I was fortune enough to get to create poster for the Mini Microcinema and their screenings/programming this summer (hence the sun centerpiece filming with a Super 8 camera). As I wrote about last year, the MM is a wonderful small cinema space that screens independent and experimental films of all varieties, including plenty of animation.

Even five years ago, it would have seemed impossible to imagine that anywhere in Cincinnati would show things Zagreb Film and Latin American animation showcases, the works of Sally Cruikshank, or the annual "Animation Show of Shows" shorts showcase. These extend beyond just your typical arthouse theater and show the true emphasis on all sorts of experimental film and animation as an artform. These are an animation junkie's dream come true, and the types of screenings you would previously only see in major city markets. And at that, the Mini is a nonprofit organization and every screening is free of charge. With that in mind, I highly recommend purchasing a membership to help support them. Oh, and when you buy a membership, you receive a large (18x 24") high quality poster of your choosing ... either mine here, or one of several by other local artists.

Here is the full schedule of Floating Shape Workshops events this summer! For further/detailed info on the individual workshops, click the FSW tab above. As always, each event is a little different (as such, costs also vary ... some free, some require registration).

This month (July), we are excited to be hosting a week-long summer camp at Robot Inside (coming up in just a few weeks, and space is almost full!). Each attendee will be making their own animated film over the course of the week. We will also be returning to the Good People Festival over in Covington, Kentucky for the second straight year. This year, we have a fun & collaborative, live animation project planned for anyone who comes by.

In August, FSW will host a flipbook workshop with the Mini Microcinema as part of the annual Over-the-Rhine "Second Sunday on Main" celebration. Our last workshop of the summer will be at Wooden Hill, located in Westwood.

A couple weeks ago while in Columbus, my wife and I picked up this amazing fish blanket from a little shop called "Tigertree". Each blanket is handmade/unique and imported from Mexico. We both instantly loved it. I love it so much that I am, well, posting it here.

... also stumbled upon an incredible mural right around the corner.

Tomorrow night is the opening reception/unveiling for "Swap Meet", a unique and unconventional gallery show at The Carnegie (located in Covington, KY ... reception 5-8 PM). Back in May, artists dropped off a previously unfinished works (of all mediums), and then each artist selected someone else's unfinished piece at random. Tomorrow night's "unveiling" will feature the finished works now being displayed.

I had the good fortune of being able to make a flipbook out of a small mini-book created and bound by my friend Holly Prochaska (Boiling Point Books). Initially I had planned to just make it a drawn flipbook, but even using a thick brush, the drawings were hard to read over the psychedelic paper. I decided instead to use cutouts for the primary objects (clouds, fingers, lightning bolt) while using ink things like the grass and flower stem. Of course, I can't wait to see what a fellow artist did with the piece I originally dropped off as well, and unfinished watercolor painting of some sort of robot-like thing.

Due to the limitations of the short number of pages & thickness of the paper stock, it has to be flipped pretty carefully when holding it (hence the little cheat sheet on the first page), so I wanted to film it as well.