tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41979628972931139632024-03-04T23:17:40.292-06:00Ania GrzesikArtwork + Bombshell Rehab
<br><br>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-33995789923166612882013-02-04T14:11:00.000-06:002013-02-04T15:51:16.305-06:00New Cover + New TechniquesIt's time for another album cover!! It's been now quite a while since the <a href="http://aniagrzesik.blogspot.com/2011/06/vagabond-operas-sing-for-your-lives.html" target="_blank">last one</a>. And this is the second album cover for my very talented sister, <a href="http://ashiagrzesik.com/" target="_blank">Ashia Grzesik</a>. Here is the work-in-progress of the <a href="http://aniagrzesik.blogspot.com/2010/12/from-polish-paper-cutting-to-album.html" target="_blank">first cover</a> that we collaborated on.<br />
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For this new album, named "Diesel vs. Lungs", I decided to try two "new" techniques. The first was watercolor painting. I'd always been an acrylic girl, but wasn't getting the results that I needed with certain techniques. I wanted to do washes, and washes on washes on washes, and using acrylics for this was borderline dumb. I'd like to say that the adjustment to using watercolors was totally easy, but there was a bit of a learning curve, as you have to approach the layering in a different way, and get accustomed to the translucency and the malleability (or lack of it) once it's on paper. <br />
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Here is a snippet of the background, pre-processing:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidY_LJ9PykE5ublNujWG9vf05vMd6UPaqcpZuYeVQ4fcSbrQR0m9smtynqSPX4Z9_QTW1UHn3SEikTHbQvcdEHy1ols1GgGPeMfWeL0OxLxUlSmSwXi0b_lu8fR28UF9772vBgqSk_9ZM/s1600/Diesel+bg+no+edit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidY_LJ9PykE5ublNujWG9vf05vMd6UPaqcpZuYeVQ4fcSbrQR0m9smtynqSPX4Z9_QTW1UHn3SEikTHbQvcdEHy1ols1GgGPeMfWeL0OxLxUlSmSwXi0b_lu8fR28UF9772vBgqSk_9ZM/s640/Diesel+bg+no+edit.JPG" width="600" /></a></div>
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The inspiration for the background, as given to me by Ashia, was the city of Ostrava in the Czech Republic. It has earned the nickname “steel heart of the republic”, due to heavy industry there, and it remains one of the most polluted cities in the EU.<br />
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I also couldn't help but realize that after I had finished it, it reminded me - albeit loosely - of the hand-painted backgrounds of my all-time favorite children's cartoon, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_%28Zden%C4%9Bk_Miler_character%29" target="_blank">Krtek</a>*, which hails from the Czech Republic (!) <i>Specifically</i>, my all-time favorite episode of dear little <span class="st">Krteček, "Little Mole on the Town", which shows the transformation of a beautiful forest filled with adorable wildlife into a dirty, polluted city (!!!) </span><br />
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<span class="st"><span class="st">Here is the entire 28-minute<a href="http://aniagrzesik.com/Ania_Grzesik/Krtek.html" target="_blank"> episode</a>, which is totally worth your time to watch to the end. But if you're ADD like me, just watch the first 5-6 minutes, which</span> shows the adorable woodland creatures helplessly watch their forest home being torn down...so intense! <i>{Please note: It may take a few minutes to load and currently, it won't upload with sound. Standby and pretend it's a silent movie for now and thanks for your patience!}</i></span><br />
<span class="st"> </span> <span class="st"> </span> <span class="st"> </span> <span class="st"> </span> <span class="st"> </span><br />
<span class="st">This isn't the first time that Czech cintematic talent has been <a href="http://aniagrzesik.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-tale-of-two-jans.html" target="_blank">featured by me</a>...hmmm.</span> <span class="st"> </span><br />
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On to another element of the cover, a snippet of a spray of poppies:
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The final watercolor painting was outlined by a dark brown pen, roughly à la <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mucha" target="_blank">Alfons Mucha</a> (see a pattern here? ha!) I felt like I was still reverting to old acrylic techniques while painting this, though, so looks like I have to keep working on my watercolor technique. Apparently, using watercolor pencils for years and years wasn't as big of a help as I thought it would be! And oh yeah, should have anticipated the paper buckling as much as it did with so much water on it ;)<br />
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More on the second "new" technique in a later post...<br />
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<i>* Have I talked yet of the genius of Krtek?? I smell a doozy of a great post idea.</i> Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-31236017372193502462012-08-23T18:52:00.001-05:002012-08-24T21:03:43.629-05:00The Cutest Thing on the Planet<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lry3Tvfp1XQ" width="694"></iframe><br />
This handsome bugger's <a href="http://aniagrzesik.blogspot.com/2012/07/great-gull-island-day-5.html" target="_blank">back story</a>. Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-43162990198722128512012-08-22T12:13:00.002-05:002013-02-04T14:12:49.079-06:00A Tale of Two JansIt may or may not, to all of my three readers of this blog, be obvious that I just post stuff that fascinates me. I guess the hope is that others will find it fascinating as well. Although it may not seem obvious, there may be a common thread linking everything if you look hard enough... <br />
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Today's fascination is stop-motion animation from behind the iron curtain. I stumbled upon this Czech stop-motion gem from 1988 by Jan Švankmajer, in a somewhat unlikely place: it is currently streaming on Netflix. I also found it so very strange that it was stumbled upon literally a day after <a href="http://aniagrzesik.blogspot.com/2012/08/sometimes-i-pick-up-random-work-to-put.html" target="_blank">I came across this stuff</a>. We had started watching the movie, and the pace at the beginning was so slow, and with very little dialogue. I could see how some people have a hard time watching European films. I myself found the pace sucking me in, holding me in intrigue. You realize that you've been entranced and haven't moved a muscle. The over-the-top foley, at first almost annoying, ended up just adding to the surreal state.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="450" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Zi_mSEhIpUQ" width="600"></iframe><br />
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Then, also popping up seemingly randomly, I came across Polish stop-motion animation By Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk. There are a few short films on You Tube, ranging from the late 50's to early 60's (!!!) <br />
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They can be pretty out there. I am also really digging the music in this one...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="450" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Zdq38KPMCvY" width="600"></iframe><br />
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If you see any similarities to Monty Python's Flying Circus, you're not wrong: their work influenced Terry Gilliam. It also took me a minute to realize that this is the same Jan Lenica that was famous for his posters, some of which are on view at MoMA...<br />
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And this is a poster by fellow artist Franciszek Starowieyski that I am now obsessed with...<br />
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A bit about the fascinating history of Polish posters:<br />
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"By the end of the 1950's Socialist realism had been dumped in Polish art. The Graphic Arts Department at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts divided its areas of instruction into fine arts, visual communications, applied arts, and poster art. It helped, thereby, to establish what is known as the <i>Polish Poster School</i>.<br />
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Many of their posters were commissioned to advertised events, and that they did. But, almost always, there is an underlying dig at some aspect of society. It seems that the Polish poster artist will take any chance they can to express the frustrations they, and their audience share about the status quo. In America it would be like making a public service announcement for the American Heart Association in which President Clinton is the victim of heart disease. It truly would make us change our health habits, but it would also be a statement about the artist's dislike for the American Government."<br />
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<i> Source: http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/poster/poster.html</i></div>
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"There was much to divide these artists as every one of them had arrived at his own idiom, immediately recognizable, even from a distance. But at the same time there was something very important to link them together, something that made the Polish school something real and distinct.<br />
This can be attributed to the fact that all of them were painting ambitious posters, expecting of the public an understanding of the signs, symbols and allegories. Polish posters were not only pieces of art, but also intellectual labyrinths and games of hide-and-seek. Posters referred not only to emotions, but to intellect as well. Viewers were required to think."<br />
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<i> Source: http://www.polishposter.com/html/posterart.html</i><br />
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I have yet to do some research into the surreal stop-motion animation. I will post an update if I find some good info. <i><br /></i></div>
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<br />Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-21869471527682827232012-08-22T11:46:00.001-05:002013-02-04T14:18:58.261-06:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4197962897293113963" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4197962897293113963" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4197962897293113963" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4197962897293113963" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4197962897293113963" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4197962897293113963" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4197962897293113963" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Sometimes I pick up random work to put a little extra money in my pocket when my schedule slows down. The last 2 days I worked at Union Hall in Brooklyn. Apparently, one of the owners there is really into taxidermy, and has a few cases with specimens in them, along with some bones, fossils, etc. A favorite was this two-headed chick...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLhuV5Txx7fB431N1VFICsv_-_A7kKQ2v9PZSda-EVvGaBLCiEI2DjmcX-IV48imHzqvIHd6VuEeWKgF2ZQ4-saV0tpwOkXgVQTClj6I8968vtGzpUPblpGooQ5sGg59C3DxOnL4jzq8/s1600/photo.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLhuV5Txx7fB431N1VFICsv_-_A7kKQ2v9PZSda-EVvGaBLCiEI2DjmcX-IV48imHzqvIHd6VuEeWKgF2ZQ4-saV0tpwOkXgVQTClj6I8968vtGzpUPblpGooQ5sGg59C3DxOnL4jzq8/s640/photo.JPG" width="452" /> </a><br />
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That
got me into thinking how neat it would be to learn a little about
taxidermy, if I could stomach it. I feel like I'm not too squeamish when
it comes to dead animals, though, so I could tough it out. A quick
search on the interwebs came up with a gallery in the Gowanus section of
Brooklyn, <a href="http://observatoryroom.org/" target="_blank">Observatory</a>,
that offers an anthropomorphic mouse taxidermy class. In fact, it is
so popular and sells out so fast, they have to keep adding more
sections due to the demand. Who knew so many people in NYC were into
that?! Here are a few anthropomorphic mice to carry you through the
rest of your Wednesday afternoon...</div>
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(thanks to <a href="http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/ </a>for the mouse pics)<br />
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<br />Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-51565467154270741842012-08-13T22:36:00.002-05:002012-08-13T22:36:18.858-05:00Final Photo RoundupOh my, did it take me forever... But I finally uploaded the last of the Great Gull Island photos. I have split them up into three sets.... You can see them below as slideshows, or you can visit <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pelicanesque/sets/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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The first is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/nyregion/helen-hays-revives-great-gull-islands-tern-population.html?_r=3" target="_blank">an interview</a> with the wonderful Helen Hays, director of the Great Gull Island Project. She believed in a little ol' sound engineer and allowed her to pretend
she was an ornithologist for a week. She has asked me to help her sort
through the data that was collected, at the <a href="http://www.amnh.org/" target="_blank">AMNH</a> in the fall (fingers crossed!!); which may sound silly, but is a great honor.<br />
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The second is <a href="http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/will-climate-change-trip-up-punctual-songbirds/" target="_blank">an article</a> in which <a href="http://www.yorku.ca/bstutch/" target="_blank">Bridget Stutchbury</a> is interviewed in regards to birds reacting to climate change. Dr. Stutchbury is also a great writer and has written several books including <i>The Private Lives of Birds</i>, which I'm currently reading.Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-1040497914824561482012-07-22T23:00:00.000-05:002012-07-22T23:00:51.407-05:00Great Gull Island - Living Among Thousands of BirdsThe island is home to thousands of terns. There are so many that you can't walk anywhere without being only a few inches or feet from a nest, usually guarded by a very territorial adult tern. This video shows the short walk that I had to do several times a day from the building where my room was to headquarters. I had to wear a hat at all times to prevent the possibility of being pecked at (and pooped on) by the terns.<br />
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One of the really neat things about walking this trail repeatedly over a week, was watching the chicks along it grow bigger. A favorite was a chick I dubbed "Pie" (short for "Sweety Pie"), who quickly became my muse.<br />
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Every morning I was sent out to trap adult terns to gather data on them. I stopped for a moment to capture the morning sun hitting the west end of the island from my "trapping territory" on the east end.<br />
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<br />Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-44482407721376038602012-07-21T14:51:00.000-05:002012-07-21T17:38:55.402-05:00Great Gull Island - Bird LifeI'm still sorting through tons of photos and videos and am having a hard time narrowing them down to just a few. Some of the photos I've combined into GIFs so that I don't end up posting five times as many pictures.<br />
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One of the great things about my time spent on GGI was having a window onto the world of the terns...watching them do their thing. The first series below illustrates a favorite pastime of mine: watching the "elephants" act like spoiled, greedy, obese teenagers. Their appetites seem insatiable, as they don't ever stop squawking in their parents' faces, pulling their tail feathers, and constantly pestering them for more food. This comical pair lived right outside the door of the building I slept in.<br />
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Below was definitely a "right place - right time" moment. I managed to capture this scolding tern protecting her newly-hatched chick (underneath her) and another young chick behind her.<br />
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I managed to be lucky enough to catch a few common tern chicks hatching on my rounds. I paused to catch this one on camera. Unfortunately, it became obvious to me that it was going to take a long time before he was going to be fully hatched, so I could only catch a minute of it before having to move on (and also wanted to keep my disturbance to a minimum). You can see his "egg tooth": the white calcareous point on the end of the bill that helps the chick break the shell.<br />
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<br />Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-73018409610634057912012-07-14T09:50:00.000-05:002012-07-14T18:10:40.510-05:00Great Gull Island - Day 6 & 7<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The past week has exposed me to experiences that were either new, or dormant and waiting to be exposed. The kind that you forget about and need a reminder of every now and then; that somehow manage to turn up at the eleventh hour. Sometimes you get kicked in the shin (or pooped on) and you realize that you've been waiting for that to happen for a long time.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">It is amazing to be able to be an observer of the delicate world that is around us. It is always there, and perpetuates whether we pay attention to it or not, and in our day-to-day modern world, it is definitely easy to forget it's there. But sometimes you are given the opportunity, rather the privilege, to be an observer - to look through a window onto this now-disconnected parallel universe that we were once a part of. Suddenly all of the randomness doesn't seem so random and enigmatic anymore. For maybe a nanosecond, everything has its place, including you. You see the tiny working parts and intricate puzzle pieces. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">What brought on this introspection? Well I've always viewed things this way to some degree, but I got a healthy reminder of it this past week. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I spent hours "out in the field" interacting with and observing the <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Tern/id" target="_blank">common terns</a>, as I've been rambling on about the last few days. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I've felt the excitement of watching chicks hatch in the early morning dew; feeling honored to be present as they start breathing in the oxygen that I, too, am breathing...their wet feathers starting to dry to downy fluff. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I've also held a freshly hatched chick, barely hours old, that was cold and distressed and heaving, covered in dirt, with no parent in sight. I knew that his breaths would be few in number, and after watching from afar, found that he was indeed abandoned. I've also had to watch chicks that had made it to 25 days, wander drowsily with drooped wings, finally face-planting into the ground, to likely not get up again. They make no attempt to flee or protest when I scoop them up.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">On the other end of the island, its peer stretches out his wings and hops, a couple inches off the ground at a time, flapping madly...building up muscle and coordination to, in a few days time, soar over the water in search of food.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">And yet somehow even the morbid and ugly is beautiful, because there is comfort in that it is part of the larger, onward, unyielding, churning of nature, like heavenly geometry.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Okay, so I did have a glass or two of wine before boarding the train back to New York...and I'm not quite sure how to wrap up this rambling monologue. It just felt good to be very present and very aware. We each occupy a very tiny mass of cells in this unimaginably large universe, and sometimes, you really feel like it - in a good way.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Stay tuned for more pictures and videos. I have over 600 to sort through.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">♥</span></div>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-50421882779141634772012-07-10T20:23:00.003-05:002012-07-14T11:37:20.036-05:00Great Gull Island - Day 5I'm already starting to get bummed about the fact that tomorrow will be my last full day here. It has gone by very quickly, and I'm just now starting to adjust to the sleep schedule. In addition to all of the action of the last five days, I've also had the opportunity to see every sunrise and sunset; draw and journal; relax with new friends; and generally enjoy living in the rough on a 19-acre island with very limited electricity and no running water. <br />
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And also, stuff like this happens...<br />
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I was walking down a narrow path through the only stand of trees on the island, when I noticed a tiny fuzzy brown thing that blended in with the carpet of dead pine needles on the path. I quickly realized a) that I should stop walking, and b) it was a tiny chick, considerably smaller than the tern chicks. When I lifted it up, I was taken aback by its crazy long legs and comical big feet. It was a <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Spotted_Sandpiper/id" target="_blank">spotted sandpiper</a>! I could not believe my luck. I brought it back to headquarters for banding. His striking and painfully adorable looks quickly turned him into a celebrity on the island. But alas, he only got his five minutes of fame, as we had to release him back to the pine grove after the banding.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga74d9gZnjdt14swfLXvuvUJ8IKoqLvaEajuSrP7wMerhNQvRPLEZZgrBMr2vuvxkymomQtxhAd6um5wAeOzFuJwnDoZZXulkaYv6_Lik-JVgRFUuO6Lf4zX3UlXgNq-4nAQEj0HU2ZJ4/s640/blogger-image-370547730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga74d9gZnjdt14swfLXvuvUJ8IKoqLvaEajuSrP7wMerhNQvRPLEZZgrBMr2vuvxkymomQtxhAd6um5wAeOzFuJwnDoZZXulkaYv6_Lik-JVgRFUuO6Lf4zX3UlXgNq-4nAQEj0HU2ZJ4/s1600/blogger-image-370547730.jpg" /></a></div>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-69757989750125228172012-07-09T15:57:00.001-05:002012-07-14T11:56:34.750-05:00Great Gull Island - Day 4The last few days have felt like an intensive course in bird handling and processing for research. I've never been able to handle so many birds before. I've banded close to 70 <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Tern/id" target="_blank">common tern</a> chicks of all sizes in just four days, and trapped and processed about 20 adults. To while away the hot afternoon hours, for "fun" we attempt to trap and band some of the other resident birds that toil around headquarters. This gave us the opportunity to learn how to color-band songbirds. Below I'm holding a <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray_Catbird/id" target="_blank">gray catbird</a> that we lured with raisins, and a <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Song_Sparrow/id" target="_blank">song sparrow</a> gets new band flair in blue. <br />
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This morning I was sent off to do trapping on my own on the east end of the island, which felt like a great honor since everyone else was in groups. Three of the nests were ones that I had found and flagged on yesterday's Chick Check (<a href="http://aniagrzesik.blogspot.com/2012/07/great-gull-island-day-2.html" target="_blank">see earlier blog entry</a>), and a few others I had to find based on rough directions from Helen Hays*, the director of the program here. I caught an adult in each of the six traps I set, and even caught the mate of one right after I reset the trap. All in all, I caught four breeding pairs, which is considered a great haul!</div>
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Below, I also have some pics of me holding "Orvilles": "elephants" that have lost some weight and have learned how to fly; these are likely around 25 to 30 days old. I've stretched out their wings to show how their primary flight feathers have grown in. You can also see their black caps starting to come in.</div>
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* I later found out that Helen <a href="http://www.amnh.org/news/2012/06/visiting-the-museums-great-gull-island/" target="_blank">had a hand</a> in banning PCB production in the US!</div>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-55298543807907375062012-07-08T10:56:00.001-05:002012-07-14T11:38:21.457-05:00Great Gull Island - Day 3First thing in the morning (6:30am!) and late afternoon, we do "pairing". We attempt to harmlessly trap the parents of a given <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Tern/id" target="_blank">common tern</a> nest in a metal cage...it sounds worse than it is in reality.<br />
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We pick a nest that has just-hatched young (so that they can't wander), and place a cage over it that has a trap door. The door closes on the tern when it goes to the nest to feed its young. We do one round to try to catch the first parent, then another right after to attempt to get the other. To be able to track a breeding couple is very helpful, especially if they breed on the island each year. <br />
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Handling the larger adults does require a bit more muscle and finesse than the chicks, but somehow they still manage to look elegant even when they're not cooperating. <br />
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They are then taken to headquarters for processing. <br />
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Note that the first one below has some white speckling above its bill; that tells us that it is not yet a fully mature adult and is likely two to three years old. More on processing later...<br />
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Every morning we do a "chick check". We comb the island for <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Tern/id" target="_blank">common tern</a> chicks that haven't been banded already. They get a band if they haven't had one put on yet, and we record which nest or area they came from. I got to handle birds that ranged from being only a couple minutes old to what we call "elephants": the awkward teenagers that are actually bigger in size than their parents and are up to 45-48 days old. Here are just a couple I snapped pics of, showing the range of ages, from just out of the egg to almost fledging. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS8IWOUo7ZjcX7zverNzyDWpr7GsNQTK6bmUi8WEVPWbTi8iZr6VLshq4KSs_7odicmzwycoi3gaMNO6XU6YRqliyzkg7qtRQ0OyH3E_v_l0smYmAq_1MGACypaC_NPFyLY8WZdQ7k6Kc/s640/blogger-image-1053491421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS8IWOUo7ZjcX7zverNzyDWpr7GsNQTK6bmUi8WEVPWbTi8iZr6VLshq4KSs_7odicmzwycoi3gaMNO6XU6YRqliyzkg7qtRQ0OyH3E_v_l0smYmAq_1MGACypaC_NPFyLY8WZdQ7k6Kc/s640/blogger-image-1053491421.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWwqOUeObY9S-jiDAreLcK_5U1G3WHZJCGyT200hynvGMtJbYNqkqRYbmiUKWEAyXp6vRh2JPkE8bxx6tspLrjGTL1lyehCXvmLKkThXfGAqwoy25Xf2HAq2MZfCOCeJVZNqXyhyywqo/s640/blogger-image--466794772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWwqOUeObY9S-jiDAreLcK_5U1G3WHZJCGyT200hynvGMtJbYNqkqRYbmiUKWEAyXp6vRh2JPkE8bxx6tspLrjGTL1lyehCXvmLKkThXfGAqwoy25Xf2HAq2MZfCOCeJVZNqXyhyywqo/s640/blogger-image--466794772.jpg" /></a></div>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-5637624874328226672012-07-06T20:49:00.001-05:002012-07-14T11:47:52.165-05:00Great Gull Island - Day 1I'm spending a week volunteering on a <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=great+gull+island&aq=&sll=41.153842,-72.037354&sspn=5.40087,7.064209&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Great+Gull+Island&t=p&ll=41.203456,-72.114258&spn=3.967418,7.03125&z=7" target="_blank">tiny island</a> in Long Island Sound. Once a military fort, it is now an important breeding ground for thousands of terns; most are c<a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Tern/id" target="_blank">ommon terns</a>, but there is also a decent population of the endangered <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Roseate_Tern/id" target="_blank">roseate tern</a>. The <a href="http://www.amnh.org/" target="_blank">American Museum of Natural History</a> has been <a href="http://greatgullisland.org/" target="_blank">running a project </a>here to keep track of the terns for the past few decades. I will have the opportunity to take part in collecting and recording data for the project over the course of a week. <br />
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Here is the view from my room. Although there is very limited electricity (I'm currently running my iPhone on a solar charger) and the digs are quite rustic, the view and surroundings can't be beat! Stay tuned for more updates...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4FgxV0h3qyk3qgEyqiBLW1JdtJK93pKokL9pYf-QbZBf-G8kau1hSnSNvgVYz5s0q-jgkdfk6guppNcpn_Fe4zwdPlGdWa_RiPH1KsS-Nq-O9DSw5g2o4Tzl9KBMsvnlDuq9CDoFad_8/s640/blogger-image-941430477.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4FgxV0h3qyk3qgEyqiBLW1JdtJK93pKokL9pYf-QbZBf-G8kau1hSnSNvgVYz5s0q-jgkdfk6guppNcpn_Fe4zwdPlGdWa_RiPH1KsS-Nq-O9DSw5g2o4Tzl9KBMsvnlDuq9CDoFad_8/s640/blogger-image-941430477.jpg" /></a></div>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-77358192047215357672012-06-15T20:55:00.000-05:002012-07-14T10:07:52.932-05:00Adventures in Bird Banding<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50xomTzcF-qyu6pAom4Ed0sa6Xl2BoGi9wMCaGER2wkZMXS3YYzd0pETzVexF8PG67Ou4u6XoqOgUKxYWV8oSB2CXmh-B4w7z-5C3CUhSF8NDGg-YBboL_l8n8_sqfAjG2zm-PjfuFl4/s1600/IMG_7689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"> <img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50xomTzcF-qyu6pAom4Ed0sa6Xl2BoGi9wMCaGER2wkZMXS3YYzd0pETzVexF8PG67Ou4u6XoqOgUKxYWV8oSB2CXmh-B4w7z-5C3CUhSF8NDGg-YBboL_l8n8_sqfAjG2zm-PjfuFl4/s400/IMG_7689.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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This morning I had the pleasure of joining Tait Johansson and the <a href="http://www.bedfordaudubon.org/banding/index.html" target="_blank">Bedford Audubon Society</a> for bird banding at their study plot near Katonah, NY. The study is a part of the continent-wide <a href="http://www.birdpop.org/maps.htm" target="_blank">MAPS</a> (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) program. This entails placing a small metal band around the leg of each bird that is caught, and recording its weight, sex, condition, age, and measurements. The information is used to find out how many birds return each year to breeding grounds, and will allow biologists to see if specific bird populations are declining and, if so, what the causes may be.</div>
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Since I was coming from Brooklyn, I had to be up at 3:15AM (ouch!), and by the time we reached the study plot, it was already light out.</div>
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We set about opening the ten mist nets (that look like huge, almost-invisible badminton nets), and then every hour we would check them for birds that would fly into them and harmlessly get caught in the netting. I had the opportunity to untangle some of the birds out of the nets, which was way more challenging than I thought it would be, but it was amazing to be able to handle them. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33TTD-CmlGWO2s0OldYoym8Zj5Texf7qUKeirVqV6UKXVpAVlYGPWAYt2uFSCt1sl5wiQrCSvitLAcxAvlOuohYD0PcNkrLN_jxvuQOD-RSNyhoJbKFrhDdfnoJ6o2EEjL0J-csGEceg/s1600/IMG_3781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33TTD-CmlGWO2s0OldYoym8Zj5Texf7qUKeirVqV6UKXVpAVlYGPWAYt2uFSCt1sl5wiQrCSvitLAcxAvlOuohYD0PcNkrLN_jxvuQOD-RSNyhoJbKFrhDdfnoJ6o2EEjL0J-csGEceg/s400/IMG_3781.jpg" width="285" /></a></div>
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I got to help free this adorable juvenile Tufted Titmouse. Of all the bird species we dealt with, these were among the smallest, but by far the noisiest and feistiest. I now know what it feels like to be repeatedly pecked at and bit by a bird! Those tiny beaks have quite a grip.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXfc0qU-IuvKF0crHRq9NQAqqXga7m0_JEHXdpAhAFmapkqacSssAQkjYRhrY0KQIKb9lJOR_aqaX94wKcYIjyRLceZBwgkbiV-zmwR8LjDiThgDp9Hmbmae9eZNx3JgjU5-JI5oxtca0/s1600/IMG_3776.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXfc0qU-IuvKF0crHRq9NQAqqXga7m0_JEHXdpAhAFmapkqacSssAQkjYRhrY0KQIKb9lJOR_aqaX94wKcYIjyRLceZBwgkbiV-zmwR8LjDiThgDp9Hmbmae9eZNx3JgjU5-JI5oxtca0/s400/IMG_3776.jpg" width="299" /></a></div>
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Tait wrangles a Common Yellowthroat, a tiny warbler that breeds in the area.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwkvM3X7JsxjUChQsLprcT7M0usFpxa0aBCbArNA8ZArnC8_7yv3UfLAPFvWlg7qVuxCjDcFK79g9HpEreZWHVOu6R23ghZxquZfGjI8FT-9GTEhbAQwHEZmnRNq7dsgbnbJ3MsV6V1Q0/s1600/IMG_3784.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwkvM3X7JsxjUChQsLprcT7M0usFpxa0aBCbArNA8ZArnC8_7yv3UfLAPFvWlg7qVuxCjDcFK79g9HpEreZWHVOu6R23ghZxquZfGjI8FT-9GTEhbAQwHEZmnRNq7dsgbnbJ3MsV6V1Q0/s400/IMG_3784.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
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Kristen bands an Ovenbird...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPorxMOPFwEPiI7Wyf086HbM_2Qrr7oI5HeLkc_F2koMn0xi7vIGFlTz6P8phL-c02DgQ81BHfCaeOEnPdGfvsBxPuAeUSXLjqvyCNx4wkQmWK9NJu_r0qWi9OXcVh6M45JKAn3L8tic0/s1600/IMG_3792.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPorxMOPFwEPiI7Wyf086HbM_2Qrr7oI5HeLkc_F2koMn0xi7vIGFlTz6P8phL-c02DgQ81BHfCaeOEnPdGfvsBxPuAeUSXLjqvyCNx4wkQmWK9NJu_r0qWi9OXcVh6M45JKAn3L8tic0/s400/IMG_3792.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div>
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...and then shows off its pretty crown for the camera.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZkDxxvLO5ODXGJl0IW6wLWCcqRGN11GyPCknZm1MpPtPn-XgpYjQhHfip2nwfm4MPk_LvCs9eoPO6bscGbZFKC2IgN5fqwTo45g0Qrtb08SNCmk0N12KPhkurY9xFmJqlYSK1ztp8KE/s1600/IMG_3768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZkDxxvLO5ODXGJl0IW6wLWCcqRGN11GyPCknZm1MpPtPn-XgpYjQhHfip2nwfm4MPk_LvCs9eoPO6bscGbZFKC2IgN5fqwTo45g0Qrtb08SNCmk0N12KPhkurY9xFmJqlYSK1ztp8KE/s400/IMG_3768.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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A Wood Thrush gets his wing measured.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0EQLELUkAWknbqiTbDFAdd_a4VBv5zY4AHRObnT2A6V_y7eUcVV0O7cLsnpUpKk_UUlJsAtmT0NKEkSf2cIjsfqB-ZBu-3Kh_GI2LLMQW3PE845J976sRcbq1RoMmV-JO7q2eerT530/s1600/IMG_3772.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0EQLELUkAWknbqiTbDFAdd_a4VBv5zY4AHRObnT2A6V_y7eUcVV0O7cLsnpUpKk_UUlJsAtmT0NKEkSf2cIjsfqB-ZBu-3Kh_GI2LLMQW3PE845J976sRcbq1RoMmV-JO7q2eerT530/s640/IMG_3772.JPG" width="521" /></a></div>
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I was taught how to properly handle and hold the birds. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNI6e1DUsNpATRpy8MmnaRTEiws3vMzUCe33b25OXcV0bUiudKoo0ODGkXFOCsrFfJfOyWYbSakwheoJkT40QZpjc6worZQav6uKWocnmlX18P0_C_phFkX4MFr6Wo-NRHnBipF1uhdyc/s1600/IMG_3773.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNI6e1DUsNpATRpy8MmnaRTEiws3vMzUCe33b25OXcV0bUiudKoo0ODGkXFOCsrFfJfOyWYbSakwheoJkT40QZpjc6worZQav6uKWocnmlX18P0_C_phFkX4MFr6Wo-NRHnBipF1uhdyc/s640/IMG_3773.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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My new Wood Thrush buddy sporting his new bracelet. Doesn't he look pleased?</div>
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Other birds species banded or recaptured: Veery, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal, Gray Catbird.</div>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-84323213823527601422012-02-09T11:37:00.000-06:002012-02-09T11:37:28.265-06:00Stereogranimator<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">A </span><a href="http://stereo.nypl.org/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">fun new toy</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> from the folks at NYPL....</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://stereo.nypl.org/view/27698"><img alt="GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator - view more at http://stereo.nypl.org/gallery/index" src="http://stereo.nypl.org/view/27698.gif" /></a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://stereo.nypl.org/view/27695"><img alt="GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator - view more at http://stereo.nypl.org/gallery/index" src="http://stereo.nypl.org/view/27695.gif" /></a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I did a search for "Brooklyn" and "New York", and found many fascinating old images, including one that was taken very close to where I live now, taken in the late 1800's....</span><br />
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<a href="http://stereo.nypl.org/view/27691"><img alt="GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator - view more at http://stereo.nypl.org/gallery/index" src="http://stereo.nypl.org/view/27691.gif" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">From the NYPL website:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"If you look through enough old photographs, you might notice that many from before 1900 come in seemingly-identical pairs. What you may not realize is that these pairs were meant to be viewed together, each side lending the other a sense of depth that a photograph alone cannot possess. Stereoscopic photography recreates the illusion of depth by utilizing the binocularity of human vision. Because our two eyes are set apart, each eye sees the world from a slightly different angle. Our brains combine these two different eye-images into one. Stereoscopic views, or stereographs, consist of two nearly twin photographs -- one for the left eye, one for the right. Viewing the side-by-side images though a special lens arrangement called a stereoscope helps our brains combine the two flat images and "see" the illusion of objects in spatial depth.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Using stereoscopes, the entertainment-seeking public of the 19th century immersed themselves in these 3D photographs in a manner akin to how we now view movies, video games or cellphone screens."</span></span></div>
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<br />Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-49576183547659220742012-01-28T10:53:00.000-06:002012-01-28T10:53:09.661-06:00Daily Drawing Agreement<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">A few months back, I was asked by a friend to take part in something called the Daily Drawing Agreement, along with a small handful of other artists. The point was to give up something that wastes our time (social media, TV watching, etc) and instead draw - or paint or just be creative on paper - for 30 days. I wanted to share some favorites from my 30 days:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrkS3zSUQmtk6POG9yyjm-lusSU9AIQHQ1PDSkv53PQBQOOJUaiX9s74fY7eVxusSLvVi9d4vGxsYnvO8-E9DK_EfElWfYFBPNtbcr4IaUDF2M1NIy6CHq3yj6o9pJ4V6X_8ogIpZO6U/s1600/drawing_ania_day01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrkS3zSUQmtk6POG9yyjm-lusSU9AIQHQ1PDSkv53PQBQOOJUaiX9s74fY7eVxusSLvVi9d4vGxsYnvO8-E9DK_EfElWfYFBPNtbcr4IaUDF2M1NIy6CHq3yj6o9pJ4V6X_8ogIpZO6U/s320/drawing_ania_day01.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Day 1</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5s5IkmMScEAMk37kqHyzFaLMjCsJIvUG0Bk50r_asJW5xiP8h9o2Snde7g17rjRVTIe2LZZi80bameq8nN2cDupL0903ELMEEBvZ-M7lzulUPctDFXPC6KNf4Dr4O98kN6QDlL30gIBA/s1600/drawing_ania_day02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5s5IkmMScEAMk37kqHyzFaLMjCsJIvUG0Bk50r_asJW5xiP8h9o2Snde7g17rjRVTIe2LZZi80bameq8nN2cDupL0903ELMEEBvZ-M7lzulUPctDFXPC6KNf4Dr4O98kN6QDlL30gIBA/s320/drawing_ania_day02.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="303" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Day 2</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Day 8</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32uijxWUv0H3vqsEQnm6DlMrcL6CN0cbpGJHovMg7sSN1BB-IVBjyyF2ez8ZnaV_iapIGdauzh54Bm7GfsITsuSUgY7rTv_jF-uQnbK6Mi4Kqx1qR07e6pf5hK1coYCICsT_RTD9TzOg/s1600/drawing_ania_day13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32uijxWUv0H3vqsEQnm6DlMrcL6CN0cbpGJHovMg7sSN1BB-IVBjyyF2ez8ZnaV_iapIGdauzh54Bm7GfsITsuSUgY7rTv_jF-uQnbK6Mi4Kqx1qR07e6pf5hK1coYCICsT_RTD9TzOg/s320/drawing_ania_day13.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Day 13</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtv7UqhOn94pf8QfIHM02wfbHhK9qVpWAcAf74wkOcKM3cAnhGlox6UODVOlohfhuiyQM3spuh7wZ6x6B_HqQloXkYQ-AE_ppxUhX3tvH4wGBWmd4fr_r0BSh-v9ddH0hSCz12fzGeOPE/s1600/drawing_ania_day17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtv7UqhOn94pf8QfIHM02wfbHhK9qVpWAcAf74wkOcKM3cAnhGlox6UODVOlohfhuiyQM3spuh7wZ6x6B_HqQloXkYQ-AE_ppxUhX3tvH4wGBWmd4fr_r0BSh-v9ddH0hSCz12fzGeOPE/s320/drawing_ania_day17.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="307" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Day 17</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHse4Fc4EZ1gF-7jOud2PGZ4SelvWRkXxggvoaD7eAVChSllcyZpb0snFnUDu_-HdigaTAgYYG1X8VOJgmzEQUwlY7Ekn3AILxKkYL1UkaVJt5KVS5mbVrPNHpuZamj0zIaYzqaFGBqc/s1600/drawing_ania_day18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHse4Fc4EZ1gF-7jOud2PGZ4SelvWRkXxggvoaD7eAVChSllcyZpb0snFnUDu_-HdigaTAgYYG1X8VOJgmzEQUwlY7Ekn3AILxKkYL1UkaVJt5KVS5mbVrPNHpuZamj0zIaYzqaFGBqc/s320/drawing_ania_day18.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="270" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Day 18</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-qht8URlbMlX7OcT6rgns9wCGJ6N7qt8XJfY3jTRkTaW2Ez-7EH_MIv-h0o3xuQpoE9KNVX3pSKI5N_7AG6t_D_-c9nwe05mzVAf1PCBIOwgGp1JS2nK5XCb6kcEDwCdusquzZ-9CkU/s1600/day+something.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-qht8URlbMlX7OcT6rgns9wCGJ6N7qt8XJfY3jTRkTaW2Ez-7EH_MIv-h0o3xuQpoE9KNVX3pSKI5N_7AG6t_D_-c9nwe05mzVAf1PCBIOwgGp1JS2nK5XCb6kcEDwCdusquzZ-9CkU/s320/day+something.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Day 26</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">As you can see, some of the drawings I liked enough to incorporate into the design of this blog. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">It felt good to close my laptop and grab a sketchpad and pen instead. I have to try to remember how that felt, to motivate me to keep drawing every day. It was challenging to find time to draw everyday, especially when I was working 14-hour days, of which I had a few during the 30. I found myself scribbling away in the near-dark, under the light of my headlamp while I was A2 backstage at a theatre (Day 8). I felt like a kid again. I used to never go anywhere without my sketchbook, adding intricate shading and crosshatching to a tree trunk while riding the bus to school...stepping off with the side of my hand completely silver from dragging it across the pencil-filled pages. </span></div>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-53711083821508982702012-01-24T19:05:00.001-06:002012-07-14T10:09:34.290-05:00Snowy Owl Sighting<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">This afternoon, I decided to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to take a trip to the beach. Not to go for a swim, but to spot a Snowy Owl, rumored to have taken up residence recently at Jones Beach. After wandering around the dunes for a while unsuccessfully, I spotted a semi-circle of about a dozen photogs with huge telephoto lenses on tripods. Bingo!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimRMBnVCASNibFyS0UBSmQ5YfnmDrmEFNZ8ZIkGTmb35YDZN2yBqFhJUlQzTx6BYnXFvHdxTHOTcVHrAqx7aMweslVEICkoKsldOVmiyfsPw783QrNvGYtGDXeFaJVswW5Qr7XK1yRhc/s1600/snowy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimRMBnVCASNibFyS0UBSmQ5YfnmDrmEFNZ8ZIkGTmb35YDZN2yBqFhJUlQzTx6BYnXFvHdxTHOTcVHrAqx7aMweslVEICkoKsldOVmiyfsPw783QrNvGYtGDXeFaJVswW5Qr7XK1yRhc/s400/snowy.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwmgfUmpPQ5XpJBAFmQ-PLgvdARcldS2_O6ZJNTA6I9oRlsEoBZVLQJukZNAHEeacycjSbON9tDjQMFwYuGDu8oBpt1uN8HmF_rQCEo7wc8LZCG44pjPW_ltQEE08nk6bnTFhL1SsGKk/s1600/snowy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwmgfUmpPQ5XpJBAFmQ-PLgvdARcldS2_O6ZJNTA6I9oRlsEoBZVLQJukZNAHEeacycjSbON9tDjQMFwYuGDu8oBpt1uN8HmF_rQCEo7wc8LZCG44pjPW_ltQEE08nk6bnTFhL1SsGKk/s400/snowy2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-a4xXHB1-HbqCdJ6b_cMAb2ZhUhsNuQb3Tss8EDWhBTBDuecpcRoh2DNE0_njxSUsMfAJYxK8U532cNtpw23ZrXQ5bY6WpMTENBVID5JH1joHsuiQoIzmrSMRxr3vzMb7UBCNtal6k4/s1600/snowy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-a4xXHB1-HbqCdJ6b_cMAb2ZhUhsNuQb3Tss8EDWhBTBDuecpcRoh2DNE0_njxSUsMfAJYxK8U532cNtpw23ZrXQ5bY6WpMTENBVID5JH1joHsuiQoIzmrSMRxr3vzMb7UBCNtal6k4/s400/snowy3.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I was probably the only one there without a fancy camera, so unfortunately my pics are a bit lo-res, despite the fact that we were able to get pretty close without fazing him. Male Snowies start out with dark brown barring on their feathers when young and grow whiter with age. So I'm going to assume this owl is quite old and, therefore, wise :)</span></div>
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<br /></div>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-86716220755035211742011-11-09T11:27:00.001-06:002011-11-09T11:32:51.380-06:00"Sing For Your Lives" Out Now<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Alas, the completed cover for</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> <a href="http://vagabondopera.com/" target="_blank">Vagabond Opera</a>'s new </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">album "Sing For Your Lives"! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9490kEspee3Q3dBtbkqvHSbOs_oHC_8vnaFxLObRUV5ZGQKJGW5gUEB4tQ2v5-_InVm7NgCNyhG3lmSuRx7LgwMy-TU3tpc4O1kgW7_Kot7O6-cDbixarC_FOEMBhMkVzBKtatB1v04/s1600/FINAL+COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9490kEspee3Q3dBtbkqvHSbOs_oHC_8vnaFxLObRUV5ZGQKJGW5gUEB4tQ2v5-_InVm7NgCNyhG3lmSuRx7LgwMy-TU3tpc4O1kgW7_Kot7O6-cDbixarC_FOEMBhMkVzBKtatB1v04/s400/FINAL+COVER.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">It's out now <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">and available </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/vagabondopera5" target="_blank">here</a> on CD </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">(remember those things?)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> and download, but you're going to want to have the hard copy for this one, so order your CD today. </span>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-74792148753255448482011-08-29T23:12:00.000-05:002012-07-14T10:12:13.999-05:00August 28th, 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Sunset at Valentino Pier in Brooklyn, post-Hurricane Irene.</span></div>
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<br />Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-85604014977145655592011-07-03T23:58:00.000-05:002011-07-03T23:58:05.573-05:00Website Redesign<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.aniagrzesik.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtULA9bzOXZ3x-5nEe62HGNOxNV44Wkx9VmP_Vn5gcP66h3hFzw1laOK-ZcwdCVRPpFRll4gN9kULhrvhZ56ECJZreqmQwkQui5YCUUAyPiFFoZhnmUiXXJ06va0t33GKTxWjQ-5tzks0/s400/website+splash+w+name+v2.png" width="356" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">{photo taken by KC Perry}</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Please take a moment to check out my new website design (at my new domain!) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I was going for a sleeker look, and also designed a new splash page of sorts, as seen above. I would love to get some feedback on the new look and layouts!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.aniagrzesik.com/">http://www.aniagrzesik.com</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Kisses,</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Ania</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-59399972105987996392011-06-30T21:36:00.001-05:002011-06-30T21:40:05.225-05:00Brooklyn Sunsets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">All photos taken between Degraw Street and Pier 1.</span></div>
<br />Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-41585006238396279102011-06-23T14:56:00.005-05:002011-06-25T10:56:01.656-05:00Vagabond Opera's "Sing For Your Lives!"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I've been slaving away at a really fun and challenging project. I've been commissioned by the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">"European Cabaret! Vintage Americana! Balkan Belly Dance! Neo-Classical Opera! Old World Yiddish Theater!"</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> band </span><a href="http://vagabondopera.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Vagabond Opera</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> to create the cover for their newest album. Not only do I love their music, my sister </span><a href="http://ashiagrzesik.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Ashia Grzesik</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> sings and plays cello for them. (You might remember her from </span><a href="http://aniagrzesik.blogspot.com/2010/12/from-polish-paper-cutting-to-album.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">this</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">.) Ashia and I have been collaborating on the album art together over the last couple of weeks. I'm executing the album cover based on her basic ideas, while she's creating the rest of the artwork for the packaging using my album cover elements. She will likely be sending me a bill for all of the picture texts I've been sending her! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">First up was the post-apocalyptic background...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Starting to rearrange the burnt-up, bombed-out urban landscape and mounting it to a large canvas. It reminded me of looking at pictures of Dresden after WWII.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Painting in the bleak gray backdrop sky with clouds that invoke stage curtains...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Just kidding! That was version one. It was decided that the background needed to be darker, meaner...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Take 2: I repainted the sky, adding more texture and smoke. The curtains, rather than being drawn in with charcoal, were painted with varying shades of gray and have the appearance of being tattered. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">With the background pretty much done, work moved on to the foreground. I promise it won't be as depressing ;) ...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The plan was to have a vintage hot-air ballon, spreading its propaganda over the doomed city.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Gold paint! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The balloon itself was probably about ten layers of paint and charcoal to create dimension.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">A couple reincarnations of the mouth and album title. We settled on a vintage travel advertisement meets pulp comic font (bottom). All done by hand...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">...Placing the mustache and title-mouth (titlouth? moutle?).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The fully-assembled balloon! All painted and cut out by hand. The most fun (read: almost frustrating) part was glueing the tiny strips of gold paper that are the ropes. Whew! I'm really thrilled with the way it turned out. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Next up: The final assemblage of the full album cover. Stay tuned...</span></div>
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<br />Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-1781243863328942432011-06-17T17:05:00.008-05:002011-06-17T23:16:13.274-05:00Day Trip to the Woods<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Barn Swallows filmed at Harriman State Park</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">...Accompanied by music from one of my favorite symphonies. Note the descending fourth in the woodwinds that mimics a bird's call :)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">A better quality version can be seen </span><a href="http://web.me.com/aniag/Ania_Grzesik/Other_Projects.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Hike to Little Dam Lake, a section of the Appalachian Trail.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">(If you know what the blooming bushes are called, I would love to know. I can only guess that they are in the azalea/rhododendron family)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> <u>Wildlife seen:</u></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">White-tailed Deer</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Cliff Swallow</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Yellow Warbler</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Eastern Phoebe</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Great Blue Heron</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Brown-headed Cowbird</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Turkey Vulture</span></div>
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<br /></div>Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4197962897293113963.post-28792653136905670432011-06-16T23:35:00.002-05:002011-06-17T15:53:37.774-05:00Auto-tune Is A Disease<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">An awesome video from my friends' band, The Lingering Doubts. It was so fun to be able to take part in it!</span><br />
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<br />Aniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516959308672541732noreply@blogger.com0