We did it!

With 54 minutes left of our kickstarter.com fundraiser, we have made our goal -- with change!!!  We asked for $3,000, and you helped us reach just over 100% at $3,026.  We'll be sure to spend that extra $26 well -- probably on beer.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our Bohemian Book Project.  Amia and I cannot wait to get over to Bohemia and start collecting materials, creating collages and still lifes, taking photos, and writing the story for our book.

We are both extremely passionate about finding new ways to talk about taking care of the environment and appreciating the land around us.  In the Czech Republic, there is a rich storytelling history, and by modernizing a traditional folktale we hope to show children that the earth provides us a myriad of wonders from the practical, like food, to the abstract, like natural beauty.

If you would like to donate to our Bohemian Book Project, please visit Amia's website. There are rewards for every level of support:

• Pledge of $5 or more:
• an e-mail from us thank you for your generous donation!
  
• Pledge of $5 or more:
• the above + a postcard sent from the Czech Republic with an update on the project!

• Pledge of $50 or more:
• the above + your name included in the acknowledgements in the book!

• Pledge of $100 or more:
• the above + an original illustration created by us while in the Czech Republic!

• Pledge of $250 or more:
• the above + a signed copy of the book!

• Pledge of $500 or more:
• the above + a special thank you message and an original illustration from the book!

• Pledge of $750 or more:
• the above + hand-bound, limited edition signed copy of the book!

• Pledge of $1000 or more:
• the above + a commissioned art piece

Thank you again for supporting this important and exciting project!

24 hours to go!

We only have 4% left and only 24 hours to go!

Please help us reach the end of our goal at kickstarter.

Amia and I are really excited about how close we are, but just need a tiny bit more of help to finish.  Thank you in advance!

http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/bohemianbookproject

A Bohemian Tale

Click here for an update on my Bohemian Book Project!  It's a new film telling the tale of two girls named Amia and Miriam who ventured on a kickstarter project together.  It's quite a wondrous tale.

Our Bohemian Book Project only has ONE MORE WEEK on kickstarter to raise funds.  We are so grateful to everyone who has already contributed, but we still have about 50% more to go!  The rule is, if we don't make all our funds in 30 days, we don't get to keep anything at all.  So we super need your support to help us make our goal!

The reason this project is so exciting is that we're using folklore to talk about current issues surrounding the environment.  Amia and I are big fans of nature, and we're looking for new and innovative ways to talk about how we can preserve, care for, and better understand the world around us.  The Bohemian Book Project allows us to combine storytelling with mixed-media illustrations to share our love for the earth.

The money we raise through kickstarter will go towards the materials and travel costs for the beginning stages of our project.  Travel costs?  Oh yes, our project begins in BOHEMIA (it's a real place, we promise).  We're interested in the Czech Republic's rich history of storytelling, where fairytales have a unique blend of morality, fantasy, and absurdity.  To Bohemia we will go to explore the local lore!  We're excited to steep ourselves in a culture that so treasures stories and the imagination.

Also, while in Bohemia, Amia and I will begin collecting recycled and reclaimed materials for our illustrations.  They will be a combination of still lifes, photographs, drawings, and collages.  It is important to us that we discover our materals while in the Czech Republic, so that the illustrations in our book have the same origin as the story we tell.

So please please read more about our project on kickstarter, watch our newest video, and lend us a couple buckaroos!

Remember, we only have one week left!

An Update on the Bohemian Book Project

We're almost 1/2 way to our goal of $3,000, but we only have 10 days left to finish!  We appreciate everyone's help so far, as even a couple dollars is amazing support for this project.  But, with 10 days left and $1535 to go, we really need to start begging.  So:

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP TWO LITTLE ARTISTS

FROM BROOKLYN BECOME REAL BOHEMIANS!!!

 

find more photos and information on the Bohemian Book Project:

a new video and updates on the project

the original kickstarter video and project plan

The Bohemian Book Project

My friend Amia and I are collaborating on the Bohemian Book Project, an illustrated children's book that explores art and the environment through a modernized folk tale from the Czech Republic.  We both studied at ArtMill last year, an internation arts center and sustainable farm in Bohemia, and we have been invited back to teach art and drama this summer.  We are really excited for this amazing opportunity, and while there we hope to begin work on our book!  We'll collect found objects and recycled/reclaimed materials from around the farm, talk with locals about the history of Bohemia, take photographs of the countryside, and immerse ourselves in the rich storytelling traditions of the region.  The book's illustrations will be a combination of photography, collage, and drawings inspired by the Bohemian landscape. 

We have made a little film explaining our project and asking for your help to fund it.  We have 30 days to raise $3,000 (the cost of two plane tickets to the Czech Republic), and we're already a 1/3 of the way there!  Please follow this link to find out more about the BOHEMIAN BOOK PROJECT.  There are rewards for every stage of donation, and please please tell all your friends!

a new project

Friends,
I am embarking on a new project!  This one is a collaboration with a fellow artist and friend, and it involves travel, storytelling, art, and the environment.  Details are coming soon.

Also, two years of grad school have come to an end.  I'd say it sped by, but there were plenty of moments that dragged on for years.  The thesis is written and defended, and I'm free to go off and running towards the rest of my life.  What that means, however, befuddles me.

Until the launch of the new project!