Aids Awareness Campaign Ad

I know I have disappeared. It has been such a busy and stressful time, I have no excuses for you, like rescuing people from burning buildings, or creating such incredible large art pieces.. I am terrible, I know! Work has taken up so much of my time during the week, then I go to a village on the weekend to teach art, that I have such little amount of time to work on art. It doesnt mean I haven’t, because I have. I will write about that later. For now I want to share with you an ad I worked on as a makeup artist, as well as got stuck being an extra in it (if you look closely you will see me with a child), which was such incredible fun. A 12 hour day and standing on my feet  a lot of it, but it made me realize how much I miss working in the film making industry. Anyone out there listening to me, hook a girl up!

This video is in Arabic, but the gist of it is this guy (in the red shirt) has aids, and goes to a government office where the line is almost out the door and sneezes. A guy turns around, spots him, and tells the guy behind him how he saw him at the hospital and had aids. Causing a domino effect, where people are uneducated on how aids can spread, freaked out and ran off (I grabbed my child in horror!). When he gets to the counter, the government worker asks him what happened to the line and the guy says how they heard he had aids. The government worker shakes his hand and wishes him good health. The ad proceeds to explain how aids is not transmitted by sneezing and so on.

I hope you guys enjoy!

 

Dedicated To My Friends <3

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I get so energized and inspired by my creative friends.  Speaking to them about different projects, throwing ideas back and forth, neat things we’ve seen that others may be interested in, and anything that gets our juices flowing about art, music, films, and dream projects we wished we had the money to start. It truly is good to have friends who create such a safe environment where I feel not only like I can be myself, but that I can share silly ideas that may be disasters in real life with. People I trust and know will encourage me to do these crazy projects, knowing it will probably push me to doing something I would be too scared to do if not for their encouragement.

I guess this really isn’t about anything but the importance of surrounding one’s self with creative thinkers. People who not only think outside the box, but take that box and recreate it, design it, and build it into another form. This isn’t only for creative or artistic people; this is for anyone wanting to be a well-rounded person. I, for one, believe that surrounding yourself with people that light a fire inside of you, and encourage your passion to grow are people you need to be around.

I think this is mostly a thank you to everyone who has ever pushed me with my art work, encouraged me to keep at it, and who always seems excited to talk about my ideas with me. To the people who always had something to say wether negative or positive, and to the people who showed such enthusiasm when I talked about working on another piece.. You guys are who keep me going, who without you guys, I truly couldn’t do it. You all are my rock, and I love you guys! Thank you <3

Outside the Box

I loved this video about thinking outside the box, and how the process of thinking outside the box should be creative in itself! Some good advice in the video, even if it was supposed to be just funny! Enjoy! =)

Empty Chair’s New Single is Out!

A while ago I created a video with the help from a friend, about Creativity in the Middle East. In the video there was a band that I talked to about the challenges they faced being creative in the Middle East and what obstacles they had to overcome to get their music out there. A few days ago Empty Chair released their very first single and I am excited to say that it is quite good! I’ve watched them live a few times, and they have always rocked the audience. Not only by how they played each song, but the interaction they had with each audience member. Always eager to please and take suggestions, be it song suggestions, or constructive criticism. They have worked very hard and it is obvious the love they have for what they do is what drives them to create music that touches peoples souls.

One thing that captures me are the lyrics. What I love about this song is how I can relate to it, and I’m sure most people can as well. It starts out with Kamal singing

“Sitting here alone
In a cold dark room
Wishing you were here
To ease the pain”

Haven’t we all felt this way at least once in our lives? And yes, I am not ashamed to admit it! The loneliness of not having someone there to ease our pain, to make us feel as if everything will be alright in time gets to each one of us.

“It hurts too much
To just sit and stare
At a scattered memory
At an empty chair”

One reason I love the lyrics above is because of the smart way they integrated the name of their band, Empty Chair, into the song, and made it make sense! I fell in love with this song because it hits home for a lot of people. So many people experience the pain they are describing in their lyrics, that it connects us all together. Makes us feel as if we are not alone. The feeling they put into playing their instruments and the way the song is sung makes you feel as though they have experienced  the heart ache, and pain of losing someone and by doing so, they connect with their audience in such a magical way. What better way is there to to relate to your audience but by singing about something you have experienced and what others can relate to.

Empty Chair definitely has a gift. Not only with the way they play their instruments, with passion and intensity, but their lead singer, Kamal Shbeir, sings from his heart, and it doesn’t help that he has a one of a kind, husky voice that captures the women in the audience! They bring something different to Amman, and now that they have released their fist single, I can say that they are stepping up and proving to everyone that they really are made to be stars.

Congratulations Empty Chair, on a single that not only makes a person experience different emotions, from sadness, to hopefulness, but for proving that with hard work, determination, and dedication, anyone can live their dream.

 

Where the Hell is Matt?

I have a thing for projects that embrace a community, or the world. I feel like art can do so much for different countries by bringing them together to make people realize how all of us truly are the same. We all seek happiness, we all seek truth, and we all seek a purpose in this life. Why we don’t get along seems so simple to be honest. We are scared of change and we are terrified of what we dont understand.

Matt Harding is an 35 year old from Connecticut  who travelled the world vido taping himself dancing (it started when his friend suggested he do his “bad” dance when he was touring Asia). The video went viral and Stride gum asked him if he was interested in taking another trip around the world and recording it again. This all happened in 2006. In 2007, Matt went back to Stride gum suggesting letting people around the world dance (people had sent him videos of themselves dancing), and thus this video was produced.

Where The Hell is Matt stirs so many emotions in me that seem unexplainable. It is such a happy video, but makes me feel sad, and happy at the same time. Here we see people from all paths of life dancing for the joy of it. Here we see everyone come together for the joy of dance and it makes me wonder why we don’t see more of these projects traveling the world. Why isn’t there funding and support from people to try to bring different cultures together? We need more projects like this that have so many different layers to it. We need more people like Matt.

Are there other projects out there that do this kind of thing? I know of a few, but not many. I really do hope my project, Traveling Thoughts, can create such a stir in people and bring them all together.

Golden Gate Bridge 75th Fireworks Celebration

Happy 75th Golden Gate Bridge! One of the happiest times for me was driving across the Golden Gate Bridge with the windows down, the music pumping, and myself daydreaming up another art piece. There truly is no place like San Francisco… <3

 

To All Fellow Artists

A friend of mine, who is an incredible creative artist, sent me this video and I had to share with everyone on here and whoever else accidentally finds my blog. An incredible speech by Neil Gaiman where he addresses the University of the Arts Class of 2012. If you are having a hard time finding inspiration, or simply feeling down about you work, this speech will inspire you beyond words.

To all my creative friends and fellow artists, keep on making good art!

Dinosaurs & Astronauts

A few days ago I received a message on Facebook asking me to check out a Facebook page called Dinosaurs & Astronauts, and if I liked what I heard to like the page. I was curious, with a name like that, who wouldn’t want to check out what kind of music it would be! I was pleasantly surprised, not only because of his unique sound, but that he was brave enough to be a Folk Singer / Songwriter in Amman, Jordan of all places. Definitely not most peoples style in this country.

Dinosaurs & Astronauts is the stage name of Nabil Awad Gonzalez who is based in Amman, Jordan. His act consists mostly of playing the guitar, or banjo while singing, and occasionally using the harmonica and ukulele. Playing shows around Amman, his main goal is to spread his music around the world and gain bigger crowds not only globally but locally as well. On December 2011, Dinosaurs & Astronauts released his first debut single “Noble Beast” which was studio recorded. He self recorded his second single “Seesaw” due to difficulties, but is keeping his hopes up that by the end of this year, the rest of the album will be out!

Check him out and follow! Local talent always has a spirit to them that carries on through their work.

You can follow him on Twitter, here!

My Top 10 Places for Finding a Creative Job, Inspiration, or a Community

I was thinking about how many designers and creative people I know who don’t know what websites to use to look for freelance work, full time work and so on and decided the best thing I could do to help (and easier then linking them every time they ask me) is to post a blog with the 10 top ones I like! Hopefully this helps you in finding work, inspiring you, and gives you a community you can go to when you need help or inspiration. Enjoy!

 

1) Creative Hotlist

Creative Hotlist is not only a job site for the creative community, but has a search engine and helps users find companies, individuals and resources for the creative marketplace, such as job opportunities, creative services, artists, designers, printers and more.

 

2) CrowdSpring

Extremely simple idea. A client posts a job where designers submit their work to if they are interested and the top 5 are awarded cash prizes. The client will also pick a winner who will be awarded the full prize and their work possibly being used. Whats nice about this website is the clients interact and give feedback to submitted work.

3) Behance Network

An online network to showcase and discover creative work. The idea is for clients to access online portfolios of creative work and contact whomever they are interested in on a global level. Behance also distributes work to other online galleries to maximize exposure for top talent.

4) DesignCrowd

DesignCrowd is a graphic design online marketplace where clients can access thousands of designers, freelancers and design studios from across the globe.

5) Smashing Magazine

Known as one of the most successful magazines for creative professionals, Smashing Magazine includes Smashing Jobs, a job board that helps you find the perfect person for your job opening.

6) The Creative Group

The Creative Group specializes in placing creative, advertising, marketing, web and public relations professionals in a variety of firms.

7) Coroflot

Started by designers and still run by designers, Coroflot is a website filled with the largest, most diverse and most established pool of professional creative portfolios in the world. Submit your portfolio without an invite, membership requirement, and application process. If looking for inspiration, the community is filled with incredible talent can help.

8) Design: related

Design: related is a community site filled with portfolios, inspiration and news tools that bring together creative people from the design and art world. Its a website for networking, sharing ideas and thoughts, posting an online portfolio and finding job opportunities.

9) AIGA Design Jobs

Most designers have heard of AIGA before. A great resource for finding the right job if you are an AIGA member.

10) Krop

Krop is one of the most well known websites to find graphic design jobs. Top agencies and design studios use this website to find creative people.

Non Tiq – Quiet

I’ve been Youtubing a lot lately, looking for music I haven’t heard before and what not. I came across this music video for Non Tiq that was incredible. The music is good, the video is good, the entire thing is simply good! It doesn’t help that I adore paint, and paint being splashed everywhere with it being glow in the dark makes it even better! Check it out people!