scorcher city
heat waves, getting back to it, and big trips
wowowow where do I even begin? how’s everyone doing?! how was your spring? how’s your summer? these last few months have been a doozy! Back in early- mid april what I thought were allergies ended up being a head cold. And then that snowballed into what started to feel like a diverticulitis flare-up, and then a panic attack on a plane to Berlin over whether or not I should be traveling when I’m feeling like I might have diverticulitis which led to a hospital trip in Berlin where the doc told me everything looked normal, to get some rest, and come back if I have a fever. The next day I had a fever, then back to the hospital where they told me it was just a viral infection and so a long 3.5 days sick in bed in Berlin. First trip to Europe was off to a rocky start but I eventually started to feel better and got to explore the city of Berlin.
I traveled specifically to Berlin in late April for the Pitoplasma conference which was held in this very cool building silent green- a former crematorium (see pic)!!! I was sad that I didn’t get to connect with folks due to my health situation but next time.
Maybe I can create an animation that can be featured there someday :) It was also their 20th anniversary which felt very special and cool to be there for. All in all, happy I got to at least make it out for a couple days, it was inspiring to see so many different types of character design in various mediums <3 <3 <3
Two of my favorite artists I saw are Sophie Koko Gate and Bora- loved listening to them talk about their approach to 3D characters and storytelling.
Christopher Rutledge also had some pretty trippy 3D animations, he talked about working in Houdini and mentioned he has some tutorials on his Youtube. Wombot Studio screened some of their animations- loved looking at all the different styles they’ve been digging into, also lots of rad sound design. Speaking of… the sound design on this 3D animation by Sam Southward, ESC and on this 2D animation, UPUP by Dan Castro that screened was sickkkk.
Looks like the full animation isn’t uploaded yet but Tatjana Theuer’s Rise Age is gorgeous, looks like she’s posted her whole process on her website
Josephine Rais work was also really rad.
Nancy and I also traveled to Hamburg for a night, then Switzerland, where my aunt has been living since the late 80s/early 90s and her and her partner pointed out some sites and Swiss life while walking around. I loved all the fountains. A few days in Basel and a few in Zurich. Made a little picture train below- first pic is of the hospital in Berlin and why yes that is a mirrored ceiling in our hotel room in the red light district in Hamburg ;-)
Elaina came to Portland area to visit her family a couple weeks before I went to Berlin and we made plans to have dinner one of the nights she was in town. I got to meet her husband-Marc and her bb- Josie! What a delight! Elaina and I have known each other since 2006- 18 years! She lives in NY so I’m stoked I got to see her, felt like no time has passed, always warms my heart <3 <3 <3
Donna Summer, I Remember Yesterday, 1977
When Juan Carlos bought this record and played it sometime back in 2018 (?) I was stoned and I Feel Love came on and was so blown away by how incredible that song is. When it was released it reached #6 on the Hot 100 chart and No. 1 in the UK. I closed my eyes and pictured myself whirling around on roller skates with all the disco lights (fyi I do not know how to roller skate). We brought the record along with a handful of others with us during my artist residency at the Souwester in 2019, I honestly don’t remember playing anything else. Portland pride was moved to July so I thought this would be a good choice leading up to Pride (which was last weekend here). Press play, start dancing, anddd gooo!
After Hours, 1985
I actually picked this as movie of the month for May when I started writing this post and got side swept into life. I’m sure there’s even earlier example but this seems to be the plot formula of “I’m having the craziest, worst night of mishaps that keeps getting worse in NYC I’ve ever hadddd.” The lighting? Perfection. I think this one maybe the most humorous Scorsese film I’ve seen? Especially in the cuts? Not knowing a thing about the movie, I was pulled in when there’s a complete 180 from boring daytime NYC office to NYC nighttime whirlwhind! Also the soundtrack, SOLID.
Anddd, this depiction of a taxi ride in NYC had me in stitches.
In the studio…..
Been trying to test out some characters via 2D and 3D. I also created this OPB animated logo at work a few months ago- we were throwing a bunch of diff ones at the wall for a pitch deck, ultimately mine didn’t get chosen but it was fun to mess around and get the brain in create mode.
Hoping to have some 3D work to show in my next post! Every time I think “I’m gonna start on this creative project” something major ends up happening. Things have been a bit wild these last few weeks, something is in the air, vibes are off. I got news that my grandmother Shirley passed away the day before I was gonna put this newsletter out, more on that in the next months post. She was a cool lady, and I’m gonna miss her.
Thank you for reading <3<3<3