I'm not quite sure what it is. Maybe I watched too much Beauty and the Beast when I was little. Whatever it was, I really love books. Library books. Really old books. Picture books. Pop up books. They're fantastic. And honestly, I'm not the biggest reader. I wish I was, but I'm usually keeping busy by making things. Maybe it's because books can so easily be transformed into a work of art. Like old editions of Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie. They have the most beautiful illustrations by F.D. Bedford, even on the spine and on the cover. And those great old picture books I'm always looking for at used book stores. They make the best collages. So I thought I'd share some images of books used as art.

Even animations with books are amazing! 

The Observer Books of Art Commercial by Adam Bizanski

NZ Book Council-Going West by Andersen M Studio

And in the unlikely case that this wasn't enough for you, check out Brian Dettmer's Flick and his website. 

Ps. Click the images for sources.

Let it snow. Just for a little while, anyway.

I'm not gonna lie: I've really appreciated global warming this year. When you live in Cleveland and have to walk everywhere (and you're so short that 6 inches of snow=past your knees), it's nice to have a mild winter. But today it's been coming down. I ended up with icicles in my hair on my way to class! We're already hoping they cancel school tomorrow. It'd be nice to have a day off (yeah right) and play in the snow! Or just stay inside and build a fort and drink hot chocolate and watch Disney movies. That's cool too.

(Click images for sources.)

I daydream in turquoise.

It seems as though Cassia of Lola's Room does as well. Her photographs are beautiful. The end.

Her color scheme is probably my absolute favorite, and I'll have to share more of her photos again sometime. For now, it's back to work for me. Not for too long, though. I'm meeting a friend for some gelato!

All girls are princesses.

One day over winter break, my brother, Joey, who's nine and like to pick on my little three year old sister Mia, told her that she wasn't a real princess. We needed to remedy this before she had a complete meltdown, so I told her what Sara Crewe told me when I was younger, "I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young. They're still princesses. All of us." So we ended up watching the movie A Little Princess together. And over spring break, I think I will read her part of the book. But if you have never see the movie, you should. Especially if you're a princess. It's beautiful.

I think I need to go watch this now. And do some more little test animations. And finish writing an artist statement. This weekend was not long enough.

Disneyland LPs!

I collect some really great things (besides stacks of library books). Including records. It all started about 4 years ago when I was at a flea market and saw a copy of a Doors album (Waiting for the Sun) for $4. I guess it may have just been the way the cover was so worn with age. Or maybe because my boyfriend had just been talking about the Doors.I bought it. I had no record player. I just knew it looked cool, and I loved the scratchy sounds that accompany old vinyl. I've been collecting them ever since.

Along the way, I talked my dad into digging out my grandpa's old record player, which has since followed me from home to dorm to apartment to new apartment. I have to admit, I listen to it far more than I listen to anything else. I don't even have all my music loaded on my laptop. I have less than a thousand songs on iTunes. And I'm not really into iPods or mp3 players. I have one, and I used to listen to it fairly frequently. But...I don't like wearing headphones while walking around; I feel like I'm missing something. And I don't just sit in my room wearing headphones.

My boyfriend and I still go to flea markets and garage sales and barter with people. And then we have to sort out who gets to take which records home. We even completed our collection of The Doors albums. He has most of them right now, but I'm still holding onto my immaculate copy of Morrison Hotel I found at a little vintage shop a year ago.

My favorite records to collect are ones under the Disneyland label (go figure). Especially the soundtracks to my favorite animated movies. Plus, the cover art is so great! My dream record for the longest time was the soundtrack to Cinderella, and the day I was telling my friend about that wish, we found it in a record shop! I feel like a princess whenever I listen to it. Something just sounds better when old Disney songs are a little on the scratchy side. And Nicholas, being the really great boyfriend he is, got me 15 more for my birthday in December! Some are the soundtracks, and some are storybooks, which I'm so excited to share with my little sister Mia! So I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

Now back to the Mary Poppins soundtrack and storyboarding!