Derek came over again this morning and we spent a pleasant morning shooting video of more people’s eyes for the “Eyes of My Ancestors” project. The due date has moved to the 1st November, so I have a little welcome extra time to prepare the edited version of the piece. With the new semester beginning and lots to figure out for the Art department and for my own classes I’m very happy to  have a bit of leeway for the project. We noticed the great variety of faces, from the  simple proportion of the eyes to the length of the nose, and the surprising amount of character that could be conveyed through simple movements and gestures; the blinking and fluttering of eyelids, the wrinkling of smiles and frowns.
Here in Thousand Oaks we can see enormous smoke clouds to the East of us towering over the San Fernando Valley, casting an apocalyptic shadow upon the landscape. It’s dramatic and frightening when these fires happen, especially when they come close to the city to threaten homes and lives, even when we live at a safe distance from the fires, where the slow air carries delicate ash and pungent bonfire smoke of burnt sagebrush far from the whip of flames on mountainsides.
