Michelle Schwartz

As part of my ongoing Shoot the Freak documentary project, I have begun painting the backgrounds for my planned cut out animation. I completed the main backdrop, which is the boardwalk at Coney Island. The Wonder Wheel, including the swinging cars, will be fully operational when animated. You can read more about the creation of this painting in the Production Diaries on my blog.

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Inspired by the work of my friend Corinne Cupcake, I have ventured into the world of Polymer Clay. My first effort was a sculpture of Kodos and Kang consuming Santa and his reindeer. I based my sculpture on a scene from one of The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror” episodes. I then used the sculpture as the basis for the year’s holiday card.

I sculpted Kodos and Kang using Super Sculpey over aluminum foil and wire armatures, painted them with acrylics and sealed them with glossy varnish. I shot the photo with a Canon Rebel and a 50mm lens.

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While a Freshman at New York University, I was given the opportunity to design and execute a mural for the 12th floor at Brittany Hall, a dormitory where I resided. I based my design on the logo for the movie 12 Monkeys. I sketched it out on graph paper than blew it up to stencil size. There was a stencil for the main section and then individual monkey stencils. I and another student painted the main section, then each of the other residents of the floor was allowed to use a monkey stencil to add to the chain of monkeys running down the hall along with their names. I recently found some very old digital photos of the project, of which I am still quite proud.

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As the Online Resource Coordinator for the Learning and Teaching Office at Ryerson University, I am responsible for producing monthly issues of “The LTO Best Practices Series,” an education newsletter aimed at the faculty and teaching staff of Ryerson University. I designed the layout and graphics and research and write the material contained in each issue. January 2010 marked our inaugural issue.

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