Lovelier Thoughts

Yellow Bicycle Films?!

2011-01-22T01:40:00.000-05:00

Please don't freak out! You're about to be redirected to my new blog url, where I'll explain everything.

Have a lovely day!

CURIOUSER (and CURIOUSER and CURIOUSER) Now in HD!

2011-01-21T18:06:00.001-05:00

Hey there! Remember me? I decided today that I'm going to stop making excuses and start posting here more. Especially since I've been working on some really cool projects lately!

Remember my animation Curiouser (and Curiouser and Curiouser)? Well it is now on Vimeo in HD! I finally upgraded to a Vimeo Plus account (as a birthday present from my family...did I mention I recently had a birthday?), which means I can upload everything in beautiful HD quality. Just look at these!

And in case you were wondering just how Meredith was able to fly and fall, you can see the process in the behind-the-scenes video. It's pretty amusing. And yeah, that would be me, the insane one running up the ladder to take one picture, back down, moving things incrementally one frame at a time, back up the ladder... Don't worry, though, my hair's not that color anymore. Back to it's natural blonde :)

Check back for more HD videos soon, including some I haven't shared yet!

Embroidered Portrait of McKenna & Grace

2010-12-22T19:17:00.000-05:00

Can I just say that I'm probably the best sister ever? Because it's true. Haha. This is a picture of my sister McKenna (on the left) and her friend Grace at their freshman homecoming a few months ago. Well, this weekend, McKenna realized she still needed a gift for Grace and had no money. I offered to make a pocket friend, and instead, McKenna had me do a portrait. Which takes a LOT more time, not to mention skill. Oh, and patience. Up until this point, I've just been doing sketches, nothing completely finalized. But Kenna needed the gift in a few days, so I put on my safety goggles (Did I mention I wear safety goggles when I sew? Haha, I'll explain later.*) and went to work.

This is made doing free motion machine embroidery, which means I'm using a sewing machine, but moving the hoop around myself (as compared to having a computer move it around). So there's a lot of opportunity for mistakes, and with such tiny stitches (most of the time) it's almost better to start over than try to rip them out. So I really have to be patient and take my time. This piece has 5 different colors of thread (which means changing the bobbin all the time) on symphony broadcloth, stretched on an 8" wooden embroidery hoop lined with purple ribbon.

Here's how it turned out!

Faces.

Texture.

Tight little stitches.

Ribbon.

This seems dorky, but I get really excited when I can sign my name on something. I mean, you can't really sign animations, and I'm really apprehensive about calling something art/worthy of being signed. I guess. But I figured I might as well go for it.

There are a lot of things I would have liked to fix, but it's pretty difficult, not to mention time consuming, to rip those stitches out, and I wasn't getting paid (like I said, best sister ever). I'm going to try to do a few more finished pieces and sketch some more. And when I put up my Etsy shop (another one of my projects for break) I'm going to have listings for custom embroidery portraits. I just need to figure out a few logistics first.

Luckily, Grace really liked this, and I've gotten a lot of great feedback. I'm hoping the same is true when I finish this next one. Hahaha, I can't wait to show you!

HOLYCOWISITREALLYDECEMBER22ND?

2010-12-22T18:27:00.000-05:00

Yikes. Somehow, the never ending semester ended. Somehow I survived. And I'm really proud of what I accomplished. I finished my critiques on Wednesday the 8th, and spent the rest of the week wrapping up my life in Cleveland and letting things wind down before returning to Detroit. That's always the best feeling in the world-when everything just stops and you don't know what to do with yourself, so you end up finding a hill on the side of the road and sledding on still life paintings with a few good friends.

I've definitely been keeping busy, though. After my last critique, I still needed to render out a file in animation compression and 1080p, plus there were a few [barely noticeable] things I wanted to tweak, just so I don't go crazy every time I watch it. But the rendering process has been a nightmare (why is that always my luck?). I had 52 GB free on my laptop, so I cleared off even more, to the point where I had 170 free GB. Which worked better, but the rendering still failed. Everything that rendered was huge. The file that was the closest to finishing was 52 GB! That's a new record for me! I finally had to render out 15 second segments (of a 6 minute piece!), hoping to splice them together on a new timeline (but that failed as well). For the time being, I managed to get a 1280x720 movie file that plays beautifully, that I will live with until I can have some teachers look at the file next semester. I'm hoping to have it online next week for everyone to see. Why the wait? The one thing I reallyyyyyy wanted for Christmas was a Vimeo Plus account. And I'd rather wait and upload it at the larger resolution (Plus accounts have HD capability!) because it looks so much better huge.

Part of a scene from my animation, which isn't really in black & white.

Since I got home, I've made 6 Sculpey monocles, 5 Shrinky Dink necklace charms, 4 pocket friends, 3 animations with Mia, 2 little sketchbooks, 1 embroidery portrait of my sister McKenna and her friend Grace, and half a legwarmer. And that wasn't intentionally like the 12 days of Christmas until I realized I had sequential numbers and put them in order. Haha. But I'll do a few separate posts on these little projects. And there are many more to come, because I have a lot I want to accomplish!

I always think it's funny that so many art students can't wait until break so they can make art they want to make. Not that we don't make art we want to. We just don't always have time to make Shrinky Dink portraits of Revolutionary War heroes or detailed illustrations of UFOs. Haha, well I am definitely enjoying my break so far, but I'm already itching to go back!

Not much has changed.

2010-12-03T21:07:00.000-05:00

When I was in kindergarten, I liked owls, unicorns, and bunnies.

When I was in first grade, I asked my teacher for more homework because it was too easy and not enough to entertain me.

I'm now a junior in college.

I love owls, unicorns, and bunnies.

I take on projects that are way too big because otherwise, I get bored with them.

Not much has changed.

Reasons December is Pretty Great:

2010-12-01T16:53:00.000-05:00

1. Sometimes snow can be pretty. Granted, I don't really appreciate snow. I walk far too often and wear far too many layers to really look forward to it. But today, Cleveland got it right. Aside from our little incident at the beginning of November (oh yes, the one day the bus didn't come, making me walk to school in the snow that was coming down so hard that my hair was literally dripping wet by the time I walked inside, only to realize that I left my laptop charger in my apartment and had to go back), this is our first snowfall. And it's barely there. Just enough to coat the ground and cover the grass. At least, that was the case before I got to my studio. I guess we'll see what happens later tonight when I get kicked out of my studio and go home to work.

2. Mittens are really cute. Especially ones with bunnies.

3. Christmas creatures are some of my favorite animals. Especially when they include owls!

3. Handmade ornaments are probably my favorite thing I wish I collected, because I collect collections. But unfortunately, being on a student budget and not having space for a tree in my apartment, I haven't gotten into it yet. I have, however, started making my own ornaments! (But more about that later.)

4. One week from today, I will be done with critiques, which means I can hibernate, which I'm looking forward to.

5. My 21st birthday is in 23 days! The holidays are sure to be very jolly for me! Ha!

6. Christmas!

7. I get to go home and spend a few weeks with my best friend.

If there's one thing Holden Caufield taught me,

2010-12-01T16:41:00.000-05:00

It's that sometimes it's easier to just pretend your deaf. I know. That's a horrible thing to think. And even more horrible to do. But when you're the kind of person that people (complete strangers, mind you) just love striking up a conversation with, it would be so much less painful than being polite. Unfortunately, if it's someone you see frequently, it's a little harder to get away with. And it would probably be easier if I really was deaf. Or if I had noise-canceling headphones. That' would probably be better. Especially since it's December 1st, which means I'm allowed back on Pandora! (Did you know they limit how much you can listen each month?! I was kicked off over a week ago! How else am I supposed to listen to 1950s Christmas music?)

Ps. Holden Caufield taught me other things, too. To be fair.

My room is a mess.

2010-11-29T22:24:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to take the bus home at a time I normally never do. I saw shadows I normally never see, and I am quite taken with shadows lately. I think this infatuation started when I began tracing shadows of grass and dandelions in my sketchbook, which is a lot harder than it sounds. There is a window in the library, with a shade that is damaged on the opposite side. By what, I am not sure, but I know that the stain creates a beautiful pattern, especially on days like today, when Cleveland is confused and finds itself abnormally sunny and smelling of spring. These intricate shadows are my favorite. Ones that are so fine, lines that are so anemic that it's hard to distinguish between cobwebs or tangled threads or marks in graphite made by an artistic two year old or these dances between light and dark. Hot glue trails make lovely shadows. Lace, of course. Anything knotted or twisted or interlocking. Branches with leaves. Branches lacking leaves. I often find myself tracing them with my eye, but if I had my way, there'd be graphite all over my walls, recording the departure of autumn as the tree outside my window shed its summer skin.

Today I decided I would sew. Not embroider, although I've been tempted, and am still contemplating it... Just sew. I have a garment to make for my fibers class that will (if all goes according to plan) reveal invisible forces. I'll talk more about that another day. This garment, a dress, actually, is to be made of layers of chiffon, which, although incredibly lovely, is the biggest pain the butt to work with. So tomorrow morning, bright and early, my roommate and I will head out on an excursion to Joanns so I can purchase a rotary cutter and even more fabric.

My room is currently a disaster area. I have pocket people hiding everywhere. Storyboard contact sheets spread across my bed. Photo history flashcards spilled next to my record player. Record sleeves resting on nearly all horizontal surfaces. Chiffon fabric everywhere. Scraps everywhere. A nice pile of loose threads clumped on my drawing table. Newsprint pad leaning on my closet door. Patterns made of said newsprint for said garment shuffled across my floorboards. Scissors. Tape measures. Crayola crayons. Sketchbooks. Rulers. Pins. Spools. Saddle shoes and red sneakers and rainboots and vintage boots and warm autumn boots kicked to the side. Winter coat and autumn scarves hanging off my bed.

It's a good thing I never have time to sleep, because I don't have any room to.

Pocket Friends!

2010-11-27T14:54:00.000-05:00

Really, I don't have the time to be posting on here at all. But since I didn't go home for Thanksgiving and instead stayed in Cleveland and worked, I figured I could take a few moments (a.k.a. procrastinate a little longer) and share some of what I have been up to.

Earlier this semester, I decided to experiment with free motion machine embroidery in my fibers class. I think it took all of two seconds before I was completely in love with the process. It seems strange, but as I was free handing my name, I realized that this was the way I think sometimes. A lot of times when I can't fall asleep or can't pay attention or otherwise can't do what it is I'm supposed to be doing, I end up daydreaming about all sorts of silly impossibilities. What if this room was upside down? What if there were waterfalls spilling through the windows? What if the entire room moved instead of my pencil? Well, that is more or less what this form of embroidery is. I move the embroidery hoop around while the needle stays stationary.

I started making portraits of all sorts of people: characters, celebrities, imaginary friends. And in the process, I accumulated a library of images to reference. Maybe I'll share some of those another day. But I really started getting into it. And with each person I looked up or discovered a beautiful picture of, I ended up reading all about them. There are some fascinating folks out there, let me tell you.

Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire

Buddy Holly

Sara Crewe from A Little Princess

George Harrison

Alice Liddell

Oscar Wilde

The next step for me was to make something with these portraits: Pocket Friends. How cool would it be to reach into your pocket and pull out James Dean? Pretty awesome, right? But it doesn't have to be James Dean. It could be Bob Dylan or Holly Golightly or Arthur the Aardvark. Really, you could have anyone you wanted as a friend. Please don't think I'm crazy, now. This idea actually evolved from one of my earliest (and favorite) imaginary friends: Pocket Bunnies. When I was younger, I was INCREDIBLY shy. Too shy, in fact, to play with my imaginary friends. Yikes! So I'd invent these friends, give them personalities, write stories about them, draw pictures about them, but never actually play with them. But pocket bunnies were great because they were just that: tiny little bunnies that I could fit in my pocket without anyone knowing. So before I embarked on making pocket Vanna White or Rod Serling, I made some pocket bunnies and a LOT of pocket owls! There's something quite comforting about having a little owl in your pocket. I've been carrying a little purple guy around for weeks now!

After having a process down, I used this as the basis for a project in fibers. We had to create a gift. That's it. Preferably one that keeps on giving in some way, but it's really out of our hands after a certain point. So I decided to make a gift for Mia, my 4 year old sister and sometimes siamese twin. Here's the thing with Mia: she never sleeps in her own bed. She always falls asleep next to someone else, wherever they are. And she has nightmares a lot. But she tells me that she's brave. She calls herself "Bravey Girl," except when bedtime rolls around. As you can imagine, this disrupts the rest of the household when they have a kicking 4 year old mid-nightmare next to them. So here's how my gift would pay off. I made Mia a little pillow, just her size, with 5 pockets in the back. Those pockets would be used to hold the 5 little pocket friends I made her, all brave girls in their own right. So when bedtime came, she could rest easy with 5 little friends under her head. But she could always pull one out and hold it in her hand, as they were sized to fit perfectly in her grip. A bit like worry dolls, I'm hoping she'll find them comforting. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks when I give them to her!

My typical set up: sewing machine, laptop, record player all close at hand. And a pink ukulele under my table for when I need a break.

Here's the beginning of the process: I use a Mark B Gone pen to draw the characters on the fabric, then embroider them one by one.

Eventually, I end up with a collage of people. You can see the blue ink from the pen, as this was before it had been washed out. Next I backed them with flannel in corresponding colors and stuffed them.

I sewed the pillow, which is smaller than a regular pillow. Use my sewing machine or laptop for scale? Oh, and I ended up on Tumblr for a bit. Haha

Here's the pillow with the 5 girls in their pockets. You can see traces of their lines.

And here they are poking out.

From left to right: Sara Crewe from A Little Princess; Wendy Darling from Peter Pan; Samantha Parkington the American Girl doll; Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden; and Pippi Longstocking.

Here's a better scale reference!

And here they are in action! Haha, this probably gives it away that I finished these around 4am! By the way, have I mentioned that I love aprons? Check out all that extra pocket space! Just think of how many pocket owls I could carry with me!

By the way, this is Fiona, my sewing machine I got last month. Have I mentioned that nearly all of my inanimate objects have names? Halloween candy in the background :) And the embroidery hoops have frames from an animated .GIF.

My mom warned me against certain brands and lower models of sewing machines. She said that I go to art school and would probably end up doing something weird. Well, less than 48 hours after bringing Fiona home and I was embroidering on leaves. Good idea, Mom.

In my studio at school, where I spend 17 hours a day a lot of the time. The PC comes with our studios. Then I bring in my MacBook Pro (Hello Pandora and Conan and Barn Owl). All sorts of images collaged on my wall before they end up animated or in my sketchbook. Some embroideries hanging up. Not safety scissors. OCD embroidery floss. All the little rectangles are part of a contact sheet of all the scenes for an animation I'm finishing up. Animation narration typed out and taped on the computer tower. Stacks of library books for one of my papers (that thankfully is already out of the way). Obese sketchbook filled with collages of sorts. Moleskine calendar/planner that I can't live without. Vintage saddle shoes that Nicholas bought me. I'm in love with them.

Anyway, besides living in my studio and listening to Pandora enough that I have Conan's commercials memorized ("Why? I need a job..."), and besides editing animations like crazy and getting ready for finals (I'm already done with classes!), I've been getting ready for the CIA student holiday sale, where I will be selling (you guessed it) Pocket Friends! Of course, I'm going to add little ribbons so they can serve as Christmas ornaments! Who wouldn't want a pop culture Christmas tree? So far, I've embroidered 4 different images of Alice (of Wonderland), based on the John Tenniel illustrations; the Mad Hatter; The White Rabbit; The Queen of Hearts; Amelia Earhart; Anastasia Romanov (I love missing persons); Bonnie Parker & Clyde Barrow; Buddy the Elf; Clark W. Griswold (Christmas Vacation); Ebenezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol); Gizmo (Gremlins); Jack Skellington as Santa Claus (The Nightmare Before Christmas); Kevin McCallister (Home Alone); Ralphie Parker (A Christmas Story); Scott Calvin (The Santa Claus); Sara Crewe (A Little Princess); Samantha Parkington (American Girl doll); Dorothy Gale (The Wizard of Oz); and Lady Gaga, who, by the way, was Mia's favorite.

So I have to ask, if you could have ANYONE as a pocket friend, who would you want?

Things I Have Been Up To Lately Besides Dropping Off The Face Of The Earth

2010-11-20T00:55:00.000-05:00

Living in my studio. More or less.
Paying 75 cents for coffee and getting 80 cents in change. Thank you, vending machine, for supporting my caffeine habit.
Sewing pocket owls. They're as magical as they sound.
Making pocket friends.
Free motion machine embroidery. I love it.
Buying a sewing machine. See #5.
The opposite of animation. What's that mean? Instead of animating objects and people, I'm animating the camera used to capture them. What's that mean? You'll have to wait until I put it on Vimeo, which will hopefully be December 8th.
Talking with amazing visiting artists like Brent Green and Jim Campbell.
Trying to figure out programming and coding and other stuff that involves math in order to create an interactive installation. Yikes.
Doing the pythagorean theorem. Remember that? Yeah, I didn't. I couldn't even remember what it was called. I just knew there had to be some mathematical way to figure out how to connect a chimney to a roof. Wait, what? Oh yeah, see #11.
Building a fort, 4 foot by 5 foot by 4 foot high, a roof that peaked at 6 feet, and a chimney that was just under 7 feet.
Shedding cardboard.
Sitting in my fort.
Having said fort collapse on me less than 10 minutes before my exhibition started.
Still sitting outside in my collapsed fort for 3 hours.
Not writing my paper that's due Monday. Oops. I guess that's what I'll be doing tomorrow.
Buying beautiful chiffon fabric for a garment I'll be making that I really don't feel like explaining right now.
Not sleeping enough.
Thrifting.
Realizing that the majority of the clothes I own previously belonged to either senior citizens or small children.
Skyping with my favorite 4 year old. We like to talk about boys.
Visiting my family for a weekend.
Enjoying delicious apple cider & donuts at the cider mill. The highlight of autumn, as far as I'm concerned.
Playing flute like crazy. I missed it. And now whenever I take it out, I lose track of time. At least now I have a project related to it. That's an excuse, right?
Listening to Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson, Dion, and friends.
Scheduling classes for next semester. I'm so excited!
Re-reading parts of my absolute favorite book ever. Not that I have time for that.
Writing down my bucket list instead of just verbally announcing things I hope to do before I die.
Wearing beautiful vintage saddle shoes.
Making legwarmers.
Hula hooping. But that's nothing new.
Making mix tapes for Mia, because I gave her my walkman, which she calls her iPod.
Trying to figure out how to use an iPod, since my roommate passed her old one onto me. I've never had one before!
Enjoying CS5. It's beautiful.
Collaging. More than I had the chance to last year, but not as much as I'd like to.
Watching Love Actually even though it's a little early.
Getting into George Harrison.
Wishing there were closer to 32 hours in a day. Think of everything I could get done!

Mia has a new boyfriend.

2010-10-15T21:29:00.000-04:00

Michaela: So are there any cute boys in preschool?
Mia: Yeah, Sam Wobinson!
Michaela: Sam Robinson? What's he look like?
Mia: Well, he has brown hair and a great smile, and even when he's not smiling, he is soooo cute!
Michaela: Really? What color eyes does he have?
Mia: Blue and orange!
Michaela: Does he have a girlfriend?
Mia: We sing together and play together and he picked me to be his girlfriend!

(She's probably my favorite person to Skype with.)

Hibernation.

2010-10-07T20:55:00.000-04:00

For the past few weeks, I have been running off of little to no sleep. I have been juggling 4 studio classes, 2 liberal arts classes, a job, and a side project that is now officially up in MOCA Cleveland until January. And now, I'm finally caught up with all my work. I kept telling myself that I just needed to get through Wednesday. So yesterday, after class, I came home, had some food, watched The Princess Diaries (heck yes), and slept for 13.5 glorious hours. I feel so much better.

I have to get ready for an animation I'm working on tomorrow. And then hibernate some more.

Just a little bit longer.

2010-09-28T19:07:00.000-04:00

It may take a while longer than I expected to get back to updating regularly here. I'm drowning in things to do and have a lot of things to deal with that my brain just can't process right now.

Ps. I officially have work in MOCA Cleveland! I worked with some amazing people over the last two weeks, and I am so thankful I was given this opportunity. If you're in the area, you should come to the unveiling party tomorrow at 7pm. Once I'm a little more coherent, I'll tell you about that, plus some other projects I've been working on.

Rip van Winkle

2010-09-22T20:51:00.000-04:00

I've had awful headaches lately. I'm starting to think that it's all my ideas that I've been trying to get out. But they're not coming out. There stuck inside my head, bashing into my skull. And one day, they're just gonna fall out my ear, and it will be this horrible, gory mess.

I've been incredibly busy lately. I have so much to do for my studio classes. And so much to do for that MOCA project. We're down to the wire now. I'm so exhausted and just want to spend a day sleeping in, sitting outside, thinking, and not doing much else. But I'm worried that if I go to sleep, and not "nap" as I've been telling myself every night (or morning at that point), I'll sleep through the next four days. And that would be tragic. I have too much to do.

Things have been going well, despite my stress level and state of business. I met one of my favorite animators yesterday. I discovered a technique I really, really enjoy. I thought of something to sell on Etsy that I would enjoy making and that would (I think) make people happy and also help make me happy by making my bank statements slightly less depressing. I found out about an awesome job that is perfect for me. I met with my wonderful scholarship donors tonight. I was given an amazing compliment by someone pretty important. And I found out about some great opportunities. And in just the last couple weeks, I've learned a lot about my work. It seems silly to not full understand your own art, or why you do it, or what drives it. But I think I'm really close to understanding it.

I'll elaborate more about some of this later. After Wednesday, most likely. Just gotta get through Wednesday.

I'm about to burst. I'm about to eat dinner.

What I Did The Night I Was Kicked Out Of My Studio Because The JMC Caught On Fire And They Didn't Know How To Turn Off The Sprinklers

2010-09-14T22:10:00.001-04:00

by Michaela Lynch

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Sorry, I don't normally type like that, but at this point it is necessary. Around 6pm, shortly before anyway, I was trying to get work done in my studio and get ready for a meeting about our MOCA project at 7. I began to realize my eyes were twitching, and then, upon looking up, realized that the fire alarm was going off. Never mind that I couldn't hear it in our studio with obnoxiously loud air vents. Anyway, I noticed the incredibly flashy, ADD inducing light and figured I might as well go along with it. So I grabbed my laptop, left everything else, and headed outside. Meanwhile, the voice of the fire alarm (some incredibly calm robot woman) told us something like "If you would like to leave the building, please exit through the stairs." At least she gave us a choice.

Now in a school where performance art is a regular occurrence, it was hard to take this seriously. We all stopped 2 feet outside the school and began to gossip. The security guards had to shoo us back. They, however stayed in the building. It couldn't have been that bad. So here we all are, sitting in the back of the parking lot, waiting as firetrucks showed up. Firemen, with open jackets and in no hurry, entered the building. Is this just some big joke? Apparently there was an issue in the ceramics department with a kiln catching on fire. And then the sprinklers went off. And then they couldn't turn them off. And then they had to call important people who make decisions. And then they had to pay some people to come out and clean up all the water. Because it supposedly flooded.

Meanwhile, we watched some of the old 50s Coronet films that I may or may not be using in an upcoming project. We watched stop motion Lucky Strike cigarette commercials. We listened to barbershop quartet style tv show theme songs. We sang "Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow." We watched "Llamas in Hats" and "Llamas in Hats 2" and "Lamas mit Hüten" which is "Llamas in Hats" in German. Then we watched "Charlie the Unicorn" in German. Apparently, there's no German translation for Candy Mountain.

We walked around, anxious. We became irritated. We asked questions. We were told to go to Starbucks for some $4 coffee. People freaked out about getting homework done. People freaked out about getting home. Car keys were left inside. Backpacks were left inside. Purses were left inside. Cell phones. Sketchbooks. Laptops. Portfolios. Everything. The Cat Man (this friendly guy who carries his cat in his backpack and is supposedly a CIA graduate) came by and asked what was going on. He returned and brought several loaves of bread. I thought it was like Jesus, with the 5 loaves and 2 fish. Some people thought the bread would be poisoned. Some thought it was made of cat. I thought it was made with basil and was delicious.

At this point, people were really irritated. Not just irritated. Frustrated. Annoyed. Mad. Angry. Furious. Pissed off. Not only were we not in our studio for all that time, but we couldn't go home and be productive there. We couldn't relax because they didn't know what time it would be, if ever, when we would be allowed back in. The security guards were so nice and patient, but really, I was getting angry for not helping us out more. I just wanted to get my backpack and go home. I asked if they would escort us up, or just grab our stuff. But they told us to go back outside. I was angry. Partially because they were getting paid to sit inside. We were paying money to use our studio. That we were kicked out of. Therefore, we were losing money while they earned theirs.

That MOCA meeting never happened. Homework assignments were unable to be completed. Everything was going wrong. And those bugs that are everywhere showed up. Finally, I was severely annoyed and called a teacher, who called her boss, who called their boss, who called the head of Facilities, who, minutes later, showed up and spoke with the security guards. HALLELUJAH. Not really. But a little bit. They told us we could go back in at 9pm. So we still had 40 minutes to kill. So we went to Starbucks and bought overpriced beverages. We went to the dorms and visited freshmen friends. We came back and pressed our faces against the glass. And finally they let us in.

And then I had to wait another half hour until the bus came. Just to go home and expect to find another 100 bugs on my ceiling, knowing that tomorrow, they would all fall dead on my stuff.

The End.

Grace Harlowe's Golden Summer

2010-09-11T23:51:00.000-04:00

(Part of the collage animations I was working on yesterday.)

Today was uneventful. No exciting stories from the bus. No exciting news about projects (except that I'm still excited about that MOCA collage). Nothing really great happened. Nothing really terrible happened either. I worked in my studio. The building seemed practically empty. I did trade a Qdoba card for a pack of gum, though. I think it was someone's project. There was a piece of paper that said to take a picture of your trade. And next to it was a disposable camera. (I miss those.) So I traded a Qdoba card for some Juicyfruit.

Rock. Paper. Scissors.

2010-09-10T23:13:00.000-04:00

I've been pretty good about staying on top of assignments. So I was able to go to juggling club yesterday, which is awesome. And today, instead of just making a 10 second (and only 10 frames per second) cut paper animation and calling it a day, I stayed for...several hours longer and played with animated collages (part of a little test above). It was wonderful.

I also went to the opening at MOCA Cleveland. We went a little earlier for an artist talk with Duke Riley, which was really interesting. I learned about hobos and nickels and dismembered body parts and old Cleveland and hopping on trains, which I really want to try. Oh, and we checked out the collage ilegítimo by assume vivid astro focus. Why does that matter? Because I'm taking part in this: Another Vibrant Art Fight. Five CIA students are working together to make a collage (6 feet by 10 feet) to go opposite the original collage. Four other schools are participating, and it's somewhat of a competition. Which is cool, but I'm more excited about the fact that I will get to work on something that's going to be in MOCA! We have less than 3 weeks until we install it, though, and the 5 of us are so different. Some of us just met for the first time yesterday. There are 2 Sculpture majors, 2 Painting majors, and me, from T.I.M.E. Digital Arts. I'm sure getting started will be the most difficult, but I think that in the end, it could end up being really great.

Also, I'm excited because I'm going to bed early tonight. Maybe even before 1am!

Some Projects

2010-09-09T23:33:00.000-04:00

I have some great projects coming up. Some for classes. Some just for fun. Some really exciting ones. Some that involve cats, cats, cats, cats like the one pictured above, scanned from a 1960s book entitled Cats, Cats, Cats, Cats. Some that involve going through oodles of encyclopedias and magazines and other paper products. Some that require me to read the Missed Connections on Craigslist. Some that require me to make hinged paper dolls. Some that mandate I take a break and crochet for a while. Some that involve collaborating with 4 other students for a show at MOCA.

I love art school. Things have been going really well for me lately.

My Final Answer

2010-09-08T23:20:00.000-04:00

I finally decided on which narrative to work with: Pinocchio: The Tale of a Puppet by Carlo Collodi. I want to depict the central themes based on a psychoanalysis of the original Florentine rendition, first by dissecting them, and then by reconstructing them in the form of an animated collage. Using contemporary images competing and collaborating with vintage ephemera, and enhanced by meticulous, hand drawn accents, I hope to convey the still applicable morals. I aim to keep a series of seemingly unrelated scenes strung together by a consistent aesthetic and underlying theme. It is my goal for each composition to look first like a collage, then like an animation, as I re-appropriate images from various sources and bring them into the narrative I weave together, reflecting on their original context. This animated collage will be driven by music, as drastic choreography subdues into delicate movements, entrancing the viewer with melodies and motion. Most likely, in order to keep a contemporary spin on the tale, I will use the original ending which Collodi was not allowed to publish due to its violent nature in the fate of Pinocchio. However, the idea of prevailing justice may just be needed to drive home the central theme: don’t be stupid or you’ll make an ass of yourself.

Ok, I cheated a little bit. I had to write up a plane for my project last night. Copy+pasted it here, as I was not going to rewrite it. Oh, and did I mention how late it was? I hope this is coherent enough for you to understand. Anyway, Pinocchio it is. The deciding factor: I wanted to animate marionettes. I'll go back to Rapunzel for another project.

Alright. It's already my weekend, and I think I need some sleep. After, of course, working on a few more projects.

I'm probably going to have nightmares.

2010-09-07T22:55:00.000-04:00

Currently, just five feet away from my bed and on the ceiling lies one of the most horrid beasts I have encountered in this apartment yet. There was, of course, a silverfish one of my first nights, that not only crawled across the window sill, but then lost its balance, fell onto my bed, and disappeared under my comforter. I didn't sleep under it again until this weekend, after washing all my bedding. But this one, this horrible creature with hundreds of legs, trumps the little (terrifying) silverfish. It started off on the other side of my room, when I opened a window, awakening it, and causing it to crawl behind my bookshelf. Naturally, I worried it would find its way inside one of my favorite books, so the next time I decided to catch up on the adventures of Sara Crewe, I would be greeted by a carnivorous family of centipedes. But then it continued up my wall and across my ceiling. Now, this centipede, I'm quite certain, is watching me panic, and plotting its perfect attack. What if it crawls across the ceiling, right above my bed? What if it's there when I wake up, just so I know it had been watching me all night? Or worse: what if it falls from the ceiling, crawls across me as I sleep, crawls into my mouth and then I eat it? And THEN, what if it has babies. In my stomach. So that when I go to say something highly intelligent, instead, a million centipedes exit my mouth. How absolutely horrifying would that be?

Bugs terrify me. I do not recommend Googling one just because you don't know what it is. Then you become paranoid, and have that creepy crawly feeling.

You know what else freaks me out? Moths. I don't like the way they fly towards lights so frantically that they don't care how many people the run into on the way. So naturally, being afraid of them, I decided to make a mini-animation of that exact phenomena. Because I was supposed to play in After Effects for one of my classes. Maybe I'll share it with you tomorrow.

Also, I made this. It's a little less scary. You can check it out on Paper Airplane .GIFs, if you'd like.

Pleasant dreams. (Oh dear.)

Goodnight Moon.

2010-09-06T20:10:00.000-04:00

If today had a color palate, this would be it. Not so much because it was dreary outside. It was actually quite lovely, my perfect weather, really. My apartment is sleepy today. The lights have been off, the door has been open, and the wind could be heard throughout. I have devoted much of today to brainstorming. I have so many ideas, so many projects that I want to complete, that it's hard to decide on just a couple. When I got stuck, I decided to take the bus to Walmart. I bought a hula hoop. They didn't have any Skip-Its. I was a little disappointed, until I found out that the only place you can really find them is on eBay and obscure online shops. I never had one when I was little. Perhaps I'll get one for my 21st birthday.

I went into Borders next. They were closing that location, so everything was on sale. I bought some Moleskine sketchbooks as they were the cheapest I have ever found them.

I came back, and I hula hooped. And I read some more, and did lots of researched, and hula hooped. Finally, I turned on my bedroom light. I could so easily go to bed early tonight, but I'm still hoping for that sudden burst of energy and inspiration. I'm deciding between 2 stories right now: Rapunzel and Pinocchio. I'm indecisive, I know. At least it's better than being fickle.

My Pop-Up Book Theory

2010-09-05T19:38:00.000-04:00

When I was younger, maybe about 6 years old, I had this children's Bible. It was hard cover with a yellow spine, labeled in glossy red serifs; and on the cover was a colorful illustration. There were similar illustrated scenes throughout the book, but the only one I remember now was the first one. It accompanied the first story, the very beginning of Genesis: the story of creation. And in this illustration, a giant man resembling the popular Caucasian Jesus, stood among the stars, and hovering between his hands, ever so delicately, was the Earth. His size dwarfed our little planet, which looked like a mere toy to Him. I thought about that illustration frequently. I thought about how powerful God must be. I thought about how tiny we are compared to Him. I thought about how smart He must be to have made all this, and how He must have the most nimble of fingers to make everything so beautiful, no matter how small and insignificant it was to Him.

Gradually, this scene evolved to one where the Man in space held a pop-up book, with each of the pages being part of the world. I thought about how easy it would be for Him to close it, and to take that book and put it on some bookshelf made of stars. But He never did.

I still think about that pop-up book. I'm not really sure why, and I'm not quite sure what it means. But whenever I'm brainstorming project ideas, I think of these kindergarten daydreams of mine. I can hear the pages turning, and the thick paper squeaking slightly as the next scene comes to life. For all I know, God really could be standing out there, in the middle of space, bouncing us around and shooting us through a hoop made of constellations. Or He could be standing peacefully, turning the pages, and watching us try to figure things out. Watching me, sitting in my studio, wrapped in a blanket, sipping Starbucks, and thinking about cramming my life into a very condensed pop-up book.

And what if the world was just a pop-up book? I'm sure it would be a rather dense volume. Constantly growing, in fact. And the illustrations would be entirely animated, requiring you to hold the book completely still in order for everything to freeze. And the images would be so precisely, so delicately cut, that if you exhaled too close, it would begin to fall apart. But it hasn't. And I think that says something.

Autumn is my favorite season. I'd just like to wear a few more dresses without tights.

2010-09-04T23:16:00.000-04:00

(Another part of the gesture study flip books I made last week. Posted on Paper Airplane .GIFs.)

I think autumn is here. Or at least it has been visiting for a couple of days. Last week was spent walking to and from class in 90+ degree heat and obscene humidity. And once I got to class, it was either a) not air conditioned and in the room covered in windows where the sun comes in; or b) my wonderful studio that requires a parka. Luckily, yesterday was breezy, and today was outright chilly, that crisp air with the scent of Halloween around the corner. But Tuesday it should be 90 again, and I'll be back to wearing dresses to class and keeping a blanket in my studio.

Today was fairly productive for me. I slept in (well, til 9am, but that's wonderful nonetheless), did a bunch of homework, and fit in a trip to Target. As far as animating, I made another little flip book, played in After Effects (a.k.a. worked on a little piece whose working title is currently "Moths Are Scary"), and researched public domain narratives. Again. Just when I think I narrow it down to 2 options, I'm up to 4. Oh, I am so indecisive. I'll let you know when I officially pick a story. Of course, that could be a while. Ha!

Sometimes scanners aren't animator-friendly.

2010-09-03T23:49:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems as though I may have broken my scanner. Which certainly puts a damper on things. Especially since a) I need to scan flip books for class; b) I need to scan frames for Paper Airplane .GIFs; and c) I need to scan pictures from books like CATS, CATS, CATS, CATS for a collage animation I'll be working on this week.

Note to self: scanning 50+ pages of beautiful 1960s felines and then proceeding to scan a 38 frame flip book is not good for your scanner. Not at all. At least I was able (after much troubleshooting/fighting/yelling/exclaiming "Why, God, why?") to scan in this flip book, one of 5 gesture studies I did for my animation class last week. We'll see what happens tomorrow when I scan Two Little Bears and The History of American Sailing Ships and Ancestors in Silhouette. (I plan on making some very serious animations this semester. Ha!)

Emit! Emit! Emit!

2010-09-02T23:42:00.000-04:00

Tonight was the opening reception for the CIA Faculty Show. It was even better than last year, though I didn't see all of it just yet. I'll go back later in the week when things are...not so hot and sweaty and smelly. Ha. But it's really wonderful to see all of the talent around us, and to think that these people are our teachers.

The reception was great, though I got there when most of the dill havarti cheese was gone (my favorite). It's a great time to catch up with people you haven't seen all summer, talk with favorite teachers, like Kasumi, who are now on sabbatical, and see people that have since graduated.

And after the reception was Emit, the student film festival, which has a little of everything, from hand drawn to stop motion to experimental video. I really enjoyed this year's show. I think my favorite part, though, may have been the in-between motion graphics that tied it all together. Did I mention I had a few pieces in it (including the one below)?

Curiouser from Michaela Lynch on Vimeo.

I was at my studio for a bit today. I'm researching possibilities for a semester-long project that requires us to start with a public domain narrative. And, well, some of my favorite stories of all time are public domain. Which makes it all the more difficult to decide. Not to mention, I'm on the fence as to what I will make with these stories. What do you think: should I do a collage animation? Or should I do another shot from above like the end of this piece?

Curiouser from Michaela Lynch on Vimeo.

Well, I do have a collage animation to do this week, so I guess I better get to work cutting out dozens of kitties.

Oh, Hello Exciting News.

2010-09-01T20:51:00.000-04:00

Oh, hello 5 day weekend.

Oh, hello embroidery book that arrived today.

Oh, hello new yellow external hard drive that the mailman brought me.

Oh, hello 88° Cleveland, such a nice improvement.

Oh, hello organized Safari bookmarks (such an accomplishment).

Oh, hello oodles of animation ideas.

Oh, hello almost complete blog makeover.

Oh, hello brand new project!

This summer, when I was far too exhausted to make a proper pixilation with Miss Mia Rose, I found myself creating animated .GIFs. But these weren't the typical dancing-teddy-bears, sparkly-hearts .GIFs you see in those emails forwarded to you by your family members. I realized that these little tiny animations, sometimes a mere 2 frames, had a lot of potential. Creating these .GIFs helped me brainstorm ideas and kept me constantly thinking about motion. So I decided to make it official.

THE RULES FOR ME: Create at least one animated .GIF every day for a year, with the majority of them being hand drawn or stop motion (I'll have a few lazy/busy days, I'm sure.) Post them to the Tumblr blog set up for the project as they are completed.
THE RULES FOR YOU: Grab a .GIF! In this page, I will post (as many as I can) with codes for you. They are formatted to be 220 pixels wide, perfect for a Blogger sidebar. All you need to do is copy the code in the box, go to edit the layout of your blog, add a HTML/Javascript widget, and paste the code. You are welcome to grab them off of the main blog and a higher resolution and post wherever you'd like. HOWEVER, please link back to me! Part of this project involves me exploring what people are interested in and how these will spread. So help them spread by sharing them (and the source!) with your friends.

Got it? The first couple will be logos of sorts, but then I'll start mixing it up. If you're on Tumblr, feel free to follow me! And definitely reblog all you want.

In other, related news, you may have noticed I've been working on the design of this blog. The main reason for this was to make it more animated. I have a new header, which, if you rollover, it changes to another image. Similar buttons for external links (like if you wanna watch some of my animations) and pages have some fun images when you hover over them. I set up a proper ABOUT section, a page dedicated to PAPER AIRPLANE .GIFs (where you can copy & paste the code for your sidebars, and also read more about the project), a CONTACT page, to which I am also adding [somewhat redundant but animated and thus justified] external links. I also have a BLOGROLL in the works, which will also include links to some great artists I admire.

So please, have a look around. And tell me... What do you think of the new layout and animated features? What do you think of the new .GIF project? Do you have any ideas for animated .GIFs you would like to see? Leave a comment and let me know!

Happy September!

It's hot in Topeka.

2010-08-31T11:15:00.032-04:00

I've been trying to get back into the swing of things lately, and start blogging everyday. However, at the same time, I've been trying to organize my room (it's done now), keep up with homework, and not die from this ridiculous heat.

Yesterday, I had a decent case of the Mondays. I was up...late the night before, and up for an early class. I need to look into purchasing a gallon and a half coffee thermos. I was exhausted, and having four classes doesn't help. And these aren't hour long classes, either. I'm booked solid from 8am til 10pm. At least my studio classes are fun. And then I get to relax on Tuesdays, when I just have my fiber class, which I love more and more each week. (I know, it's only the second week. But still!) I have bunches of ideas for that class, and one may or may not involve an embroidered rotoscope (we'll see how attached I am to my sanity in a few weeks).

And tomorrow's Friday! Well, ok. It's not literally Friday. But I don't have classes Thursday or Friday. Or Monday this coming week. (Thank God I get to miss my crazy day!) Oh, hello 5 day weekend.

A feather I embroidered today. Does it remind you of Pocahontas a little bit?

Part of my viewmaster collection, my stereoscope, and some nice green buttons that match my room.

Estaban. Or, the cat previously known as John Cougar Mellancat.

If I'm not working in my studio, I'm probably sitting in this little corner.

(Click to enlarge a bit.)

Well, I still have some reading to do for tomorrow. Also tomorrow, I'll be starting a new side project, but more about that later. Goodnight!

Typewriter

2010-08-28T15:06:00.002-04:00

Clean apartment!

2010-08-27T23:34:00.000-04:00

Finally! Except for a few knick knacks that haven't really decided where to live quite yet, my room is clean! Would you like to see some pictures?

Ok, I lied. I have no pictures. My room isn't as exciting as these. Just a small bed that my dad built and I painted yellow, a plain ol' dresser, and, ok, some pretty rad furniture from Ikea, including my beautiful drawing table. Really, I manage to cram a lot of stuff into a tiny room. Oh, but it is a green color similar to that first image of Lisa Cogdon's home. I like to think of it as a nice Tinker Bell dress green. It looks quite nice with my framed sketch of Tinker Bell (that Nicholas bought me for Christmas in 2005) hanging above my desk.

I still have a fair amount of work I want to accomplish before I sleep. Tomorrow I have to work on some flip books, and some embroidery, and some embroidered flip books (I'm insane, in case you didn't know). Oh, and I have to disrupt or interrupt something. Any ideas? I have a few. It doesn't necessarily have to be rude. Just, you know, interrupt the normal order of things.

Today, CIA had it's opening year convocation/inauguration ceremony (followed by free food, of course) since we have a new president. We had a brass quartet of students from CIM (Cleveland Institute of Music) that played really fun, jazzy music, and there was this big procession, except art school style. No ties needed. Just 192 freshmen in bright orange shirts, following the previous president who carried the presidential mace, which, as we discovered when it was passed on to the new Mr. President, lights up. Holy elaborate flashlight. They knew a big stick wasn't enough to keep our attention. I love art school.

The Perks and Drawbacks of Being an Artist

2010-08-27T00:33:00.000-04:00

Hello, floor. I can see most of you now. You could use a good sweeping. But I'll get to that tomorrow. I need to focus on organizing art supplies right now.

Being an artist definitely has its perks. I've known that I wanted to be an artist since I was three years old. My first childhood ambition was to have red hair, sit on rocks singing all day, and get married on a boat (under a rainbow, of course). But my mom had to explain to me that being the Little Mermaid wasn't the best career choice. So I decided I'd become an artist. As simple as that. I didn't even really know what it meant. And still, I was dead on. I was an artist before that day. I've always been one, in some way. Granted, my viewpoints were mostly amateur, but I still noticed things. I still had that urgency to make something itching from my nose to my fingertips to the soles of my shoes where I can feel ideas escape me while I trip over new ones.

I'm not a professional, really. Not yet. Maybe not ever. I don't know that it's something that really needs to be classified as such. I am an artist. I see things differently. And that is enough. I know that with every breath I inhale, my lungs expand, overflowing with beauty that most people never see or notice or think about. My lungs are left aching until I can share that with someone. And that is something I am so thankful for. I'm glad I don't have to look forward to a job where I sit in a cubicle with a photo of my future family in a frame purchased from Walgreens sitting on my desk. I don't have to look forward to white offices with white walls and people wearing their white, freshly ironed shirts. Instead, I look forward to...nothing specific, really. I don't really know what exactly I'm going to do when I graduate. I have some ideas, but why ruin the surprise? I think it's a little more exciting, the lack of job security, the unpredictability. If I do end up successful and happy, then it will be even greater.

I am so glad I decided to go to art school, and not study art at a general university. I am so glad I'm an artist. However, there are a few tiny disadvantages. Like many artists, I thirst for new places. I want to explore tiny, overlooked corners of the world. There are so many places I want to go and so many things I want to do. I wouldn't mind doing residencies here and there if I had the opportunity. But that might be a problem. Why? Because I'm just starting my third year of college, and I've already lived in a dorm, plus three other apartments. I think that's taking the whole "free spirit" thing to an extreme.

Moving sucks. The end. It really does. My dad will never forgive me for carrying boxes down 18 steps, up 2, into the van, and up 42 more. And I have a lot of boxes. Why? Because I'm an artist. The worst kind, at that. Let's look at my go-to media, shall we? Stop motion animation: the kind I do often involves objects interacting with people; therefore, it requires such objects. Hand drawn animation: drawing supplies and paper supplies. Cut Out Animation: Requires things to cut out, and therefore, more papers. Collage: let's not talk about how many different papers and 2d materials and scraps I have lying around (actually, organized as of now). Sewing/embroidery: often overlaps animation or collage, but still requires oodles of supplies, like fabric, scissors, ribbon, thread, floss, hoops, pens... Oy. I prefer to think of it as collecting collections, rather than hoarding.

So if you're thinking to yourself that I've been in Cleveland for a couple weeks now, and I'm STILL not organized! then hold up. Think about all the different art supplies that are breeding among my shelves. It's a rather daunting task to organize them all. I suppose I'll finish tomorrow. I've said that a few times before.

To Do Today

2010-08-26T11:15:00.001-04:00

Typically, my To Do lists end up on little yellow adhesive squares stuck everywhere, typewritten via Sir Reginauld, my trusty 1949 Smith Colorona Silent, with the 9 key that doesn't quite cooperate. But I haven't been able to do that lately. Why? Because of my biggest To Do: clean and organize my room completely! Don't worry, though, I am determined to finish it today. And then you may see some more of these. But for now...

TO DO LIST

x Record reference footage for gesture/emotion flip books

x Select segments of footage & print out filmstrips

x Search for treasure in JoAnn's with Vanesa

x Buy all sorts of fabrics, ribbon, floss, and other materials for embroidery, and more hoops and needles

x Peruse nearly everything else in that wonderful store

x ~~Make a teepee.~~ (Ok, I guess that one will have to wait. But I have such a great pattern!)
x Think about long term project ideas
x Get my record player to work again
x Clean my room! Goodness!
x Animate, animate, animate. As usual.

Weekend Wednesday?

2010-08-25T16:02:00.000-04:00

Hello there. Here I am, sitting in my room, in my [very colorful] apartment. Sitting. Just sitting. Doing absolutely nothing productive. Why? Because, my friends, it is Wednesday afternoon, which is now my WEEKEND! Yes, Mondays are hell. But the only class I have Tuesdays is Fibers, and sitting and embroidering is a nice way to recuperate. And Wednesdays, I'm done at 4:30pm, or whenever my class gets out, which was around 3 today! And now, I have nothing scheduled until 8am Monday when my week starts again. What a wonderful, wonderful feeling. I made it through the first week, I love my assignments, and now, I have a four day weekend! Don't worry, though. After this week, I'm sure I'll be as busy as ever, and those days off will be filled with jobs and homework. But for now, I think I'll enjoy it.

Chapter Books

2010-08-23T22:55:00.000-04:00

Do you ever think about how ink becomes marks, and those marks become letters? Then those letters are strung together to form words and phrases and sentences. Those sentences are structured into paragraphs, those paragraphs grow into pages, which then accumulate into chapters. The chapters eventually become volumes, and the volumes become editions, and the editions become collections that eventually become libraries that permeate our society and inform our culture. Of course, that ink could have just as easily been a note to self written on someone's palm, or in my case, scribbled all over my thigh along with oodles of project ideas and other thoughts. That ink could have been smeared across a page and formed an image. Or it could have written a date on a calendar, a date that could later become an anniversary, and the beginning of something beautiful.

(Click on photo for source.)

Sometimes I worry about projects I have created digitally. I always try to have a tangible connection, for I worry about my art, in the end being nothing. This sensation, a new age horror vacui, is something I think about every day. It scares me to think about how many beautiful creations can be reduced to a series of ones and zeroes. What if one of those ones or zeroes changed places with another? Just two tiny digits in a seemingly endless stream...could they really make that much of a difference? Or could they make a huge difference? Could they be the difference between an elegant animation and a Youtube parody? The difference between a thesis and a facebook status? Between libraries and homework reminders?

Sometimes, I just think about things. I like thinking about potential, and the things we create and the beautiful relationships we seem to form by chance. I don't think it's by chance, though.

I'm sure that by week three, I will be dreading Mondays, solely because my days will go from 8am til 10pm. At least I can look forward to my classes. I really enjoyed all of them. The liberal art classes seem to be really interesting, and I already have projects in mind for my studio classes.

Tomorrow I have a fibers class that I have been looking forward to since last year. There are so many processes I want to learn that will only help make my animations stronger. At least, that's the plan.

Isn't it strange?

2010-08-22T23:10:00.000-04:00

How quickly things change. How the present becomes a blurry memory. How the summer breeze becomes the rhythmic crunch of fall leaves. How my tanlines are already fading. How I'm starting to forget what Nicholas & I had for lunch two weeks ago. Sometimes change stresses me out. Not because I'm unprepared for the future. Not because I'm worried of what it may bring. But because it doesn't take long at all for a beautiful afternoon to become nostalgic. I'm already daydreaming about waterfalls and southern picnics, and soon enough I'll be making up most of it.

School starts tomorrow. It's a rather surreal feeling, starting my third year. How am I already halfway done? When I started, I felt like I was at the very bottom of my class. I was so behind everyone, and the only thing going for me was my work ethic and potential. I came to CIA for communication design. I ended up majoring in T.I.M.E. Digital Arts with an emphasis in animation. And now I want to study more than that. I went from a very commercial field to dreaming of being a fine artist. I am no longer terrified of Conté or newsprint or still lifes or figure drawing. I am anxious, not afraid, to try to mediums. And I have never felt more free. I came here knowing that I would be paying for everything myself, terrified that I wouldn't get a job and would be buried in debt. Now, that's not a concern. I have my share of loans, but I'm sure that if I want one, I could get a job when I graduate. But I would be perfectly happy without so many luxuries. As long as I have a camera of some sort, and something to move in tiny increments, I'll be ok. A roof over my head would be wonderful, and regular meals would be nice. But that's really all I need for my sanity. Money won't make me happy. It might make things easier, but it could just as easily complicate things. I have goals for myself, but they are really goals to help others. I really don't feel the need to worry about it.

Mondays are gonna be hell for me this year. They make my previous long days look like lazy afternoons. As of right now, this is what I'll look forward to at the start of every week:

8am-9:15am Photo History
9:30am-12pm Creative Resistance: Media Art in the Social Sphere
12:30pm-1:45pm Sexuality and Popular Culture in America
2pm-4:30pm Creative Resistance: Media Art in the Social Sphere
5pm-10pm Animation II

Talk about having a permanent case of the Mondays. On the bright side, I have Thursday through Sunday completely off. At least until I add jobs in the mix.

Right now, I need to get together a stack of notebooks and sketchbooks for my 4 classes tomorrow, pack a lunch or two, clean some more, and pick out a dress to wear. Perhaps do some ironing. And most importantly, dream.

Ps. Dear Nicholas, how vividly do you remember that day? I know that it was a Tuesday. It was May 20, 2008, and this was right after you flew in that morning. The park was a field of dandelion clocks and I made wish after wish that you would never have to leave. You looked good in a tux, and my dress was too big. Mia wanted to be in every picture with us before we left for the ball. We danced to only two songs, the second being "American Pie." I don't remember the slow song. I don't remember what we ate, but I remember the pattern of the plates. I remember the river, and you analyzing boats. I remember staying up all night, and you were up nearly 24 hours. We made airplanes out of foam, though I don't remember where they came from. I drank Mountain Dew and you had your Coke. We ran through the inflatable shark slide so many times, I could barley breath in between my giggles. You beat me at putt putt, and I used a pink golf ball. I forgot to bring a change of shoes, and I forgot what you forgot. I wore my Will Hoge shirt, and I think you wore your North Face. Although, you do so often, that I might just be making it up.

One question.

2010-08-21T21:04:00.000-04:00

Now what? I have been so incredibly busy this past week with orientation training, that I'm not quite sure what to do now that it's over.

Our days will filled with intentionally awkward games and fireside chats, and after dinner we only had more work. The twelve OL's spent nearly every waking moment together, allowing us to grow closer, even if we were getting annoyed. There were late nights, and really late nights. There were hours of work put into a silly dance for the welcome. There were patient people who dealt with our short attention spans. There were caring people who dealt with our stress. We laughed until we cried. We cried a little bit more. And then it was done. Just like that.

Move in day came and went. Even though we started at 7:15am and ended close to 1 in the morning. But we took breaks and climbed rocks and enjoyed some wild wings (or, you know, cheese quesadillas). The welcome came, and we were nervous. But as soon as people laughed at our attempt at the Soulja Boy, we all loosened up. The incoming class is a really great group. There were so many positive people that personally thanked us for working on orientation. Their energy helped keep us going. I think it was worth it. And then today, it stopped. Suddenly, everyone had eaten their dinner and we were cleaning up. And we were free to leave. I went into my apartment, sat down on my bed, listened to the rain, and fell asleep.

And here I am now. Sitting on my bed, looking at my little room filled with pieces of my life. I don't have quite enough floor space to move around, and yet somehow, I need to clean it before running errands tomorrow. I'm trying to procrastinate that organizing as much as possible, because I know as soon as that's complete, I'll be wondering the same thing. Now what?

Class starts Monday. I've been looking forward to it since June. I'll get back to blogging everyday. I'll begin accumulating To Do Lists, and To Do Lists of To Do Lists. I'll lose sleep and drink coffee. And hopefully I'll nail down a personal artist statement. I think I got a big step closer as of this morning.

So now what?

Some tents and mountains and rollerskates and boyfriends.

2010-08-15T00:21:00.000-04:00

Hello again. It seems I have once again dropped off the face of the earth. The last couple weeks, I was with Nicholas in my favorite city enjoying the sunshine and sea breeze. And before I left, I was busy ending projects, starting others, finishing summer break, and starting to pack because I came home Thursday, just to leave for Cleveland today! My summer endings are always hectic, though.

Today was spent riding in an air conditioner free car, sweating in the 90+ degree weather and extreme humidity, being welcomed by Cleveland's constant precipitation, carrying boxes up and down several flights of stairs (my dad is still mad that I don't live on the first floor), running a few last minute errands, and organizing while Estaban, the apartment cat (who apparently used to go by John Cougar Mellencamp and is now affectionately called Booger, leaving him very confused), sat on my desk and watched.

Here's a little of what I have been up to lately.

Making backyard tents.

Bringing home flowers for this pretty face.

Rollerskating with Alyssa & Mia. Because I had a dream about magical rollerskates.

Painting cats gold for an animation Alyssa & I made about drugs and greed. Ha.

And photographing the cats with Reesco.

Dragging Nicholas through lovely stores. And making him carry the bags.

Following this boy through winding trails.

Admiring some beautiful waterfalls.

Being adventurous.

Balancing.

Hopefully not falling.

Discovering the perfect place to cool off.

Enjoying the scenery.

Finding some blackberries hidden along mountain roads.

And finding others nestled in mountain sides.

Licking off my juice stained hands after picking several handfuls.

Studying perfect spiderwebs.

Counting dew drops.

Going somewhere mysterious.

That seemed to be where the world stopped.

Looking for more.

And finding nothing. And everything. And the closest thing to infinite.

Sighting the little mountain towns that were hiding under the clouds.

Walking into that clock scene from Pinocchio.

And now I'm missing Nicholas. I'll see him soon enough. I have other things to distract me for now, though. Like putting everything in its place. Enjoying my new apartment. Hanging with Estaban. And getting for Orientation Leader Training Week, which starts tomorrow.

School starts next week. As always, I'm excited.

In just three and a half hours...

2010-07-29T00:55:00.000-04:00

I will be leaving for the airport to see this mister that likes to bite half my face off. As you may have guessed, I'm over the moon excited. I haven't seen him since January.

So many good things have happened lately. I've been too busy enjoying them to get a chance to tell you about it. I'll catch up later.

I think I'm going to give friendship bracelets to the people who sit next to me on the airplane.

For now, it's nap time. Goodnight.

Sometimes I get carried away.

2010-07-25T02:47:00.000-04:00

Let me tell you, I am one determined girl. I dream up big ideas and rather than limiting myself to what should be possible, I immediately set my mind to them and do all that I can to accomplish them. These projects generally consume my life, if only for a little while.

A couple days ago, I decided to make a project for myself: make one animated .GIF everyday for a year. At least. Emphasis on animated. So something as silly as .GIFs (don't worry-no dancing teddy bears or sparkly hearts!) is something I ended up taking seriously. I made goals for myself. I thought about the potential and how it would help me develop animation ideas, especially more down the experimental road. I spent my day off sitting in my outdoor fort I constructed with neglected bedsheets, sketching and listing ideas. I came up with a project name, created a Tumblr blog for it, designed a logo, tweaked the layout and design of the blog, came up with a mini artist statement, if you will, about the project, and learned some fancy (or not really) coding while at it.

Well, while doing all of this stuff, I started thinking about integrating more animated elements into this blog, and, well, there went my weekend. But check out my new header! (Go on, hover over it...) Totally worth the 3 hours of sleep I had been living off of. I hadn't intended on remaking this blog, but then I started working on making static pages and thinking about designing the links for them and making them match and... I'm a glutton for punishment, as I've been told far too many times.

Tomorrow, I'll be taking my laptop to the Apple Store (poor Chloe has been sick for a while), so I'm not sure when the project will *officially* start, but I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Alice's Adventures

2010-07-21T20:38:00.001-04:00

Today, Mia suggested I make an Alice-themed .GIF, so I made this very simple one. I also decided that I'm officially going to make one .GIF everyday. Hopefully most of them will be simple, hand drawn, mini animations. Maybe a few baby stop motions. Maybe things that just look cool. I plan on making a Tumblr just for my .GIFs. Or maybe revamping my account I more or less abandoned in January or so. Anyway, I will post each one here, and have .GIFs and only .GIFs on that blog.

I've made one everyday for the past 3 days (woo-hoo! Solid start!), but I'm not gonna count this as part of my 365, since I plan on taking Chloe (my beloved laptop) in to get her battery fixed.

So, what kind of .GIFs would you like to see? I kinda wanna see how much they'll spread on blogs and whatnot, so give me suggestions!

All Boys Are Cute.

2010-07-21T00:24:00.000-04:00

Today, Mia and I hung out after I got off work. We took a walk up to 7 Eleven for some Slurpees and talked about boys.

Mia: Isn't Kegan (Ciara's boyfriend) cute?
Me: I think Ciara thinks he's cute.
Mia: Oh yeah, and me too.
Me: Is Nicholas cute?
Mia: UH HUH. I love him, and I am going to see him next week.
Me: Oh really? I thought I was gonna see him since he's my boyfriend. Who's your boyfriend?
Mia: Dylan (17 year old friend).
Me: What happened to Griffin (3 year old from daycare)?
Mia: Well, he doesn't like me anymore. He just wants to play blocks instead of princesses.
Me: Oh. Any other cute boys you like?
Mia: Yeah! All boys are cute!
Me: Not really.
Mia: Yes they are! You have a LOT to learn.

She's funny. She's even becoming an expert at sarcasm.

Mia: Wanna hear a funny joke I told my friends?
Me: Sure!
Mia: They said, "Do you wanna play Hide & Seek?" And I said, "No, I wanna sit here and poop my pants."
Me: That's no way to get a boyfriend.

After 7 Eleven, we drew pictures and listened to Regina Spektor. We both really love her music, and her stop motion music videos. (Hello, future potential jobs.)

Mia has also taken to wearing 3D glasses minus the lenses, as pictured above. We're working on doing .GIF length hand drawn animations (very simple) together. But I'm thinking, I should make it a goal to do one .GIF a day. It could be fun. What do you think?

Mr. Lewis & Mia Roses

2010-07-20T00:56:00.000-04:00

Just before coming to pick me up at work, Mia was sprawled out on our neighbors' lawn talking to Mr. Lewis. I still think we should adopt him. Mia already takes care of feeding him every day. Our neighbors must really appreciate all the carrots on their lawn.

At work, we debated our favorite wedding flowers. I think that's my favorite part of the job. It's really interesting helping people, especially when you hear their stories. Sometimes they're getting flowers for a first date. Sometimes they're looking for rose petals to hide in their car's visors as a sweet surprise for unsuspecting passengers. Sometimes they have to pick out funeral arrangements for their best friend. Sometimes they need "I Love You" flowers. Sometimes they need "Will You Marry Me?" flowers. Sometimes they need "I'm Sorry" flowers. Sometimes it isn't so happy when they pick out flowers for their girlfriends, despite the ring on their left hand. Sometimes it's beautiful when they're picking out bride bouquets. I love seeing the different designs. Sometimes, I really like the deep blue violets with lime greens and whites, grouped. Sometimes, I like whimsical colors, like watermelon and lime. Sometimes I really love soft princessy colors like light green and light pink. Today, we had the most beautiful roses in. They were large and full with infinite layers, in the softest pink, and the outermost petals had a tinge of green. They would be lovely with green hydrangeas. And maybe light pink peonies and white spray roses. I took one of those beautiful roses home for Mia Rose.

This weekend, I played a game of spoons with my cousins. But because the spoons were all in the dishwasher, and the last time a light fixture was broken, we played with spatulas and ladels. My uncle tried to convince us to play Knives instead. Somewhere in the midst of defending common sense, not to mention allergies from sleeping outside in a tent, I lost my voice. Nicholas now calls me "Sir" due to my manly voice that cracks all over the place when you can actually hear it. Mia just thinks Ursula stole it.

Meet Mr. Lewis

2010-07-18T17:21:00.000-04:00

The baby bunny that lives nextdoor. My neighbors probably think my entire family's weirdly obsessed with woodland creatures, especially if they saw Ciara & me lying on their front lawn feeding clover to Baby Lew in the rain. He let's us get really close, though. I have enough pictures to make a whole series of animated .GIFs with rather impressive frame rates.

Yesterday, I saw some swans on a lake. They were pretty.

Today, my dad saw four hawks. He thinks they're after Mr. Lewis. Hawks aren't as pretty.

My plan is to feed him carrots and clover until he leaps joyously into my arms because he loves me. And then I will take him inside and keep him in our bathtub until I find him a proper cage. I must protect him from those hawks.

35mm

2010-07-14T23:40:00.000-04:00

Click on photos for sources.

Today, Mia & I slept in a bit before strolling to a local restaurant for brunch. She had the "fairy" french toast, as she was dressed as Tinker Bell's friend Iridessa, and I had strawberry pancakes topped with half a can of whipped cream. Afterword, we walked to a thrift shop, where a baby befriended Mia & followed her throughout the store while I inspected typewriters and film cameras.

I often tell my mom that I'm glad I was born in 1989, but then I end up with a couple typewriters, a slew of aged tea cups, a library of old literature, a collection of vintage viewmasters & reels, and a hankering to go to another flea market. It's been rubbing off on Mia lately. Garage sales are her favorites, and she begs me to take her to the vintage shop ("Oh, please take me with you! I just want to see the beautiful dresses!") and the antique store ("Please can I come? I promise I won't touch anything! I just want to see the old treasures!").

I think it's because old things have more character to them. And, I just don't believe in inanimate objects. I believe they have a life to them, and it's much more exciting to imagine just what they've experienced when they're a few decades older. This plastic stuff from China wouldn't tell the same story. And story telling is important to me. Especially in animations. Particularly stop motions. Which involve objects. Preferably older treasures with stories to tell.

After work, I told my dad about the little camera I had my eye on. And he told me about some cameras that my grandpa had. So after an excursion to the basement, he gave me one! Actually, two, but I'll take the other one when I head back to Cleveland away from destructive little hands. This one is a wonderful little 35mm film camera, and I've been itching to learn more about photography, so it's perfect. It came in this wonderful brown case, with a flash, and two other lenses/lens accessories. Plus, it has this totally rad camera strap. And, true to form, my grandfather's name and address are written in Sharpie on the front of the case.

Tomorrow is my day off, and I promised myself I would work on an animation of sorts, but I have a feeling I'll end up on my [old] bicycle heading to the camera store a couple miles away. I will have to take a break at some point...

Carrots for Mr. Lewis

2010-07-13T20:50:00.000-04:00

Today, Mia & I took a walk to the grocery store to get some carrots and soap. We take this little trail lined with trees, and she likes to pretend it's a magical forest where Snow White and Alice of Wonderland wander about. Which is only encouraged when there are "poison apples" on the ground from a nearby tree. While we walked, we made up stories and sang Disney songs and picked flowers jumped in every single puddle we could find. Mia also informed me that she needed a bath because "Deodorant just doesn't cut it."

At the grocery store, Mia wanted to get 3 packs of baby carrots: 1 pack for dinner, and 2 packs for Mr. Lewis, the baby bunny that lives in the bushes of our nextdoor neighboor's yard.

Tomorrow, we're going out for breakfast. Or maybe brunch if we feel like sleeping in a bit. Then possibly making some paper dolls and probably working in our sketchbooks. All before I go to work at the flower shop.

Oh, and lately, Mia has been in love with button mums and snapdragons.

Eva Juliet

2010-07-11T11:20:00.000-04:00

Eva Juliet draws the cutest scissors I've ever seen. And her handwriting's pretty awesome.

Funny Video & Funny Story

2010-07-10T20:15:00.000-04:00

I hope that when Nicholas is old & gray, he dances like this guy. To Lady Gaga songs, of course.

Today before work, my mom, Mia & I stopped in Cup.Cake for some delicious treats (I got blueberry pancake & my mom got chocolate salted carmel). While they were getting it boxed up for us, these teenage boys walked in. Mia grabbed my shirt & spun me around, pointing & [loudly] whispering: "CUTE BOYS!" This coming from the mouth of the 4 year old who also tried running away earlier today. That was fun.

FINALLY.

2010-07-10T13:48:00.000-04:00

My life is complete. Not really. That would be pathetic. But you know that feeling when you find something you've been looking for forever? My first semester at CIA, we had an assignment to do a collage showing perspective in my drawing class. And collage is pretty much my favorite, so I really enjoyed the assignment. But instead of my usual stacks-of-magazines-and-vintage-novels-and-oodles-of-rubber-cement routine, I went with a digital method in Photoshop. It was great, because I had an idea of what I wanted to do, so I just had to find the right images. (Normally, I cut out bunches of images with a similar aesthetic, then choose some of them to piece totogether like a puzzle until I can see a narrative.)

Well, while working on this assignment, I found the greatest website ever. It archived thousands of vintage photos, and everything was easy to find thanks to the categorizing system. Here's the thing: I didn't have a laptop back then, so the internet history was forever lost in computer lab S32. Why I didn't write it down is beyond me. So every now and then, I need an image that I know I could find on this website, but I could never find the website. No matter how many times I googled things like "free vintage stock photos."

And once again, I had need of this beautiful archive. So intermittently between checking my email and watching CSI: NY online and browsing the beauty that is Anthropologie, I was looking for this site. AND I FOUND IT! FINALLY! Finally, finally, finally!

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the wonder that is Shorpy Historic Photo Archive. They have thousands of online photos from the 1850s to the 1950s. You can browse by photographer, like Ansel Adams or Dorothea Lange, or you can look through galleries like Aviation, Colored Photos, Kitchens, & Pretty Girls! So write this one down. Bookmark it in 8 differen folders like I did. Blog about it so you have yet another backup way to find it. Or get it tattooed on your palm. You don't want to lose this.

Ps. In case you were wondering, here's that collage I made way back when. The girl in front was found on Shorpy. I printed the version on the left at 18" x 24".

Five

2010-07-03T12:16:00.000-04:00

Excuse me a moment while I get awfully sentimental and post (embarrassing) pictures that no one really cares about.

Today is July 3, 2010. Obviously. Five years ago, I was enjoying the summer before my sophomore year of high school. I still wanted to be a fashion designer. I was in Sea Cadets, and on July 3, 2005, I was on a summer training on a ship. And on this training, I ate an elephant ear that was far too sugary, rode on an upside-down ride for the first time in my life, enjoyed some beautiful fireworks, decided that I loved hemp jewelry, and met a boy who could make me laugh like no other.

Sometimes I think I was incredibly stupid for even trying this and think life would have been a million times easier if we had simply hugged and said goodbye. Instead, this boy and I decided to give it a shot, even though I was from Detroit, Michigan, and he was from Charleston, South Carolina, which was worlds away from me.

I still remember everyone telling me to give it up, that he would cheat on me, that it would never last. Except, somehow, after talking on the phone night after night until 3 in the morning, after writing letter after letter, after catching flight after flight, we made it. To five years. And he still makes me laugh.

Five years ago, he looked like this.

And I looked something awful.

This little one hadn't been born. In fact, my mom wasn't even pregnant. Now, she's four years old.

I had never seen something so terrifying in my life. Now, I've seen plenty. And they still terrify me.

I had never been to Disney World.

And now I've been twice.

I had never been to the mountains, and now we're planning another trip.

I was still allowed to accompany him to the gate. Now, I can't get anywhere near the airport security line.

I had never been kissed.

But clearly, neither had he. Ha!

I had never seen the ocean.

Nor had I been on a sailboat.

Now I've been on countless. And he's bought and sold...too many to count.

I hadn't imagined that my perfect afternoon consisted of hanging out under ropelights listening to the crackle of Elvis's Blue Hawaii vinyl.

I had never heard of Mr. Will Hoge. Now we go anytime he's in town.

I didn't know that I would end up studying animation, with a plan to name my "company" after the cutest yellow bicycle I've ever seen, perfectly parked next to a yellow fire hydrant.

I would have never imagined having an almost-two-year-old posing with my on the day of my senior ball.

I had never pulled an all nighter. Now I've pulled far too many.

I can't begin to tell you all of the fun times we've had. Even if they are few and far between.

Even as simple as sitting outside on the swing and playing with Sylvester.

And taking little walks on the beach. No moonlight required.

One time, when walking, we were joined by this fellow, whose collar said his name was Scuppers. He walked with us up & down the beach, and we pretended he was ours.

This was from the first time I went to an art museum after being accepted to art school. He really wasn't that excited. But I make him act like it.

Sometimes, he thinks he's cute.

Sometimes, he wears my hoodie. That I bought from the little girls section.

Sometimes, he uses Tabatha and me as armrests. I owe her a big thank you. If it weren't for being overloaded with painkillers & having a spectacular best friend, I doubt I would have ever spoke to him.

Plus, she's really good at taking pictures.

We've gotten much better at taking pictures of ourselves over the years.

Our faces have also improved since this point.

Well, maybe.

We still go on hunts for another record to add to our collection since I first bought him that Doors album. Now we have them all.

In five years, he's gone through an acoustic guitar, an electric, and has moved onto a ukulele. Only after he bought me a pink one and was jealous.

He's always told me that he would break up with me if I ever died my hair. So I decided to test that. Didn't work. Haha

This is one of my favorite pictures of my two favorite people. Mia loves Nicholas. She thinks he's hilarious. One time, she told me he was her boyfriend. We had it out.

Anyway, I'm glad we were stupid enough to give this a shot. He sure makes me happy. Even though I make him mad a lot. I see him in twenty-seven days. I know it's kind of lame that we don't get to be together on our anniversary, but it's just a day. We've only ever been together for our first & third. And I really don't remember much of the first due to a head injury. Hahaha, it probably wasn't funny at the time, but now it's hilarious.

I love you, Nicholas. (To which you reply, "Ok.") Thanks for the smiles.

Mark Weaver Design

2010-06-27T19:02:00.001-04:00

I think these are pretty wonderful. I love his overlays and use of vintage imagery and absolutely everything. See more on Mark's Flickr and his artist site, and purchase your own original screen prints from his "Make Something Cool Everyday" series on his shop.

And by the way, I think that idea is pretty great. I don't know about you, but I always try to make something cool everyday. And if I haven't made anything yet, I feel listless. Which frequently (like today) results in me adventuring to some inspiring place (like the antique shop) until my ideas aren't so scrambled.

Also by the way, I got some great new (50-60 year old) magazines for collage material. I'm psyched.

More work by Stéphane Massa-Bidal

2010-06-27T15:02:00.000-04:00

Stéphane Massa-Bidal is fantastic. And as promised, here is more of his work.

But just in case this isn't enough for you, check out his Flickr.

Quote Posters

2010-06-27T14:26:00.000-04:00

Created by Stéphane Massa-Bidal, the same artist who made the wonderful website book covers I posted.

They can be found here. I'll probably post more of his digital genius shortly.

Website Book Covers

2010-06-27T13:57:00.000-04:00

I've had these bookmarked since they first started showing up on Tumblr months ago. I still think they're pretty snazzy.

Find them in this Flickr set.

Vintage Fabric

2010-06-27T11:36:00.000-04:00

Why are the patterns on vintage fabric so magical?

Find more magic in this Flickr set.

Collages by Anthony Zinonos

2010-06-26T20:48:00.000-04:00

I like collages that tell a story. Or hint at a story. I like these stories told by Anthony Zinonos. Especially the last one.

Why don't I live in New York?

2010-06-25T21:59:00.000-04:00

"Throughout 4 floors and 90,000 sq. ft. of retail space, there are 151 fitting rooms, 32 cash registers, a genuine NYC taxi cab (yes, inside the store), an oversized tree house, a room covered in gold studs and a giant LCD billboard outside where the models on screen interact with onlookers—literally."

Oh yeah. Because I would spend all of my money at the new Forever 21 in Times Square. Actually, I would be scrambling to pay the rent more so than I already do, and walking by my favorite store that has a tree house inside would only depress me.

Collages by Alexis Anne Mackenzie

2010-06-25T12:54:00.000-04:00

This is one beautiful mess, in my opinion. And from this mess, you can imagine that some incredibly intricate and absolutely beautiful collages are created. Alexis Anne Mackenzie has been collecting books for years, and from these pages, she hand cuts specific images to create new compositions that I am completely in love with. Her artist statement says that the purpose of her work is"to portray the world as a flawed thing of beauty - a place that shines brightly, but has a dark side to match."

Footprints on the Moon

All the Colors of the Dark

These are just a few of my favorites, but you can see more of Alexis's work on her website and her Flickr, and read about her process on her blog Cocoon Balloon.

I just bought a plane ticket!

2010-06-22T00:08:00.000-04:00

And of course, there's always that feeling of remorse when you spend that kind of money. But that goes away when I remember that I get to see this boy at the end of summer. You know, when we first started dating, plane tickets from DTW to CHS were closer to the $250 range. And now, they're about a hundred more, and that's with at least one stop. AND you have to pay to check baggage. Which means that we don't get to see each other as much since we have to save our pennies for school.

I haven't seen him since January. You bet I'm excited.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T21:56:00.000-04:00

Especially since my dad had been swearing up and down that he was gonna kill himself moving me into my new apartment. But he survived & made it to Father's Day. So now he constantly holds it above my head that I had to go and pick a 4th floor apartment in a building with no elevator. I like to think of it as physical activity encouragement.

Oh Bambi...

2010-06-17T22:44:00.000-04:00

I have a secret. I've become slightly less than obsessed with Glee. I don't know what happened. Mia & I were hanging out and checking Hulu. I saw an episode with Lady Gaga, whom Mia loves. And the next thing I know, I'm searching the interwebs for videos. I'm officially caught up with the whole season now. And I kind of really want it on dvd. Is that bad? I forgot how good tv could be. Ha! Plus, it's a nice break from watching CSI all the time. A little more cheerful. And now I'm not having crazy dreams of getting packages of body parts via UPS. Instead, I have Journey and Lady Gaga permanently stuck in my head, a fair trade.

I think my two favorite characters are Brittany, who's as dumb as a rock, and Kurt, who's fabulous. And I love Emma. Especially her clothes. And Rachel's clothes a lot of the time. And this is my absolute favorite moment of the whole season. Ohhhh, Bambi. Ha!

Map Envelope

2010-06-17T14:51:00.000-04:00

I'm in love with maps. And I'm in love with this. Enter a location and a custom message, then print your own little envelope template to send some lovin'. Which location would you choose?

Your Message Here.

2010-06-17T14:48:00.000-04:00

I've been in love with this project for awhile. Why can't I come up with great ideas like this?

And just in case you're as in love with what Shauna and Stephen of Something's Hiding In Here came up with, you can purchase a zine that contains photos of all the messages made...everything that people had to say.

Your Message Here blog

Something's Hiding In Here blog

Something's Hiding In Here Etsy

Making the Marquee photos

Project inspiration (like the image below)

Chez Sucre Chez

2010-06-10T23:02:00.000-04:00

I've been in love with the cross-stitched work of Kimberly Scola for a while now.

Her simple designs are wonderfully charming, and I definitely wouldn't mind having those clouds hanging on my walls. Find more of Kimberly's work on her website, her Etsy shop Chez Sucre Chez, her Flickr, and her blog.

Shannon Rankin

2010-06-10T19:59:00.000-04:00

I've seen Shannon Rankin's work here and there on Tumblr and absolutely loved her use of maps and materials, mostly because, well, I love maps. Aesthetically. And otherwise. But when I found her artist statement, I loved her work even more.

While bearing traces of the original form, I deconstruct maps to create new geographies, suggesting the potential for a broader landscape.

That's it. Plain and simple. And beautiful.

Find more of Shannon's work on her website, for sale in her Etsy shop, and behind the scenes looks on her blog and her Flickr.

Merit Badges by Lee Meszaros

2010-06-10T18:36:00.000-04:00

I've always loved merit badges. Ever since being a girl scout. When I was a junior, my troop was the Unicorns. I'm not really sure how we got to pick a name, but there it was, and along with it came an awesome unicorn patch for the front of our vests. We were so cool. I've debated several times ripping it off and incorporating it into something I wear more frequently than my old girl scout vest, but that's another story.

I don't know why I find these little patches so magical. There's nothing really too attractive about bathroom people (as my sister and I call those stylized silhouettes) doing aerobics, or "150 Boxes of Cookies!" in some awkward font. Maybe it was the idea of them that I was so in love with. Earning a patch and watching my mom sew it onto my uniform. I even designed my own a few times. Granted, they stayed in the pages of my early sketchbooks for only a few friends to see, but they were there.

Maybe that's why I'm so in love with what Lee Meszaros (one of my favorite Etsy sellers) has done. She makes merit badges by hand for everything from being a smitten kitten to being full of hot air to flipping the bird to being hungry as a hippo. Not only are they completely adorable and undeniably clever, but she makes them all by hand. They are all silkscreened, hand colored, and hand embroidered.

She even makes some for you and a friend, like for being birds of a feather and flocking together or going together like peanut butter & jelly.

I would love some handmade patches like these. I think I definitely deserve the one for having my head in the clouds. So maybe someone will feel super generous and get me a half birthday present. Or maybe I'll win the lottery and could afford to spend a few bucks on myself. Although, the chances of that are pretty slim considering I've never bought a lottery ticket in my life!

Denise Grünstein

2010-06-08T18:21:00.000-04:00

I have to say, I'm quite smitten with Swedish photographer Denise Grünstein's editorials. I wish I could live in these magical scenes that exist in the pages of magazines.

Picture Books

2010-06-08T17:39:00.000-04:00

Are still my favorite section at the library. I love taking Mia and picking out books with lovely illustrations of unicorns and princesses and a bunny or two. And vintage children's books are my favorite. I love the whimsy incorporated into every nonsense scene.

(See more here.)

A few favorites that I remember from my childhood: Curious George, Rainbow Fish, Arthur (Marc Brown graduated from my school!), anything by Graeme Base, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Where the Wild Things Are, Love You Forever, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and all of the I Spy books. What were your favorites?

I Sing I Swim

2010-06-08T08:33:00.000-04:00

I quite like this charming little music video. I've often thought about getting into doing music videos as far as my commercial work goes, since I have a background in music. And animated music videos are my favorite. But I still have a little while before I graduate to figure that one out.

Garage Sale Day!

2010-06-06T19:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Garage Sale Day-one of my favorite holidays! Ha! The neighborhood across the street from mine has a garage sale day, the first Saturday of every June, and I look forward to it every year! It's so convenient when you just walk up and down streets for 3 blocks and see garage sale after garage sale. And there was a really good turn out this year. I have to say, I was very successful. I went with Mia, whose 4th birthday was also yesterday, and my friend Alyssa, who helps convince me that vintage is always an investment. So here's what I came back with!

Mia with our wagon...we definitely needed it!

Mia got a free bunny from a lady when she told her it was her birthday. (Although I really don't like buying used stuffed animals.)

Mia holding one of the Littlest Pet Shop animals I bought her. We picked out a whole bunch, including an adorable sea horse!

Some videos! Because we still have a VCR in my house! And I don't have those Disney flicks on DVD yet. Oh, and the Barbie Workout video? Funny story. The only fight my sister Ciara & Alyssa ever got in was over the video. Alyssa wanted to do what Barbie said, but Ciara wanted to do jumping jacks. It didn't end too well, but we got a good laugh when we found the vhs again!

$2 box of old (1960s-1970s) encyclopedias on nature & history. They've already been used for collages in my sketchbook. The pictures are quite wonderful.

Really vintage books! For a nickel a piece! More collage supplies for me!

And a few National Geographics from the 60s. For $0.50 a piece. I was tempted to get more, and after some collages I made today, I really wish I had.

Records, of course! Another version of Mary Poppins (because it had a great cover), 2 Simon & Garfunkel, and some others.

Really old gumball machine (for an animation idea I've had!) and a vintage label maker (the color was too great to pass up!).

My pride and joy: a paint-by-number painting of the Last Supper! I love the look of a lot of old paint-by-numbers, and I love Jesus. So obviously, for $3, I needed this. Haha! I think it might look alright in my new dining room...we'll see what my roommates think. It's this fantastic?

I've been entirely exhausted today. Still. From moving on Wednesday & Thursday. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Wednesday, my dear old dad and I drove down to Cleveland, moved all my stuff from apartment A on the second floor to apartment B on the fourth floor. Down 19 steps. Up 2 steps. Into the van. Drive a mile. Out of the van. Up 42 steps. We're a little tired. The good news: my dad's a little closer to quitting smoking after "climbing Mt. Everest" as he's been calling this moving adventure. And, of course, I love my new apartment! I'm back in Detroit now until August, but I'm kind of itching to go back. I guess it's a good thing that I love my school that much.

Paint by Number Jesus!

2010-06-05T14:22:00.000-04:00

I have to get ready for work now, but tonight, I love a lot of exciting things to share... Like moving into my new apartment, my treasures from Garage Sale Day, and stories about a very special birthday princess. For now, here's a sneak peak at one of my favorite finds of the day:

Repeat All.

2010-05-31T19:08:00.000-04:00

I've been in love with wallpaper since my parents redid Ciara's and my bedroom when I was 5 years old. I remember looking through a book of different patterns and designs, and being in love with a unicorn border. They decided on a border that said "Friends of the Rainforest." I wasn't too thrilled. I'm sure there are others out there worse than this rainforest one, but there are also some completely magical patterns. And although it would be a giant hassle, I'm sure, I'm quite set on using one in my home someday. I'd just have to find the perfect spot. The image above and the two below are wallprints by Louise Body, who makes some of my favorite patterns. (Click images to go directly to the source.)

Here are some other pretty patterns that caught my eye:

Would you ever use wallpaper? I can't help but be reminded of stories of family friends re-decorating and finding layer upon layer of wallpaper to be stripped. Too much of a hassle? Maybe. Worth it? I think so.

Chat Roulette Documentary

2010-05-31T14:07:00.000-04:00

chat roulette from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.

And since I posted all those other wonderful videos about Chatroulette, I figured I should include this one, which explains the good and bad and the funny. Happened to find this while rendering/searching the staff pics on Vimeo. Obviously Chatroulette is not appropriate for everyone.

Ode to Merton

2010-05-31T14:04:00.000-04:00

Ben Folds imitates the Chatroulette Piano Improv guy.

Chat Roulette Funny Improv #1

2010-05-31T14:02:00.003-04:00

Yet another reason I'm intrigued by Chatroulette.

CHATROULETTE + MOLESKINE =

2010-05-31T13:52:00.000-04:00

I still haven't tried Chatroulette. I'm a little hesitant. But then you see great things like this... Haha.

Typophile Film Festival 5 Opening Titles

2010-05-31T13:49:00.002-04:00

Typophile Film Festival 5 Opening Titles from Brent Barson on Vimeo.

I wouldn't mind working on something like this.

El Rincón de las Cosas

2010-05-31T13:47:00.000-04:00

El Rincón de las Cosas-Trailer from Stella Maris Santiago on Vimeo.

I love the red shoes going down the stairs. And the shadows moving on the grass.

Dolls

2010-05-31T13:43:00.000-04:00

Dolls from helen animate on Vimeo.

I love when the doll pushes the book onto his lap. I love this style of pixilation: many parts could have been video and completed much quicker, but instead, they were shot frame by frame, giving it this uncanny appearance. He moves fluidly...but not quite right. I love doing things like that in my own animations. It's so bizarre, and creates this perfect dream world.

Les Peaux de Lièvres

2010-05-31T13:38:00.000-04:00

A completely incredible animation. It's nice to know that someone takes on projects that are more insane and work intensive than my own. Haha. But watch to the very end, where you can see the actual fabric as it zooms out. Can you just imagine working on this?

Catch up.

2010-05-30T21:07:00.001-04:00

It seems I have fallen off the face of the earth these past few weeks. I've been rather busy, between work, babysitting, volunteering, and trying to get some rest. However, having a three year old sister makes that difficult. Anyway, enough excuses. Hopefully this week, I'll get back on track with blogging and catch up on email. (I went from checking it every 10 minutes to once a day or less and then forgetting about it.) So here is some of what I've been up to.

Driving through epic thunderstorms. (And by driving, I mean riding in the passenger seat.)

Trips to the zoo to visit arctic friends.

Buying desperately needed clothes.

Wonderful garage sale finds.

Successful vintage shopping.

Animated horse races.

Magical Tea Parties.

Working on decorations for Shrine's vacation bible school.

Starting new books and reading my first graphic novel.

Getting ice cream for a penny at the Oberweiss grand opening. (Ciara loved it.)

Wrapping bouquets and sweeping up petals.

Finding old friends at the library.

Learning how to dance...or just making collages with the directions.

Visiting Ikea and finding what I never knew I needed (to be mounted by my drawing table).

Getting hooked on awful games. (Apparently I'm on a zombie kick lately.)

And hanging out with Mia.

Time for some strawberry shortcake! Mmmm!

Lots of Lovely

2010-05-10T20:05:00.001-04:00

I've been cleaning out my bookmarks lately, and thought I should share some of these things that I thought were worth a second look.

This address file by Lovely Design.

This Flickr set of a vintage abc book.

This vintage inspired anniversary shoot by Jill Thomas.

These photos by Kate Miss.

Best organizational system ever.

The best thing since sliced bread.

Maybe I'll share more later. Right now, I have to go make a sketchbook for Mia. And work in a sketchbook of my own.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T23:37:00.000-04:00

Instead of Bunny Sunday. Which I'll continue next week. After I get back on track with blogging.

Home!

2010-05-07T23:55:00.000-04:00

It was so nice to get home and be surprised by a clean room! I share a room with my 17 and 14 year old sisters, who forgot that there was a floor underneath all their clothes. And with my bed in Cleveland, not to mention, little room in that room, I have to sleep on an air mattress all summer. Which is fine since the room is clean! (Thanks to my mom who took a day off work to go through that black hole.)

Mia's glad I'm home. She hasn't let go of me yet. Even after she fell asleep. Ha.

I get to start work tomorrow! And a new sketchbook...

Packing/Procrastinating.

2010-05-06T22:57:00.000-04:00

This is the hard part. You see, I've procrastinated packing until the last possible moment because, well, I hate it. You would think that with all my moving around from one home to another in different states, I would have a handle on it. Nope. I despise it. So I'm just now getting around to it today. I go home to Detroit tomorrow afternoon. Oops. Clothes are no big deal. I really don't have that many for the summer anyway. Art supplies, however...

This is always the tough part. Deciding what I want to make over break. Which is everything. I want to do some linoleum carving (I've had those blocks sitting there for far too long). I want to learn how to make granny squares since I finally have time. I want to sew some dresses and maybe a new wallet. Oh, and I want to fill up a bunch of sketchbooks. I love to collage in my sketchbooks. Love to. It really helps me get my ideas out. But I just haven't had time this year. So I wanna get back into it. But collaging back home means I have to pick which magazines and vintage papers and drawing supplies and, oh hey, sketchbooks to take with me. I have to have a clear idea of an aesthetic I want to go with, or else I can't commit to a sketchbook. And they all end up halfway filled.

Right now my room looks like a war zone. I thought animators didn't have to have that many supplies? Oh wait. I don't make mine on the computer [usually]. I need to collect junk for stop motions and magazines for cut out animations and drawing supplies for 2d and rotoscopes. Oy. I feel so materialistic.

I'm still procrastinating.

Anway, here are some pretty collages for you to look at while I figure out what to bring home.

Made by misspaq on Flickr.

I'm afraid of...

2010-05-05T23:37:00.000-04:00

Taking showers during thunderstorms. I don't remember if my mom told me when I was younger or if it was something on one of those garbage tv shows about the possibility of being electrocuted, but ever since it was mentioned, even if people tell me it's not true, I avoid it. And so instead of showering, I'm sitting in my room listening to "Raining Like Magic" from the Fern Gully soundtrack.

I should probably do some more packing. But every time I try that, I get side tracked and end up making Sculpey necklaces or crocheting headbands or organizing my fabric collection. The good news, though, is that in the midst of going through all sorts of art supplies, I may have come up with ideas of things to sell on Etsy! My problem is just that I love making pretty much everything. That makes it hard to nail down what I really want to make a lot of. I'll be testing some things out this weekend.

Also, check out one of my favorite animations! I came across this so long ago, and still, every time I watch it, I am impressed.

Firekites - AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

Robin Hood

2010-05-05T15:25:00.001-04:00

Ok, here's a really nerdy secret about me: I started learning html coding and making layouts for Livejournal in middle school. I had a million different accounts just to test layouts on and get familiar with coding. Plus, I was obsessed with all the little groups that made icons. For some reason, those little 100x100 pixels are just so pretty to me. Note that I said "are" because I still like them. Usually. And every now and then, I look them up. Now is one of those times.

(Click images for sources)

Last night, I watched Disney's Robin Hood for the first time. We were more about the princess movies in my house, so there are a few that escaped me, but I'm working on catching up. But Robin Hood was awesome! It's my roommate's favorite Disney movie, and she was laughing at how into it I was last night. Let me tell you, that movie is intense. Did you see that rhinoceros executioner!? How is that ok for little kids?! But it's also really funny. I'm bummed I missed out on it as a kid. And from an animator's standpoint, it was wonderful. I recognized a lot of the scenes from standard Disney reference footage, but it was still beautifully done. And those opening titles with the parade of characters crossing the screen was perfect. Sir Hiss reminded me a lot of Kaa from The Jungle Book, but Kaa never got his head stuck in a balloon and flew around. I can't tell you how hard I was laughing at that part. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

One of my favorite parts of watching Disney classics is picking out familiar voices and figuring out what other characters they were. I'm getting really good at it! And I also like picking out similar animation styles, especially if I don't know the date of when something was made, so I can place it between two other movies. I guessed Robin Hood was between The Jungle Book and The Rescuers. I was right :) Those are probably just more reasons you should never watch animated movies with me. I'll tell you all the history of Disney's Nine Old Men and which movies Tim Burton worked on before Nightmare.

Don't Worry, I'm Yours

2010-05-03T20:13:00.000-04:00

Came across these awesome remixes today! The first is still my favorite. I'm in love with anything ukulele.

Don't Worry, I'm Yours (Jason Mraz vs. Bobby McFerrin vs. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole)byDJ Dain

Dani California's Last Dance (Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers)byDJ Dain

Hotter, Colder, Dreamer, Fighter (Perfume vs. Daft Punk vs. Katy Perry)byDJ Dain

You can find more on DJ Dain's blog.

Bunny Sunday: Follow the White Rabbit

2010-05-02T22:18:00.000-04:00

When I went home for that job interview a couple weeks ago, Mia was still on her Wonderland kick. She was even talking in her sleep/having a nightmare that "Cayla's in Wonderland and I'm not allowed in!" Haha, she's one creative kid. So we of course drew lots of pictures together. Here's one in which she asked me to draw Alice in the scene where she is in the white rabbit's house, eats a cookie, and grows into a "monster." Mia added the white rabbit (near her knee) and asked me to sign it (by her elbow) after she signed it herself (at the top...see the big "m"?). I thought it was adorable. Sorry for it not being the prettiest drawing, but when you have a 3 year old with an overactive imagination, you'll have lots to draw in a short amount of time. So anyway, just for Mia, I decided today's Bunny Sunday would be about my favorite bunny of them all: the White Rabbit from Wonderland.

You know, one of the things I want to collect is different versions of the Alice stories. Just because the story is so surreal and therefore the illustrator is in complete control of how we see this place called Wonderland. I think about that every now and then...would we still picture Alice in that blue frock if Disney had made his movie when it was originally scheduled before World War II, with styling by David Hall? It would be very different from the quirky style of Mary Blair, that's for sure.

Lazy Saturday

2010-05-01T23:32:00.000-04:00

Today was a day off. The first since Winter Break, it seems. And so I didn't set any alarm. And let me tell you, I always set an alarm. Even if I get to sleep in. I just don't like wasting the day. So after going to bed after 2am, I slept until 2:52pm. It was wonderful, but I've felt stiff and achey all day. I guess I'm not used to sitting still for so long.

It's been weird adjusting to classes being done. Up until the last day I was working until 2am or so, and to have it all just...stop...I don't know what to do with myself. So today, I listened to records, watched some old tv shows on YouTube, made some little charms out of Sculpey for a necklace for Mia, watched some Moulin Rouge, cleaned off my desktop and my downloads folder (which had accumulated hundreds of items), and lounged around. Sundays are for cleaning, so Saturdays are for procrastinating. At least when I don't have school work to do. Of course, if I do feel like procrastinating some more tomorrow, I just may find myself at the art museum. And then I'll clean and pack. Maybe. I've got til Friday.

Is it bad that I'm already thinking about new projects for next year? I've been making lists of animations I want to do, and the ideas just keep coming.

I've also been working on changing around some things on my blog so it's a little more aesthetically consistent.

Back to being lazy. My posts will get more interesting after I recuperate from the semester. I promise.

Hip Hip Hooray!

2010-04-30T22:07:00.000-04:00

Today was absolutely wonderful. I turned in my papers for my English class and officially ended my second year of college. At the awards ceremony, I found out that my one scholarship was renewed, and I earned two more! And to celebrate all my hard work, I went to CIA's annual end of the year party, the Pink Pig, where they had two moon bounces! I think I was on there with a few of my friends for at least a half hour. It was absolutely fantastic. College kids should have access to these kinds of things more often.

So now that I have no need to be at my studio until 2am, I'm not sure what to do with myself. It's such a weird feeling to work so hard until the very end, and then have everything.just.stop. I still feel like there's more to do. Tonight, I'm planning on watching a movie, probably something Disney, and going to bed early! Then sleeping in tomorrow as late as I possibly can. Sure, I have to get ready to move, but I think tomorrow should be a nice relaxing day.

And since everything has stopped, I've been trying to write down all of my ideas for future projects. My brain is just overflowing with ideas involving bears on motorcycles and unicorns on unicycles and trees with butterflies for leaves and yarn letters and pop-up sets...

I've also realized recently that for a vegetarian, I eat an awful lot of animal crackers. In my kitchen cabinets, I have 2 kinds of animal crackers, a tub of Cat Cookies (heck yes, Trader Joe's!), some Bunny Grahams, Market Pantry Chickadees, and Goldfish.

Now for some pretties I've come across lately:

Enjoy your evening! I know I will!

Almost done!

2010-04-29T23:43:00.000-04:00

Have you had a chance to watch my new animation? Or is it animations? I'll explain more about that later. Right now, I wanna keep you guessing. So, are you curious?

I had my last studio critique for the semester today. Now I just need to get together some papers to hand in for my English final tomorrow. And then...I will be free! Granted, I'll be sticking around for another week to attend the BFA reviews, but after 12pm tomorrow, I will be officially done with the spring semester!

I'll also be working on getting some more of my new animations online. I'm thinking about upgrading to a Vimeo Plus account. What do you think? It might just be worth it just to avoid the hassel of rendering and re-rendering with different compressions.

By the way, I am in love with the illustrations and pattern designs of Alyssa Nassner lately. They're so quirky! I think I'll have to do a whole post just about her amazing illustrations shown on her blog!

Not to mention, her color palette is absolutely charming!

Alright, time for me to finish up getting grant proposals and exhibition reviews together. Hooray. Haha, hope your night is a little more exciting than mine!

Semester Long Animation ONLINE!

2010-04-28T11:09:00.002-04:00

Curiouser:

Curiouser from Michaela Lynch on Vimeo.

And Curiouser:

Curiouser from Michaela Lynch on Vimeo.

And Curiouser:

Curiouser from Michaela Lynch on Vimeo.

Should I explain? Maybe later. I'll leave you wondering.

On Wednesdays,

2010-04-28T04:55:00.000-04:00

I think I'll wear pink today. Time for bed. The goal was to be at my studio by 10am tomorrow to finish up some things. Of course, that's in 5 hours and 7 minutes. I need to take a nap.

KoriARTica

2010-04-27T20:31:00.000-04:00

First off, check out CIA's website before they change it... If you look to the left, you'll see a still from my animation. And just in case they change it before you see, check it out here:

They even have some info about our show on the blog:

I was really excited when I came across that this morning. It's been one of my goals to get my work on the home page before I graduate.

Anyway, the show, which [animation machine & TIME professor] Kasumi & [Mather Dance Center art director] Gary named "koriARTica" went amazing. Considering all of the mayhem that has been going on, I was very pleased. The video worked. Our projection looked awesome. Rachel danced beautifully. And Josh, the composer of our music, was there to see it!

It was really great in the end, to know that 3 students from 3 different institutions (The Cleveland Institute of Art, The Cleveland Institute of Music, and Case Western Reserve University) were all able to contribute. And we all got great feedback! I was pleased with my animation. Rachel is an amazing dancer. And Josh is incredibly talented.

Whew!

Now back to work to get ready for two final critiques tomorrow.