Yes, it's me.
It's been a while since I last updated this blog.

Due to some massive refurbishment at our beloved house I wasn't able to work on my film, or on anything at all. Everything has been messy in here, dust is everywhere and the only room that still has its usual function is our bed room. (Though it's slowly getting better…)

We just wanted to exchange a window and the front door. But what was planned as a one-and-a-half-day action, took us one and a half week so far since the walls need a bit more attention than expected, and will probably take another one or two weeks since the most beautiful man alive and I also have some scheduled work to do.

Part of the room formerly known as our kitchen, captured by @einfachkaffee. You can see me in the background, hi there!

Lesson learned: One does not just do a quick change in an old house like ours.

I cannot really concentrate right now. The clean-up phase has begun yesterday and slowly all our stuff finds back into their places. But it's still stressful and exhausting, and will take more time than I was willing to spend on this.

Anyway, I'm not complaining.
The good part is, that we're going to re-arrange our whole space, and that there will be space for a new order in here as well. That's going to be awesome!

But what about Animation?

Before all that chaos started, I taught a few awesome animation workshops with kids and adults. Due to the lack of progress on my own film Ins Dunkel, I'd like to show you something really cool from the kids instead:

The kids in my workshops would usually love to work with plasticine, but this time they all wanted to draw. And they draw! I don't know how many flip books and seconds of drawn animation they produced… (Actually, I do know, but that would sound less dramatic…)

I'd like to share this video with you that is made by 14 years old Benedikt, an outstanding drawing talent:

Benedikt drew three days for four hours each day to make this clip during my animation summer workshop at the Museum MARTa Herford. He planned the story, the timing and everything else. We used simple 80g office paper, 2B pencils and file fasteners as peg bars.
Well done, doesn't he?

What I understand again and again every time I teach an animation class is that you don't need much to produce outstanding animations. This is something you really should keep in mind!

I just read today that the 19th Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film calls for entries until 1 December. This is going to make a beautiful deadline for Ins Dunkel, wouldn't it? What do you think?

Have a lovely week!
Love,
Jessica

"Really? – Yes!" (2011)
Mixed media on paper | 60 x 42 cm

Excited

A lot of things happened during the last weeks. First of all: I married the most beautiful man alive. Finally. After 11 years. How cool is that? I'm also saying goodbye to some paid but annoying jobs. Which means I have more time to spend in the studio, but at same time find new ways to earn a living. 2011 seems to be a year of change for me.

Joyful Days

The wedding came suddenly, and the days (joyful days!) rushed by. We had a big garden party at our house, and we had most of our friends around which was just perfect. I was some kind of jet-lagged the days after the wedding, and so we decided to do some in-house honeymooning. We haven't spent so much time together for years I think. It's still great!

Letting Things Grow

Studio Monday was a lonely event the last three weeks. I didn't write about them because I didn't get so much done on my Orpheus film project. But at least I did some creative work: I started and finished working on several new paintings with which I am very satisfied right now. And I worked a lot in our garden that is still more like a jungle.

I accepted that I got stuck again with the film and tried to do some loosening up through the drawings. That worked nicely, and so did gardening. Sleeping a lot was helpful as well.

My friend Shelley Noble wrote an article about why it's so much easier to to the first 97% of a project, but so amazingly difficult to do the remaining 3%. I have similar issues. I've got a big Resistance against moving forward with my film. (Notice the progress bars! The end is near, my friend, at least in set-building.)

I also had a big Resistance (yes, in Capitals!) against writing about it. But I do this for now, perhaps I'll overcome the other as well by doing

Other Things As Planned

Like this:

"They said it's just a memory" (2011)
Mixed media on paper | 100 x 70 cm

Understanding

Those last three weeks in which I spent a lot of time in the studio, and preparing and celebrating my wedding helped me to understand what I need and what I want in life. Working on a complex film project is very similar to live in a long-term relationship. After the first euphoria has transformed into some everyday life, it takes a lot of energy to accept changes and to keep it going though. The good thing is: it's definitely worth it!

Again, I'm sharing my process because I think it's important to see not only the good things in life but the difficult aspects as well. However, I hope you find it helpful.