Soooooo, I decided a while ago that I needed a quick rendezvous with inspiration. I've been working so much, and sometimes it gets so busy that I can't think straight. I know I'm blessed, and I am so, so thankful for every single one of my adventures, as always, but it is also really important to stay in love with the crafts that you do. Sometimes, one needs a refresher course, and that is exactly what I'm taking - a course in Czech-style Stop Motion Animation in Prague for a couple of weeks. It's with this great, great company called Puppets in Prague, which is also where I learned the art of carving wooden marionettes a couple of years ago, and the other workshop goers are from all around the world (11 vastly different countries around the world to be exact!). They are wonderful, and I am so excited to be learning a new realm of the creative creature-y arts with such good spirits from around the world. I'm also hoping, as a practical application, to eventually figure out how to animate my puppets and figurines that I've already made. I've been thinking that they need some motion to them for a while now. I think I'm going to try and make a little circus - haven't figured out a name yet, but it's going to, hopefully, be fabulous. In the workshop, we'll be going through the basics in a pretty intense environment, and (!!!) we're heading to a Czech animation festival at the end of it all. We will be working with some of the top Czech animators in their studios, and I really couldn't think of a better place to learn and better people to learn from. Many of you know that I'm an avid traveler (part of keeping up with the inspirational energy that I thrive off), and Prague is one of my favorite places in the world. I'm currently sitting at a Czech café while I write this, and I'm already feeling a bit reinvigorated. The voices (I have no idea what anybody is saying around me! Feels amazingly brilliant and a wee bit scary), the culture (cool, cold Eastern European), the sounds (we do not have proper trams in Texas, so great), the architecture (castles.....CASTLES!), just all of the differences; they are all alive and very real right now, and I'm just so elated that my life allows me to occasionally do these things. :)The moral of this artist's story is: be in love with what you do, live it, breathe it in, let it make you a bit crazy, and then know when you need a refresher - and take it, if you can. I'll keep posting about my inspirational adventures throughout the workshop, so check in soon. And in the mean time, love the life you were given! You only live once! :)Oh, and I also got to see the Bjork exhibit at the MoMa, and it was to die for. Click on the pic to see more images from my journey. Eek! :)
