At home in autumn

These lovely flowers graced my table last week, for a few fleeting days. With the cold, windy nights, and the crisp, biting mornings, the brief showers of rain, the few leaves turned gold, and the bright oranges and golds of squash and blossoms on my table, autumn seems all around. 

I think the moment at which I realize that autumn is truly here is that midnight waking in the frigid cold of a window left open, when the blankets piled up and the sweaters piled on are not enough a barrier between oneself and the icy air surrounding.

One slams the window shut and with fumbling fingers and bleary eyes, grasps for the switch on the small square box that marks the departure from the season of warmth and one's grand venture into this coming frost, the annual passage from summer towards winter.

And on this night, and from this night forth, the heater is on.

In my home, this night was Saturday. From now on, my friends, this is fall!

all photos by Kara Haberstock, all rights reserved

Short Films: Pumpkin Carving

I know that Halloween has come and gone, but I couldn't resist sharing these two awesome pumpkin-carving films with you. The first tells the story of the "Maniac Pumpkin Carvers"- two crazy-talented artsy dudes who've actually made a business out of carving pumpkins. The second is a creative little stop-motion short filmed with actual pumpkins. Enjoy!

The year is 1992, and Marc Evan and Chris Soria are sitting next to each other in sixth-grade Spanish class. They don't know it yet, but these two twelve year olds are going to become best friends. They're going to construct epic haunted houses each year, petrifying parents more than peers. They're going to attend an artsy high school, study illustration at Parsons, grow up, and move to Brooklyn. They're going to freelance and bartend and, per their favorite holiday, casually carve some pumpkins for bosses and friends. And then the Yankees are going to put in a double-digit order, and Maniac Pumpkin Carvers will be born.

An animated carved Pumpkin Stop Motion I finished this week.
Animation - Auke de Vries
Music - Jelte de Vries
Pumpkins by - Taylor Vegetables Express

Autumn

Autumn in Tucson can be quite frustrating. The cool evenings and light breeze provide a welcome respite from the heat, and all around the city life springs up again. The mornings are crisp and clear, the perfect weather for sweaters and boots*. However, with afternoon highs still hitting the nineties, it's the season of on-again-off-again layers, the time of teasing weather, of "just-wait-a-little-longer-fall-is-almost-here-for-real-this-time." These photos from Prescott remind that it is indeed autumn somewhere, at least. And perhaps autumn will be here soon as well.

*anything under 75 degrees is sweater-and-boot weather here in Tucson

all photos belong to Kara Haberstock, all rights reserved

Short Film: The Green Ruby Pumpkin

Since Halloween is right around the corner (next Wednesday!), I thought I'd share this enchanting CGI-animated short film about a particular wondrous pumpkin. What blew my mind is that this entire film was shot in a living room! I'm quite impressed:

The Green Ruby Pumpkin is a magical and fun short film that captures the enchantment of Halloween.
It was a passion project that was created by two Senior visual effects artists. Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma.
This entire project was shot in the living room. watch the making of here: https://vimeo.com/51538157
If you enjoyed the film, please take a moment to vote for us by clicking here:
http://shortoftheweek.uservoice.com/forums/134313-submit-a-film/suggestions/3266593-the-green-ruby-pumpkin
You can see our other visual effects work at: www.monstersculptor.com
You can watch this film as well as Other directors films at the Stage5 site: : http://www.youtube.com/stage5



Oh, and in case you're curious, here's the making-of video. 

This is a small selection of some of the assets, and VFX created by Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma
for the short film "The Green Ruby Pumpkin" watch here: https://vimeo.com/51358765
The entire project was rendered on 7 computers, Running Maya for 3D, Mudbox for sculpting,
Mari and Mudbox for Texture Painting, Vray for rendering, Nuke for compositing. A lot of shortcuts had to be used in order to manage our render times Including 3d projections in nuke, miniatures, and practical elements.
The majority of the vfx work was just us two, however we had great help from friends on the rigging and animation side of things. We wanted to make sure everything you see on screen was designed and or fabricated by our team.
We learned a lot and hope to keep improving as storytellers and visual artists. Thank you for watching.

Is anyone looking forward to Halloween?

Sunflowers and Sunshine

The sun shines brightly this morning. The air, crisp and cool, imparts a slight chill and whispers that autumn has finally arrived. I gather my books and nudge the door shut behind me as I make my morning commute from my cozy apartment home to the campus coffeeshop affectionately known as my "office." A slight breeze ruffles the slender trees framed in the sunlight streaming through picture-glass windows. I sit with my coffee, open my book, search for my pencil, and get to work.

Days like these remind me to be thankful.

Fall is my favorite season. The creeping cold brings welcome respite from the summer's scorching heat, the plants spring back to life, and it becomes again possible to sleep with the windows cracked open, under a cool evening breeze. And for some reason, perhaps a telling mark of my American upbringing, fall seems to be a season of exceptional gratefulness. It offers a gentle reminder of the beauty of the city I call home, a chance to marvel at the wonder of changing trees, and the rediscovery of simple joys of hot drinks and curling up under a warm blanket. 

I finally caught up on my photo editing after weeks of being buried in other, more pressing tasks, and it was wonderful to stop, slow down, and remember some of the things I've seen and made in the past few months.

This morning I have a few photos of sunflowers to share-- the last remnants of summer that found their way to my table, a reminder to be grateful for passing beauty, a happy pop of color on a Monday morning. I am thankful for sunflowers and sunshine. And I now happily look forward to fall. 

All photos belong to Kara Haberstock, all rights reserved

Inspired: Joy St. Claire

This weekend, I had the chance to spend a few days in Prescott, AZ, and it was beautiful. The weather was cool and crisp, the night skies were clear and bright, and the leaves were just beginning to turn gold and crimson. It was a wonderful taste of fall that we often miss out on down here in the desert; and I spent it with the lovely women of Moxie, which meant we had lots of fun.

Anyways, all of the lovely autumn weather reminded me of Joy St. Claire's gorgeous fine art photography. St. Claire captures all sorts of still life and vignettes of natural landscapes around upper Midwest. Her use of light in her work often conveys a sense of nostalgia and gives her photographs a soft, dreamy aura.

Autumn Mist

Was it all a dream?

Golden Sunset Bokeh

I awoke to fog

Vintage Apple

Beauty with age

I dreamt of the beach

All of these prints and more can be bought in Joy St. Claire's Etsy Shop. 

Check out more of her photography on her website.