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January 25, 2009

Gratitude: Balloons

grateful_balloons.jpg

Really, can there be anything more awesome than balloons? Perhaps cupcakes and cute little Asian babies, but balloons are right up there as well.


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About eight years ago, during my freshman year at college, our film professor played The Red Balloon, the most delightful short film from 1956 by French director Albert Lamorisse. The vibrant imagery of the film's central characters, a young Parisian boy and his sentient red balloon, may just be one of my biggest visual inspirations since that very day. The story embodies all I want my artwork, and life, to be: simple beauty contrasting with the growing shades of gray of the world. Red against Parisian gray; childhood innocence versus the needle of a hurtful adulthood.

I invite you all to watch this short, it's only 34 minutes long, and apparently this link has the entire thing.


{Photo by the super talented revivify} Pink balloons in fields of gold are the bestest.


balloonsmypapercrane.jpg
Photo by my paper crane}

What are some of YOUR favorite things?

Posted by starmagn at January 25, 2009 01:46 PM

Comments

I think a "part 2" of the Red Balloon Film was made fairly recently. Do you have Netflix? Maybe you can find it. I so wanted to watch it (there's an indie theather in Nashville called Belcourt, I've seen a few movies there, it's awesome!).

Posted by: Stitch at January 26, 2009 11:35 AM

For Valentines Day, I secretly just want a huge huge bouquet (hmmmm...maybe this word applies here) of pink balloons!! How can I drop hints to get that??

Posted by: Mesh and Lace at January 27, 2009 12:52 AM

One of my daughter's favorite books is called "Emily's Balloon." Simple and so beautiful.

Posted by: Kimberly at January 27, 2009 01:00 AM

I watched that movie when I was a child in school. I remember thinking it was so boring. I bet I would have a different appreciation for it now.

Posted by: Colleen (Silly Panda) at January 27, 2009 05:04 PM

Balloons are my new favorite thing. They're popping up anywhere. Wow, that was a bad joke. Also, I love little Asian babies.

Posted by: Melanie at January 28, 2009 12:16 AM

Whitney is on my LJ. Is the world getting smaller, or is Portland just that small?

Posted by: Josh at March 4, 2009 05:32 AM

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