Yoshimi is a muse.

I know Yoshimi is a pretty bunny. She keeps her white fur so tidy. Her dark fur lines her eyes and a black dot accents her soft pink nose. I thought it was possible that I was biased about her beauty because I love her so much but it turns out she has many other admirers. I have used her as a model and she was even the inspiration for a feltidermy by the famous Girl Savage! Now she is a film star too.

Ashley Blewer took a quick video of Yoshimi when she was over for dinner and made a rotscope video! I wasn't familiar with rotoscope until recently but now I think it is so neat! She drew every little bunny nose wiggle over the real video. The result is so simple yet I must have watched it 100 times!

Ashley has a neat blog filled with tons of short and sweet rotoscope studies. Give it a peek!

http://rotoscope.tumblr.com/

Handmade Nation NY Premier!

Our trip to New York to see Handmade Nation was exhausting but very fun. Ashley (shown above waiting for the film to start) and I did so much chatting and walking yesterday that I had sore muscles and a gravelly voice this morning. After a four hour bus ride, we spent the next few hours walking around semi-aimlessly then had a frustrating time heading in the wrong direction on the subway.

Thankfully, we made it to the premier at the Museum of Art and Design on time. I am so glad that Ashley thought to buy our tickets beforehand because they were sold out when we arrived. The place was really bustling and everyone seemed so cheerful and excited about seeing this film. Once seated, we scanned the crowd for crafty celebrities. We recognized Julie of Your Secret Admiral, Danielle of Precious Pups, Christy of A. Bardis, Andrew Wagner from American Craft and Jenine of Jenine Bressner Fireworks. We also found out later that the woman seated behind us was Micaela O'Herlihy who did the filming for Handmade Nation. Neat! I probably would have traveled all the way to New York just to be in such good company! I found I was very curious about all the unidentified attendees. I suspect that every person in the audience was a maker of some kind and I wanted a profile (with links) floating above the heads of everyone seated around me.

The film was paired with a panel discussion led by Callie Janoff with Mandy Greer, Kate Bingaman-Burt and the director, Faythe Levine. The panel was full of infectious enthusiasm and I found myself smiling through the whole thing. The audience was allowed a few good questions (and one that made me secretly wish for a blow dart) and the second that the panel was over, we had to rush away to catch our bus home. I wish we could have lingered for a bit and mingled.

I am still glowing from the experience because the film and the atmosphere of the event was so joyful and optimistic. I relished being shown that my solitary crafting pursuits are part of something special and that the silly things I make are important on some level.

Button

Well, my sickness has subsided and I'm on the mend. The only real symptoms I'm still experiencing are a stuffy nose and unquenchable sleepiness. I haven't moved much from the couch but I have stayed semi-productive nonetheless. Justin has been helping me with the mighty task of overhauling argylewhale.com and making it actually relate to my aesthetic.

I did leave the house once for a well-bundled dash down the street to the local theater to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I really enjoyed the story and, as everyone agrees, the makeup was astounding. I also was impressed by how alarmingly attractive Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are. Not that I forgot really, but damn those two are just remarkably well made! The two images above are my favorite be-buttoned items on Etsy from Eaten Apple and Stichface.

Well, tomorrow is Saturday and, for once, I haven't overplanned it already. The only task I'm forcing myself to complete is the epic battle that is bunny wrangling and nail trimming.

Wizard Rock!

Last night Justin and I ventured into the city to see the movie "We are Wizards" which is a documentary about Harry Potter fan culture and the creative avenues that fans have taken that are inspired by the books. There was also a wizard rock show in the theater following the film that featured lots of Harry Potter themed bands (Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, the Whomping Willows and the Hungarian Horntails).

We had so much pure fun that I can hardly explain. There is something so great about going to a show where everyone is unabashedly geeking out. Nobody is attempting to be remotely cool and the audience was just giddy and full of great energy.

I think I liked the books about as much as most people liked them but I'm much more a fan of being a fan ( I hope that makes sense at all). I like being in the company of adults who don't take themselves too seriously and little kids being really imaginative.

One of the highlights of the event was that the illustrator and comic wizard Brad Neely was in attendance. I pretty much love everything he makes. Justin and I got really starstruck and shy and didn't introduce ourselves even though he was pretty close by. We just couldn't figure out how to not seem annoying or pathetic in our opening statements to someone we really enjoy. We really should have said hello. I also really should have bought the Harry and The Potters official dental floss container that I saw at the merch table. I really need to have something that makes flossing rock.

We had such a good time that it was really hard to return to the muggle world.

Showtime!

Some friends from college are having a show at Montserrat's 301 Gallery right now. I went to the opening and was so impressed and had a smashing time. I hadn't seen these friends in such a long while and had to overcome the psychological hurdle of appearing back at my old school. For some reason I always work myself up into thinking that people will be mad that I haven't stayed in contact enough. Of course, I really shouldn't fret so much because time after time I've found that seeing dear friends after a long break rarely ends in resentment and often is a happy reunion filled with hugs!

The show looked great and I was really pleased to see new work from my pals.

After the opening, Justin and I headed out to see the movie, "Rape of Europa" at the Cabot Cinema which is a really old fashioned building with murals, balconies and loads and loads of velvet and gold. I love seeing films there even though the seats are krinkly like diapers. "Rape of Europa" was amazing and so sad. It was about the theft of art by the Nazis and the people who tried to protect the artworks from being destroyed. Justin wrote a review over here. For me, the story was very interesting because it focused a lot on how the artworks from certain communities shaped the identity of the people in that place and the way morale was lost when their art was pillaged.

When I feel self deprecating, I often worry that art isn't important at all. I was glad to go to see the shows because they were a good reminder that it is. Bigtime.

mini movies to soothe you

I suppose it WAS crazy of me to post about my stop motion experiments and not even show a video. So, by popular demand; here are two of the videos I made. They are very very short and equally imperfect (which is why I was not inclined to share). I can't keep watching them because I'm beginning to obsess over little details.

I hope these are enjoyed a little bit.

My next attempt will be much more elaborate and hopefully over 10 seconds. I want to make some music to add too. This tiny project is snowballing into a bigger production at rapid speed; I am beginning to make some props and now I have a reason to fix my cello.

Polaroid

Polaroid announced this week that it will cease production of it's iconic instant film.

Damn! I love using my Polaroid camera and I'm pretty bummed that film is going to be extremely hard to acquire after 2009. I am also sad for the 150 employees in Massachusetts who will lose their jobs because of this. I understand that it isn't profitable anymore due to digital photography... but it's so fun! Now I'm afraid I'll be even stingier with the film than I was before.

I'm also particularly sentimental about Polaroids. Justin and I got ours a few years ago during a stressful period in our relationship. We were both too busy with school and work and bunny health issues and our own health issues and our money situation was dismal. The result was that we were spending our limited time together running errands and complaining about our situation. We were both getting depressed so we decided to try and make an effort to do something fast, simple and nice every once in awhile with each other.

We decided to take portraits of each other with the Polaroid camera as a way to pause and pay attention to one another. When I look back on these pictures, I remember the exact way I felt and how hard that time was for me. The portraits became less moody and more fun as winter moved into spring and our life got itself sorted out. I think that the portraits we took of one another were instrumental in our emergence from a crappy mentality. We have them displayed in our living room and I use them as reminder to appreciate each other and to be optimistic when I'm feeling stressed.

The Polaroid set above was taken while each of us had a Vladmaster viewing experience. Actaeon At Home was the piece we were watching. I just bought another one last week for Justin's birthday.