| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jun | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||
- Art (20)
- Brickfish (14)
- Characters (9)
- Commentary (9)
- Family (1)
- Looney Tunes (1)
- Quotes (1)
- Video (7)
- 15. June 2010: The Rules Are Simple
- 11. June 2010: Chuck Jones Insight
- 10. June 2010: Inspired by Chuck Jones
- 10. June 2010: Chuck Jones Photographs
- 21. January 2010: The Brickfish Story
- 13. January 2010: Hands of a Master
- 19. December 2009: I am humbled beyond words...
- 17. December 2009: A Funny Thing Happened...
- 14. December 2009: Brickfish Now Judging
- 2. December 2009: Chuck Jones Campaign
Inspired by Chuck Jones
10. June 2010 by admin.
As many of you know, I have been working on a movie that is highly inspired by Chuck Jones and his magnificent oeuvre. This blog will soon begin to document the progress as we proceed, and will further explain why Chuck Jones has influenced my work so significantly.
Of note this year, my two children’s animations have been combined into one now, and we believe that this has given the story much more depth. This is basically the reason why I haven’t been posting on this blog this year…as I am working on the rewrite and editing ad infinitum. In creation presently is the demo-reel for the combined movie, the soundtrack compositions, and the fabrication of several new characters. It’s all very exciting, and I am graced to have the best people working on this project with me.
Soon I will write more about Chuck Jones and how I intricately weave what he has taught me, as my posthumous mentor, into this incredible film. Anyone who has ever seen Chuck Jones work (that’s everyone, right?!), will immediately recognize his signature style within my work. Whereas my own style is fairly evident, I feel that it is considerably enhanced by what I have learned from Chuck Jones. I am so very influenced by his work that my neural-pathways are continually building new bridges between his work and my own. I am eager to begin to document this experience …so please return for updates as we progress.
I have been working away from home since February on several art projects. But now that I have returned, I will be able to blog more often about the progress of the movie, et al…however, legal counsel is advising me to remain silent about the details of the movie until the time is right…but that’s not far away, so please stay tuned!
Why I’ve been too busy to blog: This year has been one event after another!
My friend, Don, and I on opening night…what is funny about this photo is that earlier in the day I was running to help someone, and I ran into a glass panel that was totally invisible–or so it seemed–and I bruised my forehead, nose, and chin (nice color of blue, huh?! ). Also, Don scraped his nose on the window of his corvette earlier that day. So here we are–all bruised up–for opening night…all smiles and having a wonderful evening! Thanks for the nice ride, Don, but between our scrapes and bruises and the weird reflections from the mirrored ceiling in the limo…LOL…we need to take a decent photo together one day!
Sorry about the lack of blogging this year…I’ve been super-busy!
(hanging decorations for the rehearsal dinner of a friend’s wedding)
Posted in Art, Commentary | No Comments »
Chuck Jones Photographs
10. June 2010 by admin.
To see some incredible photographs of Chuck Jones
please go to ‘CHUCK REDUX’, the blog for Chuck Jones
by his grandson, Craig Kausen:
Posted in Art, Family | No Comments »
The Brickfish Story
21. January 2010 by admin.
I feel very fortunate to have won the Chuck Jones “Show Your Memories” campaign on Brickfish. Here’s a little bit about this endeavor…
Chuck Jones’ birthday is the same as my own, September 21, and while thinking about this fact on my last birthday, I felt compelled to find more of his work online. I went to the main Chuck Jones website, where I found they were announcing Chuck’s 97th birthday celebration with the Brickfish “Show Your Memories” campaign.
Often guided by Jones’ style, I carefully explore his work as a learning tool. By studying Jones’ distinctive oeuvre, he has become a major inspiration for my own work. I am presently animating frogs, and so for this reason I have pored over every frame of Chuck Jones’ “One Froggy Evening” and “Another Froggy Evening” many times, and became especially enchanted with the charming character, Michigan J. Frog.
So I submitted an entry to the Chuck Jones “Show Your Memories” Brickfish campaign featuring Michigan J. Frog as my favorite character. Although having found a posthumous mentor in Chuck Jones, I also wanted to celebrate Chuck himself, along with all of the characters who, as he said, were representative of traits that reside within him.
In honoring Jones as a master artist, I submitted several entries that featured Jones himself. It was my entry, “Hands of a Master” that won, and that particular render came to me one morning when I was looking over the tapes of an interview with Mr. Jones. I have viewed the 3-hour interview 4 or 5 times, but this time I couldn’t stop looking at his expressive hands as he talked. I began to think of all of the work that those hands produced and it was just an awesome thought. I decided that I wanted to pay tribute to this incredible person and all of his magnificent work. So I gathered some of his sketches and created “Hands of a Master” in acknowledgment of the legendary Chuck Jones–who was a principle player in a great era of animation, who set a standard of excellence that is unparalleled, and whose work most certainly uplifted the human consciousness.
Chuck’s work is world-renowned, having amused and influenced people all over the globe. That so many different cultures could relate to his characters and their trials and tribulations is a significant testament to Jones’ creative genius and directorial skill. As an art historian, I am highly intrigued by how universally Jones’ work is received, and by such a broad audience. I also personally have an interest in his WWII Private Snafu work. This body of work is especially clever and served others with merit. I plan to utilize animation for educational purposes, as well, and am highly inspired by Jones’ work in this respect.
I will be posting more this year as my projects progress…and much more about Chuck Jones and how he inspires my work. Also, I will post as plans progress in regard to the trip to Chuck Jones Gallery in San Diego, et al…
Brickfish announcement: Brickfish Winners
Brickfish entries for Chuck Jones “Show Your Memories”:
Link to see “Would You Like to Hear Me Sing?” animation:
Would You Like to Hear Me Sing?
Posted in Brickfish, Art, Commentary, Characters | No Comments »
Hands of a Master
13. January 2010 by admin.
Winning Brickfish entry, “Hands of a Master” of the legendary Chuck Jones.
The official announcement on Brickfish regarding the Chuck Jones “Show Your Memories” campaign:
I am so very happy to have won, and want to again thank all of those that supported my Brickfish endeavor. The votes and the comments on my entries were really wonderful to see each day during the campaign from September 21st through
I will post commentary about how Chuck Jones inspires my present work, and why I entered the Brickfish campaign, et al…during the next week.
Posted in Brickfish, Art, Commentary | No Comments »
I am humbled beyond words…
19. December 2009 by admin.
I am humbled to have won the Grand Prize in the
Chuck Jones “Show Your Memories” campaign on Brickfish.
I have so much to say about this fabulous development in my life…
but please understand that it will have to wait until next week,
as I have some traveling to do for the Christmas season.
Afterwards, I will then express my sheer happiness over this exciting win.
I am humbled beyond words at this moment…
and I profusely thank everyone that supported my Brickfish endeavor.
This is very important to me, and I will post the reasons next week.
Have to catch the next leg of my trip…talk to you all soon.
I am smiling a smile that seemingly is there forever now…I am so happy!
Enjoy the holidays…give all that you can to those in need…
love everyone and also yourself…
and I will be in touch very soon. ~Amy Dyson
This is my good friend, Don.
Incidentally, he co-wrote the software that allows satellites to roam in space!
He is intelligent, and loving, and fabulous in every way!
Posted in Brickfish, Art | No Comments »
A Funny Thing Happened…
17. December 2009 by admin.
A funny thing happened on the way to Brickfish’s “Show Your Memories” Chuck Jones campaign. The only reason I was on Brickfish was to enter the Chuck Jones campaign for the opportunity to meet his family. The prize for the contest includes a trip to San Diego to the Chuck Jones gallery (which I love) and also $5000 to spend on Chuck Jones artwork (be still my heart).
So as I was entering the “Show Your Memories” campaign, I noticed another contest on Brickfish for DKNY. They were promoting a new men’s fragrance named DKNYMEN, and were holding a “Director’s Challenge” regarding a video created for this product. When I read that the Grand Prize included a DKNY wardrobe…I was IN. I really would love to have a DKNY wardrobe. I adore their entire clothes line. So I entered a video named “Blue Skies Ahead”, and also a blog entry, “To Be or Not To Be (effective)”. Then I asked John Ryan to compose two pieces of background music for a 30-second and a 60-second video clip. He masterfully composed some absolutely killer music with the DKNY theme of ”A Man. A City. A Dream.” with New York city streets as the thrust of the music. He gave me the rights to this music so that I could enter them in this DKNY Brickfish campaign. So lo and behold…I won “Most Viral”! And although I didn’t win the grand prize, a good friend of mine did! So I guess I will have to buy my own DKNY wardrobe…because if, by chance, I am so lucky to win the Chuck Jones campaign (it is in judging now)…then I would wear DKNY clothes to San Diego! LOL
My “Blue Skies Ahead” video was the one that won ‘Most Viral’ :
Winners of the DKNYMEN Director’s Challenge
|
||||||||||
BLUE SKIES AHEAD “A Man. A City. A Dream.” by Amy Dyson.
In this video, a man is dreaming. As he walks through the city, he dreams of himself in a ticker-tape parade, on billboards, and lit up in city lights. Vast and towering, the soaring buildings darken the sky. His dreams are quick like the subway, taking him over a busy bridge and swiftly through a tunnel. He continues to see DKNY ads on buildings, and then observes the grey skies turn blue. He takes this to mean “Blue Skies Ahead” and dreams of himself as the new DKNYMEN fragrance model. He walks around posing in his dream, when suddenly he looks up…and sees himself on a billboard in a real DKNYMEN advertisement, surrounded by blue skies. A dream come true.
Posted in Brickfish, Art, Commentary, Video | No Comments »
Brickfish Now Judging
14. December 2009 by admin.
I am asked on a daily basis about the Chuck Jones “Show Your Memories” campaign on Brickfish. The campaign ran from September 21st (Chuck Jones’ birthday and also my own) through December 3rd, 2009. It is now in judging, which I understand takes approximately 1 month. It would be very exciting to win this campaign, as I am eager to meet Chuck Jones’ family and extend my gratitude for the outstanding work they have accomplished in maintaining the works of Chuck Jones, who is my posthumous mentor. His work truly inspires me, and I learned so much through Chuck Jones that I could write volumes about it…and most likely will for art history.
Posted in Brickfish, Art, Commentary | No Comments »
Chuck Jones Campaign
2. December 2009 by admin.
The Chuck Jones “Show Your Memories” campaign on Brickfish ends tomorrow and I hope you will view the entries that I submitted (below) and vote for them! I REALLY want to win this contest in order to meet Chuck Jones’ family and extend my gratitude for all that they do to maintain his works in the contemporary art world.
Most of you know that I am working on several major art projects and haven’t had time to do anything else. I intended to submit a fine art rendering for this Chuck Jones campaign, but was never able to because of the timing of my art projects. So what I have submitted are what I consider “roughs”, since they were ideas that took about an hour or so to complete…yet even though I did not have the time to enter a really excellent entry for this campaign, I still plan to create a fine art piece as a tribute to the man whose work inspired my greatest works thus far, Chuck Jones, my mentor. Stay tuned…I will post it here.
As time proceeds, I will be documenting just how Chuck Jones’ work has inspired me…and I will be posting my storyboards, renderings, and much more!
I would like to extend my gratitude to all of you who voted for my entries. As you all know, I am into reciprocal energy…so please send me any imaging/retouching that you may need done, and it would be my pleasure to give you this as a present.
I am not at home now…I am working on the Hemingway Library project today and also painting a mother and child in an 1800’s mural. I will be attending Art Basel Miami before I return home…then you will be able to connect with me. I send loving energy to all of you, and hope that this season brings much joy to your hearts.
Posted in Brickfish, Commentary | No Comments »