Blog

Spontaneous Community in University Glen

Matt — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:50:52 +0000

A peaceful neighborhood nestled in its own valley a mere 5 miles from the coast in Camarillo (CA), University Glen has been a delightful place to live, grow, learn, and love. The neighborhood's tranquility has provided an escape from the worldly hustle and bustle, making for a wonderful place to to marinate my mind in artistic theory and philosophy while enjoying the beauty of the physical space around me. Brooke and I have had the privilege of spending our first two years of marriage here, and it is an experience that we will never forget.

When I reflect on what I love most about this place, undoubtedly it is the sense of community that has grown steadily for two years now. Community growth accelerated quickly when our neighbors Kyle and Lauren introduced Cornhole, a magnificent game involving the tossing of corn-filled canvas bags into a wood cut holes from 27 feet. Since then, many blissful afternoons and evenings have been passed tossing bags into holes. There have been intense battles, staggering defeats, incredible comebacks, and World Cup style dramatics, keeping us healthily addicted to the toss.

"change will only happen if we can continue to step out of our routines each day and focus our minds on filling one hole at a time."

All of the action has drawn many of our neighbors into the Cornhole arena (our grassy common area), unleashing an abundance of character and personality from a broad range of individuals. This mix of personality has created a dynamic fellowship, allowing individuals to enjoy, define, and measure themselves against others. I can say for myself that playing this game in such a beautiful space with these inspiring people has provided a much needed sense of traction and created valuable relationships that simply wouldn't have existed had we all been locked inside our houses. And in this particular time of economic struggle and hardship, our spontaneous community gatherings have provided more than just escape from troubles...They've provided me with a hope for broader positive and dynamic change.

But this change will only happen if we can continue to step out of our routines each day and focus our minds on filling one hole at a time.

New University Glen pool facility

Kyle and Vince debate the score.

Judith Lives

Matt — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:13:40 +0000

Judith Lives. Matt Lawler 2010

Oil on canvas
16" x 20"
Interpretation of Artemisia Gentileschi's "Judith beheading Holofernes"
Matt Lawler

Judith Beheading Holofernes. Artemesia Gentileschi

Art On A Farm

Matt — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 00:55:35 +0000

Art On A Farm Poster. Matt Lawler 2010

An Organicultured art fest on a beautiful farm in Camarillo. Enjoy Live music, painting, photography, installation, interactivities, and a vibrant community. Bring your creativity and your own beverages.

Please RSVP if you can: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=105863609451772

Art N' Facts

Matt — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 00:45:32 +0000

CSUCI Annual student Art Exhibition

Art for Christmas

Matt — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:36:52 +0000

...and Santa has good taste!

Props To My Pops

Matt — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:20:45 +0000

Mark Lawler 2009

Congratulations to my dad, Mark Lawler, On winning the Costco cartoon contest. 1st place out of over 400 applicants. Way to go dad.

I am in AWE.

Matt — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:45:41 +0000

Matt Lawler 2009

I am in AWE.

For this I cannot

take part, but

for the sake of

Love & art.

Solly

Matt — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:34:24 +0000

Solly is a character who interacts with the living world. He travels between the tangible moment and the ethereal realms. He is also a creative director of Artsurfsoul.

Faces

Matt — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:40:41 +0000

I have been drawing faces for 20 years now, and it keeps getting more fun, and certainly more freeing. Faces are the ultimate visual communicator in my mind. We are able to gather so much information from the expressions of a face; we have been trained our whole lives to do so. People often ask who it is that I'm drawing, and most often, there is nobody in mind. The faces that come out of me happen rather spontaneously and typically are the result of my own uncoscious trying to communicate. They end up serving me as puzzles once they are drawn, staring back at me and wanting to be paid attention to. I like to think that each face I draw has a distinct personality and I often feel a very intense freeing feeling whenever a strong character escapes from me and is given conscious life. It is often through these characters that I am able to orient myself in this fascinating experience called "life". They help me gain insight into my my influences, experience, understanding, and reactions to the world around me. My job in this is to be as honest as possible in the creation process, in hopes that a truth will come through.

Visual Communication Design 8th grade

Matt — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:19:29 +0000

Recently I've been working on developing a Visual Communication Design curriculum for 8th graders with my friend and colleague, Adam Codeus. Our mission was to give our creative abilities to the local community the most efficient and effective way possible. We like to think we've come up with a pretty good solution- get in an 8th grade art classroom once a week for 9 weeks with an organized, fun, interactive, and inspiring curriculum and see what happens. The curriculum is comprised of lessons in illustration, perspective, composition, color, identity, lettering, and graphic design. Today was our first day in the classroom and we had the opportuniy to observe and interact with the students before our official curriculum begins next week.

I don't think I anticipated just how much I would be learning too.

Special Thanks to Nicole Smith, my lovely sister in law, for letting us into her classroom for 9 days!