gather: a stop-motion video & how-to

A short stop-motion video about ephemeral art. I went to Utah Lake, walked around the shore for 45 minutes listening to an Iron and Wine playlist. Every time the word "the" was sung I would pick something up. This composition documents what I gathered during the process of performance that day.
[Song: Generator (Second Floor) by Freelance Whales].

and now for the how-to, if you ever want to make a stop-motion video yourself:

{for mac users only}

1. decide upon a simple idea first

2. take stills of an object that you slowly move/add unto/take away from. {best if the camera is in the same position, so use a tripod!} take a picture for each frame, start to finish. for example, if you wanted to capture a toy moving from one place to another, take a picture of it, move it a small amount, take another picture, move it, take a picture, and so on until you are done.

3. upload photos to iphoto {edit accordingly}.

4. quit iphoto and open imovie. create a new project. 

5. on the right hand side of the timeline there will be an icon of a camera, click on it. select the pictures you want to use, they should already be in the order you uploaded them in. drag and drop them into the box of your new project. {on my screen it is the upper half section of imovie, above the timeline}. 

6. now that all your stills are there you can adjust the speed you want the photos to appear. hover your mouse over the first still and you will be able to change the settings of the clip. change the number of seconds. you also have the option to apply that time frame to all slides. 

7. to add music, select the music icon on the right side of the timeline and you can pick a song from your itunes. drag and drop that into the space as well. 

and voilá! if you want to edit it more complexly just look up tutorials online, there are lots of them! 

if you have any questions, you can ask me but i won't guarantee i know the answer. 

enjoy! 

land art.

remember this post about the land artist richard long, and all those previous posts with pictures from deer creek reservoir? well i did an artist presentation on him in my contemporary art class and also had to do some work in response as a part of it. so that's why i drove all the way over there after general conference on saturday, and i am so glad i did. it was a beautiful day and there was no one in sight. 

so these are my quick little attempts i have to share. resulting in at least three splinters from the grass, and a car full of bugs from the bark i brought home. worth it.

check out richard long's work here. 

 tried to make a line with grass where the water meets the shore. unsuccessful. still have the marks to prove it.

happy end of classes! 

now go listen to some dirty projectors, arcade fire, beirut, and local natives. 

far from home, all alone, but so happy.

lately i can only describe my motives in one word: wanderlust. kind of perfectly cheesy right? i don't know why but i continually have this overwhelming yearning to be on top of something- a hill, a mountain, a tree. this usually results in at least two impulse drives a day. {i think the greatest blessing in my life is a car, without it i would surely go insane}. i have been discovering the most interesting of places too. full of magic. i like these solitary little adventures, it gives me time to be alone with my music and my thoughts. but company would be lovely too sometimes, so if you ever want to join me, let me know. really do, because then i can go certain places i won't by myself. i guess i draw the line at darkening mountain filled with strange creatures and possibly strange humans}. 

and there i was driving one sunday, trying to get to the top of something, anything, so i stepped out of my car, looked up at a hill, looked at my shoes, then at the setting sun, sighed, got back in the car and drove home. i am going to miss these majestic canyons when i go home to florida in ten days. i wish i could stay a little longer and go camping. oh how i just long to go camping {and get lost in the woods}. {guess it will just have to wait for our family reunion in oregon this summer. goonies never say die}.

Herman Melville said it best: "I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote."

{locations: deer creek reservoir & provo canyon}

{cameras used: nikon d50, iphone}

while others are thinking about finals and focusing on studying, i am just sitting here looking at the remains of my orange wishing it would've lasted longer. {i don't have to study for ANY finals}. and as justin bieber plays in my apartment, i am sure glad that it is almost over, because i am not certain how much longer i can last without cracking. 

{title: an allusion to "from finner" by of monsters and men. they are trying to make it into my top 5, and they are doing a really good job of it}.

the blue sky series. {love note to spring ii}

i find myself gazing up a lot these days. after all, up is the best place to look. 

thank you spring for coming earlier than expected. and thank you for being beautiful.

{all photos taken at deer creek reservoir}

and while you're at it, please go listen to the beatles. 

they can brighten any day. 

love note to spring.

utah was good to me today.

i went on an adventure of an artistic nature to deer creek state park after conference. 

it was beautiful and perfect. {more to come on that later}. 

happy spring. 

{quote: noah and the whale, photo: me}

st. george {part 2}

you know you are enjoying yourself when you only take five pictures. 

all photographs: mini diana, 35mm film, 400iso.

UAEA: ST GEORGE

i am so very behind on blogging. it has been a long while. hello again blogosphere.

two weekends ago a group of art education students and myself took a trip down to the ever sunny st. george for a utah-wide art education conference. classes and workshops were held, speakers spoke, and adventures ensued. we have a great collection of people in art ed. put us all together in large vans and it gets pretty entertaining. we also went on a little hike to slot canyon with dr. mark graham but it was all so sudden and spontaneous that i forgot to bring even one of my four cameras, so i have no documentation of it yet. but i did collect red dirt in a water bottle so i can make paint or pastels out of it. now, i suppose i should educate you on what i learned and experienced. 

{and as a side note, seeing palm trees in utah was just plain weird. those belong in florida}.

 i took my nikon dslr but only used my iphone to take pictures. life moves fast. go figure.

watercolor painting the red rocks.

 paint out.

 

 the next three were taken by diane.

 our chair from DI stuffed in the van. 

 street painting workshop. 

brandon with model magic clay on his face. he provided the hilarious stories, we provided the laughter.

kolob.

the keynote speaker was dan goods. he is an artist that works for the jet propulsion lab {jpl} at nasa. sounds awesome you say? that's because it is. very. he has worked on some some amazing projects including typography on fog, eclouds, and an installation of sand representing the galaxies. 

read about him here. and then watch these videos:

i learned about collaboration, fingerprint drawing flipbooks, ink monsters, shaving cream screen printing, portable art galleries, post-structuralism, autonomy & identity, cooperative studio practices, a lot of other things, and most importantly, using all of these things and more to become a better teacher. i love everything about the education i am pursuing. art is important, remember that. and watch this ted talk: {i can't figure out how to get rid of the large gap unfortunately}.

we have awesome professors. who may or may not have helped facilitate the making of street art in downtown st. george. we visited the local DI [skipped class] and once there brandon proposed an idea for an installation. we bought a chair, some information/inspirational books, a book rack, and sidewalk chalk. the purpose was for passersby to take a moment to sit in the chair, read and/or think about things, and then write their thoughts with chalk. we even created an email so that others could share documentation/thoughts with us after we had left. randallsvandals@gmail.com. {randall is the name of brandon's hedgehog if you were curious}. shelby also made a video about it:

this week will you please stop, sit, and think about it? write your thoughts in a journal or even better in a public place. life is better when you slow down and take a look around.

thank you art ed friends and st. george for a wonderful weekend full of laughter, learning, and adventure.