If You're Happy and You Know It

My thesis. Progress is being made.
Sure, I'm still fabricating a bajillion pieces of cardboard props.
You know... pieces that won't be put into motion until mid-July.
While I really do enjoy the fabrication process, I'm also really looking forward to animating again.

Miss Olive.
She is so cute. So fat. So naughty.
To think she's all mine!
Parenthood has been a simultaneously heart-warming and maddening experience.
Wouldn't trade this little monster for the world.
Though had you asked me last night around 2am when she was refusing to sleep, I just might have. 

Online-shopping.
Never thought I'd become an addict.
But ever since the munchkin came around, I can't stop looking at mini clothes.
Loving Gilt.
Olive would be naked otherwise.
How cute is this "Zelda Dress" by Ses Petites Mains?
I wish they had it in MY size.

Vintage artwork.
I've collected a bunch, but few have been nailed up on our walls.
Haven't had the time.
Nor the wall space, for that matter.
Olive created her very first abstract expressionist masterpiece last week in pre-pre-preschool,
and it takes up quite a bit of space.



Painting sans clothing.
Prodigy in the making.

Ongoing Projects

"boo hoo baby" 

the title of my work-in-progress thesis. 

i'm constructing props and characters out of cardboard and animating the pieces using flash and after effects. 

i say that as if i'm an adobe software wiz. 

so not the case. 

luckily i have wonderful friends who are, and they're going to pull me through the fog. 

like pack of selfless sleigh dogs. 

woof.

when not cutting or painting up a storm, i can be found messing around with my other ongoing project.

raising a human being.

here i am with my munchkin in the wee hours of the morning.

she's an early riser.

5am, to be exact.

she's not up for the worms.

she's up for the "yo gabba gabba" clips i pull up for her on youtube.

happy baby, happy mommy.

Ganbatte*

Le husband and I have decided to get fit together. It's been 5 months since Olive's birth, and I've still got 13 extra pounds to spare. Dude, I've watched that episode of Oprah in which she wheeled out a wagon of fat. (Watch HERE.) Not pretty. So yeah. In a desperate attempt to combat our mush, we joined a Crossfit. (Learn more HERE.) I had my first workout today and I survived the insanity! Well. Barely. I felt like puking my guts out towards the end of the workout, but hey... no pain, no gain.

Next body battle happens on Wednesday. I'm strangely looking forward to it.

* Ganbatte = Japanese for "Do your best"
Pictured: Brad Pitt as a tot. See? Even he came around.

Like the Honey Badger

 Olive is toothless.

 But Olive don't care.

Rawwwwwwr.

Boo Hoo Baby

Storyboarding my thesis. Hoping to present it to my thesis review crew next Tuesday. Thought y'all might like a sneak-peek. Inspired by true events. Obvi...

American Idol

Illustrator and writer Maurice Sendak passed away today from complications of a stroke. He was 83 years of age and was one of my dearest idols. In reaction to news of Sendak's passing, animator Don Hertzfeldt posted the following simultaneously sweet and strange anecdote once told by the author. It made me smile.

“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim: I loved your card.” Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, “Jim loved your card so much he ate it.” That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.” ― Maurice Sendak

You touched the lives of so many, Maurice. Rest in peace.

Photo above was taken of Olive perusing her very first picture book, "Little Bear" at 3 weeks-old. Written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

It's Been a While

hey there, cyber stalkers. it's been a while since i last blogged, but can you blame me? i've been busy raising a little human being. i love my baby. there. i said it. seriously. look at those cheeks. what's not to love?

yo quiero taco baby.

happy monday.

Me Likee

Am loving the mixture of photorealistic and drawn elements in these shots! Crafty in Motion is a production company that specializes in animating with paper and cardboard. Mmm... cardboard. Above frames taken from shorts by crafty in motion. Cool beans.

Oh, Snap

Lucky me. One of my favorite photogs, dead or alive, happens to be a friend. Cydney Puro. Check out her beautiful work HERE. In exchange for one of my illustrations (one featuring lotsa' boobies and nipples), she is going to photograph grumpy lil' Olive. Rad, eh?

I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt

Yo. 'Sup Internet stalkers. It's me. Olive. I'm now 3.5 months-old and a real riot. Mommy says I'm a lot more fun now that I'm laughing and stuff. To be perfectly honest, I think she's just gotten used to my grumpiness. *chuckle* Yes. I still get grumpy. Ironic, given the fact that "Olive" branches are associated with "peace", no? Hehe.

Seriously. Check me out. I'm now clocking in at 24.5 inches tall and I'm 14 lbs 14 oz heavy. I know you all think these stats make me obese, but apparently these numbers mean I'm perfectly normal. babies are meant to be chubby. That said, quick, someone feed me!!!

Went out for brunch this weekend with Mommy and her biz-school friend, Ivana. I was incredibly well-behaved. Saw Mommy having a frisee salad topped with bacon and a poached egg. It looked so good that I reached for some. No success. Man, I can't wait to grow some teeth.

Genius

Best thing I've seen in a very long time.

World Domination

Olive and her cousin Aiden plotting to take over the world. Or Disneyland.

Pooped

Thank you, Fisher-Price.

Just Did It

Am back to working on my MFA thesis, "Hunks". Not easy making time to create a quality short with a munchkin in the house. I've got priorities, yo.

Am determined to build all my characters and sets out of cardboard. Don't know how feasible my goal is, but I'm going to try. A sneak peek...

Prints Charming

Gosh, I would love to purchase prints of these photos I found via Pinterest but have not been able to figure out who took these shots... How great are these?

Rot Spot

As promised, a sneak peek of our rot spot in the making. Can you spot our uber-comfy couch with the massive pores? AHHHHHHHH. Even nanny Marbles digs it. Next up? Some color to lighten-up all the poopy browns...

When in Doubt

"Make it big and paint it gold..."

I think this piece of design advice may very well be applied to the world of home rehabbing as it can to fine art.


I suspect that this Victorian is a zillion times cooler than it was because it's now hangin' in head-to-toe black (with a tint of blue).

Bad ass.

Photo plucked off Remodelista

Pat

To all my stalkers, my former-classmates and lifelong pals Alexis and Jeff and I have joined forces of "awesome." Together, we are creating a series of animated shorts highlighting our awkward, shared sense of humor, and yes, we are committed to getting our shorts made while working our day jobs. We've managed to meet up two weeks in a row to brainstorm characters and plot lines and have lots in the works. Not going to share our main dish with y'all, but will surely share a side. Meet "Pat." Yeah, she's a square of butter...

Baby Phat

No doubt about it, five foot tall pregnant women are phat. They're as tall as they are wide. I should know. That's what I was when preggers. PHAT! When Olive was still residing in my belly, I went from being a 100 pound midget to a 142 pound one. Le husband complemented me by telling me I was "fun-size", and I reassured myself that I a few extra pounds here and there weren't going to hurt. "What's another five? There's that much more of me to love! Plus, they're all going to melt away when I start breast feeding, yeah?" Um, NO. Three months and a mega-failed-attempt-to-breast-feed later, I'm weighing in at 121 pounds and still sporting maternity jeans. Shoot. To make matters worse, my narcissist-in-the-making baby adores looking at herself in the mirror, and I'm then forced to face the scary reflection before me. *cue me some old-school Christina Aguilera circa "Mulan"* "Who is this girl I see?! Staring straight, back at me..." I'll tell you who. Fatty McChow, that's who! Need to do something about this baby weight a-sap. Just afraid that the "something" will involve lowering my calorie intake and upping my physical activity - a solution so obvious, it's laughable.

To Each Their Own

Everyone has a fetish or two. My husband I conveniently share one for large pores. *Collective "EEW!* Okay. I mean "tufting". We have a thing for tufting. The shot above is one of our master bedroom bed. Alas, this is where the magic happens. On an enormous saltine! A Nickey Kehoe saltine, no less. Bottom shot is of our most recent home purchase. (Husband is no Vanna White.) A Timothy Oulton leather two-seater covered in pores. Super duper strange-looking, but after eyeing it for some time at H.D. Buttercup, le hubs and I ultimately decided that this weirdo will go perfectly with the rest of our eclectic decor. Contrary to what it seems, this couch is compact (the camera added ten-thousand pounds!), incredibly comfortable and completely childproof. Can't wait to share a shot of our living room once it gets closer to done...