And that’s a wrap.

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I’ve surprised myself by completing my short animated film, The Music of the Spheres, ahead of schedule. At just over 7 minutes long, this is my longest and (I think) best animation to date.

Here’s the synopsis:

Three celestial beings contemplate a post-human Earth where newly hybridized lifeforms have evolved out of the debris of the Anthropocene. Combining references to the art of alchemy, Catholic liturgical art, and the iconography of the Tarot, this film blends cosmology with an urgent message of ecology.

And now, on to film festival submissions.

Hermit crabs with plastic shells

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Two more scenes to go until my animation project is complete. Here’s a sneak peek at what I’m currently working on. The backgrounds are painted thus far, but not the crab.

Did you know that hermit crabs are not “true crabs”, since they don’t possess a hard exoskeleton? They need to scavenge cast-off sea snail shells to protect their soft, vulnerable abdomens. Unfortunately, with people removing shells from beaches around the world for souvenirs, hermit crabs are left with little choice but to use plastic garbage as substitutions for shells.

Lobster prayer card

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Another scene for The Music of the Spheres completed. This one features our first glimpse at the hybridized crustaceans who have inherited the post-human Earth. Even though it’s a brief scene with only a rigged lobster puppet and spinning golden haloes, it’s one of my favourites thus far. The doily-looking background upon which the hybrid lobster sits is, in fact, an altered scan of an early 20th-century Catholic “paper lace” prayer card. I just love the intricate, cut paper borders.

Below are a couple of examples of paper lace prayer cards found on Pinterest. No information found on their origin.

Lobster walk (WIP)

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Lobsters walk on the ocean floor, but they can’t walk on land. Their spindly legs can’t support the weight of their heavy exoskeleton. I wanted a scene with a lobster walking on the beach, however, so I devised an insect-like walk that isn’t technically correct for a lobster but does the job. SO MANY LEGS. Not finished yet, but it’s coming along.

Papercut Puppets shop has closed.

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The Papercut Puppets shop on Etsy has now closed. I’d always considered the shop a time-limited side hustle, more of an experiment to see if I could sell some of my art in an easily reproducible and cost effective manner. I never wanted it to pull me away from my main art practice, though I did enjoy the simple pleasure of crafting weird little dolls and puppets between my bigger animation projects. Now that my concussion has healed and I’m able to work on the computer for longer hours, my studio hours are fully consumed with animated filmmaking.

It was lovely selling my puppets in the arts & crafts markets and I met so many interesting and creative shop owners. That’s the part I’ll miss.

Weeping Marys (work-in-progress)

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I love liturgical art and, specifically, statues of weeping Madonnas, so it’s not surprising that this image has cropped up on my current project. Also, I just enjoy animating tears. You can be really loose with the drawing and it turns out pretty well.

This is the cleaned up footage, prior to digital paint. Below is one frame, painted.