Week 13

Dec 1/10 - On sunday I was at the York University Ice Gardens (an arena facility) for a hockey game. We were sitting around in the lobby when I took interest in the wall-sized poster image behind my teammates. I thought about how people today take the images around them for granted, and don't take the time to actually admire the way it has been constructed and the beauty behind the actual images created. Such as the poster I saw, I was able to analyze the certain tools or effects they could have used to make it in photoshop. It was intereting to look at the collage analytically because now I know I could create graphics/posters like that and get paid for it!

Week 12

Nov 24/10 - Last night I went to a concert of authentic New Orleans jazz music. The first half of the show was enjoyable but wasn't particularly breath taking in my mind. It wasn't until Allen Toussaint came on stage that I noticed a huge difference in the performance of the other musicians. He brought a beautiful harmony to the group and even seemed to tame but also play with the priorly hidden talent of the others. Toussaint introduced a song with the description of a famous AXE commercial and announced that the song from that commerical was done by him. It brings a new appreciation for the song to me, because quite often you don't think of the absolute beauty of a song in a commerical, you're usually focused on the ad itself. The experience was overall very enlightening and refreshing.

Week 11

Nov 18/10 - I was introduced to a popular video collage on youtube called AMV. It is a montage of famous songs, quotes, or phrases synced to random suiting anime shows or movies. I am not a huge fan of amine but even this video, I found easy to watch for its full length of an hour and 26 minutes. I have a huge passion for video editing, espeically taking things from a completely different context and giving the situation a new meaning. Perhaps that is why I connected with this video so greatly.
While watching the 5 video I developed the idea of creating my own "DMV" which would be the same idea only with Disney videos. I've already begun a list of videos and songs.

Week 10

Nov 10/10 - I have been inspired to redesign my student website. I was looking at my classmates' websites and it forced me to think about the condition of my own. I realized that into my second year I have developed an apathy for the layout of my website and messily posted assignments up without any concern for organization. The more I surf the web the greater my inspiration expands. Generic, professional websites such as Facebook or Google are the sites I am most commonly surfing and because of its technical functionality that I don't tend to receive any inspiration from those sites. It's once I start wandering onto websites I have never seen before, that have more of a creative and artistic touch, is when I start thinking about what I am capable of creating.
Here are a few sites I came across that drove my muse wheels:

• http://www.ink2art.com/
• http://www.darasgarden.com/
• http://www.osvaldas.info/

Week 9

Nov 4/10 - Today I was waiting at the streetcar stop to go to class when my neighbour offered me a ride downtown. I graciously accepted. He owns pigeons that he breeds, raises, and races. He was telling me that he was on his way to the exhibition for the Royal Winter Fair. It was clear he was displaying his birds down there because I could hear them cooing the in the back. To me, all I see pigeons for are rats with wings. I think their appearance is nothing of beauty and that they have little to no intelligence. But when my neighbour was describing to me the other birds he was surrounded by in the fair; hens, turkeys, etc. he described them with such enthusiasm that made me realize, that these creatures really are beautiful. They may seem pea-brained and dirty on the streets, but when they're bred in captivity that can be quite remarkable.

Week 8

Oct 27/10 - Today our groups presented their projection installations in class. It was incredible how creative and innovative my fellow students can be. I was inspired by a various amount of their works. One in particular that I really loved was a projection of outer space, moving through the stars and constellations shot onto a bed sheet on the ceiling. The calming music to the piece allowed me to relax and release the stress from the various projects (school and outside of school) I had on my mind. I find space to be an incredibly intriguing atmosphere that has an amazing capacity for beauty. People often get caught up in the idea of Startrek or Starwars when it comes to space but the way this project was installed removed those thoughts from the equation.

Week 7

Oct 21/10 - On the 15th I went on a trip to Niagara Falls to see Foreigner at the Falls View Casino. This was my first experience ever being in a casino and a 19+ event. There is a particular feeling, after the nervousness with security, once you enter the gaming area that overflows you. An upbeat bliss of the birght and loud machines washes over you. Although the slot machines can be looked at a naive way to gain money or just plain adult fun, there is a beauty to them. The endless rows, vibrant gold glow and bubbly tunes really does give a marvelous sense of adventure. I feel the photos validly expresses the feeling of the blurred and fast excitment of the slot machines.

Week 6

Oct 13/10 - This week I began a research assignment for another class, and chose to look into the works of Charles and Ray Eames. I found their incredible and innovative work in design to be truly inspiring, especially with the convenience of my new living space. The aspect that design is not just something visual but serves a functioning purpose makes me think about the type and shape of the accessories I choose to add to my new room and basement area. One of my favourite pieces by them is "Elephant Seat". It serves as a toy for children but also a seat, which I find adorable and definitely would be something I would love to incorporate into my own space which defines my inner character still being stuck in the mindset of a child.

Week 5

Oct 6/10 - My brother moved out on Saturday. Even though I wasn't there to enjoy it, it was the happiest day I've had yet this year. Now I get to move into the basement apartment of the house. This means a redesign overhaul! I've always loved interior design, and now my inspirations can flood out into the basement to create an actual living space. I started with bedding and from there was able to come up with a bedroom/bathroom colour. Once these ideas were in my head it wasn't long before I wanted to gather up old barn wood from my uncle's farm to use as siding for some of the walls. It's interesting how much muse an empty room can give you.

Week 4

Sept 28/10 - Every year for Halloween I usually screw myself over by waiting to figure out my costume until it's too late to it put together. This year I had my costume picked near the beginning of the summer, giving me tons to time to look around and find what I need. I choose to be Pikachu and my boyfriend as Ash from the 90s TV show Pokemon. Yesterday, I went to Fabricland and was inspired by all the different types of cloth and accessories they sold. Particularly by the shaggy fur fabric they sold in which I imagined making my own fur suit. It is definitely a project I'd like to accomplish sometime in the future. For now, the simplest Pikachu costume is good enough for this year's Halloween!

Week 3

Sept 20/10 - At work on Sunday I was helping a customer who had shoes that I realized I really liked. Then I noticed that it wasn't just the type of shoe or the simple colours but also the way that he was wearing them. I have owned several pairs of converse shoes in the past, and I had started to grow bored of them until I saw these. I think it was the casual way he wore them with the top inlet unlaced that really made the shoe grab my attention. I don't think they would have stood out the same way if they hadn't had that particular character to them. But now I really want a pair of my own! It's interesting when you think closely about it, what aspects really sell a product to an individual.

Week 2 - Discovering Blogs...

Sept 14/10 - I am beginning at Week 2 to correspond with the outline (assuming we don't need an entry for our first week of school) - I considered keeping a traditional source book collecting physical objects and inspirations. Although, I've never had a blog before and I thought, since blogs are continuing to increase in popularity, that I should familiarize myself with how exactly one works...
My interest and experience in web and graphics design has greatly intrigued my to explore the many features of a blog. Especially getting to design it's layout!

Sept 15/10 - Last night I found a fish tank that someone had put out for the garbage, complete with functioning filter, light, and heater. I picked it up and brought it home. At the beginning of the summer I had been planning to purchase my very own pet turtle and even looked on craigslist for ads of people selling fish tanks. I knew that turtles weren't in season until the fall but wanted to be prepared. Over the summer I gradually lost interest and forgot about my desire to have a pet turtle. I find it enlightening that I choose to go for a long walk that night, and it almost seems like the tank found me. The timing of finding this tank and it being fully functioning is almost like the animal gods are agreeing with my desire to be a turtle owner and are supporting it by putting this readily able tank at my feet, 4 days before the turtles are in stock at the pet store.


Sept 16/10 - While in class listening to everyone's moment, the back and fourth discussions got me thinking about my own moment, and what I can make my moment into with the time based aspect of the assignment. I spontaneously developed the idea of sketching my moment in an low-animated cartoon that was solely in pencil sketches. I thought of a cartoon to emphasize the emotional expressions of the characters involved in my moment.