The Girl Has Style.

My son, Hudson, got to be in a music video today! And my sister, Andrea, was the style genius behind the video shoot's wardrobe.

(above 2 pics by Andrew Peters)

The kids looked amazing and I can't wait for the video to come out. Hopefully I can show you!

The day was a fun venture into the movie-making business. It's not quite as glamorous as one would think---lots of standing around in the cold and waiting. It makes you realize how amazingly talented movie-makers are to be able to take all those bits and pieces of footage and weave them into a beautiful film.

(Hudson and one of his little co-stars, Avery).

(before)

And Andrea, being the rockstar that she is, went and got herself a rock star mohawk this week. The girl has guts AND style.

(after)

She inspires me to be a bit more adventurous in my style. I'm feelin the need for a little style re-mix of my own : )

Arian

New Friends!

So the lack of posts this week can be blamed on our new friends ; ) Who can sit alone at a computer when you could be hanging out and getting to know Battle Victorious (aka Todd and Emily, their sweet baby Eva, and their tour nanny Kelli)?? I couldn't!!

Todd and Emily are a super-cute, super-sweet, super-talented, and just plain super, married musical duo touring America right now.  And thanks to a mutual friend (thanks, Richard!) we got to meet and host them while they were here in Cincinnati.

I love hosting out of town guests, especially those who have never been to my city...

...and those who are friggin adorable (Hi, Eva...Hi!...Hi!...Hi!....Hi!) .

We hung out downtown, we hung out in the country, we worked together,  ate together,  stayed out late together...

... and were very, very silly together.

Goooooooooood times.

Family in town this weekend! Plus we are hard at work cranking out a new animated music video--woohoo!! This one's for the kiddies : )

Happy weekend!
Arian

The Antidote

Last week I had a really discouraging conversation (don't worry, it was no one you know) and I just haven't been able to shake it off since then. It was one of those conversations that doesn't just rain on your parade, but leaves you wondering if having a parade was foolish and childish to begin with. Sigh.

So when I walked into Crossroads yesterday morning I was feeling pretty heavy-hearted. And THIS is how the worship service kicked off (watch all 4 mintutes--it gets bigger and better). Freakin beach balls and tire swings and a flash mob and an Owl City sing-a-long complete with 1000's of "fireflies". Perfect. Timing.

The current series is about Playing--- how we were created for work AND play AND rest. And when it comes to our relationship with God, play is invaluable (imagine a relationship with YOUR kids/parents that didn't involve laughing together, playing together, just enjoying being together---it'd be pretty hollow). Play brings our hearts out of those depressing ruts (like dwelling on discouraging conversations). It is good.

Anyway, if this is something that resonates with you, I suggest listening to the message here. For me, I'm feeling the need to really meditate on this all week and be intentional about play.

Step 1: This morning's date with the sweetest, funniest two-year-old. One whose hair laughs in the face of gravity.
journaling and an iced soy latte (for me, not him)
spontaneous clapping
silly faces
and finger dances.

On with the parade : )

Now go play,
Arian

Rain Dance

A deluge interrupted our quiet Saturday in Daniel's hometown and "mommy, can I just touch the rain" turned in to a full on puddle-splashing, mud-flinging, totally soaked-through afternoon in the rain.


I love, love these pictures of Hudson...following the muddy water stream down the long driveway into the quite, rainy fog. So poetic : )


Speaking of poetic, have any of you seen the Hulu show Legion of Extraordinary Dancers? It's so beautiful. I've watch several of the episodes over and over again....like this one. All the episodes are shot sooooo beautifully. It's got me seriously considering taking dance lessons : )



Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Arian : )

Josh Garrels!

"Josh Garrels!" is exactly what I named the folder on my desktop where I've been storing the art files for this show poster because we love Josh Garrels music and I'm was so happy to get this gig!! If you're anywhere near Portland, Oregon you should go to this show on our behalf ; )

Annnd we've got secret plans to work with him on a BIGGER project toward the end of this year which will be AWESOME!
Daniel and I had such a sweet date today--- the "coffee shop/sketchbook" date is our FAV and we came home feeling so inspired! LOTS of good stuff on the horizon--- t-shirts, music videos, more art. YAY!!

Have a great weekend!
Arian : )

Conditions Are Perfect

I love rainy days. Not sure why. But they always make me feel more creative. And I don't feel guilty slowing down a bit on a rainy day, just staying at home being cozy with the boys and my sketchbook and good music. Speaking of, just downloaded the new Sky Sailing album. I love it. Adam Young music makes me want to frolic barefoot in open fields, cut out strands of paper hearts, and drink cocoa while day dreaming about butterflies and puppies : ) : ) : )

(a little container gardening)
(the view from the back door)

And here's a little sneak peek at a show poster I was working on late last night! I'll hopefully be able to show you the finished product later this week!

Arian : )

Behind the Scenes

Hello, hello! Just wanted to show you some of my artwork that went into our recent little Sky Sailing/Owl City video that the Universal Records people hired us to do. The illustrations are a combo of watercolor, ink pen, and Photoshop. All the moving pieces are on separate layers in the Photoshop file so that Daniel could import them into Adobe After Effects and bring them to life! And the music was edited by my talented brother-in-law.


I named the boat "The Seabird".... a little shout out to our friends ; )




And you can't really see it in the video, but I put our initials (Daniel's and mine) in the sand on the beach. Awwww : )



And there have been some questions in the comments on YouTube about the "subliminal messages" in this shot. It's actually the back of an old tobacco sale contract I found at my grandparents' house that's signed by a distant relative. I love incorporating old textures and such into my illustrations : )

Hope you liked this little behind-the-scenes art tour!

Arian : )

Crazy-Talented

I played around editing a few more of the pictures from last week's photo shoot with my crazy-talented musician cousin, Clint. I'm definitely an amateur photographer and don't really know what I am doing but it sure is fun!



Speaking of crazy-talented musicians, if you have two ears and a heart you should know and love and buy Josh Garrels music because it is awesome.





We here in the Armstrong household have been big fans for a while and are super-pumped to start working on merging our art and his music on a fun project in the near future. Can't wait!

- Arian : )