Description Drawing

My photo of me and my old acrobatic partner. Together, we were Summer Salt.


A Boy and His Mastiff

Embroidery Project

"Oh Shit Brother" 24x27

Public Intervention

This video is in the spirit of Lee Walton's "Competitionist."




Like Orozco's "Cats and Watermelons," where he rearranged items in a supermarket, I rearranged these items in a series I call "Making Rainbows."


The Jan Family had their series of fashion photos. I did a series of "fashion with a voice"
photos...

Portland Building's Invasive Species

I really enjoyed Christina Conant's installations in the Portland Building. As an avid outdoorswoman, I am really interested in nature and what is native and not native. The idea of her piece, her statement, and the execution of it all appealed to me. I like the soft crafty look of the installation as well as the weird organic looking scientific organisms. The question as to how humans relate to native and non-native species is an interesting topic touched on in the statement. I don't see evidence of that relationship in this work, but perhaps it would be more apparent if I had seen it in person.
As an installation piece, I believe it is successful because it is aesthetically pleasing while also a bit curious. It would draw me in for a closer look. The white stuff on the ground (sand?) gives the viewer a path to follow that flows organically into, around, and under some of the pieces. I believe her piece would successfully draw attention and make the viewer want to stay away and ponder the space.

Quilted Home

Here is a model of the ranch at 109 Linnett Dr. in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. It is where I lived for about 7 years of my childhood and where I experienced my first hurricane, Hurricane Elena of 1985.

The Monster at 109 Linnet Dr.

The Monster at 109 Linnet Dr.

Christy Hawkins, Chip Hawkins, 10-5-2011

Christy Hawkins: The house was a very long brick ranch, the house we bought when we first moved to Ocean Springs, MS. Is that the right address?

Chip Hawkins: That is the right address

Christy: What year did we move into this house and how old were you?

Chip: It was around Christmas in 1982, I started in the middle of my 8^th grade school year in OS Junior High. I would have been 13.

Christy: Hurricane Elena was when we lived here. I remember the weather forecasters calling it a “monster.” I took this literally, thinking that a big scary monster was going to come out of the gulf and start stomping everything to oblivion. I couldn’t understand why we weren’t leaving and why taping x’s over the windows and tying the Hobie Cat down in the front yard was going to help us. That’s the only preparations I remember having been done for the hurricane. Do you remember more?

Chip: We had a big catamaran that was worth more than any of the cars. We put it on the trailer and parked it in the middle of the front yard away from all the trees. We tied a car to the front, back, and side. The other side was wedged up against the house. Up until the night it hit, nobody was sure it was going to hit or how bad it would be. I fell asleep waiting for it to hit.

Christy: I remember that someone woke me up the morning of the hurricane and brought me to the window to see it. I said, “that’s nothing but a bunch of wind and rain.” Later, I remember watching the trees across the street bend to the ground, then rebound, then bend again, and eventually I think at least one crashed down, snapped near the bottom. I was watching from the front porch with Dad. I don’t remember any interactions with you, Scott, or Mom during the hurricane. Was everyone there?

Chip: We were all home. We had about 6 trees in our yard fall down. They all fell along the back of the house, so the windows were completely covered with tree limbs and leaves, none of the windows broke though. The driveway was in the back and it had three trees fall over it. If the cars had been there instead of protecting the boat from blowing away, they would have been smushed.

Christy: How long did it last?

Chip: About 10 hours. Started about 3 in the morning and the eye came over (the half way point around 8:00 am)

Christy: I remember taking a walk through the neighborhood, during the eye of the storm (another part of the storm’s description that made me believe it was indeed a monster). It was so silent and so still, yet everything was such a mess. I remember that walk being the most dreamlike real life experience. Did you go on that walk?

Chip: I remember hanging out in the front yard looking at the crazy cloud formations. You could literally see the wall of the eye starting right near the ground and going straight up as high as you could see to clear sky at the top. It was big enough that the sun was out, but at the horizon was a vertical wall of clouds all the way around. Like nothing I’ve ever experienced before or since.

Christy: Was there any damage to the house? I can’t remember any, but it seems like we would have lost some shingles or something.

Chip: Lots of trees fell down but none hurt the house. I had built a tree fort in a triangle between 3 pine trees and it looked like shattered toothpicks after the storm. Broke it to bits… I wanted to cry.

Christy: We had lots of trees in our back yard, but I don’t think any fell down. I know there were lots of limbs down and Scott and I found some baby squirrels in the mess. We fed them warm milk with an eyedropper and were so excited when they opened their eyes. Then they died and we buried them in the yard where we had found them. Do you remember the squirrels?

Chip: I kind of remember the squirrels, I was out exploring the damage in my car as soon as I could get away. I had a 4 wheel drive Scout and drove through and over all kinds of stuff.

Christy: Hurricane Elena and Scott telling me that Santa didn’t exist are two of my strongest memories from this house. With you, I remember a game where you tied us up inside sheets and tickled us while we tried to untie the knots and escape. We were always racing a timer and trying to get out as fast as we could. I also remember you trying to teach me Calculus; some problem about a light pole, a 6ft. tall man, his speed, and the rate at which his shadow was growing or shrinking. I don’t think I understood any of it, but I liked hanging out with you. Are there any memories from in this house that stand out to you?

Chip: Lots of crazy memories there. It was my teenage years. 8^th grade to graduation from high school. I remember dad riding his bike on rollers in the doorway to the TV room. It was taking your life in your hands to get by him. I remember video taping you in an Annie play and making and selling 40 copies to all the parents, first time I made a bunch of money on my own! I remember my waterbed and always having it leak. Nothing like waking up swimming. I remember Dawn coming to visit me for the first time with Cassie Grace and they ran over the neighbor’s mailbox. I remember how proud I was that we lived in the biggest house in the neighborhood. It was really long!

Christy: I picked this house for this project because it is the only house I remember where the whole family lived together. I think you went to college and then mom and dad split up and sold the house. Is this right?

Chip: I definitely left for college with everybody in that house. Some craziness happened where everybody moved together to a rental house in Park town East and then the split up must have happened. I pretty much blocked it out of my mind.

Christy: I blocked it all out too. It's coming back to me now though. When we moved into the Park Town East home, Dad moved into his cabin. They were 'separated.' The actual divorce happened years later, after two more houses.