Progress

Some things are falling into place…slowly but surely. Im actually enjoying the pace of all this because it gives me time to breath and time to spend with Lucy. Its not becoming overwhelming and thus I am able to keep the motivation high.

      Triangles, triangles triangles. I am dreaming in triangles. I would say I’m about ½ way through some major animation tests for the triangle section of the Shapes video. Ill also be doing circles, squares, rectangles, and stars. Maybe hearts as well. Its not just shapes that are going into this piece…theres so much more to think about. The animation needs to be engaging, educational, as well as interactive as there will be packages offered to compliment the DVD like “drool proof” flash cards and handmade felt boards. It is my mission to create something for both the children AND their parents/caregivers that will extend the education, interactive, and stimulation experience.

      Iv put out ads on Facebook, and Craigslist, asking for voice talent for when the production is ready. Iv also been searching out grants to be able to fund the project. I do not have any experience with the grant process, and let me tell ya…it’s not all that much fun! Lol. Its extremely difficult to find ones suited to this type of media. They are usually about supporting outdoor installation art. Frustrating for sure, but no matter, because the quality of this work will not at all be affected if a grant is not awarded. It will just mean taking a little longer to complete the work as I add my own funds little by little. This is the reason I decided to put a donation button on here. Every dollar counts! ($1 can buy me 2 small sheets of felt for some stop motion animation) J

Thanks to everyone who has donated so far!

If you choose to donate, please let me know and I will put you on a list to receive a special handmade gift to be given out when production is complete!

For your viewing pleasure, a few screen shots to some 2d computer graphic animation I am currently working on.

Patience...

Iv come a long way, yet I have so far to go. I am thankful everyday for the life that I have and even more thankful lately for the patience, motivation, drive, and excitement Iv been having to bring my idea to light. Iv made a loose schedule for working. I give myself 2 hours a night after Lucy goes to bed that I can experiment and implement with in peace. I don’t always follow it. More often than not, I become consumed and too concentrated and productive to stop after 2 hours. When I was just starting out with graphite portraits I used to cut corners and try to get it all done in one night because I wanted to see what it would look like!

(An early drawing in my career)

Since then Iv learned the value of breaking up time and having patience. Its made such a difference in the quality of my work. Iv also noticed that it doesn’t cause as much stress as it does when I pull the all nighters.

(Some newer pieces)

“Patience takes the impossibilities of life and turns them into realities.” - From a wonderful article by Richard Vegas

I am fully prepared and inspired to continue using patience in my everyday life. If I can see that its made this much of a difference in my drawings, than I dont doubt its powers to improve all else! 

What Happens When Internet Goes Out?

Its that hopeless feeling… like you’ve been cut off from the world and all of a sudden..you have NOTHING to do, right? Most of what I do for a living centers around being online, so I felt the void for sure. More than not having it to do some work, I felt like this more so because of my hopeless addiction to Facebook J But no matter…I buckled down and got TONS of work done for Brilliant Bundles.

This is a clip of a test I did with scrap booking paper for the triangle section of the upcoming video.

I ended up waking with glitter all over me (and am still unable to get it off) from touching the background paper. I planned out the animation so that later I could reverse the footage in Final Cut Pro and make it look as if the paper was unfolding instead of folding. I think some of these will make for some nice transitions. What do you think? 

Brilliant Bundles Presents...Shapes!

It started with the name and the logo. The ideas started flowing after that.

      I spend a lot of my day playing with my daughter. We learn together and we grow together. While there are not hours and hours of TV being watched, we do have a little TV time for educational purposes. Im a fan of the Sprout channel as well as PBS. I don’t sit her in front of the TV and just walk away. I sit with her and repeat what is being emphasized. I make everything as interactive and engaging as I can for her. One of my favorite animation methods is stop motion. I love the tactile quality it brings with all of the textures available, and the movement is exciting. Lucy enjoys it as well.

      My work time on this project is usually after she goes to bed at night. I clean her playroom and I set up the table with some of the handmade pieces Iv made. For the triangle fish sequence, I have used different colored felt. The first of the DVDs will be titled: Brilliant Bundles Presents…Shapes! This is what my set up looks like.

Work with what you have right? LOL.

Just have to remember to keep the cat away next time :/

Screen shot from the fish sequence

A journey Begins

This is the beginning of a journey.

            I guess you could say it started when I was 4 and ½ and my youngest of 4 siblings was born. Already at that young age I had been around lots of babies. I’m told there are photos of me nursing my baby dolls because that’s all I ever saw. My maternal instincts were apparent from the beginning. I was so fascinated by babies. I loved their little hands and little feet and little noses.

            Fast forward a few years when I was 12 or 13 and started to baby sit for the neighbor’s kids, and it continued from there. My after school jobs in high school all consisted of childcare. One of them was a special needs family. The summer I graduated and had turned 18, I was hired as an after school caregiver for the kindergarten to 2^nd grade age group at a private daycare center. I was so determined to work in the infant and toddler rooms. I just wanted to be around babies more than anything!

            After about a year I started working in the infant room while once in a while substituting in the toddler room. I was in love with my job. It hardly ever felt like it was work to me.

            At this point I was still watching cartoons….something that fascinated me just as much as babies. I was made fun of quite frequently for this, but I didn’t care. Something about animation has always spoken to me. I consider it to be my second language. My parents both came from artistic backgrounds, mostly in television. While I had many talents in the fine arts area, like my mother, I made a business decision when entering college and choosing my major that would benefit my financial needs more than fine arts alone could. Or at least could in a shorter amount of time than it takes to establish yourself as a fine artist, something my mother has been working feverishly at for over 30 years now.

In 2003 I started my first year at the Columbus College of Art and Design, a private and very intensive 4 year program. I received an amazing scholarship based on my merit and portfolio. I spent morning till night most days, and would go straight from school to one of two of the families I was a nanny for. I spent nights with the baby, hardly ever sleeping and would leave from there at 7am to begin my morning commute to school for another long day. On days I got out early, I would sub in the infant or toddler room at the children’s center.

            In 2007 I receive my BFA and pretty much came home and slept for a month. In between sleeping, I was still subbing at the day care, sitting for a number of families, and starting to look for jobs within my major. Having been in love with all my “jobs” over the years I had come to the conclusion that having a job I hated just because it paid money wasn’t an option for me. I decided I was going to be a full time freelance artist. I had talent in many different areas of art ranging from photo-realistic graphite portraits to graphic 2d animation, and interactive web design. (Something CCAD is great at is producing well-rounded artists and I’v always been thankful for that experience.) I knew I would be happiest in my career choice if I had the option of staying in my pajamas while doing it, and making my own hours. Who wouldn’t!? lol. I created LMD Studios and have been running my own business since.

           In 2009 I gave birth to my daughter, Lucy Monet.  Being a mom is the most humbling experience of my life. It’s so  different than haven taken care of all the other family’s kids over the years. Now I get to be there for everything and guide her through. She is the reason for everything in my life. She is what gets me up in the morning. (its sort of hard to ignore that part lol) It is endlessly amazing to watch her grow and learn new things everyday, and so she is also the reason that I have combined my talents into one humongous mission to share what I have come to understand about the world around infants and toddlers, through animation and art which will eventually become a series of educational DVD’s. My intentions are to make these as handmade as they can possibly be. Right down to the felt and paper pieces I make for stop motion sequences. For some other additions I will be supporting handmade myself by commissioning other Etsy artists to make things for the films.

I invite you to come along on this journey with me while I create Handmade Interactive Education for Infants and Toddlers TM

“Stay Tooned”