ronnie laforet

Remembering the Past While Moving Forward

Ronnie — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:34:28 +0000

Never met her, never heard any stories of her, never saw this picture of her until way after my father died and then I found a photo of her, Maria Halloran Laforet.

Maria was born in London Ontario to Irish immigrant parents. At 28, she married Alexander and had five children. But hey look at that ostrich feather in her bonnet. She is tall as most of my family is. I’d like to think of her costume as navy linen or perhaps maybe claret colored. I really love the pleats at the bottom of her skirt with a small ruffle. My brother, Hank, has her ears……..we always wondered about that. Sometimes she used the last name of Laffrey as well as some of her children.

I wouldn’t have been born if she hadn’t had the survival skills that kept her family thriving. An internet site (ancestry.com) listed the information such as her name and all the names of the women (as well as men) that make up the thousands of relatives I may have never known. Mostly struggling farmers, their history goes back to the 1600’s in New France as well as native people; all of which are survivors, all of which were optimistic enough to not give up. Some part of them, exists in me today. I need to know that, to remember that.

I started this series of brooches: 10×10” image on 12×12” paper; each drawing is named in honor of the women I have found through census records, church records and other families’ shared stories.

Rocks

Ronnie — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 05:41:07 +0000

Other than maps, I love rocks…

Little Gems by Jax from Detroit Michigan

Peacock Jewelry by Cindy from Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Annemsa Designs, California

The Hubble

Ronnie — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 05:31:17 +0000

While living in Florida, I was more aware of the night sky from watching the satellite launches at night from Cape Canaveral. They could be seen from very far away and all the neighbors and kids would come out and just stare as flume turned into orange and the satellite would drift across the sky like a star. No tickets needed for the show. Everyone was the audience.

Galactic Wrecks Far from Earth (Credit: NASA; ESA; J. Lotz, STScI; M. Davis, University of California, Berkeley; and A. Koekemoer, STScI)

Hey there!

Ronnie — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 05:23:07 +0000

I make things. I love bumps and pits. Like this photo of the moon, the texture is import to me. I like to feel the paint surface.

The lunar far side, seen by the LROC WAC. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

In my painting, “Night Sky”, I was young and timid of texture. This painting was done in washes on bare canvas and the built up texture of he surface is white gesso.

Credit: “Night Sky”, 1977, 24x24” acrylic, gesso on canvas. Ronnie LaForet

There were a lot of changes in locations happening growing up and maps were a family favorite. It seemed there was always someplace else to move to. We weren’t from anywhere in particular. For me, the sky was consistent. I could understand the weather, the constellations, comets, planets and more information about the universe as it was becoming available.