wrap it up.. past month (or so)

This is a music video that just recently wrapped. You are looking at a one woman art department. Although the aesthetic is pretty clearly the directors, I didn't sleep for a week working on it. Clothes, props, eh.. hair. The two dancers got their break on So You Think You Can Dance and were definitely very sweet and talented.

People coming together to make art.

More film! Wrapping on Love Arcadia the feature film (photo by Anna Wu, lots more awesome shots here)

Some friends approached me about building a life-sized boba tea cup with mobile tapioca balls, personality, googley eyes, a back and bottom entrance, and arm holes. I drank my weight in boba tea trying to figure that one out with no budget for a prototype. I'm excited and a little apprehensive to see it on film. Anyone need a plastic worker? For real I'm an expert at vinyl and corrugated plastics now. Sort of.

The story follows three teens graduating high school and navigating that difficult period of decision-making and change. It's a light-hearted and fun movie, but with some pretty thought-provoking undercurrents.

From sketch to set. (That's catchy) It will be out some time next year.

Old fashioned graphic design work. Real old fashioned ie 17th century style. Rachmaninov and Chopin style. These programs were for the annual epic Sannikova recital, pianist and instructor to the star's offspring. 

James Bond party with some crazy people : )

TEDtv, headdresses and prints and such

We had an earthquake the other morning at around 6am. I was outside before the shaking even stopped. I've always wondered about the advice to get under a door frame. Wouldn't you just want to get outside where nothing is above you? School me if my logic serves me wrong.

These large format illustrations give the ideas and inspirations behind real wearable art piece, which were all on display at Bergamot in December. Some of them are based on characters from books, some are created based on a specific plant or location. 

See it in the real! Particularly excited to see my work on stage at TED Global in Edinburgh. The video of Elizaveta performing in my head piece and a dress I designed was released this week on their website. Go check it out! Or just click on the video below.

Elizaveta Performs Meant at TED Global in Edinburgh 

random mansion tour

Last week I worked on a photo shoot at this mansion in the Silverlake hills. I took a bunch of clandestine pictures.

The mansion belonged to a silent movie star who's life was very similar to the main character in The Artist. I won't spoil the movie, in case you haven't seen it. His story also sounds a lot like The Great Gatsby, but maybe that's because his wife was named Daisy. They split and she died tragically on Mulholland Drive. Some people think that there was foul play and speculate that this might be why the house is haunted.

Some famous very bad rock bands have stayed and recorded here and claim to have seen and experienced all sorts of freaky things... being chocked in the night and bathtubs filling with water.

I can say that it was kind of eerie at first. There were some freaky angel and devil paintings and taxidermy everywhere. The souls of all of the poor African animals! Overall though, I've been in places that are much creepier. The only bad vibrations that I felt were coming from the guy who owned/ managed the house. Perhaps all of the bad spirits attached themselves to him. He was so rude that you had to laugh and play along.

The courtyard - also where they filmed a Brittney Spears video where a car goes into the pool??

This room was my favorite. Windows on all sides. (unfortunately some kind of rare taxidermied Toucan on the coffee table... oh and a stuffed peacock on the long table.) Click to see bigger

This is the room that was supposed to be really haunted. No one would use the facilities all day because they were afraid of something happening, like the bathtub mysteriously filling up with water. Creepy shadows...

Just happen to have a triceratops head in the study. Shot and killed that beast myself, that's right.

New York

Since we are heading to London in two days, I thought I'd better put up some New York pictures before they are irrelevant. I have special attachment to the Big Apple, but returning I always get a flashback of how difficult it was to live there.

From the airport straight to Harlem  The cab ride turned in to a really long ride with traffic. 

I put on some Kings of Convenience to revel in the nostalgia. 

NYC certainly has Los Angeles nailed as far as architecture goes.

Rehearsal space at a nice brownstone in Harlem. 

We all sat in the kitchen downstairs talking about music while the violins were sorting things out above us. The owner of the brownstone is a drummer; he has a band that released an album called "Salt of the Earth." That pretty much sums it up.

Lipstick transfusion stat! Someone lost vital fluids on this coffee mug.

In the presence of greatness. Viva Supergrass.

Entering Williamsburg. Home of the mustache. 
I personally think that we are over saturated with the current mustache trend. 

But then I think one of the least attractive traits in a guy is trendiness. Is this a double standard?

En route to the Bronx

Switchboard at WFUV

Excellent rusty carpet

Rita Houston interviewed Elizaveta and listened to a set from the upcoming album. 

Rita's voice was so soothing, I lapsed into a magical dream state. 

I took off later that night to meet up with Caitlin AKA Geek the Sheik. 

We spent the evening at an idyllic hang out trying to hatch travel plans.

Cait and her friend Marcar (I'm a fan of that name)
* I've later learned that his name was nowhere near Marcar,
apparently I completely made that up, ha!

 The stage at Dominion has a spiral staircase up to the artist lounge.

Dominion show, which I treated as a college reunion. Most of my good friends from school came out. It was   fantastic and frantic seeing them all. So whirlwind that I didn't even get any pictures. Terrible! But my friend Kelly came all of the way from Philadelphia to spend 2 hours together before taking a train back to work in the morning. She's crazy and an irreplaceable friend.

under the lights at nokia

Thank you all for your comments! I've got some nice shots, but ahhh I can't show them because they are reserved for future promos. Anyhow hope this will suffice. How about some zebra print?

E had her own huge dressing room with snazzy print floors.

It brought out the rockstar in us; we had to throw a couple lamps. hehe

Getting the head piece on...

Her make-up artist for this show (Marian Filali) created some pretty incredible feather lashes.

and here are the designs! Those shoes are so fun to wear.

 ready for stage..

Officially the unofficial photographer: the managers said I could get on the other side of the stage and photograph from the curtain. The problem though.. a huge piano. My only shot would be black enamel.

I got in the front and dodged the camera crew. It was kind of funny moving with the rig guys, trying not to mess up their kazillion dollar shots. Every once in a while the crew turned the cameras and panned on the crowd. When that happened, I had to jump in a seat and look normal. At one point I thought they were done panning so I hopped up. Just then they turned and BAM I was caught in the shot. Elly's manager said, he was watching the stage then looked up at the big screens just in time to see my deer in headlights look.

Seth MacFarlane crooned away for the rest of the night. (Note the conductor is Joel - the wizard from the other studio shots). The band was fantastic. You don't often hear that quality of jazz and big band live.

Before MacFarlane came out on the stage, you should know the emcee got up and had the audience do a couple fake laughs for the cameras and then some wild clapping that would be later spliced into the final edited version. Got to love the fabricated laugh tracks. Especially when Seth came out on stage talking about how he and Elizaveta had a problem, because they both ended up wearing the same hat to the show that night. Funny Guy or not, there is something to be said for making a scene. Sara Bareilles performed all of the duets in the show with MacFarlane, but the reviews from KPCC the next day didn't even mention her. Instead they dedicated a lengthy passage to Elizaveta. I guess when you get your chance, you have to go for it.

*All or nothing

*(Listening to nothing but Steve Marriott this week) 

see you on the other side

Costume design for a show later this month are underway. Before I put everything together, I thought I'd take a few pictures.

We scavenged some bags full of prettiness from the Fashion Disctrict downtown. Until now I had never spent much time down there. That was probably a good thing. Because, wow, if I had a million dollars I'd stock a warehouse full of all these supplies and be an elf. So many cool things to make.