Spring has officially arrived and brought with it a trio of new goat kids at the Jardin des Plantes...

I've added a few spring favourites to my "micro garden" outside the apartment door...

  

 

   

 And soon it will be time to find places for everyone out of doors in the courtyard...

 

Inside the cats are still in their cozy winter mode, sleeping much and taking over all the most comfy chairs for long siestas.

 

Twiggy Miranda in her favourite place...

 

There's not much room here but still I manage to make and do quite a lot... This week began with some new fae furniture coming into the human world...

 

A fae seamstress' work table with tiny hand crank sewing machine, vintage style.

 A fae reader's corner for curling up with a good book and a cup of tea.

 A fae fireplace with cheery flames cut from dried Chinese lantern flowers and a basket of logs close at hand.

 

 I have also begun experimenting with some lovely naturally twisty wood, copper and quartz to make fae wands. ( Available on my Artemis Jane shop: http://www.artemisjane.etsy.com ).

 

Come and visit again soon...Flea market dolls await...

 

 

as do vintage bottles---mind the mischievous faery trying to squeeze free!---

and a shelf full of art and magical things..

Wishing you all a joyful spring!

Collage Animation

A trio of photos from a recent short film segment I created to celebrate the centennial of the riot provoking first performance of the Ballet Russe/Stravinsky work "Le Sacre du Printemps" (or "Rite of Spring" as it is sometimes known in English). As part of a larger collage of works by various choreographers/dancers/artists it will premiere at the International Video Dance Festival of Burgundy, France next month, after which I'll post a video here.

The puppets were created from vintage French art history magazines which my corner used bookshop sells for twenty centimes--- a steal for gorgeous full colour magazines on heavy stock! I always feel a bit guilty cutting them up but often find duplicates to keep for my own viewing pleasure. I mixed and matched parts from works ranging from Etruscan sculpture to medieval Spanish fresco to a Titian painting and added an actual hair extension braid to the central figure of "the chosen one" for a bit of variety. (The braid was fun to animate!).

All movements were still photographed one small motion at a time. Afterward all the many photos were altered in photoshop and an online editing program to create a more unique and encompassing  look to this 2D world. The final step was loading them into a video program and creating a continuous effect of movement with musical score.

Here's a link to some of my other earlier animations in 2 and 3D:
http://www.youtube.com/user/artemiscalliste/videos

I look forward to the coming of spring here and wish you all the best whatever the season, wherever you are!