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The Studio Ghibli Series Screens Rare Films in Los Angeles

2012-01-31T01:27:00.005Z

On Sunday, I saw a 35mm print of Whispers of the Heart at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. This is one of three ghibli films which are hard to see in the United States. The other two are Ocean Waves and Only Yesterday. They're omitted from most DVD film collections. The Aero and the Egyption are screening the entire filmography this month as part of there Miyazaki series.

Whisper of the Heart or (耳をすませば), is a 1995 Japanese animated film based on the comic by the same name, by Aoi Hiiragi. It was directed by Yoshifumi Kondō and written by Hayao Miyazaki. It was the first theatrical Studio Ghibli feature to be directed by someone other than Miyazaki or Takahata. A sequel was made in 2002 titled the Cat Returns. Loosely based off a dapper cat statue named 'The Baron', the cat characters return in their own movie.

Experimental Work - Calarts 2008

2012-01-30T09:12:00.001Z

This was a short experimental piece made at Calarts while enrolled in one of the program's the Film/Video courses. This piece used multiple exposures on black and white film.

iPhone sketches

2012-01-25T01:51:00.000Z

Pancake and Sea pickle

My Calarts Thesis Film

2012-01-24T08:29:00.003Z

I just released I never posted my Calarts thesis film. I attended the undergraduate animation program at California Institute of the Arts(Calarts). I left the United States right after graduating in 2008 and flew to the Netherlands to finish my thesis film. The project became a portraiture of the cultural differences between the Netherlands and the United States, while playing on Flemish surrealist humor. The production utilized digitally hand drawn animation and digital composting. The project was sponsored by the AREholland, B93 Studios, and Kunstenaarlogies.

Design a Week

2012-01-23T23:40:00.000Z

Happiest Place on Earth (January Week 3)

I started to submit designs to the weekly design derby at Shirt.Woot. For those who are not familiar with the website, the company is most well known for it's 24 hour sales. Additionally, they host weekly design contests where winner is promised a fist full of cash and printed shirt. These are the following submissions

Smartest Pet Rock (January Week 3)

Sea Pickle (January Week 2)

Best Friends (January Week 3)

2012-01-09T04:16:00.001Z

Fruit Party / 果物パーティー

2012-01-06T23:35:00.005Z

Fruit Party - From My Japanese Journal (日本語)

果物(くだもの or Fruit)パーティー(Party) is a fun illustration I made to help me remember the names of fruit in Japanese. Fruit know how to party-waving their arms and smiling.

New Years Resolutions for 2012

2012-01-01T09:00:00.000Z

I can't believe 2011 year is over when I still feel like it just started. Although the year started off rough, I had a lot of wonderful moments. To start off the year, I've come up with a list of New Years resolutions.

Source (Maltesegallerie)

An Extravagant Breakfast
My first resolution of to begin the new year will to begin my day in style with a fancy-pants breakfast. Mornings of the 2012 year will begin with sprinkles, chocolate shavings, gummy worms, sparklers, confedi, and the like.

Source: (credit_00)

Japanese Language Fluency
For the 2012 year, I'm determined to rebuild my Japanese language fluency. I studied Japanese as a high school student, then continuing my studies into college. When I transfered to the film program at Calarts, I had to stop my foreign language studies to concentrate on my core curriculum. Subsequently, I've forgotten mostly everything I learned.

Source: (Dj Murdok)

Discover Los Angeles

Although I was born in one of the most famous cities in the United States, I know very little it's past, present, or future. To learn more about the city of my birth, I'll take adventures which investigate the city's history and culture.

This year I... (2011)

2011-12-31T22:52:00.028Z

Each year seems to go by faster than the last. Similar to my This Year I... (2010), I've collected a handful of fun moments and experiences to sum up the year.

In January, I experienced the Los Angeles Art Walk with my USC class.

In February, my work was exhibited in the Women in Animation group show.

In March, I flew to Iceland for Spring Break.

In April, I took a boat to Catalina Island with my USC class and a lot of fun.

In May, I worked the 2011 First Look Animation screening.

In June, I was given tickets to a live show at the Hollywood Bowl featuring Yoko Ono.

In July, I stood in front of some of my favorite Surrealist and Modern artists.

In August, I had a beach party.

In September, I participated in Japanese group animation performance, PikaPika.

In October, I took a trip to the The Museum Of Jurassic Technology.

In November, I visited the Dreamworks studio for a screening of Puss in Boots.

In December, my work was exhibited in a Taiwanese/Swedish Magazine Cacao.

Los Angeles - Cats in Pasadena

2011-12-30T01:11:00.000Z

Graduate School - Pixilation Shoot

2011-12-23T01:21:00.000Z

During finals week at USC, I worked with two graduate animators on their semester one final project. Their film utilized pixilation techniques to intertwine stop motion animation and stop frame live action. Colorful cardboard sharks swim through the Cinema Arts Complex at USC to be discovered by a frustrated artist. Here are a few images from one of the shoot days:

As a treat, the crew spend the evening in China town to have dinner at a local restaurant.

Artschoolvets - Berlin, Germany

2011-12-19T04:32:00.002Z

(Saatchi Online Store)

ArtSchoolVets, a German art website in Berlin, featured one of my photographs in their, "

GIFTS FOR HIM: KUNST STATT KRAWATTEN" series advertising the gift of art instead of sweaters for men:

Die selbstgestrickten Mützen, Schals und Socken von der Großmutter, die Krawatte von den Eltern, der Gutschein von den Geschwistern - Dass nicht Böse das Gegenteil von Gut ist, sondern gut gemeint, wusste schon Tucholsky. So haben all diese unbegehrten Geschenke schon den ein oder anderen unter dem Weihnachtsbaum erschrocken und die Sehnsucht nach den eigenen Wunschlisten der Kindheit aufkommen lassen. Saatchi Online tritt dem nun entgegen, um auch nach dem Geschenkeauspacken die gute Stimmung zu erhalten – für die Männer als Beschenkte hat sie gemäß ihrer Galerie-Zugehörigkeit eine Liste aus Kunstdrucken und Originalen zusammengestellt, sodass preislich und stilistisch für jeden Kunstfreund etwas dabei ist.
Werdet ihr in der großen Auswahl von Saatchi Online fündig? Unsere Favoriten haben wir für euch nach dem Jump zusammengestellt. In diesem Sinne:
For the important guy in your life. Give the gift of art (we’re sure he has enough sweaters and ties and likely doesn’t need another gadget or watch).

ARTSCHOOLVETS

Tor Straße. 78
10119 Berlin

David Stern
stern@artschoolvets.com

Omer Ben Michael
ben-michael@artschoolvets.com

Van Scaramouche - Montreal, Quebec

2011-12-18T04:34:00.001Z

Saatchi Online Print Store

Van Scaramouche featured one of my photograph on their website. The website is an initiative dedicated to publishing information about new limited edition photo prints and other photography related news.

Graduate School - Christmas in Los Angeles

2011-12-11T22:06:00.001Z

Southern California does not experience a true variation in seasons as do other parts of California. While the temperature in the summer can linger in the 90F/35C range, winters in Los Angeles are mild and short. With an average temperature of 50F/12C, Christmas nostalgia is limited to ornamentation. The presence of dapper snowmen and icicles descending from buildings is non existent.

Graduate School - A Cat In Paris

2011-12-03T09:08:00.004Z

USC held a screening for the Cat In Paris, a French animated film. There was quite a large turn out at the screening with a large percentage from the animation department in attendance as well. The film was only an hour long.

I sat in the middle x middle of the theater. An almost perfect seat save my seat partner farting half way through the film. A resulting eight foot radius of squirming patrons resulted.
I am almost certain the characters were animated in Maya.

Graduate School - Dinner at La Barca

2011-12-01T10:00:00.000Z

Out of my experience living abroad, I've learned Mexican food is only good in Southern California. Thursday night a few of my classmates went to the Mexican food restaurant La Barca on Vermont. We were celebrating the joint November birthdays of Liza and Loulou.

Today begins the last month of the year. It's that time of year again when the student population is waist deep in semester finals. For the animators, this time of year is the climax of the semester. Our projects have reached the critical point where time spent outside the studios means time wasted. After our brief night munching on cheese, beans, and toria chips, most of us returned to the animation studios to resume our work.

Cacao Magazine

2011-11-30T08:19:00.006Z

Cacaao Magazine, a Taiwanese creative arts magazine, released an issue on Reykjavik, Iceland. I was lucky enough to be included as one of their featured artists. Check them out: here!

The magazine also featured:
Vík Prjónsdóttir, A creative brand that designs and produces quality products from Icelandic sheep wool; a unique and sustainable source. Its combination of fibers results in a wool that is warm, light-weight and water-repellent.

(Source: vikprjonsdottir.com)

Sindri Már Sigfússon an artist and musician most notably known as part of the Icelandic band Seabear, a 7 piece band from Reykjavik, Iceland.

(Source: Sindri Már Sigfússon)

The Weird Girls is a group of women who film themselves in various places and various costumes. The group releases videos episodically by various directors and costume designers from Iceland and abroad.

(Source: Katrín Lilja)

Graduate School - DreamWorks Animation Studio

2011-11-29T03:44:00.001Z

Lind, BlueJay, and I were invited to the lot of the Dreamworks Animation studio in Glendale, CA to see a student screening of Puss In Boots (2011). The studio invited animation students from local schools including clarts, Animation Mentor, USC, and UCLA.

Graduate School - 日本語日記 / Japanese Journal

2011-11-22T03:03:00.009Z

Over the weekend, I started a Japanese blog with the blogging website Hatena. The blog is titled ジョアンナの日記(ジョアンナのにっき) or Jovanna's Journal. A simple name but I'm excited to contribute to a foreign language dairy. The activity will be a way to practic the language I studied as a high school student.
My goals for this journal will be to build a big enough vocabulary to convey the subtlety of what I want to express. As a method of checking accuracy, I've enrolled in the language exchange website Lang-8. Posted entries are reviewed by natural speakers who, intern, request their work to be reviewed by the native speaker of the foreign language they are trying to learn.

The blogging service Hatena comes with an iPhone application for mobile posting. This way, I've structured the journal as a 絵日記 (えにっき) or dairy with illustrations, to update my iphone doodles on the web. As a Japanese blogging service, Hatena Diary does not force users to input a Japanese address or telephone number. I would recommend it for anyone outside of Japan who wishes to join the Japanese blogging community.

Graduate School - Thanksgiving Dinner

2011-11-20T07:13:00.005Z

The graduate animation student group, POV, met in Altadena to celebrate Thanksgiving. The traditional American Thanksgiving comes from the first Thanksgiving meal held in 1621 by pilgrims who settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts during the winter months. An English-Educated Wampanoag tribesmen, Squanto, taught the Pilgrims how to grow, prepare, hunt, and harvest food from the local environment. George Washington made Thanksgiving Day national government holiday on October 3, 1789.

A National Day of Mourning is an annual protest on the same day as Thanksgiving to honor Native ancestors, illumination the major revisions of United States history, and renewed appreciation for Native American culture.

Graduate School - Werner Herzog Screens 'Into the Abyss'

2011-11-18T17:34:00.003Z

On November 9th, Werner Herzog came to USC to screen his newest documentary INTO THE ABYSS. Herzog was visiting as part of SCA’S Outside the Box(Office) series. The film chronicles the experience of a death row inmate and delves into the normal themes of Herzog’s work including time, death and mortality.

The filmmaker spoke at a Q&A session after a screening of his new documentary. Herzog gave advice for aspiring filmmakers to read, “If you’re not reading, you will never be a good filmmaker”. He also described the difference between facts and truths in documentary filmmaking, "Facts can, at best, create norms. Truth can create illumination or ecstasy.”

Graduate School - La Cañada

2011-11-06T02:56:00.000Z

I currently live in Los Angeles county, in the small town of La Cañada. The name comes from the Spanish word cañada, meaning canyon or ravine. The area was first known as Rancho La Cañada during the Spanish era. The tilde (ñ) is the only letter separating the town and the country of Canada, whose name was derived from a Canadian aboriginal language meaning village or settlement. I like to joke how my mail is sometimes misdirected to Canada.

The small city is home to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which works primarily in robotics technology in relation to space exploration, and the Descanso Gardens, which holds the largest collection of camellia species in North America.

The climate is similar to typical Southern California inland valley weather. The winters are mild and the summers are hot summers. Due to it's location between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Verdugo Mountains and San Rafael Hills, the summers are generally hotter and winters often cooler than in coastal parts of metropolitan Los Angeles.

This Isn't Happiness

2011-11-04T17:36:00.009Z

Hooray! One of my photographs was featured on This Isn't Happiness. I've included a link here. I'm thrilled to be featured on one of most epic Tumblr websites.

I have prints of this image are available on Saatchi: Order A Print

Graduates School - Little Tokyo

2011-10-27T18:54:00.003Z

A few days ago, I went to Little Tokyo to have lunch. I had aimed to get a seat at a this shabu shabu restaurant I used to frequent in high school; It was closed for lunch. I walked across the street and found a curry shop in Weller court I hadn't tried before. I payed six dollars to receive the saddest curry plate I had ever eaten; The vegetables were microwaved warm from their frozen state -fast food.

There was this great mural in one of the outdoor parking lots. I dubbed it Snail of the rising sun.

Waving: "Hi."

Graduate School - Visual Effects Video Shoot

2011-10-27T17:56:00.004Z

Our animation production class met today for an effects shoot. We worked with various fun vapors on black: dry ice, hot water vapor, and smoke. Here are a few snapshots of the group playing around.

Graduate School - LACMA Field Trip

2011-10-24T01:16:00.003Z

This Saturday, I attended the LACMA museum field trip with the University of Southern California Cinema School. Visiting a museum is an annual event attached to the Art of Animation class required for masters students in their first year. This year, the professor mixed the undergraduates and graduate students together to visit the second the last Sunday of the Tim Burton Exhibition. The show was closing next weekend. The university chartered a bus to take us into Santa Monica to visit the museum.

Goofing off in the modern art exhibition.

Graduate School - Second Day of Shooting

2011-10-23T09:18:00.003Z

Freewaves: Out the Window

2011-10-21T02:17:00.006Z

The pixilation film I collaborated with Cecelia De Jesus is playing today on Metro city buses in Los Angeles with the Out The Window : Freewaves Festival.

Graduate School - Figure Drawing Workshop with John Mahoney

2011-10-20T01:08:00.002Z

John Mahoney gave a six week workshop at USC this semester. Here are a few images from his class.

Graduate School - John Waters Screens Pink Flamingos

2011-10-16T17:25:00.005Z

John Waters came to USC to screen Pink Flamingos. He have a Q&A, selling books at the end of the event. I've seen only a few of his films; I was excited to see his most notorious.

Graduate School - Green Screen Studio

2011-10-12T06:52:00.004Z

Linda Jewels and Daniel McWilson with Candice on the green screen mat.

Today, our class shot their student projects in the Zemeckis center at USC. Our production teachers, Mike and Candance set up the green screen stage before class. I captured some amazing photographs from the different group projects. Here are a few of the images:

Brandon Blake lighting a stop motion set with and Lisa Chung

Video assist to while the two lit their puppet.

Xavier and Aims Ketch'm

Graduate School - Hideo Kojima Visits USC

2011-10-11T22:16:00.004Z

On Wednesday, October 5, 2011, I attended an Evening with Hideo Kojima put on by the Interactive Media Division of the School of Cinematic Arts. Hideo is a video game designer and Executive Vice President at Konami Digital Entertainment. His work is well established in the video game industry, including the Metal Gear Solid series and Zone of Enders. The event was moderated Geoff knightley, the host of GTTV, and a USC alumn who served as translator for Hideo.

The event started with an introduction of Hideo's early life growing up in Tokyo. His patents worked in the pharmaceutical industry. These positions were full time, leaving Hideo alone for a majority of the day. He developed a relationship with media, leaving televisions on in every room in the house. This life style, he asserted, brought him early exposure to the world abroad and thus broader perspective than his Japanese peers.

Hideo's interested in film and story started in his youth when he was invited to make a film with his friend and his friend's father. They used home movie equipment to create zombie horror films which they were screen at school and charged a small entry fee. From films he moved to writing fill length novels in high school. His first story, a survival battle, was based on the not to distant future cursed with rampant overpopulated. The premise of the story was to solve this overpopulation problem, one must fight to extend their life expectancy after the age of fourteen. This fascination with fatalistic social-horror themes, he attributed to several near death experiences he had as a kid.

After graduating High School he studied economics. When he turned in his thesis paper, he also included an related story he had written. Although the teachers did not seem to appreciate an auxiliary piece of work, he still graduated. His transition into games from a degree in economics was difficult. Games like Super Mario Brothers by Nintendo and Devious by Namco inspired to want to push the possibilities of digital interactive medium. As a creator, he asserted, one must institute change rather than conform to preset industry ideas.

He set out on a mission to create a more immersive gaming experience with a higher entertainment value than just passing time. Gamers could leave the experience enriched when their if the story contained a overlaying message. This is evident in his game, Metal Gear Solid, deal with topics of nuclear proliferation. A fear he inherited from his parent's generation who experienced World War 2.

The presentation went on to introduce an unreleased game creation program called the Fox Engine. Special footage of the engine showed an game editor in the process of creating a game environment. The technology allows dynamic game creation. An editor can to affect the game in real time with an advanced AI reacting and adjusting accordingly. An editor can affect the map within a simulate game-play. This allows the editors the accessibility to measure the difficulty level and balance the map within a real time game play setting. Hideo feels it is the responsibility of the industry to seek out talent. As a way of establishing a stronger relationship between Konami and outside talent, plans to donate the Fox Engine to the USC.

A mock USC ID card reading KOJIMA HIDEO, Visitng Scholar.

Graduate School - Screening of the Annual Animation Show of Shows

2011-10-07T01:23:00.000Z

On Wednesday evening, Ron Diamond screened a collection of animated works for this year’s Animation Show of Shows. Followed by Q&A session with the director of the Argentinian pixilation film, Luminaris. The program showcased films from a diversity of production techniques: scratch on film, 3D, steroescopic, hand drawn flash, pixilation, etc. Although the method was different between film, each piece in the collection had a strong emphasis on visual design.

Graduate School - Beach Bonfire

2011-10-02T18:30:00.004Z

Photography by LaMar Ford.

I spent Saturday night at the beach with fellow USC animators. The location was just west of Los Angeles international airport sandwiched between a sewage treatment plant and the pacific ocean. The sun set around seven o'clock and we enjoyed rope tug a war and over roasted s'mores.

Photography by LaMar Ford.

Graduate School - Iranian Animation

2011-10-01T08:18:00.005Z

Iranian animator Noureddin ZarrinKelk came to USC on September 24 to screen a retrospective of his work as a guest for Vision and Voices and to give a seminar on his work to the DADA department. Kurosh ValaNejad, one of the event organizers, moderated the event giving context to the sociopolitical climate to films made in both pre-revolution Iran and of Iran today.

The film Prince Amir-Hamzeh(1977) utilized stylistic elements of Persian manuscripts to inspire the character design and background layout. To resolve the graphic style of the characters, Noori adopted cutout method to animate the characters. The characters' actions were simple, and economical producing a effective method of communicating the characters movement and intention.

Persian calligraphy plays a direct role when the Prince recovers from his injuries. He overhears sunbathing morning doves gossip about the current whereabouts of the princess. The written script translates the unintelligible cooing and acts as imaginative subtitles for the audience while playing on the fantastical possibilities of the medium of animation.

I snapped a few images of his earlier film, A Playground for Baboush(1971). Baboush, his son, snags his balloon on the crescent moon. The boy employs help from the local firemen, god, and then finally the animals of the forest who character a human pyramid for the boy to clime his way to the moon to retrieve his balloon. The images are below:

Graduate School - USC Portraits

2011-09-28T01:26:00.004Z

We took photographs of the new incoming students for the USC website. The photographs came out incredibly nice. I've included a selection of my favorites:

Graduate School - Storyboards

2011-09-27T05:32:00.003Z

Graduate School - iPhone drawings

2011-09-20T18:38:00.007Z

I've been over using my iphone for it's doodle application, Doodle Buddy. It has turned my mobile device into a great way to draw faces in class. The application is relativity primitive when compared to other drawing programs, with only five different tools and twenty four colors. Despite the program's limitations, I've managed to articulate facial features quite easily using colors and shapes.

Graduate School - iPhone drawings

2011-09-20T03:50:00.005Z

Graduate School - Beneath The Surface, David Lynch Burlesque Show

2011-09-16T01:14:00.002Z

Linda and I went to the David Lynch burlesque show in Los Angeles called Beneath The Surface. The presentation was inspired by the characters of David Lynch: Dune, the Elephant Man, Twin Peaks, Inland Empire, and Lost Highway. The event repeats every third Thursday of the month, starting in September. The venue is located in Koreatown at Club Monte Cristo. The venue is hidden on top of a church, entering through the church parking lot.

Graduate School - Iphone Drawings

2011-09-13T20:47:00.003Z

Graduate School - Commissioned T-Shirt Design

2011-09-09T23:04:00.002Z

Swollen with excitement!

This friendly design was commissioned for an MFA3 student film. The design is intended for a t-shirt. The little storm cloud seems pretty excited about it.

Graduate School - Abstract Exercise

2011-09-03T19:38:00.004Z

Abstract Exercise from Jovanna Tosello on Vimeo.

Graduate School - PikaPika at USC

2011-09-02T05:20:00.010Z

Tochka, the group responsible world famous light animation PikaPika, came to USC to host an animation workshop and seminar. The group is made up of Kazue Monno and Takeshi Nagata, two graduates from Kyoto University of Art and Design.

Since the start of PikaPika, the group has won awards at numerous animation festivals and media arts conferences. Their group name is a Russian word meaning front line. Outside of PikaPika events,Tochka have refined the light animation style for commissioned in Japan and abroad. This international exposure has also spread the low cost technique to animation enthusist around the world. PikaPika-inspired animation has popped up on Youtube.

Student assistants working with the PikaPika event infront of Tommy Trojan.

The first installment of the workshop.

PikaPika is an atomeapea for anything that flashes in Japanese. The mixture of long exposure photography and flashlight drawings came about while having a late night picknik with friends. Takeshi took the idea further by orginizing group workshops on Mixi, the Japanese facebook. These events took place in public spaces and attracted participants and exposure for the new art form.

USC student crew posing with Tochka.

A collection of photographs documenting the production was featured in their USC gallery exhibition.

Gallery Exhibition

Graduate School - Facilities

2011-09-01T01:12:00.001Z

The green screen set located in the Zemeckis Building at USC

The stop motion facilities in the SCB building at USC

Graduate School - Los Angeles Barbecue

2011-08-31T23:45:00.005Z

Tickling Linda in front of the Los Angeles metro crowd.

The first week of the fall semester ended with a barbecue. The event was organized by Persistence of Visionaries, a student organization made up of graduate animation students. I snapped a few images from the event with this disposable camera I found in the sale pile at urban outfitters.

Laura's Hollywood smile.

(More under the cut...)

Javier Barbosa

Lisa Chung

Daniel Wilson

Louis Morton

Graduate School - iPhone Drawings

2011-08-30T22:26:00.004Z

(More Under the Cut...)

Graduate School - Natural History Museum of Jurassic Technology

2011-08-25T22:34:00.007Z

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is a Museum located in Los Angeles. It exhibits pre-modern scientific and artistic ideas, predecessors of modern natural history museums. Here are some of the photographs I took while browsing the museum.

(More under the cut...)

Graduate School - 本日の浮遊 / Today's Levelations

2011-08-14T02:48:00.003Z

The following images were inspired by Natsumi Hayashi's photographic series titled 本日の浮遊, (ほんじつふゆう) or Today's Levelations. Her website is a photographic journal of self portraits in various city-related locations. Natsumi describes her method of capturing her flotations with a DSLR Canon EOS 5D, a tripod, and a self timer on her website.

(More Under The Cut...)

My mom joined in after she saw I was having too much fun.

Graduate School - Red Room

2011-08-13T21:52:00.001Z

A life long dream realized. My bedroom was painted red this week. Horray!

Graduate School - Summer Sketches

2011-08-13T08:41:00.002Z

I'm a firm believer of the people drawing. Sketching people in motion is one of the most important exercises one can do to improve their visual vocabulary.

A few weeks before school started, I stayed at a friend's house while my room was in the process of being repainted. My friend is the type of person that never has an empty house. He's always entertaining friends. That weekend was no different. I took the opportunity to draw some of the new faces.

(More Under the Cute...)

Graduate School - Raw Chocolate Bar Recipe

2011-08-10T22:44:00.002Z

Raw Chocolate Bar Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Cup, Coconut Oil, liquid

1 Cup, Cocoa Powder

1 tbsp, Honey

dash Sea Salt

dash Cayenne Pepper

1/2 cup Pecans, crushed (optional)
1/2 cup Coconut shavings (optional)

1. Warm coconut oil in the sun or under hot water. Poor the liquid coconut oil into a large bowl. Mix in the cocoa powder, salt, honey, and cayenne pepper.
2. Pour the mixture into a mold or flexible tray.
3. Freeze for one to two hour and then keep refrigerated.

Thick chocolate mixture.

After freezing.

Graduate School - Descanso Gardens

2011-08-07T21:03:00.004Z

Descanso Gardens is a 160 acres botanical garden in La Canada, California. In 1953, Descanso founder E. Manchester Boddy preserved these 160 acres of gardens, woodlands and chaparral for future generations to experience the natural heritage and beauty of Southern California.

Software Review - Polardroid

2011-08-03T22:33:00.000Z

The reason why programs such as Polardroid and Instagram have become so popular amoung digital photographers is due to the unexpected and unpredictible aethetic changes that occure in the polaroid-ing process. In essence, the creative decissions such as composition, color, and ornimant are decided for the user with relatively low investment.

I started using Polardroid (Mac Only) to get knew life from old, ugly digtal images by emoposing randomized film-esque dementions: square format crop, color tempurature shift, human artifacts, and soft focus. These changes don't always yeld interesting results but they demonostrate how digital editing, if done correctly, can add interest to photographs.

Graduate School - No-Yeast Spelt Pizza

2011-08-03T20:24:00.001Z

No-Yeast Spelt Pizza with Goat Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:

* 5 whole tomatoes

* 1 clove of garlic

* 1 Tbsp of chopped of rosemery

* 1 Tbsp of chopped basil

* 1 cup of warm water

* 2-1/2 to 3 cups whole spelt flour

* 2 Tbsp olive oil

* pinch of sea salt

* 1/2 cup of goat cheese

1. Preheat oven for 350 F.

2. Add spelt, salt, and water into a large bowl and need the mixture into dough. If the dough is too sloppy, add extra spelt flour until it retains it shape in the bowl. Loosely dress with olive oil until the entire mass is covered.

3. Flatten onto backing sheet and spread into desired shape and thickness. The traditional pizza circle, for example.

4. Place the pizza crust into the oven and leave for 10 minutes, partially cooking the dough.

5. While the crust is in the oven, proceed to chop tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, and basil. Place items into a saucepan on a medium heat. As the tomatoes become soft, smash them into pulp with fork or spatula. Remove from heat.

6. Dress the partially cooked pizza dough in sauce, adding goat cheese and basil as topppings

7. Place the pizza into the oven, and leave for 20 minutes. The pizza should be ready when the goat cheese starts to yellow at the edges.

Graduate School - Nasumiso Recipe

2011-08-01T21:17:00.004Z

When I was in high school, I used to restaurant hop in Los Angeles ordering the cheapest items from the menu. A good friend of mine and I developed an unintentional habbit which repeated every other weekend.
We chose establishments in bubble communities that catered to the self-sufficient pockets of non-English speaking immigrants. These are located all over Los Angeles. One of favorite restaurants was this place that served only traditional Japanese home cooking, and ever since, I've been trying to replicate this one particular dish.

Nasumiso Recipe

Ingredients:

~ 1 large eggplant (from July's CSA box, South Central Farmers)

~ 2 tbsp sake

~ 2 tbsp maple syrup

~ 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

~ 2 tbsp miso past

~ 2 tbsp butter

~ 1 dash of salt

1. For the more bulbous American variety, cut the eggplant into 1-inch cubes. Japanese eggplants are longer and more narrow. These can be be sliced down the middle, cutting the entire length of the eggplant.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the sake, japanese soy sauce, and maple syrup.
3. In another bowl, mix miso paste with 3 tbsp water.

4. Heat butter in a large pan. Add the eggplant and cover for 4 minutes.

5. Lower heat to medium. Add the sake mixture to the pan and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. 6. Add the miso paste and continue stir-frying for another 2 minutes.

7. Remove from heat and serve hot.

Recipe - Beet Ice cream

2011-07-29T08:33:00.003Z

Beat Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

~ 5 medium sized beets (from July's CSA box, South Central Farmers)

~ 1 2/3 cups heavy cream

~ 1 cup milk

~ 1/2 cup plus

~ 2 Tbsp sugar

~ pinch of salt

~ 4 egg yolks

1. Wash these little maroon friends, cleaning off any dirt that might still remain on the roots. Once washed, remove their skins with a vegetable peeler.
2. Cut these guys into maroon cubes. Aim for around 1 inch in size.
3. Employing a juicer, obliterate the collection of cubes until the amount of liquid beet equals one cup. Set aside the beet pulp for use later.
3. Alternatively, if a juicer is not readily available this process can be completed with a blender. Adding only enough water for the blades to start moving, strain the blended mixture to separate the pulp.
4. In a medium sized pot, simmer the juice on a low heat until the amount of liquid has been reduced by half.
5. In another pot, lightly heat cream and milk in a large pan. When the milk is warm, add the beet pulp. Wait 30 minutes and occasionally stir.
6. Whisk the egg yokes into a large mixing bowl. In small portions at a time, ladle the pink milky pulp in with the whisked eggs and mix each time. This process carefully brings the eggs closer to the cream before they are mixed together in the pot. At this time, pour the entire yolk mixture into the cream pot and whisk once more.
7. Remove the cream from heat and strain the contents of the pot. Remove any pulp matter leaving only the liquid.
8. At this time, mix in the original beet juice and add sugar. Leave the liquid cool in the refrigerator.
9. Once the mixture has cooled, add to a ice cream maker and wait per the manufacture's instructions.

Cubed-ish

Beet Pulp.

Beet pulp in cream.

Graduate School - CSA Week 2

2011-07-28T10:17:00.000Z

I picked up my weekly CSA box from the South Central Farmers' CSA program. They deliver to the USC campus every Wednesday. This week's box was packed with a monstrous load of vegetables. I was excited to find one medium sized watermelon and the following items:

~ Okra (The subject of this week's: "Guess this vegetable!")
~ Detroit Red Beets

~ Garden Spinage
~ Collard Greens
~ Kale
~ Cherry Tomatoes
~ Zucchini
~ Marketmore Cucumbers
~ Opal Basil
~ Golden Patty Pan Squash

Graduate School - Classic Tapioca Pudding

2011-07-27T07:50:00.003Z

Classic Tapioca Pudding Recipe

Ingredients:

* 1/3 Cup of Tapioca Pearls

* 3/4 cup of Water

* 2 1/4 cups of Whole Milk

* 1/4 tsp. Salt

* 2 Eggs, separated

* 1/4 cup of Agave

* 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Overnight preparations: Soak pearls in a glass jar to leave overnight. Once they've been re-hydrated, drain as much water as possible from the jar. Remove them from the jar and place them in a saucepan.

Short-term preparations: Pre-soak pearls for 30 minutes in a roomy saucepan.

Directions:

1. Add the hydrated tapioca into a medium saucepan.

2. Separate the egg into two separate bowls: eggs yolks in one and egg white in another.

3. Lightly beat the egg yolk with the milk and salt. Mix the salty, milky yellow mixture in with the tapioca.

4. Bring the mixture to slight boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Stir often.

5. In the second egg bowl, beat the egg whites with agave syrup.

6. After the mixture has simmered for the full fifteen minutes, slowly mix the egg whites into the simmering tapioca. Stir for 5 minutes or until the pearls turn completely translucent. Then cool.

Soaking Pearls.

Graduate School - Summer in Great America

2011-07-27T00:12:00.006Z

Great American stairs.

I had my first summer trip. I made my way though Great America, exploring the Great American interior for the first time. Exploring museums, artist galleries, city architecture, and the like.

Great American grass.

Great America at night.

Sign Reads: Snowmobiles Prohibited.

Looking out onto a Great American highway.

Graduate School - Jellyfish

2011-07-26T16:58:00.002Z

Graduate School - Chocolate Teff Waffle Recipe

2011-07-22T00:53:00.010Z

What is Teff flour?
This is a grain that originated in Ethiopia between 4000 BC and 1000 BC. The smallest grain in the world, it measures 1/32 of an inch in diameter. It has the consistency of quicksand when mixed with water.

Why Teff flour?
Teff has more protein than wheat. I'm interested in different grains to replace white flour, which is just sugar in discuise. Spelt flour has been my wheat-substitute of choice for it's high protein count and general hardiness.
Similar to Spelt, Teff contains no gluten. It has a high concentration of a wide variety of nutrients, including calcium, thiamin and iron. The iron from Feff can be more easily absorbed by the body.

Chocolate Love?

The following recipe uses a cocoa powder and coffee mixture. The end result tastes dangerously close to chocolate cake.

Chocolate Teff Waffles Recipe

Ingredients:

* Teff powder, 2 cups

* Brewed coffee, 1/2 cup

* Cocoa powder, 1/2 cup

* Egg, 1 (Substitute with one banana and apple sauce)

* Yogurt, 1/2 cup (Substitute 3/4 teaspoon baking soda and1/2 teaspoon sea salt)

* Agave , 1/2 cup (Substitute with maple syrup)

* Butter, one small sliver (Substitute with olive oil)

Directions:

1. Beat the egg in a bowl. Add coffee, agave, and yogurt.

2. Add the Teff powder and mix until an even constancy.

3. Power up that waffle maker and grease with a little butter.

4. Spread the dough into the iron so it's level on all sides and close.

5. Wait 10 minutes or until fully cooked.

6. Top with agave and/or yogurt.

Graduate School - Spicy Kale Chips Recipe

2011-07-21T23:56:00.006Z

Spicy Kale Chips Recipe
An alternative title to this recipe should be How To Demolish Your Kale Heavy CSA Box In On Sitting.

Ingredients:
* Kale, 1 bush (from July's CSA box, South Central Farms)

    * Olive Oil, 1/4 cup
    * Salt, 1 tea spoon
    * Cayenne pepper power, 1 table spoon
    * Sesame seeds, 1 table spoon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Rinse kale leaves. Remove leaves from their stocks and inner stems. Divide leaves into bite sized pieces.
3. Add olive oil to a large bowl. Mix in salt, cayenne pepper, and sesame seeds.
4. Place the pile of kale pieces into the oily mixture and kneed it until the leaves are evenly dressed.
5. Place the lightly oiled leaves onto a baking sheeting with as little over lap as possible.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until crispy.

Graduate School - CSA Week 1

2011-07-21T23:53:00.006Z

I've subscribed to weekly boxes from the South Central Farmers' CSA program. The acronym stands for Community Supported Agriculture; it's a program that offers subscriptions to seasonal vegetables grown from local farms. Each program is different. Generally, participants receive their vegetables at a pre-arranged drop off point or through delivery. The Los Angeles South Central Farmers program delivers to the USC campus and offers a discount to college students.
This week was my second week in the program; This is what I got:

~ Blue Kale

~ Collard Greens
~ Cherry Tomatoes
~ Beefsteak Tomatoes
~ Purple Cherokee Heirloom Tomatoes
~ Zucchini
~ Marketmore Cucumbers
~ Opal Basil
~ Golden Patty Pan Squash
~ Parsley
~ Spaghetti Squash
~ Grapefruit

Graduate School - Apartment Search

2011-07-19T06:31:00.004Z

The second year will start in the middle of August. I've set a goal to find an apartment by the 1st of August. So far I've been looking in the Silver Lake, Korea Town, and downtown. I've drawn up a map of the different regions of Los Angeles located around USC.

University Park: North of USC, consists of mostly family residential houses and student apartments.

Historical South Central: East of USC, this area starts off as sem-industrial before becoming residential divided by connivence stores and strip malls. This area represents the image of Los Angeles that I grew up with.

Exposition Park: South of USC, is a mix of residential, connivence stores, and small strip malls.

Graduate School - Summer Freelance

2011-07-16T16:42:00.045Z

iBooking

Classes ended in May, completing my first year at USC as a graduate student. It's mid July; my first summer in Los Angeles since 2007. I've been working with fellow USC animators for a feature project called Bite Size.

The documentary focuses on childhood obesity in the United States. Comprised mostly of live action interviews, short animated segments are peppered in throughout the film. These animated shorts are being produced through the summer and into early fall.

Graduate School - Mar De Fondo

2011-07-10T21:05:00.002Z

I participated in a the collaborative project Mar de Fondo. See clip above. It was a one week workshop (February 28 - March 4) based on the cyclical motion of the ocean currents. The project was a collaborative film project between Spain, Colombia, and the USA. Our US director was Juan Camilo Gonzalez of www.animamob.com .The soundtrack was designed by Xabier Erkizia.

Image In Motion Laboratory is a space created by Arteleku, a contemporary arts centre in San Sebastian - Spain for developing and producing experimental animation. Their activities run under the premise of relating the audio-visual language to other artistic disciplines. By doing so, they have being able to develop animation pieces that expand the ideas of narrative structures into other expressive realms. One of this year's activities has being named "Mar de Fondo," a one week workshop (February 28 - March 4). The starting point is based on the cyclical motion of the ocean currents and a previously designed soundtrack by Xabier Erkizia.
The group in San Sebastian will create a series of animated cycles that will then be uploaded to an FTP site at the end of the local day. At that exact time, local morning in Bogotá, a new group of artists will spontaneously intervene and develop further the images created in Spain. Then, those new cycles will be uploaded again to the FTP for a new group in Los Angeles to continue the process of this animated "Exquisite Corpse." When the group in Spain comes back the next day, their images have being interpreted and the process starts over again until a grand cycle has being constructed at the end of the week.
In San Sebastian, the group is led by Oscar nominated artist Vuk Jevremovic and Animac International Animation Festival director and independent artist Isabel Herguera. │www.arteleku.net
In Bogotá, independent artists and professors Carlos Santa and Cecilia Traslaviña head the team. │www.animamob.com │www.javeriana.edu.co
In L.A. I will be responsible for the team composed by other John C. Hench animation students and faculty. │anim.usc.edu

Museum Self Portraits

2011-07-08T23:43:00.005Z

Television Sketches

2011-07-07T18:02:00.001Z

Graduate School - Chatter Exhibition in London

2011-07-06T19:06:00.004Z

Chatter, an animation installation project by Birgitta Hosea, will be playing in London this July. The project includes work from myself and fellow USC graduate student from the MFA class of 2013.

The latest version of the CHATTER project will be shown at Bar Sequence for one night only on:
6 – 11 PM THURSDAY 14th JULY  2011
@ Bar Sequence, 43 Essex Road, London, N1 2SF
www.barsequence.com
This evolving installation of animated talking heads investigates meaningless blather and the babble of crowds, reminiscent of conversations on Facebook or Twitter. Created by media artist, Birgitta Hosea, it includes crowd-sourced contributions from international artists and animators*.

Birgitta was a scholar in residence at USC for the fall semester of 2010. She worked with our animation teacher Tom Sito to create an orchestra of inidividual short clips - one from each student. These short conversational elements were designed, recorded, and lip synced by individual students. The clips were exhibited in tandem at the USC Cinema Arts Gallery.

Big in Japan - Hollywood Bowl

2011-07-01T20:26:00.086Z

I was given two tickets to the Hollywood Bowl for the Big In Japan concert. The show was advertised as a cultural festival with small events peppered outside the Bowl. These included sake tasting, kimono displays, paper art, and karate demonstrations. The lineup of musicians included the Yellow Magic Orchestra, Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, Buffalo Daughter, and Towa Tei.

An enormous troupe of taiko drummers from the Taiko Center of Los Angeles opened the event. Fujima Kansuma Kai, a California native and performer of classical Japanese dance, made up the second performance of the night. Followed by experimental, electric pop musicians Cibo Matto, Buffalo Daughter, and DJ Towa Tei.

At intermission, Amy and I went to the snack bar to purchase some treats. We perused the selection and settled on the cheapest bottle of Sake(8$). I was excited to try something new, having never tasted sake before. Of course, I regretted the purchase as, big surprise, it was terrible. We returned the bottle in exchange for sparkling water.

The Yellow Magic Orchestra

I was looking forward to Yoko Ono. I don't care much for her music, but she's one of my favorite performance artists. For that reason, I wasn't disappointed when she only performed two songs. The first being an Orgasm Song, the unofficial title. She roared and grunted as the Yellow Magic Orchestra played backup. Her final song, and the last song of the night was a group performance of, "Hello, Goodbye". Cibo Matte, Buffalo Daughter, Towa Tei, the enormous Taiko group, and the kimono performers came onto the sage to sing.

All the performers playing Hello, Goodbye.

Although the cultural events attached to the Big In Japan concert were advertised as Japanese, they're more representative of American culture and elements of an increasingly globalized society. Kimono's, sake, origami, and karate are evidence of a cross-culturalisation that has considerable effects on the American identity.

Small vignettes of Japanese culture have been repeatedly regurgitation in the United States to the point where their influences have developed strong roots in American daily life. Colloquial English has adopted Japanese phrases such as 'Sayonara' and 'Yosh!", popularize by Hollywood one-liners and Youtube. Additionally, most American have used chopsticks over western dining tools. These examples, by no means, represent an authentically Japanese identity. Rather, they've transformed themselves into symbols of a quickly evolving, authentically American culture.

(More Under the Cut...)

Taiko Group

Graduate School - Comic Romance

2011-06-30T20:55:00.005Z

Los Angeles Freewaves Festival

2011-06-20T08:21:00.003Z

City Heights was chosen to play in the 2011 Los Angeles Freewaves Festival. The film was shown on Metro buses around the downtown area as part of the Out the Window section of the festival.

Pixa News, Spontaneous Moments

2011-06-20T08:13:00.002Z

One of my photographs was featured on Pixa News in Russia, the Spontaneous Moments series: here.

F-Stop Magazine

2011-06-01T20:48:00.002Z

One of my photographs will appaer in F-shop Magazine's 47th Issue: www.fstopmagazine.com.

USC First Frame Film Festival

2011-05-11T18:39:00.004Z

USC screened a collection of student work at the First Look Festival. The animation section of the festival was titled First Frame and screened in Hollywood. The first year MFAs were employed as volunteers for the event. Almost all sixteen of us attended the event, helping out with tickets, name tags, assuring, and photography.

Brand and I checking out the film books.

Half way through the screening, we took a break at the coffee shop across the street and enjoyed a rich dose of caffeine before finishing the event.

Graduate School - Cube Pranks

2011-04-18T18:51:00.003Z

Work stations in the Cinema Arts B building, third floor.

Graduate School - Catalina

2011-04-02T23:36:00.001Z

2011-04-01T18:00:00.004Z

Graduate School - Spring Break Iceland

2011-03-27T04:10:00.003Z

Sigrun posing in her front room. I love how her books are arranged in the window.

Working in Sigrun's family room.

Remake of a Hard Days Night

One of my favorite museums in Iceland.

FFFFOUND

2011-03-18T18:08:00.001Z

One of my photographs was included on one of my favorite art share websites: ffffound.com.

Graduate School - Career Day at USC

2011-03-14T01:21:00.000Z

Getting ready for interviews.

Editorial Photographs - Morgunblaðið Newspaper

2011-02-28T04:04:00.002Z

Morgunblaðið published some of my photographs for a piece on Einar Baldvin this past February. The editorial was about his career as an animator and his progress towards becoming a boxer. I submitted eight photographs from the shoot . Here are the outtakes:

Exhibition - Women In Animation

2011-02-20T08:06:00.003Z

Some of my work will be included in the Women In Animation exhibition at the Animation Guild in Burbank. The opening reception is Friday, March 4th, 6 - 9 pm. The show days are between March 4th - 25th, 2011.

Location: Gallery 839 @ The Animation Guild
1105 N. Hollywood Way
Burbank, CA 91505
818 845‑7500

View Larger Map

Graduate School - Figure Drawings

2011-01-29T06:57:00.003Z

Graduate School - Editorial Illustrations

2011-01-21T20:03:00.003Z

Graduate School - Figure Drawintg

2011-01-10T19:48:00.003Z

Los Angeles - Art Walk January

2011-01-09T04:14:00.005Z

Handsome class of 2013

Everyone met downtown for the Los Angeles Art walk. Javier, Louis, and Lisa were showing their group project in one of the downtown galleries. The starting point to our night. We left the free drinks to explore the city art scene. We met an amazing puppeteer street performer before stopping at a food truck for dumplings. For a lot of us, this was the first time meeting after the winter break.

Tremble Tremble Magazine

2011-01-04T15:37:00.003Z

A selection of my photography was featured on Tremble Tremble.

This year I... (2010)

2010-12-30T18:41:00.001Z

As the 2010 year is come to a close, I've taken the opportunity to reflect on year's events. I started the year in Iceland and I'll end the year in the United States.

In January, my film The Magical Porno Theater was selected for the 700is experimental animation festival.

In Februray, my film was accepted into the Northern Wave Film Festival in Grundafjordur, Iceland .

In March, I took a trip to Þingvellir National Forest,

In April, I experienced the Aurora Borealis / The Northern Lights.

In May, I had a solo exhibition at Skriduklaustur in East Iceland.

In June, I was an artist in resident in the Akureyri.

In July, I accepted two Belgian couch surfers who traveled around the North of Iceland with me.

In August, I said good bye to Iceland and moved back to the United States.

In September, my film was accepted into one of my favorite Animation festivals.

In October, I animated under the old fashion Oxberry camera to produce a fun experimental pixilation/cutout film.

In November, I collaborate with Cecilia De Jesus on a fun Pixilation film.

In December, I celebrated the holidays with my family for the first time in two years.

Winter Break - Family Holiday

2010-12-29T16:00:00.004Z

Cha-ching!

Graduate School - Party Party

2010-12-22T03:23:00.001Z

Friends from high school

Graduate School - The unfinished epic, Boring Day

2010-12-21T10:18:00.004Z

"He's a professor of science."

Daniel Wilson and I collaborated on an animated short film called Boring Day. We'll be completing the project in January. Until then, here's a sample of the unfinished film.

Graduate School - Illustrations

2010-12-20T15:22:00.006Z

Graduate School - Giant Cat!

2010-12-19T17:39:00.007Z

Graduate School - Blue

2010-12-14T08:58:00.005Z

Graduate School - Giant Cat Production Documentation

2010-12-05T00:07:00.006Z

Graduate School - Illustration

2010-12-01T09:37:00.005Z

Graduate School - Illustrations

2010-11-24T20:48:00.006Z

Graduate School - Bouncing Ball

2010-11-21T22:26:00.005Z

the endless staircase

bowling ball bounce bounce