This summer I once again worked with the brilliant Lopez twins @Lopii Productions.  They are pitching a new show (that I have to keep secret for now), and wanted me to create a set for a hamster to run around in.  The idea is to give your pet the best day ever, and this one episode is for hamsters.  We decided to go with a playground that the hamster could run around in and have an amazing time in.  I had very little notice for this one ( they needed it in two days!) so I was nervous that the job was too rushed, but in the end it looked great AND the hamster miraculously did everything we wanted it to do!( go down the slide, play on the swing, etc)  After we were done shooting this segment everyone actually clapped for the job I did!!! It's nice to feel appreciated :)

 This next one is from last year.  I had the honor of (again) working for Howie Shia, who partnered with Jordan Canning to create this beautiful and moving short.  This is the second time a film I helped out on went on to TIFF, but due to Covid we couldn't go see it on the big screen and celebrate :(  Please go to NFB.ca to see the full film.  Here is a screenshot just to peak your interests :)

 I'm gunna go ahead and add the last three Halloween costumes I made for Liam and one for Naiya.  

 The daycare also commissioned me to "brighten up" their toy shed.  This one was fun and I decided to go with a similar design as the one I chose for Liams bedroom.  The neighborhood loved it and I am STILL getting compliments on it two years later :) 

 It has been a WHIILLLLE since I posted in here! I wanted to update the blog chronologically but some things haven't been released yet so I'm just going to add them as I locate them haha.  So for now I'll start with a Mural that West Prep Children's Centre commissioned me to do for the entranceway of the daycare.  Done in Acrylic on canvas.

Keep Calm + Decolonize: Marco's oriental noodles

My latest contract was for Howie Shia, a really good friend and a main source of income for me ( keep em coming Howie!!! I need the cash lol) Anyways he created a short film for CBC arts, produced by the NFB (of course!) and although it was a short contract it was fun to work on.  Can't wait to show the actual video( it is awesome!)sorry for the blurriness, screengrabs suck.

....again, can't show the actual video till it's been released. :(

This summer I was so lucky to be a part of an amazing team, with whom I've worked with before on the "What's inside" series, and we got to animate an interstitial for Sesame Street! Yes...you heard me right...SESAME STREET!!!!! a real dream come true for me.  And while I'm not allowed to share the actual video just yet until it airs, I figure I can show a couple of screengrabs from it. It's called "Packing for Grandmas" and we showcased the number 13( so 13 things were packed for grandmas) I was mostly in charge of props(rigging, prepping for animation, etc) but also helped animate a bit.  The idea was that each item would come in, do some sort of movement(we made sure each item had a bit of character) and then get into the duffle bag somehow.  I cannot wait to work with this crew again.... all awesome ladies btw, just sayin ;)

It's been a while! As usual...woops.  Oh well.  Hows about I post my sons Halloween costume from 2016.  He knew he wanted to be a dragon so I tried to start this one slightly earlier than the week of Halloween for once.  I knew I wanted to try to make face prosthetics; though he didn't end up wearing them because he said he didn't like how they felt on his face :(.  The horns were pretty fun to make(foam) and the tail was foam as well.  The bodysuit was an old white one from an olaf costume he had and no longer wore, so I just painted it.  I had every intention of starting months in advance but I did infact leave it till October.  Also, I had to plan my baby girls first birthday! So that took up my time as well.  And when it came down to making my girls costume I had spent so much time on the dragon costume that I had very little time/money/energy left to make something really cool for her! and I didn't even know what she should BE! So I thought what would go well with a dragon.....hmm......the mother of dragons! So 2 days before Halloween I took her tiny measurements, made a quick trip to fabricland and bought a blond wig and here are the results.  Hope you like.  (The dragon costume got rave reviews on the streets trick or treating...and no my daughter didn't go trick or treating)

Just for fun I thought I'd post pics of some of the cakes I've made in the past.  Yes folks I can do it all ;)

Spent the last couple of weeks designing and painting this mural for my sons room.  All I need now are a few more storage solutions and his room is finally complete! :)

....AND one of the latest projects I got to work on.  Howie Shia is an AMAZING Toronto artist/animator/illustrator/writer and overall genius and I was so blessed to be ab le to work on his film.  When he asked if I had ever worked in TVPaint before I said no, but I quickly learned and was tasked with doing cleanup/coloring/animation(summed up to "animation assistance) and it was such a great experience.  When I heard that it was going to be part of TIFF last year I was extremely proud to be a part of such an amazing team of talented artists, and I hope Howie thinks of me for any one of his next projects coming up.  Here is a link to the trailer from the NFB website...

https://www.nfb.ca/film/bam

..and here is a link to the short film FOXED! That I had the priviledge of making some props for.  I recently heard that it has been picked up to become a feature and I am stoked to be a part of that as well!!!!

http://www.foxedmovie.com/

Wow haven't updated this thing in a while...yet again.  Been pretty pregnant with my second child.  Naiya was born Oct, 16th 2015 and I am officially done having children.  She was born right before Halloween but somehow I managed to complete Liams Halloween costume on time! :) So here it is...

What's Inside - Trailer

Here's a sneak peak at an upcoming children's show I had the privilege of working on last year.  It was with sinking ships entertainment and TVO kids and it was such a great experience.  We shot 50 one minute episodes, and they will begin airing this fall.  :)

Here's a pic I did for a very good friend of mine.  I gave it to her as a wedding present and it is currently framed and hanging in her living room.  :)

AND here is my sons Halloween costume for this year.  Once again I left it till pretty last minute, but managed to whip it out in two days.  Got some cheap pleather from the fabric store, about 8 belts, plastic knives for the gloves and again loads of hot glue and black electrical tape.  Also sprayed his hair black.  The makeup didn't really happen because he is a toddler and wouldn't sit still, but all in all I'd say it turned out alright

 :)

So after leaving the NFB I was lucky enough to help a friend out on a short stop mo film she was working on called " Foxed".  Here's a prop I made for it....it is a frame for a mirror that is a huge part of the film.  And here is  the trailer for the film so you can see the finished piece (it comes into the trailer at 27 seconds) :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4q7nvuArvw#action=share

This is kind of late, but I thought I'd post it anyways.  So three days before Halloween I still didn't have a costume for my sons first Halloween!! My husband suggested ghostbusters and although I knew it would be difficult to pull off I decided it would be perfect for his first costume. I love halloween and I want my son to always have awesome homemade costumes.  I got a friend to make the flight suit, I went to active surplus for some parts(lights, wires, knobs and such) and alot of foam core and duct tape later here is how it came out :)

 



I was pretty proud of myself for making the proton pack light up! :)



The theme of my sons room is Monsters. Friendly monsters of course....
think sesame street, the muppets, fraggle rock, monsters inc, e.t.c. But also some monsters of my own creations. I plan on getting his room done by January when he'll be ready to move in there (he sleeps in our room at the moment), and will post more pics as I get things done. So to start things off here are some letters spelling out his name that I created to hang in his room. I started off with basic wooden letters and sculpted on top, then baked and painted the whole thing. I'm so excited to get his room done, because then I can go back to sculpting other things (which I haven't really had the time to do since he's been born). Enjoy!

Technical Difficulties

I finally realized that the quality of the film would best be seen by posting it on youtube and sharing the link here instead of trying to upload the actual film.  So here it finally is lol!


http://www.youtube.com/v/3fKG6GYXQ3U?autohide=1&version=3&attribution_tag=1G1bUzfMjK9GU8SvLIcVyw&showinfo=1&autohide=1&feature=share&autoplay=1