Canadian Film Vault Opens

The Necktie

The National Film Board of Canada recently released a number of their films and made them available for free downloads and viewing on their website. This is a huge treasury of high quality award winning materials. The site has numerous examples of animated, documentary, feature and short films. You can explore by genre, title, year, length and language. This makes browsing so easy. I enjoy the animation section most. This section features links that take you to educational resources, jobs, festivals and much more. There are some amazing award winning works linked here including: Ryan, Chris Landreth’s Oscar-winning animated short film from 2004. One of my favorites is Caroline Leaf. I especially enjoy the features that not only look at her films but also demonstrate how she made the works. This is great website for students, teachers or just fans of film. Caroline Leaf also has her own website that features a great deal of information. One last note…not all of the films on the Canadian Film Board site are free, but it is still a wonderful resource where you can find quality films to purchase too.

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Illustration Friday

There is a site I’ve become aware of that’s kind of fun. It is called Illustration Friday. If you join you get an email each Friday of the theme for that week. You then create an illustration that highlights your interpretation of that theme. Those in charge of the site then choose an illustration to feature. As a member you can choose to enter your own ideas for a theme too. I have yet to find the time to actually enter myself, but I do enjoy getting the weekly theme and seeing what others have done to interpret it. The featured illustration here was the artist, Asja Croatia’s interpretation of the theme “Flawed”. This week’s theme is “celebrate”.

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Inspiration From the Web-Su Blackwell

A friend of mine recently sent me the following website link to look at. http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/ What a cool website and artist. The work is interesting on many levels. As sculpture the pieces are intriguing as they play with the idea of what a book is. The words of a well written book make the images leap to life in your mind’s eye and imagination. In this artwork the images from the book’s page are realized right on the pages of the book. Using books as a form of art has become very popular with the dawning of the altered book craze and the hand made artist book community. These books are art objects themselves with the meaning of the pages and the stories serving as allusions for the artworks. The site also links to several films. http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/films.php Each is interesting as an animated piece. One illustrates the way that an ad campaign was developed utilizing the artists designs and a team of animators. It is intriguing to me especially as I push forward trying to learn the art of animation and pass it along to my students.

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September Flying Past

Although I have no picture to post I will write anyways since it has been awhile. The political conventions came and went as has the summer. Being a teacher is enjoyable, but at times difficult since I miss most of September while submerged in the piles of work that surround the beginnings of a new school year. Everyone is trying so hard with their renewed attitudes and new class rosters of shiny faces and possibilities. Each year we’re asked to set professional goals. Mine are always the same and why shouldn’t they be? I am always working on the same things….to raise awareness in the community for art and to help my students become accomplished artists able to communicate their thoughts and feelings.  This is challenging for any educator, but has become especially difficult in the times we live in.  The money in my budget hasn’t grown much in recent years, but the prices for supplies to support the program have increased substantially.  It is troublesome to try to deliver a quality program on a shoestring budget.  It is also difficult to teach, identify grants, fund raise etc.  Sometimes there is so much that gets in the way of just doing the thing I set out to do…make art, teach art, love art.

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The Political Conventions

It is an exciting time right now, the Olympics will be followed by the spectacle of the Democratic and Republican conventions.  As an artist I often look at these events and wonder what they have to do with me?  What can I do to make a difference to be heard?  Does our society value the artist or care about art?  It feels like art is invisible, on the fringe…not really making a difference or mattering to the greater good of society and the world.  With this in mind I was interested in the community of Minneapolis/St. Paul and their take on the upcoming political machine about to roll into town.  I consider the Twin Cities a place where art is intrinsically part of the fabric of the cityscape and is valued by its people.  The article in the New York Times discusses the reaction and actions that both Minneapolis/St. Paul and Denver intend to take to celebrate the conventions from an arts point of view.  The Unconvention is a clever way to look at the process of politics and not really try to make people be for or against Obama or McCain. It is artists taking action to call attention to the political process.  The Denver version called Dialog:City will feature many things including a political karaoke  created by Daniel Peltz.  This will allow citizens to re-perform the speeches of John McCain and Barack Obama.  Both arts related events make me wish I could visit the cities and participate.  You can take part in some of the events.  There is a YouTube component to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Unconvention where you can record a brief video and have it be part of the I approve this message project.  I watched a few of these and they are fabulous examples of the freedom of speech.  I especially like the one woman’s sarcasm as she discusses the minions whose lives will be interrupted for four days because of the traffic jams that the conventions will cause.

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More Video and Animation Fun

Here is a new little animation that I just finished.  It is an example of rotoscoping.  The hands in the paintings are mine knitting the cable cardigan (Central Park Hoodie) that I’ve been working on for many months.  It brings together several of my favorites, knitting, watercolor painting and drawing and technology.  It was time consuming to create, but very fun.  I need to work on sound that could go with it, but for now it’s a cool little thing that I tried.  I will try to post some photos of the actual knit sweater, too.  It is progressing with the shoulder seams bound off together as of today.  I still have the sleeves and hood to knit plus the buttons.  I don’t know if I’ll finish before going back to school this fall, but I will try.  Let me know what you think of the animation!

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New Art Work Finally!

So I finally have begun making new art work, that actually feels like art. I have been taking the class at MIAD all week and have finished two video works this week. They are posted here . Hopefully, you can view them. I’m pretty psyched about the results. We had specific directions as to what we could and couldn’t do. Considering I knew nothing at the start of the week this is pretty cool. Let me know what you think.

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Time To Make Art: Video Class

I’m excited and nervous about next week.  I am attending the Creative Educator Institute (CEI) workshops at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) http://www.miad.edu/.  Why I’m nervous I don’t know.  It is the old demons in my head:  “will I measure up to those in the class?” “am I good enough?” etc.  I am hoping it cures the artist block that I’ve been suffering from this summer.  Work in a new medium can sometimes do this.  That’s what I’m hoping for.  The course will feature a lot of new technology that I am hoping will help build my skills and give me the confidence to move in this direction with my artwork.  I love film and photography, so video seems a natural.  The professor teaching the course is James Barany, http://www.youtube.com/user/jamusbaranus whose work I greatly admire.  I hope to learn how to create the multi-layered effects that he uses in his video work.  The Artist Statement Project and My Most Important Self Portrait project http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C21A7AACC3F0CCAB
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I took a weekend workshop class with him and loved it.  I will also be learning animation techniques I believe, which will be pretty cool.  I hope to begin doing some of this with my own students.  The Mac computers and IMovie make it so easy to do this.  I am looking to increase my knowledge in this area.  I think video will be the art medium of the 21st century.  If you know of any amazing sites that I should see to increase my knowledge I’d love to hear about them.  I know about You Tube, but I’m looking for artistic video, not just the homemade quality.  I would like see more artists such as Ann Hamilton, whose work with both video, film and photography is incredible.  http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/hamilton/index.html .  Check it out here:http://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/  Her piece called “Ghost” is especially intriguing to me.  The process of what she did using fabric and stitching and then having the environment she set up are all fascinating.  I also greatly admire her pinhole photographs done with the her mouth camera.  Very poignant and revealing of the relationship between artist and subject.  I always think I am hiding behind my camera, but this project puts her right in the subjects face. BRAVE WORK!

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Why Do I Spend So Much Time Reading About Making Art?

It seems lately I’ve noticed a trend on my part.  I am getting increasingly frustrated with myself for not making any new artwork this summer.  Summer is usually my creative time, being a teacher I am finally free and able to do what I want, although this summer I am teaching summer school.  I’ve done a few photos, but nothing really all that serious.  It seems I’m doing very well with looking at books and websites and blogs of other creative types and spending all of my free time doing just this…LOOKING.  Is this artistic laziness? 

I can rationalize that I am “filling my cup”, getting ideas and inspiration, but the reality is I am avoiding making my own art.  I know that sometimes you need to stop and take a break and do your research and get inspired, but lately this is ridiculous.  I also make excuses like, well I am knitting and making a sweater and learning that, but it is not the same as making art.  I am also working in the garden a lot and I can somehow rationalize and see this as creative too.  It is, but again it still doesn’t mean that there is new artwork flowing from my brush, scissors, printer or whatever.  I have ideas… creative fantasies almost of what I want to do.  So as Nike says:  Just do it!!! 

I think I need to just disappear for awhile and make something.  Maybe a collage or a little sketch.  Maybe I should just doodle in the little moleskine book in my purse.  That would be better than nothing.  Today when I get home from work I will disappear into the studio.  I actually have one!!! Even though the floods made half of it disappear and get messed up.  That’s also been my excuse.  Everything is disorganized in the studio.  Ok I’m back to this post and I did go into the studio and I seriously couldn’t find anything because it is all over the basement after the flood.  I spent 5 hours sorting and cleaning and organizing instead of making art!  I am really sick of this!!! I want to create.  So why don’t I do it right now?  Anyone else feel this ever?  It’s the delicious pause of procrastination, the wonderful fantasy of all the unmade art that I could produce.  It is so much better before I’ve made it isn’t it?  

So what have I been doing instead of art?  Some of the stuff that I have been looking at includes of course my flickr.com page.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/bellafiore/  
 I also have been reading: Spilling Open by:Sabrina Ward Harrison  http://www.sabrinawardharrison.com/ee/index.php/sabstudio/collect/ and also looking at the site of SARK, the creative writer/artist who did so many fun books.  http://www.planetsark.com/ .  Check these out yourself especially if you’re in an art making rut.  Maybe just maybe you’ll get out.  I hope I do!

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New York Times Norman Rockwell Retake Art Exhibit

 The article by Damien Cave in the Arts section of today’s New York Times describes an updated take on Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedom’s series of art at Aventura Mall in South Florida.  The show was put together from the Wolfsonian museum at Florida International University exhibit titled “Thoughts on Democracy,”The slide show especially features more images of works that clearly demonstrate the anxiety and fear that many Americans feel these days with the failing economy.  The way we are viewed in the world has also changed from the time that Rockwell created his series.  At that time around World War II our country was seen as the heros.  After trips to Europe and chats with friends it is clear that much of the world doesn’t see us that way at all.  I enjoy art that challenges and makes one think.  Some of the images are a bit melodramatic, but overall I can’t help but think that Norman Rockwell might have really taken this sort of approach if he were living in the current climate of war  and terrorism and failing economy.  So much of what used to be considered heroic is no longer the way it is.  It is a thought provoking article and exhibition.  http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/07/08/arts/20080709_ROCK_SLIDESHOW_index.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

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