You guys… @andreaanimates, aka Andrea Love, is on the podcast! Tiny felted banana splits, and miniature pots of spaghetti coming to life through her absolutely mesmerizing stop motion videos? Yes please! Before we recorded, I asked my Instagram community to give me their questions, and oh boy, they had a LOT of questions… the main one being, “HOW!?” Don’t worry, we totally covered that! Listen right up there under Andrea’s soft little groceries, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
First up, Andrea’s tiny kitchen and stills of the magic that gets cooked up in there:
Oh, it’s all so perfect, and yep, I made sure to include the “red thing” that so many of you had questions about! Spoiler alert: it’s a red pepper that didn’t make it onto the plate. To see alllll of these videos, check out Andrea’s Instagram feed, or pop over to this page on her site.
Well, it’s all pretty wonderful, but that final photo brings it all home! That’s Andrea and her creative partner Phoebe Wahl being, well, creative! There are a list of screenings for Tulip on the official TULIP WEBSITE.
And finally, the project Andrea and Phoebe just completed… an absolutely beautiful, super duper sweet holiday music video with Ingrid Michaelson & Zooey Deschanel:
So. Flippin. Cute. Watch the full music video right here… you may want to have sugar cookies nearby. Thank you so much to Andrea for taking time out of her insane schedule to record this episode with me (good luck with OSCAR, Andrea!); thanks to Create Magazine for supporting the episode; and thank YOU for listening! There will be a new episode, the last episode of 2021, in two weeks.
Tiny sculptures made from found scraps? YEP! Philadelphia based artist & animator Lydia Ricci transforms the weirdest bits and pieces into beautiful little objects – from couches and hairdryers to cars and roller skates. We get into how she found her way to this kind of work, and she may or may not have admitted to a crime. Kinda. You can listen right up there under that tiny station wagon and the bike that’s hitching a ride on the roof, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify.
First up, a few of my favorite little sculptures from Lydia’s massive {yet miniature} portfolio:
Aren’t they fantastic!? Some of her pieces are available through Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia {Lydia just had a show there… how did we not talk about that?!}
Okay moving on from that little slip-up, here’s just the tiniest sampling of her stop-motion animation work:
Yes, that’s the mac & cheese reference that came up in the Not-So-Speedy speed round… and united us FOREVER! There are so many fantastic animations on Lydia’s Instagram feed, and I almost put allllll of them here, but I figured I’d just point you over there instead. Warning: You will be there for HOURS.
Oh, “PANTYHOSE”. Brace yourself for a crazy true story:
What!? Yep. Just one more reason to love her. ps. Fabulous music by Wonderly.
Up next, “Don’t You Forget About Me”. This is the short film that made me a little teary-eyed. I’m not sure why… maybe it’s the old photos? Everything in there was pulling at my 1970s heartstrings. Oooh, and the other great thing about this video is that you get a peek into her jam-packed studio!
So sweet, and her words are just perfect. Also, how great is that messy studio!? So. Much. Stuff. See:
And with that I will say, thank you so much to Lydia for doing this with me… and mark my words, we will make the dream retreat happen! “True Crime, Mac n’ Cheese, Art 2022”! Okay, I’m gonna have to workshop a better name, but you get the idea. Be there or be square.
Ceramics and stop-motion animation… well hello my new favorite combo! These whimsical wonders are the work of Taiwan born, New York based artist Taili Wu. Surprises inside Oreos, bacon ‘n egg eyes, and don’t even get me started on that record-playing ballerina! LOVE. Happy Friday.
Imagine having such elaborate, fantastical daydreams that you’d rather spend your life lost in your imagination than living in reality. Enter “maladaptive daydreaming”, a psychiatric condition, and the topic of this lovely animation created by Brooklyn based artist/illustrator Lily Padula for an episode of NPR’s Invisibilia{Invisibilia is one of my favorite podcasts, so when I saw this piece from Lily in my submissions inbox, well, I jumped at the chance to write about it!} The episode/piece is titled, “When Daydreaming Gets In The Way Of Real Life”, and voila, here it is. Enjoy…
This is probably the craziest story I’ve had on the podcast yet. You have to listen {try not to throw your phone across the room in a jealous rage inspired excitement!} I’m talking to New York based Artist, with a capital A, Rachel Ryle about her crazy amazing Instagram feed that changed her life within a matter of weeks. Literally. You can listen right up there under the paper latte, or subscribe on iTunes. As you’re listening, take a look at her animations… although you might want to watch after we chat because the songs in the animations might play over our talking. Technical glitch! Ok, first up, a few photos from Alt Summit this past June, where Rachel and I met:
Oh, Alt Summit photo booths… the location of so many new friendships. Alright, let’s get on with the animations that go along with her crazy inspiring story! This first one is the project she was working on until 4am, that caused her to sleep in past our recording time {totally worth it}:
Oh, and right around here she mentioned a music video that she had seen years before she ever did any animating, that kind of blew her mind. This is it. Ok, more animations … this is a very early latte animation, just a couple of weeks in, that got her an interview on a morning show in California:
Now I want a cake pop. And she’s not only doing client work … she creates so many animations just for the love of making. Here are a bunch of my favorites from her personal collection. These range from early pieces, to more recent. You can actually see her getting more and more creative with each one!
And there are zillions more where these came from! Be prepared to get sucked in when you visit her Instagram feed … they’re like chips … one is just not enough! And with that, her latest personal animation, that just bumped her over 500,000 Instagram followers!?
Well there you have it … one of the craziest stories ever, and a really good lesson in following your gut! Thank you so much to Rachel for doing this with me {note to self: next time ask her about her perfect, colorful manicures!}, to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode, and big thanks to you for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.
Today I’m talking to Vincent Serritella, a very talented, highly trained {and generous} artist who, somewhere along the way, also taught himself to be an animation effects specialist … which landed him an amazing job at PIXAR! What? Yep. We’re chatting about free drawings, a bizarre artsy family tree connection, and the inside scoop about working on PIXAR’S latest film, Inside Out! You can listen right up there, or you can subscribe on iTunes. Here is what we talked about, in the order that we talked about it. First of all, a few images from his ‘365 FREE DRAWINGS project’… which is how I scored that awesome blow-pop above!
Obviously this is just a fraction of the 365 drawings he gave away, but these are a few of my favorites. Here is the final, self-published, kickstarter-funded book! If you want one, you can order them here, through the Children’s Creativity Museum … to which Vincent has donated 100% of the proceeds. For real. Generous on top of generous!
Alright, now on to his day job. Inside Out... have you seen this yet? It’s the latest film from PIXAR and it’s so good! Vincent is an “Effects Technical Director”, and he worked on this {very exciting to see his name go by in the credits!}. Building magically appearing trestles and cables for the “train of thought”, and shooting fire out of the top of Anger’s head… that sounds like a pretty fabulous day job to me!
Ha! Love that angry little guy! And finally, a very weird discovery that Vincent’s mom made… he is related to a 17th century Baroque painter from Spain, named Pedro Nunez de Villavicencio. Hm. Notice anything similar about their paintings:
What?! So insane! Vincent painted that self portrait years before he found out about this artsy connection to the past. Look at the pose?! And the color palette!? So weird. And amazing. And a bit spooky. Alright, and with that bit of craziness, I’ll say thanks to Vincent{who totally sounds like Mark Ruffalo, no?}, to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode, and to you for looking ‘n listening! So excited for next Saturday… my friend Lisa Congdon will be on the podcast!
Gasp! I’d love to swim in that rainy lake, or hang out in a tree with that bearded jungle man! Oh, if only I could be magically transported into one of these Impossible Bottles… that is the title of this fantastical series of animated gifs by Berlin based illustrator/animator Rafael Varona. Sigh. Living & breathing illustrations… gorgeous.
So this was a crazy day. This is what I saw as I walked into the main doors at PIXAR last week… life-sized LEGO sculptures of Toy Story‘s Buzz Lightyear and Woody… and a poster with my book on it. Mind. Blown. No time to think about it much though because my talk was starting in about ten minutes. As I was setting up, I was told that the last presenter hosted by PU {PIXAR University} had been JJ Abrams. Hm. No pressure. Quick, could I make one of the books explode or something!?
Alas, nothing exploded, but I did get all set up in a gorgeous theatre with a really, really big screen {of course, it’s PIXAR} and talked my little heart out. I told the story of how my blog was born {which included a cameo by my son, because if it weren’t for having him I never would have started this site}, and how the book came about. The main point of the talk though focused on the big lessons I learned while writing CREATIVE BLOCK. We covered blocks, inner critics, public critics, and then getting through all of that so that you can get back to the joy of making work… work that you’re really proud of! I have to admit. I was nervous. I was in a room full of creative geniuses and I was worried that they’d be like “Uh-huh. Yeah, we never get blocked, lady.” You never know?! But no. That was not the case, because as it turns out they were all human. I spoke for about forty minutes, followed by a Q&A. Everyone then went out into the lobby so I could sign a few books {sign books?!?! very surreal, I have to tell you!}. The feedback I got was amazing. AMAZING. I had no idea who was in this line up and as I asked each of them what they did at PIXAR and what kind of art they did on their own {because all of them had something going on the side} I felt like a total fan girl! I mentioned to two of the guys that my son’s favorite movie is UP… they both worked on it! A few people told me that while they’re very confident in what they create at work, they really miss drawing, or painting, or [enter medium here] but felt a bit blocked when it came to getting started again. Several of them said this book was coming at the perfect time for them… it almost made me tear up a tiny bit, but I held it together because I was pretty sure that JJ didn’t cry while he was there.
Lunch time! I had a giant celebratory cheeseburger, and more fries than one person should ever have, with my amazing PIXAR host, visual-effects expert / fine artist Vincent Serritella, and my good friend Cariann Nesler. She came along as my cheerleader/photographer/book seller/driver, thank goodness! Vincent gave us a tour of this insane campus, which included their current in-house art show. Yes, they curate shows using the personal work of their staff – how amazing is that! {that is a close-up of Vincent’s fabulous self-vandalized self-portrait below}. We met a few famous friends along the way, and then, after a lovely full afternoon, it was time to say bye bye…
*Leaving PIXAR. Thank you so much for having me, PIXAR! Hope to come back through those gates again soon.
I get motion sick reallllllly easily, but these beautiful & mesmerizing animated gifs are totallllllly worth it. This is the work of RRRRRRRROLL, a collective from Japan. There are five artists involved in art directing, shooting, and then animating these gorgeous, simple, muted, dizzying gifs. Lovely. Ok, I have to lie down now.
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