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My loyalty to Uncle Rex even when he's mean comes from a lot of sources, including that he needs someone in his court who loves him no matter what. He's my teacher and my parent, and while he may be self-defeating, he is an artist and he is passionate about artists. He can look at something really great and say "that is really great" and he means it and would die for it and knows what he's talking about.
He is also the only member of the family who actively likes my work and is glad that I'm an artist instead of an engineer. (I will note that Dad is pleased I have gone into film, where I am the boss of lots of people and juggle money and contracts and schedules. He is pretty proud.) It's not too rough, and it doesn't bug me much because it's honest and not personal - I tend to be into different art styles and movements than Mom and Dad are, except where theatre is concerned, and we never live close enough together that they can see me in theatre shows, which anyway would make me nervous. They think I'm a good singer and a good actor and a good humorist, but these are de facto sorts of things that everyone in the family is good at.
Uncle Rex is more enthusiastic and claps and puts even my silliest things on the refrigerator even though I am 28. There is nothing embarrassing about it and it is nice. Reciprocally, I display his sculptures and bug him about his novel and do tarot readings which he takes over.
Anyway, I think the only reason my sister likes me is because I am her sister and we have this history. And she does like me and asks for my help on stuff, but she finds a lot of my ideas very strange and is either upset or bored by my work and anyway doesn't want to think about it (except the funny stuff, which she also doesn't want to think about or examine on any deeper level of "hey, there is craft behind this" because she is used to people in our family being funny). And I realize she will always be more mainstream than I am, and is from a generation that has trouble committing to emotion, and that I am not the easiest person to get along with anyway - I sort of demand a lot from interactions, you know? I don't relax until there's a video game. Or food. And she comes from a different family, one that had money and lived in the suburbs and didn't move every couple of years and was conservative, which is not how I grew up. She worries a lot about money and status and permanence and drugs and alpha states and if she met someone like me, she would like me, but only because she grew up with someone like me. And it makes her proud and protective, and not so mainstream as all that, but not when she has to think about it on a deep level - vis the deep level that art approaches, and it really makes me sad because I like her work. Much of which is about me.
He is also the only member of the family who actively likes my work and is glad that I'm an artist instead of an engineer. (I will note that Dad is pleased I have gone into film, where I am the boss of lots of people and juggle money and contracts and schedules. He is pretty proud.) It's not too rough, and it doesn't bug me much because it's honest and not personal - I tend to be into different art styles and movements than Mom and Dad are, except where theatre is concerned, and we never live close enough together that they can see me in theatre shows, which anyway would make me nervous. They think I'm a good singer and a good actor and a good humorist, but these are de facto sorts of things that everyone in the family is good at.
Uncle Rex is more enthusiastic and claps and puts even my silliest things on the refrigerator even though I am 28. There is nothing embarrassing about it and it is nice. Reciprocally, I display his sculptures and bug him about his novel and do tarot readings which he takes over.
Anyway, I think the only reason my sister likes me is because I am her sister and we have this history. And she does like me and asks for my help on stuff, but she finds a lot of my ideas very strange and is either upset or bored by my work and anyway doesn't want to think about it (except the funny stuff, which she also doesn't want to think about or examine on any deeper level of "hey, there is craft behind this" because she is used to people in our family being funny). And I realize she will always be more mainstream than I am, and is from a generation that has trouble committing to emotion, and that I am not the easiest person to get along with anyway - I sort of demand a lot from interactions, you know? I don't relax until there's a video game. Or food. And she comes from a different family, one that had money and lived in the suburbs and didn't move every couple of years and was conservative, which is not how I grew up. She worries a lot about money and status and permanence and drugs and alpha states and if she met someone like me, she would like me, but only because she grew up with someone like me. And it makes her proud and protective, and not so mainstream as all that, but not when she has to think about it on a deep level - vis the deep level that art approaches, and it really makes me sad because I like her work. Much of which is about me.
