"Gold Teeth And A Curse For This Town"

While looking through my camera's memory card for clips and images to use for my video documenting my work  on The Sketchbook Project, I came across some old pictures from when I went to the Balloon Fiesta back in October. I had forgotten all about the photographs I took and I had a lovely time looking back through them all this afternoon. A fair amount of my favorites were pictures that compiled into bits of stop-motion animations, so I decided I would put together a short little video of my favorite images and animation sequences.

Now, the moving images of this video are actually individual photographs, shot continuously at a rapid pace, then put onto my computer and into a sequence, played back at 8 frames per second. The other photographs, the still ones, are each set at around 2.3 seconds.

The title for this post, "gold teeth and a curse for this town" is the first line from the song New Slang by The Shins, which is also the song that I chose for the video. This band is a favorite of mine, and I am greatly looking forward to their new album coming out in March. This song is one that I heard back in 2007, and it has been in many playlists of mine since. Now, before this blog post becomes one of me describing my love for The Shins (which definitely could happen), I wanted to explain that this song reminds me of home, therefore I thought it would be very fitting for a video about the Balloon Fiesta, which I have witnessed almost every year.

Creative Frenzy

I have this need to create.

I want to form extraordinary pieces from ordinary things, to feel the ultimate joy in expressing myself in something beautiful. This need cuts through my ability to focus and disrupts my ability to be productive. My fingers are itching to start doodling in the margins of my textbook. I have a Moleskin notebook where I write and sketch things that inspire me, and it is practically oozing, whispering about ideas to me as I try to complete French homework.

Quelle plante menace l'existence de la planete du petit prince?


I can hear it. It's begging me to crack open it's worn spine and spill over the ideas that I haven't wanted to lose.

Pourquoi le petit prince voulait-il un mouton? 


Once I finish these questions on Le Petit Prince, I will start on an art project. I'm promising myself that as a form of motivation to finish this homework. I'm just not sure where to start. I have so many ideas circling through my brain and I can't decide which one to take out and put under a microscope before I transfer it into physical creation.

My ideas seem to be multiplying with my cells as they grow and divide. My need to cast away the French homework and open my box of art supplies taunts me as I try to repress the fact that every pore in my body is whispering to me about the promise of creating art that I will be proud of.

Bisecting the once tenacious nucleus of my being, I'm left with two debating halves of a whole.

The Bubble Time Lapse Video

I adore time lapse videos.

I have three that I'm working on right now, and I'm very hopeful that I'll have time to get around to finishing them. I think that time lapse videos are particularly intriguing with art because it shows the progress in a fast manner, with arms and paintbrushes rapidly flying, while the piece of art remains the constant focus.

This is a time lapse video I made of my process for making my bubble paintings. The song is Chicago by Sufjan Stevens, a personal favorite of mine.

Enjoy!

The Deadline Deviation

On December 22nd, after having been told about the competition from my art teacher, I decided I would participate in the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers' Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. My deadline for the project was January 6th.

I wrote a short story about a man who had to make a choice between responsibility and things that he loves, set into motion by his GPS failing him. After much editing, reconstruction, and proof-reading over my winter break, on the evening of January 5th, I was finished and content with the piece of writing I had created.

I also need to point out that I went back to school on the 4th, so at this time, I was also juggling the piles of homework that was, in my opinion, quite unnecessary.

So, there I was, the night before the official deadline, my writing was completed, and I was ready to submit it. Then, by some whimsical force that remains unknown to me, I decided I wanted to submit a piece of art as well. But, I didn't want to submit one of my paintings that was already finished. I wanted to create something new. I had an idea and I wanted to try it out. So I did.

Once that was finished, I sat down with my dad to submit my work. When I initially researched the project, I thought that everything was to be submitted electronically. But, as we tried to upload my story and painting, we learned that I needed to have a teacher sign off on my work, and send the physical copies of the form to them, postmarked by January 6th.

I will admit I was relatively hysterical at this point.

My stressing wasn't a result of being worried about not receiving an award if my work wasn't accepted, rather it was frustration that I had put so much work into these two things over my winter break and that they wouldn't be accepted.

As to not bore you with the strenuous details of this endeavor, the short of it is that I ran around like crazy the next day and got the signatures I needed and then was able to give the forms to my dad and sister who made a trip to the post office and sent them off for me.

When I finally got home after school and an entire afternoon of drama-related activities, I was exhausted. My brain was simply frazzled from the stress of the past 24 hours. It was the sort of tired where I could feel it in my limbs, my head was heavy, and my eyes were constantly losing focus.

I need to point out that I don't usually leave things until the night before because I don't work well under pressure. So, with my Sketchbook Project deadline being on the 31st of this month, I intend to submit it much earlier.

Which means I need to go work on it.

Time to be inspired.

Oh, also, here is the painting I submitted.

The Woes of Writer's and Artist's Block

I have never really believed that writer's block was a real thing, just a label for procrastination. On many accounts throughout my education, I've used the phrase "writer's block" to justify procrastination to myself and others. But I've always thought that the feeling of being unable to produce writing or art is simply a result of not being inspired.

And maybe that's what writer's block actually is. I'm not exactly sure what the phrase means.

But regardless, I am experiencing a sever lack of inspiration and creativity.

I am entirely and completely unmotivated to edit my short story that is due in four days, after having it read and edited by everyone in my house. I'm also at a loss of what to do next for my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project, which has ten pages remaining and is due January 31st.

So, I decided I would work on my assignment for my English class. For this project, I had to select a book from a list and read it, then construct a presentation in which I must provide a sort of "teaser" for the story, as well as some sort of a visual representation of a theme within the story. And, being the procrastinator that I am, I finally finished my book yesterday. I did enjoy the book immensely, though.

Now, I am trying to find a way to visually represent the aimlessness of the Lost Generation in connection with Ernest Hemingway's book, The Sun Also Rises. So far, after talking the assignment through with my mom and watching Midnight In Paris in hopes of sparks for ideas, I've decided it will have something to do with a compass.

And that's all I've got.

Did I mention this project is due the day after tomorrow?

I just realized that my short story's main character has a poor sense of direction and relies on his GPS too much. Compasses also tie  into my sketchbook's theme of "uncharted waters." I think my mind is caught up on something. I hope I'm able to figure out what all this direction and compass business is all about.

So, I turn now to my blog in hopes that it will spark some sort of creative inspiration that will help me get through this project. I'm not sure if this creative block is a result of how much I have to do and how ridiculously productive I need to be in order to complete it all, but it needs to go away, because I need to finish these things.

Maybe on each of the four points of the compass there will be an image of a symbol or event that occurs within the story. Hmmm. Paris. Bulls. Alcohol. Fishing. Spain.

The ideas are starting to flow now. Well they're more kind of slugging along, but they're starting to emerge. I'm hopeful this will continue.

I'm off now to try and utilize these ideas and create something.

Well hello there, Blogspot.

After many months of talking about starting a blog, I have finally decided to take the leap and start. Initially, I thought that my blog would be a place in which I would simply post writing exercises and other pieces that I was particularly fond of, but as I thought more and more about what I actually could gain from blogging, I decided to lessen my parameters and let this space act as an outlet for whenever and wherever inspiration strikes, as well as be a place to simply update on my creative endeavors and whatever thoughts I feel like sharing.

So, with that, I am going to introduce myself. I am a young individual striving to feed my soul through art and writing, while attempting to keep from worrying too much about the future. 


These posts may just be the story of it all.