Happy New Year!

view of the bay bridge at night

I lived in a hotel in Chinatown for a week when I arrived in San Francisco 

my new polaroid

In 7 days this blog will have been around for 3 years! I think I came up with the idea in very early 2008 so that is 4 years Pickled has been in my head.

I've been too busy to work on Pickled for months now. I moved out of Australia in September 2011 and then stayed in Toronto for a couple weeks with a weekend in Montreal with my parents. Then I moved to Vancouver, BC in October with Steve and started a new job there animating at Big Bad Boo. And then in November 2011 I moved to San Francisco, CA to start animating at Kabam. So what with living in 3 countries and 2 provinces in 2 months and starting two jobs, all the logistics of that have kept me very busy. I can't wait to get back to Pickled! People ask me if I'm done... I am far from finishing.

I think that people think I'm insane for animating it hand drawn as well. I don't think animators are "insane" like people claim. I've heard it said over and over. It seems like a way to say that what you're doing is great or to give yourself a pat on the back somehow... I think different people have patience for different things. I don't have the patience to use a lot of dishes and make elaborate meals like a chef. Animating can be emotional and a challenge but it's also a relatively safe job. I think art is as dangerous as you want it to be, but it can be very safe.

Recently I got a couple new cameras which I think are excellent vents for creativity. I got a refurbished Polaroid 600 Land Camera (from the 80's) and a Holga 120 CFN. So the Polaroid is "new" to me, but certainly not a new camera. The other day I was at the Fisherman's Wharf I heard someone beside me say "OH MY GOD A POLAROID." while was taking a photo and I coudn't even look at them while I was looking through the eyepiece. Both cameras have extreme limitations and I like that. Nothing against new digital cameras, I still love them, but these 2 film cameras are a lot of fun and are just a different medium. I hope to get some of my photos online sometime, however without a scanner at home it is going to take some time to get there. I'll get some film developed and see what the scanner at work is like!

*I can't figure out why blogger wants to date this post as Jan 2, it's Jan 1! I saved my timezone as the correct one in my google account as well. grr