A fantastic talk from TED Talks: In a series of witty punchlines, Patrick Chappatte makes a poignant case for the power of the humble cartoon. His projects in Lebanon, West Africa and Gaza show how, in the right hands, the pencil can illuminate serious issues and bring the most unlikely people together.
If you recall the “sneak peeks” I posted a while back, your wait is over. Here’s a special something I’ve been conjuring up for the holidays!
For those interested, this video was created with hand-drawings, animated in PowerPoint. I wanted to push the boundaries of what most people think PowerPoint can and can’t do. In that sense alone, I feel a mission was accomplished. But I also wanted to have some fun with it…. which I did!
The vision for the video came to me after it was clear that no one wanted their children to be filmed in a piece that would be shown on YouTube. That was disappointing, since kids really engage with this game and it would have been great to capture their enthusiasm. But, as someone, somewhere, once said, “inside every cloud is a silver lining”. This one came in the form of a happy idea.
And so, this is what happened when an idea + illustrations + PowerPoint + some good music became a video!
Special thanks to composer/musician David Santucci for lending his remarkable talent to this piece. A gifted artist and overall nice guy whose work will soon be available in high-def quality on iTunes; it was a delightful collaboration.
Now I hope you’ll go on over to Amazon and buy the Magnetic Mermaid Dress-Up toy and make some kids very happy this holiday! : )
In the name of brazen self-promotion, I’d like to start spreading the word that some terrific canvas tote bags are now available, adorned with designs from my “52 Weeks of Peace” series. One bag shows all 52 weeks, others are created with individual designs.
For the time-being these are available online only, through my shop at CafePress. But I have to tell you, I personally love their canvas bags. They’re sturdy and earthy and hold a lot of stuff.
They really make a great gift – practical AND fun (oh, and yes, with a message…!) . And by the way, requests are being taken. If you have a favorite “week” you’d like to see on a bag, let me know!
Everyone’s crazy busy, so you may not have noticed that I’ve not posted as often as usual. But in case you did …. remember the post about “what’s inside my head”? Well it’s been stuck on #3 for quite some time.
Lots and lots and LOTS going on, lots of cool work, but not a lot that I can post yet. What I can post is another sneak preview of my “secret project”…. which I hope to have complete very soon.
Ah. All this unveiling to be done. I guess patience is called for.
In the meantime, here’s a last peek of the special little something in the works.
My muse is hard at work, sliding with a vengeance into all available slivers of time. (When is a girl to sleep, I ask?) This time it’s something kind of new for me … and it’s making me smile, despite a crazy schedule, some sleep deprivation and probably too much tea and chocolate. (Wait ~ there can’t be too much tea or chocolate. What was I thinking?)
But I will say no more (because, after all, it’s a secret) and just cut to the sneak peek. Hope it makes you smile too. : )
My parents always told me there was great satisfaction in a job well done. May seem corny, but it’s true. And it’s one of the things I like best about my work … it’s satisfying to interpret and conceptualize a broad range of messages. I like to call it giving things a “visual voice”.
No two voices are the same; each has something distinctly their own ~ and to hear, discover and express that in its most dynamic way is really kinda neat.
Naturally, it’s also satisfying when the work is appreciated. (Who doesn’t like a kind word?) Clients are happy, you’re happy. It’s good for their business, it’s good for you. A “job well done.”
Sometimes though, the work achieves more measurable, tangible benefits ~ and when that happens, it’s that much more meaningful all around. The small piece of art below is one of those.
Commissioned specifically as a fund-raising effort for my alma mater, Wittenberg University, I was pleased to learn that this hymnal bookplate raised more than double the intended financial goal, attracted a high percentage of new donors and brought valuable support to other campus needs above and beyond the original effort.
This is truly “work that gives”. And somehow that’s doubly satisfying.
Of course, you hadn’t known that I’d lost it. But I thought I had. I looked everywhere. I called all the places I might have brought it along. I fretted. I even dared to dream of a new camera… but that just didn’t feel right. So I “let it go” for a few days, and like magic, when I wasn’t thinking about it at all, a thought form led me to exactly where it lay waiting in the car, under some stuff. Joy of joys, just in time to snap a couple of orange shots while the weather was warm. So I share my joy with you, and thank the Gods of Misplaced Things.
……………….
“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.”
~ Albert Camus
© Patricia Saxton
© Patricia Saxton
Literally.
Appreciation is always a lovely thing. But how can one not be thrilled by one that’s hand-drawn?!
I was raised by a writer and learned early on to write out my thank-you’s. Friends may even think of me as a bit of thank-you note nut. Just the same, there’s an art to it, and over my lifetime I’ve seen the dwindling of that art. First there was the phone call, then the email note. Add to that the inundated-with-to-do’s, fast pace of people’s lives that doesn’t allow much room for proper thank you’s ~ especially challenging for people who don’t have a natural affinity for writing ~ and the way of thank you note gets lost.
But of course it’s important to realize that appreciation takes many forms. Not everyone draws a picture, or writes a beautiful note. Sometimes they say just the right words, or do something marvelously selfless and generous. People are good at heart; they show it in different ways.
Still … there’s nothing quite like a real thank-you! So I’d like to show a little appreciation for a very special one, by sharing it with you. It’s a card I received from a young girl I’ve never met, who’d received my books and toy as a gift. Hopefully the exuberant art will brighten your day, as it did mine!
(I especially enjoyed the serious, unassuming cover opening to a delightful surprise inside.)
Been burning the candles at both ends. Late at night, early in the morning… many projects, many ideas, lots of hot fudge to keep me going.
And it occurred to me this morning that my overwrought brain might indeed have its own image… so if the inside of my head were a picture today, this is what *came to mind*.
It’s colorful, for sure. But like my thoughts, the colors are alternately colliding, competing and complementing. Kind of interesting (I think.).
Then I realized that as the day wears on, the inisde of my head will change – because nothing ever stays the same, does it. So, around noon, it might look like this:
And later still …
And if I’m lucky, by the end of the day, it will calm down to a restful glow…
An altogether fun and delightful book promotion video (reminding me how much I would like to find time to make my own…) from bestselling author of A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket and esteemed illustrator and New York Times columnist Maria Kalman…. Enjoy!
Thanks to Brain Pickings (a great site for curious things!) for this find!
