The Drive: Animation

Well, here it is.....

the final version of 'The Drive'..... my animation project that combines a whole lot of animation techniques including stop animation (using frame by frame hand drawn images) which was inspired by some of the three dimensional sculptures I created using antique kitchen utensils; and rotoscoping (creating a moving image by drawing directly over the top of existing moving footage) which were then collaged onto some footage I had captured on a foggy drive to work one wintery morning.

Set to the tune 'Love Like a Sunset Part 1' by Phoenix I also blended a whole lot of different sounds (thanks to www.freesound.org - a great website where you can download and use sounds for free) to further animate my hand drawn creations.

The creation of animation has been described as 'moving at a glacial pace' and I have to agree that it is very time consuming. It is also a lot of fun, and no doubt I will be incorporating more animation in my future art projects.

Basket Rings

In the ring course I learnt how to make a basic ring shape through annealing, bending and soldering the metal. 

Excitedly I put my new skills to the test and made a variety of rings using sterling silver, copper sheeting and thick copper wire. 

Basket ring (in progress). Sterling silver band, woven copper, brass and silver wire.
Image: Christina Arsenault 

I wanted to experiment with small woven wire structures that were attached to the band - relating to basketry and referring to my ongoing interest with pioneers and the native foods they would have to gather and eat in their new countries.

Basket Ring. Copper sheeting with woven copper wire.
Image: Christina Arsenault 

The delicate nature of the woven wire baskets reminds me a little of the flower that was abundant across Nova Scotia in summer last year, Queen Anne's Lace. After a little research I also discovered that Queens Anne's Lace is also known as 'wild carrot' and the root can be eaten, like a carrot. No doubt these plants would've been eaten by the pioneer settlers of Nova Scotia.

Queen Anne's Lace flower.

Basket Ring (in progress). Copper wire band, woven brass and silver wire.
Image: Christina Arsenault  

These rings are the beginning of a entire new series of work which I am incredibly excited about.

Im thinking I will display them with my ceramic works that look like slabs of rock cut from the earths surface. 

Kochira the Cat Kelly Animated

Ive been teaching myself the basics of some of the Adobe Creative Suite animation software programs such as Flash and After Effects.

Based on some footage I took whilst driving on the highway between Sydney and Canberra I have included the iconic Ned Kelly imagery by Sidney Nolan. However, Ned Kelly has been slightly adapted to be Kochira the Cat Kelly using Photoshop.

Heres a little snippet of what I am currently working on.

The snippet comes from a larger piece that I am working on. I couldn't wait for the entire piece to be finished (its over 5 minutes long which is an eternity of work in animation terms), so I thought I would share just a little bit with you.

It is a work in progress and not entirely polished yet.

Hollowware: Learning to fabricate

Our second project in Hollowware was to learn to solder joints, and make a 5 sided cube.

5 sided brass cube being held together with wire before soldering

 Although it looks relatively straight forward, the project is incredibly tricky, trying to get all angles at 90 degrees is more difficult than it looks!

And then there are the hours (literally) of sanding and polishing and elbow grease to get it to look like this....

Phew!

After learning how to make cubes we were given a project to design something that would hold an egg.

Starting with the basic concept of a cone, I explored many variations before coming up with this one.

Copper finished with green patina, and highly polished tentacles

The green patina then turned the most amazing purple from a couple of hours soaking in ammonia fumes.

Fun stuff and the purple was the most wonderful iridescent colour... and not even a colour our teacher had seen before either!