Hiding away working / painting myself into a corner

It should be no surprise that there hasn't been much noise from my end. If you haven't seen or heard from me, I've been hiding away working.

 Here is a ground shot of plasticine growing for my flick.

And a bit more as it progresses across the screen. Later I will drop in a background where the white is and put my animated wooden snake slithering by on top.

But first I have to scrape and clean. The plasticine. Will not fit back into the bucket from which it came.

Look at how full the bucket is. It took longer to clean it up then to make the animation.

I also decided to get rid of my animation table to create a bit more room so I can add another regular table. It made this much more space beside the bookshelf. Enough for my chair and....

 a wire shelf full of painting products, airbrush, canvas etc.

I have been working a tonne with After Effects. Here is a lens flare type thing I am working on for the intro.

Here is a shot of the space during the closing reception.

I had to move out of the +15 space during the Easter long week-end. It took some time but the traffic and parking were not bad since it was a holiday.

 I painted myself into a corner as I exited the space, leaving it feeling brand new.

 I took down the Epcor painting show(above) and the Calgary 2012 publication came out with my Skyline painting on the cover.
Also: My arts collective (Full Spectrum) got into Wreck. We will be doing an undersea kingdom installation in the basement of 807.

More to come, stay tooned.

Its hot in here

......this tiny little space has no fresh moving air and it really heats up during my animation sessions.

Epcor centre for the Performing Arts - UAS +15 Window Space Gallery

Here is the powerbar I've had from my dad since I was a young boy. I had to rig an ingenious set up in this small space. I used an old Ikea curtain rod attached to the ceiling as a bar for the green screen and lighting, as well I have this power box and the cables tucked neatly away near the ceiling space.

Here is the hanging when I first got into the space. Lots has changed as I progress after the first month of production on this project. Almost at the half way point already.

 Here you can see the horse I am working on in front of the green screen backdrop.

This moody pic I title: "Silence of the phant"

Here is a view from outside my fish bowl. The monitor in the middle shows a live feed from my laptop while I am working and shows my frame by frame process as well as the exposure sheet. I do this when the black curtain is closed and you cant see what is going on. I need the black curtain so that I don't get florescent light spilling in from the hallway compromising the image quality.

Slap some paint on it

I worked in my studio slapping some paint on some of the props I will be using in my animation residency project.

You may remember the elephant from a previous post, well he got his tusks, toe nails and eyes treated with silver leaf for starters.

I rubbed some black all over him and then covered him in copper again but much more loosely.

Once you pour the ammonia over the copper not much seems to happen, it just looks wet.

A minute later it starts to patina and looks like this.

This patina is very fragile and I learned through trial and error you cant really put a protective coating over it without jeopardizing the integrity of the material sadly. it has to be brittle to stay beautiful. Hopefully it doesn't degrade too much while shooting.

I also brought in the pair of mannequin hands for a pink palm treatment. They will get another coat and detailing soon enough.

I also used the same colour on the bottom of the foot.

And did a first coat on the nails. The paint wears off nicely through movement making them look aged and chipped, just the look I am usually after.

Moving in to the window box

 I was awarded a Calgary Cultural Capital of Canada 2012 Artist in Residency.  It is part of the Calgary Animated Objects Society (CAOS) festival line up. I am in the Untitled Arts Society +15 Gallery window space in the Epcor Centre for Performing Arts in a make shift animation studio working on a new piece.

Here is the fish bowl as I just start moving my gear in.

And more stuff still. Lots of wood going into the window display.

I hung a big black out drape to control the light from spilling in. As well, I put up some Tibetan flags for cheer and a bit of diffusion.

Here are some of the wooden mannikins I intend on bringing to life using stop motion animation techniques.

Here is the shot from my Grandpa chair inside the box setting a focal length on my elephant.
More to come as the residency progresses :)

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Epcor show installation

Window Galleries - A View Through the Glass

EPCOR CENTRE Window Galleries (across from Max Bell Theatre)
January 10, 2013 – March 31, 2013
Reception: Thursday, February 7, 5 - 8 pm, Upper Centre Court

Today I installed a new exhibition of my sacred images in the main hallway at the Epcor Centre of Performing Arts.

They already had up these placards that they made for me, super rad! I'm definitely keeping this for my records after the show.

I brought a bunch but not all of the pieces from my collection. Some are too graphic and sexual in nature to display in a city run public space. I wasn't sure with the layout and size of the space how the hanging would go. I bought extra wall hangers for way too much money at the frame ship but they were necessary since the art supply store I hit on the way was out.

The difficult thing about the space is hanging the work so that the metal strips down the center of the windows does not hinder the view.  I had odd sizes and the lighting can't be controlled, but you do the best you can with what you've been given. The nice part is the walls are black which really helps to set off my bright colored paintings.

It was a fair bit more challenging than expected to hang the work. The walls were plywood, bending my nails. It was hard to measure off but with a little trial and error I nailed it. No pun intended. Who am I kidding, puns are usually intended. There is still a bit more work to do in terms of adding some writing to help contextualize the work for viewers but other than that the show looks really good.

Here is a link for more info:

http://www.epcorcentre.org/WhatsOn/ShowDetails.aspx?show_id=E442E2DB-8F9C-4DA0-B6B3-414F7410299B

Window Galleries - A View Through the Glass

EPCOR CENTRE Window Galleries (across from Max Bell Theatre)
January 10, 2013 – March 31, 2013
Reception: Thursday, February 7, 5 - 8 pm, Upper Centre Court

Glenbow Presentation +++

+ Well, I dropped off my artwork to the Inside Gallery for the "Outside the Box" Show happening this Thursday evening @ 1407, 11th Ave SW. Be there! 

+ I awoke to some good news, I got the show I applied for at the Epcor Centre for Performing Arts Window gallery. The work will consist of selected works from my Sacred Images collection and is slated for January 10- March 13, 2013. Yess! (Fist pump)

+ Then I saw this link and wanted to share ;)

AN ANIMATED EVENING:

CLICK Here to read the Glenbow Museum's review of my artist talk for their PIVOT Group.

I  "enthralled Pivot members with an extremely lively – and more than occasionally risque" presentation.

 But don't take my word for it!

~