by pasting photographs. A year ago, Rockwagon began to dream of a similar project. Just like JR, we want to turn the world inside out, but we have our own methods.

While studying renaissance art in 2005, I was in and out of cathedrals all over Europe looking at the original pieces. No prints or reproductions, these were the canvasses the artists had toiled with. It was breathtaking to encounter the brushstrokes and pigment in their actual physicality. Near the end of my studies, I began to notice something hollow and haunting about the rooms where the pieces hung. Often these spaces were empty or under-utilized. When we would spill back out onto the street outside, there was no shortage of people, but they had no idea what incredible treasures were inside. I wondered, “is this what was intended when the art was made?”

After a little prodding into historical accounts like Vasari’s “The Lives of the Artists,” I discovered that no, the paintings were not meant to be entombed. They were visual aides! The church had commissioned them to help tell their greatest stories and to reach a mostly illiterate population. They were intended to help transport the viewers to a different time and place so that they could grow and deepen their understanding. Armed with this understanding of art as instructive, character building media, I recast my purpose as an artist. My job is not to make pretty things that make pretty homes. My job is to use my inborn gift of observation to help others refocus and see the world from new perspectives, to remove boundaries of time and space and help people feel things they may have always known.

Never have I ever

2011-03-09T13:20:00.004-06:00

Graphic Design, for me is merely a means to an end. The end is having the capital to do other more interesting projects.

My actual thinking went something like "I'll be a graphic designer so that I can make my own posters when I make my films." In that case, it was having the sweat capital in order to save myself money later while making films. I have ignored the impulse to make films, and have instead focused on other artistic pursuits like painting. The painting, however, has led back around to the film-making.

Does Graphic Design still support this endeavor? Should I turn to other mainline professions? Or is it as I fear; it really is the best home for the creative type as we plug on doing what we love on the sidelines?

Possible Cities for Adventure

2011-03-03T03:03:00.003-06:00

Vienna
Dresden
Berlin
Stockholm
Dublin
London
Paris
Florence
Naples
Rome
Milan
Athens
Zurich

Who else has famous paintings in their old churches?

Dreamline No. 2

2011-03-01T23:15:00.004-06:00

Leave the country.

Long term: Perhaps something like this.

Short term:

Kyle and I are painting live at TEDxOKC and they want us to pitch our idea of traveling across Europe painting in front of cathedrals. We will set up a Kickstarter account to raise funds for the trip and subsequent DVD production of the journey.

(I'm thinking of all sorts of logistical hiccups already, which is good. We like to see them before being onsite. Carry on-)

The first window to go is the month of May. The next is August, but airfare will be higher as it's the height of tourist season... which is a double edged sword. More travelers to see the works performed, more travelers to get in the way. I welcome opinions on this point.

Possible incintives for fund raising include DVDs, thank you notes, archival prints, and for major contributors, personalized live paintings. How do we feel about having a personalized live painting skyped in to your event? How important would it be to keep the finished painting?

So much for finding a Muse first.
The air is electric.

Dreamline No. 1

2011-02-18T10:24:00.002-06:00

I made a small but important step this morning. I went through my underwear drawer and pulled out all of the pairs that I know are uncomfortable. I then wadded them up and threw them away.

It seems silly, but it feels good to liberate myself from those uncomfortable tyrants. Sometimes things exercise the strangest power over you because you paid something for them.

Enough. They are out of my life.

While I've been reading The 4-Hour Workweek, I've been trying to grasp what it is that I would want/want to do if time and money were no object. It's actually kind of hard. I've been trying to be rational for so long that I've killed a lot of my wild desires.

I did think of one thing though- I want to wear clothes that fit. Not just what is sorta my size and is on sale. It's such a small thing, but I feel like it would make a difference. I'm tired of mass-market clothes that are designed for a non-existent "average person," I need to find a really good tailor.

The funny thing about dreaming about what I would want if I removed imaginary obstacles is that looking at what I want- it doesn't seem unreasonable at all.

Doable right away even.

Hm.

Updating Portfolios, Jobs Boards.... there are so many of them.

2011-02-17T23:49:00.003-06:00

Heres a fun little gizmo that Coroflot.com puts out for their profile pages:

view my portfolio:
coroflot.com/mloreno

Hopefully that will open up some of my portfolio viewing.

I still don't really know what I want to be when I grow up. There's a big difference between "can do" and "will do" that people with more maturity seem to have a better grasp on than I do.

The Habit

2011-02-04T12:09:00.002-06:00

According to my marketing outline, It's time to blog.

Today's focus: Brevity.

I am now in Jonesboro. I am starting up a hand-full of ventures hoping that one of them might be a break-away success.

I am reading "the 4-Hour Work Week," and it is making me think long and hard about my definitions of success.

We are near family and that is a reward in itself.

Ease up on the yelling and fist-shaking, grandad, I'm right behind you.

2010-05-06T01:26:00.002-05:00

If you prefer, here is the quick, two-sentence version:
It makes sense that the commodity would shift away from physical resources and towards intangible, emotional benefits. The currency changes when values and interest evolve.

This messier version was drafted in response to a comments section on a company's website. You can read the original discussion here: http://mtmrecognition.com/Post/Show/Gallup-Q12

"I think all of what has been said is valid and adds to the discussion. I'd like to give a voice to the praise-hounds:

I'm definitely one of these narcissistic Millennials. I recently heard someone adapt the "Gen Y" label to read "Gen Why?" I think this gets more to the point of my peer's inherited advantages and disadvantages.

Looking back at the last century, there is a lot to digest. Huge cultural, economic, and geographical shifts have occurred. Each generation claims to be formed by this war or that war, but it is becoming evident that we are all being shaped by an entire century of conflict. At the beginning we were the reluctant heroes glistening with fairy-tale-like nobility. Now under ever closer scrutiny, we are looking less and less like the savior and more like the meddling imperial England we separated from. "Gen Why?" has little choice but to examine the century that has led us down this path and question the fundamentals that underpin the current situation.

William makes an excellent point: at the beginning of his career prosperity was scarce and the answer to many of his needs like food and shelter was, in fact, money. Here in the 1st world, we have made strides to satisfy the needs of food and shelter in the 70 years since the great wars. Young Americans today are (mostly) not striving for these things. They are expected insomuch as they are readily available.

The misinterpretation at this point would be to assume that striving for food and shelter is the optimal situation. Maslow tells us that there is a hierarchy of needs and that once one set has been satisfied; a person is free to consider and strive for the characteristics on the next rung up.

I remember my Grandmother telling me that she wanted to build prosperity for her family for generations, and she did just that. The question now is what goals come next? Maintaining prosperity is not a suitable goal. Money in and of itself is not an answer to anything. There must be a new frontier.

Millennials ask; "Prosperity to do what, and for whom?" A conscientious Gen Y person sees a crossroads. Advancing in the same direction would put the emphasis onto climbing Maslow’s ladder for ourselves and to find out what kinds of treats are at the top. If instead we took a more publican view, we would share our wealth until the gap between the 1st and 3rd worlds narrowed significantly. One seems selfish and the other seems too big to grasp. What then is a Millennial to do? Many check out, some embrace the selfishness, and others see wrecking themselves in the service of the needy as the only noble road. How well these goals are accomplished creates the complex gradient that is the generation now entering the workforce.

The reason for emerging concerns of “Fair Trade” and “Green” are largely due to this complex dichotomy. These issues are naturally undervalued by previous generations who were too concerned with their immediate survival to consider the far-reaching implications of using cheap, yet dirty tools, sources, and trade systems. Consider the environment and the consequences of pollution or the worldwide economy and the consequences of further depressing 3rd world economies to meet a 1st world bottom line. If the Millennial generation can be blamed for gazing too far outside of their own time and space, then the previous generations can also be blamed for their refusal to look beyond their limited self-interest…" [to be continued and edited]

Sea Change.

2010-03-08T23:59:00.004-06:00

We've been praying.

If you begin to notice a slight drop in cabin pressure, it's likely my ego. You'd think that as recognition grows and we get an exponential rise in pats on the back that it would be high time for some "look at my power." Not so.

In fact, I feel terrified at the same time I feel blessed. I know that God is too good to let me amble on the way I am. I know that he wants to mold me and shape me into a better Loren, one more after his own heart. I am glad that the creator of the universe takes that kind of care, but I am also aware that these changes do not happen easily. I know that there is no Novocaine for soul surgery.

He will squeeze me until the darkness in my soul comes oozing out. Then, if I let him, he'll scrape it off. Then he'll squeeze again and more darkness will ooze out. This process will likely continue my whole life. Progressive sanctification is a beautiful, terrifying promise. I really don't want to see all the gunk inside me come out, but do I really want to hold onto it?

It's like trying to walk when your leg is asleep. The pins and needles are horrible but you have to push through it to get your feeling and usefulness back.

Just a warning: this will sting a bit.

Losing and Sub-Par

2009-11-30T22:51:00.002-06:00

Losing
On break today at work we threw around a football. I guess that's what happens after Thanksgiving. Everyone who's interested in football starts narrowing their attention on who does what on the field and who is playing whom. Nobody is interested in the losers. It's expected in a tournament that most people are destined to fail. The losers are relegated to being 'normal,' which may be the worst fate yet.

I caught the ball dutifully and tossed it back over my head. I knew something was wrong but I couldn't immediately pinpoint what it was. In a split second I had a clue that was punctuated by the sound of my wedding ring hitting the pavement somewhere behind me. There was finally a consequence for losing 20 lbs since August. I had lost my ring in the shower before, but never while dry.

I had a moment of panic before I found my ring, seeing visions of my disappointed wife and feeling nauseous about losing it all day. But then I found it. Everything was going to be okay, but now I have reason to be cautious.

Sub-Par
We're sending out a trophy today that is going to cause trouble. I've had a bad feeling about it for weeks, but when I went over to Assembly to see it go into the packaging I became certain. I have tried very hard to maintain a high level of quality in everything I am associated with. It's far too risky to let people know you had a hand in something sloppy. In this case, our efforts have been foiled in more than one way. Our customer (think a very large low-brow sport) has been rejecting designs for this award for over a year and a half, and finally settled on a design that was a monstrous hybrid of multiple designs and styles. Then because of the time crunch the Sculpting team took all of the care of a "just get it done" order.

What we ended up with showed me why "made in China" items are often very different looking inside than the packaging indicates. Technically all the instructions were followed, but looks like the wrong thing from top to bottom. I once heard that "A camel is a horse built by committee."

Today we are shipping out a very expensive camel. I'm certain that I'll see it again. Soon. I'd send it back if I were the customer.

Give it Away NOW.

2009-09-23T20:48:00.007-05:00

Yesterday my friend was walking home with his wife from a bible study in our neighborhood and they got jumped and robbed at gunpoint. After answering my friend's concussion induced loop of the same 5 questions for 2 hours, I wondered; "How could this be prevented?"

I wondered this out loud with another friend as we staked out their house to make sure the thugs didn't try to use the stolen keys to get more swag. We talked back and forth and came to the conclusion that we were really concerned for the criminals as much as our friend. Either they'll get caught for this or something else, and then what? They go to jail and get institutionalized? They'll probobly end up worse for their time, hardened by the system and more jaded about justice than ever.

It was with this sinking feeling of hopelessness that I slunk into work this morning. Then my email reminder popped up: "Meeting: Opportunity Day: 1:30pm."
Through divine intervention, my questions and feelings of dispair were quelled in a meeting arranged by the United Way. Representatives from many of the partner organizations came and talked to us about mentoring and how to get involved in young people's lives before they get involved with gangs or other trouble. As one of our middle managers was wrapping up he dropped the line that cemented the application for me:

"If you really think about it you're going to pay no matter what. You can either invest your time and money in these kids today and get them on the right track, or you can wait until they join gangs and start doing drugs and acting out and pay for the prisons and rehab programs with your tax dollars. It's your choice when and how, but you will pay."

The TEFLope

2009-09-23T16:08:00.006-05:00

What do you think about the logo ideas?

Penelope and I registered TEFLope.com the other day in hopes of putting up a website next year as her Masters thesis project. The idea is to have a TEFL (teaching english as a foreign language) resource site that will have materials for students and teachers. The most successful example is Dave's ESL Cafe. The selection of English language sites are wide and mostly undesigned with mediocre user interface and really confusing layouts.

So, there is an opportunity for improvement.

Penelope and I had joked for a long time about her studying TEFL to become a TEFLope (aconym + end of her name) and For lack of a better way to brand the site, we're going to let the TEFLope guide you to become a better student and teacher of English.
For my part, I'm going to need to learn a lot more about website design which is good because all of the job postings I've seen are begging for designers well-versed in web. I have some of that down, but we can always learn more, right? I'm planning on picking up XHTML, CSS, Ruby and PHP.

Does that sound like a good set of skills to design and implement an interactive website?

It will have at the minimum: file downloads, interactive games, submittable tests, user login, comments, and some sort of podcast player

Please also give your feedback about the first two logo concepts!

Weekend in Jonesboro

2009-06-22T00:04:00.003-05:00

We had a fun time for my cousin's wedding in Arkansas this weekend. My Aunt was distributing the remainder of my grandparent's estate, of which my part was some really cool camera equipment that I have no idea how to use. The lenses don't fit my Nikon, but maybe there's an adapter out there somewhere. For the time being, I'm holding hem up to my digital Nikon body and not worrying about light leak. There are some really cool macro lenses in the lot that have conveniently made their appearance for Tiny Art June.

St. Rose of Lima

2009-06-16T01:27:00.004-05:00

St. Rose of Lima was an early North American Saint who lived a life of piety and chastity teaching the native children in the Missions. Even after her confirmation as a saint, questions about her sanity still linger. I like the idea of having saints that push our understanding of salvation, biblical study, and the way that we view the mentally infirm.
In this unfinished painting I'm really trying to grapple with mental illness and suffering the stigmata all in one composition. I think it has taken a decidedly Francis Bacon-esque tack in the last few days. Not surprising given some of his subject matter.

Media Frenzy Weekend/ "Saul, Saul" Inspiration Unearthed

2009-06-15T10:18:00.004-05:00

This weekend was some good exposure, I think.
I got MLorenO.com up and running in time for the Sacramento Bee to publish an article about losing residents to Oklahoma. Back in March or April I was contacted through Facebook of all things asking if I wanted to participate in an interview about why I moved to OKC. I agreed like the media leech I am, and then after the first round of e-mail based interviews they decided to send the reporter out here with a cameraman. The result is that I ended up on the front page of the Sac Bee in my bike shorts. I feel like Liz Lemon with the rubber chicken. 30 Rock tried to teach me this lesson through anecdote, but did I listen?

Also this Sunday, FusionOKC, a church group that meets in the Convergence Collective in the Plaza District used my painting of Saul as a visual aid for the sermon. During the video interview I was able to recall inspirations for the painting that I hadn't faced in over a year. I was glad to remember those things and I sincerely hope it helped people to better connect with the lesson. Here it is:

Chandler & Price c.1889? We'll see...

2009-06-10T17:06:00.004-05:00

Found a press down in Norman that was almost 100 years old when I was born. I love that idea. It'll need some restoration, but with Dylan's help, I think we can do it pretty easily.

Ultimately the goal is to open up shop on a local letterpress shop in Oklahoma City. Preferably somewhere in Midtown. We've talked about offering foil, blind emboss, cutting, scoring, and perforation.

I also found the same press FOR FREE in Seattle, but A)the guy hasn't replied, and B)it'll cost an arm and a leg to get it out here. Maybe Local is the best bet anyway.

Local guy also has a tabletop Kelsey and some type drawers, which I think, in my humble opinion, are the best bet for a small startup.

Taking votes on names for our Imprint:
*Windy Press
*2 White Indians
*Snowbird Press
*Union Mission Press
*War Chief Press
*Cycle Press
*Sprocket Press
*(additional suggestions)

post your comment , help choose our name!

Tiny Art June

2009-06-05T00:04:00.002-05:00

{Growing obsession with finding customer niches}

Experimenting this month with $1 per square inch pricing on commissions with no minimum size. Micah Matthews has commissioned a 1x1 inch painting, partially to support my art, and partially ( I suspect) just to be a bastard and take me up on the venurable end of my pricing scale. But I'll show him: I'm actually going to do it. Look out for a 1x1 portrait of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Booyah.

Hit me up for more tiny art commissions. If it's less than 6"x6" then it will make it onto Tiny Art June.

Things I actually am proud of at work

2008-07-31T16:58:00.004-05:00

I've been working on a project to "green up" the awards for the Department of Justice. Evidently, they have a quota of some kind.

Either way, It's been a great opportuinity to learn about the supply chain, how "green" is a very broad term, and how to agitate the higher-ups enough to actually get them to order the material to test tolerances and processes.

I would love to try and make all of my projects greener, if only the clientele would demand it. I'm becoming ever more convinced that the customer is the missing link in the green revolution.

The Myth of Redemptive Violence

2008-07-31T15:44:00.004-05:00

If there is any doubt that the God that the military invokes is alien to the Christian God, please admire this idol I helped design for the Air Force's 3rd Herd Combat Communications wing. I'm not trying to get in anyone's face about it, but it really looks like a pagan altar to me. I don't even know what they use it for. Now as a clarification, when I say "helped design" I mean this is exactly what they drew on their piece of lined paper.

So in one hand I have this... thing, and in the other I have Isaiah 45:16:

"16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together."

Hmmm... what to think.....

Wishing Well

2008-02-29T17:50:00.003-06:00

This is what I've been up to.

A home for Pocket litter

2007-12-14T12:40:00.000-06:00

We stayed at a hotel in New York that was designed by Philippe Starck and there was this great change dish, wallet/key/cell phone holder mounted on the wall. it was probably the 5th day we were staying in the room when I suddenly realized it was a soap dish. Out of the context of the bathroom, the chrome ellipse seemed so innovative. Naturally, when ACE Hardware had soap dishes on sale for 10¢ at their "Garage Sale" in September, I snagged one. I installed it a few days ago, and I am quite pleased.

Linda

2007-12-14T02:19:00.000-06:00

My dear friend Paul Wilkes is a very talented photographer here in the city. A link to his personal and professional sites are available to the right.

Over the time that I have known Paul, I also got to know his aunt. Unfortunately she passed away this semester, and between starting a new marriage in August and a semester of interning and classes, it failed to register. Tonight I was reviewing some of his work and ran across this photo on Paul's Flickr page and it all came rushing at me. I can't remember the last time I cried, but I think it was during "The Pursuit of Happyness" at a moment when Will Smith was being an especially good father (thats what always gets me).

Tonight I cried for Linda. God bless her.

Its "Allgood", not "all good"

2007-12-14T01:08:00.000-06:00

There is a wonderful man who lives below us. His name is Lloyd and he makes my day, everyday. Most days when I come home from school, he's out standing on his porch, a modest slab of concrete behind a single wall. Lloyd is never alone. He is usually accompanied by his iPod, a dirty martini, a Churchill cigar, (or more often) all three. He listens to any combination of Scottish bagpipes, Italian opera, or country music while he puffs and sips. When I see him, I might just wave, or I might just spend 2 hours shooting the breeze. Lloyd isn't like most of the other 60-something guys I've met. Lloyd never tells me the same story twice. Not that he's making it up, he seems to be able to keep track of all the history we've covered and starts on something we haven't touched on.

Lloyd isn't retired quite yet, but he's pushing it. Soon he'll get his penchant and be able to move back into his RV and back on the road. The only thing keeping Lloyd here is the high-speed internet. When he retires, there's no more demand, and he'll be free again. He's made his career being the only guy left who saw the system his company uses through it's entire lifetime. More often than not he'll get a call asking why the system does such and such, and he'll answer with all the eloquence of a southern gentleman. He wants me to make him a logo for his consulting business after he retires and frankly, I've never been more excited to do a favor for someone I've known so briefly.

Today when I was having my daily chat with Lloyd before my last final of the semester, He imparted some wisdom to me. Maybe everyone else understands this, but for me it took the well spoken hedonist standing out in his sweats and slippers to sink the ball. "This is what you simply must understand about an undergraduate education. You are being given some incredible information, just top notch stuff. But that's not the point. What they're really teaching you is how to find that information. It's there. These professors are showing you how to access it." I guess I was ready to hear it because nothing had ever seemed so true. I wish I had heard and received that interpretation of the college experience some 5 years earlier, but I am certain that it would have fallen on deaf ears. I sincerely believe that people play vital roles in our lives at exactly the time that they are supposed to. So many relationships have seemed to make such a drastic impact for the time that they occur. Lloyd went on to get sentimental about being in college. I told him he should go back when he retires. He shrugged and mumbled something about studying law... maybe. I shot back that he should be an adjunct professor and he lit up. "Oh, now you're tempting me!" is all I heard as I ran off to finish the fall semester.

Great gift idea

2007-12-13T11:05:00.000-06:00

Tiealign© is is one of those things that is so wonderfully obvious that it makes me a little jealous that someone else came up with it first. This would make an excellent gift for anyone who wears ties. I'm trying to think of of guy who genuinely would never find an opportunity to wear them... nope, even the sloppiest guys I know wear ties occasionally and they probably need it more than most. Although I will admit that it seems like it would take a bit of the romance out of the whole tie affair, much like one of those zipper ties or the classic clip-on. Wait, those are totally unrelated, never mind. The Tiealign still seems like a really cool idea and priced at $5.95 for 5, it is very hard to argue with it's practicality. Especially here in windy Oklahoma where I have on many occasions walked into buildings with my tie over my shoulder.

For those who simply must know

2007-12-13T02:20:00.001-06:00

Tonight's Googling led to some very amusing copy brought to you via 1850. Rapture, I'm certain. (the footnotes and commentary get special mention)

Old Chrome

2007-12-11T18:22:00.001-06:00

I found this photo on deviantART. I like it and it is my background.

Penelope thought it would be nice to share.

Sainthood

2007-12-11T09:38:00.000-06:00

According to Jim Holt in "the life of a Saint" the nature of the successful artist and altruist are similar in that they destroy normative social conventions. That means one more tick on the scoreboard for fame=evil.

The Lineup

2007-12-10T11:42:00.000-06:00

On friday, we hosted our first couples' wine tasting. Here is the lineup (reviews to follow):

the crests

2007-12-06T13:05:00.001-06:00

These are the new creations based on the research.

The whole concept of symbolic Heraldry is a wild notion. Some of it is pretty cool, and some of it is admittedly pretty goofy looking on the surface.

I mean come on? An anchor? Who am I, Popeye?

Slow mornings

2007-12-06T11:53:00.000-06:00

The end of the semester can be hectic. It can also drag out unduly.

Next Wednesday will prove interesting as I sit down with Matt Stansberry for a chit-chat about my plans for the future.

Last night I was telling the wife about what I posted and she suggested that I should have drawn the dining room table instead. Not a bad idea, but she hadn't actually seen anything yet. She approved when she saw the exploded view and the context. Why not do the table also? That's what a blog is for, right? Ceaseless proliferation?

The swatches are indicative of the red legs, gold leaf center, and alternating hospital-turquoise and espresso brown squares.

One of her Japanese students sent me this innocent email:

"Hi, Loren.

I searched about "Family crests" in one of my classes, and I heard you have a "family crests" in your family. I want to know about that. like...what's the meaning, when that crest was made, like that. If you have a picture of that, could you sent it to me?"

Sigh. To her credit, it does seem like a simple question. What transpired in my attempt to answer the parts of her question was a miniature research project fronted by many dead ends. In the end, though, I was satisfied both in my answer and finally having taken the time to figure it all out for myself. This was my reply:

"Each last name in Europe has a family crest attached to it. You can search almost any European surname and you can find out what it's crest is.

In France they are called Fleur-de-lis (means something about flowers, a common symbol on French crests).

In English they are called "family crests", "coat of arms", "shields" or "heraldry". all of these terms are for very specific parts of the family symbol, but are often used to talk about the whole thing. For example: I call the symbol a "crest" when the crest is reall only the decoration that goes on top of the families' helmets.

Most have some kind of reference to the military and are from the pre-renaissance time period.

My family crest for O'Laughlin is Irish and is of "A red shield with a knight in armor facing the 'sinister'(Latin for left), shooting a bow and arrow." there is also an anchor which represents "Hope; religious steadfastness" on top of the family helmet that matches the family motto "Anchor of salvation." The red represents "bloodshed; either a warrior or a martyr". the warrior would make the most sense in mine because of the Knight which represents "The soul guiding the body; man's journey through life." The bow and arrow represents "War, power, ability to hit a target"

Penelope's family crest for Stewart is "A gold shield with a fess chequey blue and silver." the gold represents "Generosity and elevation of the mind." The fess chequey is a horizontal band of checker-board squares in blue and silver that represents "Constancy with peace and sincerity (silver) and Truth and loyalty (blue) ." the crest on their family helmet is of a pelican feeding her children which represents "Self-sacrifice and charitable nature; When feeding her young ("in her piety"), symbolizes the duties of a parent or parental love." Their family motto is "Courage grows strong at a wound".

The meaning of every family crest is complicated, conflicting, and full of history. With each new generation a might be added to the crest if one desires. That is one reason there are so many variations. The important thing is that you can identify the crest by it's written description. that is the basis of the design. the way those pieces are drawn is up to the artist, like the two similar O'Laughlin crests I attached: the meaning is the same, but they are drawn very differently. the two stewart crests, however are totally different families that are unrelated in recent history.

This site explains the evolution of family symbols and how they were used; http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp/sID./kbId.3/title.Family+Crests+and+Coats+of+Arms%3A+Elements/qx/knowledgebase.htm

Here is a page the explains what the symbols in a family crest represent: http://www.fleurdelis.com/meanings.htm

I hope this helps."

And in my inbox this morning:

"Hi, Loren. Thank you for help me.　I really appreciate it. I will tell about your family crests at today's presentation. I collect your story. It will be good!

Thank you very much."

It really makes it all worthwhile.

Not to mention I have the new preoccupation with trying to improve the O'Laughlin coat of arms and/or incorporating the two families' crests.

day one; life in the dust bowl

2007-12-06T00:54:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time I lived in sunny California. Not so true anymore. At times with reluctance, and sometimes with gusto, I have begun the process of making Oklahoma City my home. Finishing school at Oklahoma Christian University, chasing internships, and charting the course of a brand new marriage take up most of the time I have. Sometimes I can steal a few moments here and there to paint, but my unfinished works are currently serving as a makeshift coffee-table in our small but comfortable apartment on the upper east side.

Essentially, I have adopted a policy that all art will be useful in one way or another. It can be an effective means of communication, express some deep wordless struggle, or in this case provide an elevated surface for beverages, stereo remotes, and be the staging ground for such penny-pinching activities as making one's own wreath or wrapping employee-discounted gifts.