Terry Hopfenspirger
Terry is a talented artist in the exciting world of 3D animation. He currently holds an Associates of Arts Degree from Bellevue Community College and is expected to obtain a gaming certificate from BCC as well. His education doesn’t stop at BCC, Terry is constantly purchasing learning DVD’s from Digital-Tutors and The Gnomon Workshop, and attends 3D workshops in the area to increase his skill and knowledge in 3D modeling and animation.
Terry states, “I have always been fascinated in 3D animation. The process of being able to create something from your imagination and turn it into a reality is a feeling I can’t describe. My computer monitor is my canvas, my keyboard and mouse are my brushes, and my art is an expression of myself. I want my art to define me; I am lucky to find something I am passionate about and love to do.”
Because Terry is so passionate about 3D animation, he often finds himself working on his portfolio every waking second he gets. “Its not work to me, it’s a lifestyle. 3D animation is an extension of who I am.”
Terry recently started working as a Level Designer for Zombie.com in Seattle. View his portfolio.
Steve Johnson
North Idaho native Steve Johnson was a Computer Science and Mathematics major at the University of Idaho in 2002, when he had a chance to take a summer class in basic 3D modeling using 3dsmax. It was love at first render and he never looked back. In the fall of 2003, the opportunity arose to change majors and join what would become the first class graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Virtual Technology and Design. The program was an entirely new concept, providing a unique opportunity to integrate computer technology with the art and science of design.
After graduating in the spring of 2005, Steve headed toward the Seattle area, settling in Maple Valley with his longtime girlfriend who was now teaching math at Kentwood High School. That summer, Steve looked for work in the area while doing some freelance jobs in architectural visualization. By the end of summer he had landed a position at Company39 as a Design Visualization Specialist. Company39’s main focus is in visual communication services such as photo simulation, 3D modeling/animation, and all manner of interactive media and web design.
In the nearly two years since starting at Company39, Steve has worked on many visualization projects both private and public. More recently he was involved in both of the new Seattle animations showing the proposed Alaskan Way viaduct tunnel and proposed Alaskan Way viaduct rebuild, both for the Washington Department of Transportation. Steve is now a Deputy Design Visualization Manager in the company of about 40 employees between the Seattle and Denver offices. View his portfolio.
Tahoma High School Art Students
Cameron McKay, Matt Thompson, Mitch Barchi, Brett Ferguson, Erin Curtis, Jessica Powers, Ashley Sandwith, Jordan Huselton, Patrick Williams, Allyssa Guzman, Sean Chandler, Amber Riser, Aaron Roessler, Alyssa Wilcox, Georgia Fleming, Hailey Granlund, Lauren Henry, Megan Zukowski, Jessica McCall, Chad Ford, Cougar Bayer, Kole Little, Kaeli Rivera, Andrew Suddarth, Kara Johnson, Oliver Shin, Dar Kazemi & Teryn Taylor.
We would like to thank Jennifer Gosnell, Tahoma High School Fine Art & Digital Graphics teacher, for her assistance in gathering her student's work for us! See their slideshow!
Digital Artists
Jim Kirwan of San Francisco & Sondra London of Atlanta - KIRWAN SUITE:
THE PAINTING: This apocalyptic epic vision was first rendered as a triptych in oils named The Journey. Each of the three panels is round.
http://www.kirwanesque.com/triptych/triptich.htm
The artist KIRWAN explains: The Journey is a single concept in three parts. This is a literal interpretation of some of the many Sojourns we each take through life.
Part I depicts the scramble for survival, the yearning for power at the cities' edge and the game which that can become.
Part II depicts civilization founded in the wealth contained in the history of man. Here a conglomerate history of our heritage is contrasted with the separateness of the future embodied in youth.
Part III is the ethereal exit from routine, a search for answers to the ever elusive and personal in our lives. As we pass through the soft mirrors of our thoughts we are seen to grow to become the only true beholders of ourselves.
In the world behind the image it is possible to discover the reflections that we see for what they are - the tomorrows of our lives.
THE JAVA ANIMATION: In 2005, Sondra London made an interactive Java animation called The Kirwan Suite.
http://sondralondon.com/attract/kirwan/index.htm
The Kirwan Suite comprises five Java animations of KIRWAN's oil paintings. It starts by slowly panning across the upper half of The Journey, merged into one long looping panel. Then there are the three other epic canvases visited via flying windows:
Night Watch
http://www.kirwanesque.com/gallery/nightwatch.htm
Turning Point
http://www.kirwanesque.com/gallery/turning_point.htm
The Four Horsemen
http://www.kirwanesque.com/gallery/4_horsemen.htm
Finally, The Kirwan Suite wraps up with a slow pan across the lower half of The Journey, as before.
THE VIDEO: To repurpose the interactive Java animation into a linear digital video, London used Studio Quickstart, which came with Pinnacle Dazzle, a device used to convert VHS video to digital, importing the jpgs previously made for the Java animation. The package supports zoom & pan for stills, so that was used, with the same kaleidoscopic zoom transition effect between each jpg, enhancing the sensation of depth.
The soundtrack for the video is more multidimensional than the original pure Shostakovich. It populates the landscape, as our own footsteps take us through the phantasmagorical landscape.
In the background, a priest is chanting a Rosary, a Muslim is calling to prayer, and Buddhist monks are chanting OM; supported by Haitian Voodoo drumming alternating with the syncopated barking of sea lions.
These, then, are the sounds of Gaia creaking and groaning under the strain -- the cries of wolves, elephants, dogs, elk and winos -- emerging through the jostling city traffic.
The Four Horsemen come thundering through, right when the Muslims and Christians are praying in perfect harmony; and then how does it end, after all that turmoil? With Cartman cursing en espanol over the jingle-jangle joy of a gaggle of urchins.
Vera Le Doux of Taos, NM - I was born in a little village in Czechoslovakia and I remember drawing portraits of Indians, even before I started school. Today I call Taos my home and I would like to take this opportunity to express how grateful I am for being accepted here by all the local people, no matter what culture or religion they belong to.
Drawing and painting was nothing else but a hobby for me, but that changed during my years in Denmark while attending The School of Personal Expression. I have learned to paint on wall size canvases using big cans of paint, large brushes, but first of all, I have learned to become fearless when it comes to express your self . We would sit down on the floor, play some powerful classical music on full blast and wait for the first impulse, be it a movement or color, then get up and start painting.
Suddenly, what was a hobby, became a neccessity. I realized, that I have to paint. It was an obsession and in reality - a healing process. In Denmark I had several shows together with my fellow students from school, but my first one woman show came to life here in Taos. At that time I was already on my spiritual quest, a neverending journey, and all my paintings reflected that. Large abstract pieces, where the layers would emerge and disappear just like other dimensions, where parallel lives and realities were definite possibilities. I liked to call them "Windows to the skies".
There was an eternal promise that one day we will be able to move beyond the limitation of third dimension. The last two years have been the most challenging years in my life. My physical body was slowed down by an illness and ultimately gave me more and more time to think and feel who I am. My personal and spiritual growth intensified. At the same time, my healing process wasn't going anywhere and I had no choice but to turn my back on traditional medicine.
I focused on energy and realized, where there is energy, there is electromagnetism. I applied it in my healing process and than something amazing started happening in my life. Suddenly, everything was about electromagmetism. When I realized that crop circles have to do with that as well, I was prompted to look closely into this phenomena and to utilize it in my artwork - once again as a healing process.
Diana Fairbank of Maple Valley, WA- I am from Chicago originally, but lived many places including Washington DC, Northern New York State, Paris, London, the Bahamas, Telluride, CO & Lake Tahoe, before coming to Seattle 15 years ago, then moving to Maple Valley, WA in 2002. Out of all those fabulous places, I picked here to roost. My art has been influenced and informed by all the places I've lived and traveled but, I find I require mountains, water and trees! There is no shortage of natural beauty to photograph around me here. I have been a photographer since childhood, taught by my late father who was also a photographer and painter. He used to take pictures all around our homes in the Bahamas & Chicago, then painted pictures from the photos.
About 12 years ago I began to play with digital art doing another version of the same thing with my photos--using them as a jumping off point for paintings except, in my case, the paints & oils & filters are digital. My interest in all things possible in digital design led me to study graphic & web design/development, where I can incorporate my digital art & photography for fun and my livelihood. You're inside my website right now. I dedicate my efforts in producing this expo in memory of my father, Livingston Fairbank, Jr., who would have loved all this artwork; and our recently departed beloved cousin, Nathalie Bell Brown, of Lakewood, WA, who did much in the last few years to encourage all of my artistic pursuits. See her digital art animation, "Luna's Dream"
For more info on Arts Festival 2007, click logo below
