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Just For Funsies

Portfolio

I'm a creative through and through, and sincerely don't know how to not be creative — not that I'd ever not want to be! To give you an idea of how much creativity has always oozed out of me... When I was four years old, a pilot announced on the loudspeaker that it was whale season, and the first person to spot a whale would receive a prize. So what did little 4-year-old me do? I took out the airsickness bag from the seat in front of me, drew a picture of a whale and won. At the time, I had no idea why no one else thought of doing that and as I'm sure you can imagine, that pillowcase filled with peanuts aka my "prize" lasted me a long time... so much so that the peanuts probably expired.

I truthfully have a lot of fun doing creative projects outside of work, so this section is just meant to share those projects, hence the name "Just For Funsies"

Please feel free to click on the images to view the descriptions and larger images.

As a designer, I HAD to design my own wedding invitation!

I found the background paper from Studio Siempre in the UK and I got the gold foil lettering on the blue background printed in Burbank, CA.

Photo by Ann Ferguson

One of my favorite types of art is surrealism. I've always loved mirrors, so I wanted to do a self-portrait, but put my own twist on it. Instead of it being a straight reflection, I'm coming out of the mirror to engage with someone on the other side.

And Suddenly...

This quote is by well-known magician, Lennart Green. While Lennart Green said these words in correlation with magic, this phrase can pertain to so many different aspects as well. Instead of trying to hide something you can't, be brave and emphasize it instead, and what better way to emphasize something than with a giant magnifying glass?

Money can't buy happiness...

"It's not hard to find magic, what's hard to find is something that's not."

After reading that quote, I was immediately inspired and wanted to visually show what that quote meant to me. I wanted this piece to have magic, but if you don't look for it, you might never find it.

I constantly have creativity flowing through me. I have so many ideas, and I really just need to try them. I'm constantly wanting to grow as an artist and experiment with the world around me. The lightbulb represents ideas and while I wanted to play with it, I was also trying to think of ways I could incorporate it in my every day life, with elements such as magic and cards.

"Magic is my paint."

David Copperfield said the quote above, but it really resonated with me being both a graphic designer and a magician. I wanted to bring my two worlds together, because the two worlds really build off one another.

"Books are a uniquely portable magic."

Stephen King said this quote, and I really related to it. By reading a book, someone can transport themselves into a whole other world. Books can make anything happen, which is similar to magic.

You Are Magic

Magic is a huge part of my life and I really feel like it completes me. Magic is the key to my happiness. I decided to include the four card suits in the design because I focus on close-up magic, and decided to use the woman's face and the man's face as a way to say that both genders are in magic and that's more than ok. Unfortunately magic is still seen as a "boy's club" by many, so this piece was meant to speak on those thoughts to say that both men and women complete the magic community.

A lot of people joke that if they only had an extra hand, they'd be able to do something. Magicians joke about it because hand size matters with sleights. As someone with small hands, I thought it would be a funny idea if I could just go to a second hand store and buy another hand. That is why they're called "Second hand stores," right?

Focus

Inspired by a few conceptual photography pieces I've seen, I decided to have some shadow play of my own. Shadows have always fascinated me because they're able to warp perception and change perspective. What you see in front of you, may look completely different when brought into the light. Just looking at the cards, they look like one big mess, however, once the light is shined in the right direction, a message suddenly appears.

Do What You Love.

Those who think...

Without a doubt.

I've always wanted to do a political piece, but I wasn't sure how to go about doing that. After the 2016 presidential election results were announced, I suddenly felt a bunch emotions at once. I suddenly felt defeated, embarrassed, scared, betrayed, hurt, worried, sad, upset, afraid, frustrated, disappointed, angry, and confused all at once. And even though I felt all those emotions, a lot of people tried to tell me that my emotions weren't valid at all. My emotions suddenly felt like they needed to be locked in a jar. The playing card deck displayed is the "Sons of Liberty' deck by Art of Play. These playing cards embody the spirit of freedom that the Sons of Liberty fought for, featuring Freemason symbols, the Liberty Tree, and many other secret images.

I started to realize that I was constantly designing with darker color palettes. I'm always up for a challenge, so I decided to challenge myself with doing a bright piece.

As people, and especially as women, we are constantly told we can't do something or will not succeed. Much too often, people are the hardest on themselves and toughest on the ones they see in the mirror. The concept of this was for a tiny pip to look in the mirror and dream big; Dream bigger than their own reflection. I chose to use the Queen of Hearts as a statement on feminism and women empowerment.

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