On June 13^th, 2019 my first solo show opens at Western Washington University in Academic Advising in Old Main.

Artists statement: In this show I explore place. It’s important to me to not just view a place and have fun, but to understand where I am. The landscape and the plants are what you see, but there is a story and history to each place. each photo captures one perspective and one moment in time of one place. the past to the viewer can only be inferred based off the visual clues each image shows. And the future of each place is still to be determined.

Photos form: Artist’s point, Mt. Vernon, Hood canal, Florianopolis, Table Mountain.

This past quarter I took a robotics course. It was fun to watch my robots work, and do tasks correctly. These are two robots I was particularly proud of.

Unfortunately, I would not suggest taking the course at Western. The main issue was that RobotC, what you use to program the robot crashes ALL the time.

This is a post on my class, Art 109’s, blog (found here). I’ve made a few minor edits from the original.

Part 1: time period/original intent:

The sculpture was created between 1977 and 1978. The sculpture was gifted to Western Washington University from Nancy Holt to help educate students. The sculptures original intent is related to its celestial aliment to the North Star; however, the work also has an alignment that corresponds with directions, much like a compass. Each set of circular windows goes through the structure aligning with the geographical location of a directing, being N, E, S and W.  I feel Holt’s main intent with much of her work it to be able to create something that allow the view to engage with the work. Many other installation pieces, much like the stone enclosure, associate with celestial alignments; such as, the sun tunnel located In Utah.  The sculpture consists of two rock walls, one enclosed by the other, with sets of windows showing though each direction as well as arched doorways. The sculpture is comprised of radiating color so stone varies with different hues and shades between purple, orange and even tints of blue. The stone is schist stone, brought in from British Columbia for the particular piece. Much of Nancy Holt’s Life was dedicated to her work much like her husband, Robert Smithson, who created the Spiral Jetty. Together they shared a passion for earth worked art.

Part 2: Other works/critics:

Nancy Holt has created a lot of land art. Her most famous work is Sun Tunnels, which lines up with so that the sun perfectly lines up with the tunnels on the solstices. Her land art is meant to draw people to the earth or connect people to the universe. She has a piece called Dark Star Park which are supposed to remind viewers of absence of stars or black holes. Her work often gives viewers a frame from which to view the land. She also creates other types of work including, photo series and films. She created the most films. The films often display of one of her art works, and most of the others are still meant to be experiences of the land. For example, Swamp, is a film where she walks through a swamp.

It is key to note that Nancy Holt’s work is mostly about connecting people to land. Critics have said that Nancy Holt is part of a gouge of pioneers for the land art movement. Her work is may make you feel far from modern civilization, as I among others have noted, but hopefully it will also make you feel as if you are part of the earth, and part of the universe.

Now, take a break from your screen time and go outside! Continue reading Art 109 post Nancy Holt Stone Encloses: Rock Rings →

Give and Take

I want to take a moment to talk about my blog, one mouth in. I want to explain where I get my resources, of which my blog is dependent. What am I willing to take? How do I cite my source? Am I following copy right law?

I always try my best to follow my rules and copy right law as I understand it, but sometimes I will fall short. If I do someone wrong, right now I will say, preemptively, sorry.

I always will try to give a quick mention of where I got something. Not a full citation, but a quick mention. If I get an icon from word, I’ll say “I got it from Word”. I will just take icons from Word and photos/images from the creative commons on Word. I’ll reblog something only if I want it and the poster asks it to be rebloged. I won’t hesitate to make my own work and get it to the blog using one or several of the following: traditional art mediums, scanner, Word, Paint, and Snipping Tool. Where I will ask before blogging is if I don’t have “automatic” permission to post it. Where copyright protects people, I will try to obtain permission or not post it at all. For example, if I’m looking at a website and I learn something interesting I will not copy from the website without permission, nor will I paraphrase it, unless the information is incorporated into my general consciousness and is more my words and my understanding than the website’s.

Now on the other hand, if you see something on my blog you want to use, feel free. I mean it. Just take it, don’t notify me, and don’t hesitate to do so. Please spread the info. All I ask is that you mention you found it on my blog. If you happen to need to cite my blog, hear is the citation info: single author: Ruth Ewald, the date for each post is listed below the tile and in the url for that post, the work is, unless otherwise stated, published online, don’t forget to note the date you visited, the corporate sponsor or publisher is Western Washington University through Word Press, the location I’m posting out of is Bellingham/Western Washington University.

And two last notes. In art 109 Visual Dialogue, Alex Wolfsen and I worked together to publish a post for the class’s Word Press. Our post can be found here. Feel free to check out the rest of the website. Thanks for reading and thanks for following! This has been a long post, so now you should let your eyes get a screen break.

As a women, I must think about rape  and sexual assault. I was reading another blog and came across this. I think it is a good reminder of tips I knew and and a bit of new info. I hope you find it informative.

An Article from

Neena Susan Thomas

“Through a rapist’s eyes. A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interview…ed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1] The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun! , braid, or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.

2] The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women who’s clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around to cut clothing.

3] They also look for women using their cell phone, searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.

4] The number one place women are abducted from / attacked at is grocery store parking lots.

5] Number two is office parking lots/garages.

6] Number three is public restrooms.

7] The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second location where they don’t have to worry about getting caught.

8] If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn’t worth it because it will be time-consuming.

9] These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas,or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.

10] Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you’re not worth it.

POINTS THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER:

1] If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time is it, or make general small talk: can’t believe it is so cold out here, we’re in for a bad winter. Now that you’ve seen their faces and could identify them in a line- up, you lose appeal as a target.

2] If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell Stop or Stay back! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they’d leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

3] If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes,) yelling I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.

4] If someone grabs you, you can’t beat them with strength but you can do it by outsmarting them. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm between the elbow and armpit or in the upper inner thigh – HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it; it really hurts.

5] After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy’s parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you’ll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause him a lot of trouble. Start causing trouble, and he’s out of there.

6] When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly.

7] Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don’t dismiss it, go with your instincts. You may feel little silly at the time, but you’d feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

FINALLY, PLEASE REMEMBER THESE AS WELL ….

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do it.

2. Learned this from a tourist guide to New Orleans : if a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you…. chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car: Kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won’t see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping,eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON’T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side,put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU CLOSE the DOORS , LEAVE.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

a. Be aware: look around your car as someone may be hiding at the passenger side , peek into your car, inside the passenger side floor, and in the back seat. ( DO THIS TOO BEFORE RIDING A TAXI CAB) .

b. If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

c. Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot).

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked “for help” into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

Re-blogged with encouragement from http://dogs-run.tumblr.com/.