Fairy-Tale Artwork for a Mother Lost

Artist Kirsty Mitchell (Facebook Page) has been creating a series of "Wonderland" images to commemorate her mother who lost her battle to cancer.  Mitchell's artist statement reads:

‘Wonderland' began in July 2009, as a small summer project in memory of my mother Maureen whom I lost to cancer 7 months before. She was an English teacher who spent a lifetime inspiring myself, and generations of children with her captivating stories and plays. She was my best friend, and so escapism through my camera quickly became the only way to deal with the reality of my loss. Nothing prepared me for the enormous personal journey that followed, as the project spiralled into a 3-year adventure, leading me to leave my 10-year career as a fashion designer, to commit my future to producing the book and exhibition of the series. The project has been created out of nothing, and is the result of relentless hard work, in which almost everything within the frame has been made or designed by myself with the help of the hair and make-up artist Elbie Van Eeden and the occasional kindness of friends. There are no large support teams, designers or stylists involved, and nothing has been commissioned. The characters and their worlds are the blurred hybrids of the stories and book illustrations from my childhood memories with my mother. Nothing is a direct recreation of a particular tale, and the title ‘Wonderland,' was purely to express a girl's escapism through the pages of her book – something that echoed my personal situation in real life.
Despite initial impressions, my work is not the result of multiple digital composites and Photoshop special effects. It is for this reason that my work sits between the lines of traditional photography and digital artistry as all the elements including their locations and colours are real, made by hand, and true scale. The pictures are polished with retouching, and in a few exceptions I add small manipulations to suggest a sense of magic, but that is all. My focus is to create ‘fantasy for real' using anything from smoke bombs glued to umbrellas, to painting trees and making giantesses out of models balancing in 8ft dresses. I push myself to create whatever is necessary to bring the illusions to life, and then document the process in my online ‘Diary'
The support for the project from around the world has been overwhelming and at times deeply moving. I never imagined anyone to understand the emotion I felt behind the camera, yet I continue to receive letters from people from all walks of life who feel connected with its sentiment and find beauty with the frame.
The series is now in its final stages with its completion planned for the end of the summer 2012. There are currently 60 pieces in the collection.

Andrea Gibson - Poet, Activist

by Jolie Roberson

Andrea Gibson is an award-winning poet and activist. Her poetry focuses on gender norms, politics, and the struggles queer people face in today's society. Gibson disclosed that she chose to write what was in her bones and thus these subject matters are what came out. On top of using poetry to express what she feels and tackle real issues, she is involved with many group activists. She often performs at Take Back the Night Events, LGBT events, Pride events, Trans* events, Anti-war rallies, Peace rallies, organizations against the occupation of Palestine, groups focused on examining the wrongs of capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy. - Wikipedia

*Warning, may contain some adult language.*

These are just my favorites.  Go to YouTube and type in her name to find many more.

Simple & Brilliant Videos: Matt and Kim

by Jolie Roberson

Matt and Kim just released a new video for their song "Let's Go" that features the skills of Pat the Roc, "the world's greatest ball-handler."

They won an MTV Video Award for their simple strip and stroll video through Times Square for the song "Lessons Learned."

I have to say, as impressed as I am by the courage it takes to strip through Times Square, the video for "Daylight" is my favorite.  It's just so charming!

Friday Video Feed

by Jolie Roberson

Here are a few of my favorite videos of the week, enjoy!

Jay Smooth will be discussed in a full-on post next week, but for now, enjoy this video.  I must say, he's a refreshing and beautiful soul and I may or may not have watched all of his videos in one day like the obsessive compulsive I am.

Cute children discussing literally anything makes me bust into incurable giggle-fits.  Watching cute children discuss dubstep dynamo Skrillex is too hilarious for words.  Don't worry, kids, I sometimes have a hard time understanding him, too.  

I don't think I need to explain this one.  This is a tortoise trying to eat a tomato and failing miserably. 

Inspiration: Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet

by Jolie Roberson, originally posted here

You will find here “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke. This batch of letters has served as a point of inspiration, grounding, and consolation at times. I do hope you will take the time to read them, re-read them, and find solace in the words of an artist to another artist…which could just as well be you, or me, or anyone else. Read them here. Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must”, then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse.

In this there is no measuring with time, a year doesn’t matter, and ten years are nothing. Being an artist means: not numbering and counting, but ripening like a tree, which doesn’t force its sap, and stands confidently in the storms of spring, not afraid that afterward summer may not come. It does come. But it comes only to those who are patient, who are there as if eternity lay before them, so unconcernedly silent and vast. I learn it every day of my life, learn it with pain I am grateful for: patience is everything!

Therefore, dear Sir, love your solitude and try to sing out with the pain it causes you. For those who are near you are far away, you write, and this shows that the space around you is beginning to grow vast. And if what is near you is far away, then your vastness is already among the stars and is very great; be happy about your growth, in which of course you can’t take anyone with you, and be gentle with those who stay behind; be confident and calm in front of them and don’t torment them with your doubts and don’t frighten them with your faith or joy, which they wouldn’t be able to comprehend. Seek out some simple and true feeling of what you have in common with them, which doesn’t necessarily have to alter when you yourself change again and again; when you see them, love life in a form that is not your own and be indulgent toward those who are growing old, who are afraid of the aloneness that you trust.

Your Monday Inspiration: Ran Ortner

originally posted by Lee Jones

Ran Ortner

In this work Swell by Ran Ortner, the artist has created the illusion of water coming out of the walls. It’s almost impossible to not be fooled by this illusion and, no matter how many times I try to see a 2D surface, I can only ever see the sea. Ortner’s fascination with water began during his romantic childhood in Alaska. As his portfolio describes his unlikely beginnings, 

“He and his family lived in an isolated log cabin, with no running water, a wood fire for heat and a grass airstrip for a driveway. To escape the brutal winters, Ran and his family would take their single engine Cessna “Ragwing” on 3-4 month adventures from Alaska to South America. On these expeditions, Ran would turn to the open expanse of the sea to escape the confines of his unconventional childhood. When Ran was eighteen, he left home and began surfing the waves off the coasts of California and Mexico. While surfing he was able to consider both the wondrous and perilous conditions of life. Overwhelmed by what he saw and felt, he turned to art as a form of exploration.”

Ortner describes his works as a collision of opposing forces. “Every day I enter my studio, prepare my materials and, as James Joyce said, “go for the millionth time to encounter the reality of the experience.”I attempt through painting to sustain my encounter with life’s biting reality.” For more information on Ortner’s works, click here. 

4th Avenue Exposed

BreakOut Studio's "4th Avenue: Exposed" event was a huge success!  Tickets sold out, the performances were all top-notch and well-received, and the audience left smiling.  This won't be the last one, so add yourself to our Facebook Page to stay up-to-date with future events!