the how and why behind multimedia animation

Why Multimedia Animation?

Why do I create multimedia animation? Bill Viola, video artist, talks about the importance of asking why — why an artist creates a work of art.  He talks of how we have gotten away from asking “why” questions. Since the industrialization of our world, we have become preoccupied with asking “how” instead. This video animation gives a glimpse of both the how and the why I create these animations. I find inspiration in the balancing of movement, sound, image and word. Animation frees me to experiment and play with these elements. Animation allows me to dance in the light.

an edited, sepia photo from the ground looking up into the lit sky of cloud and sun, where two glider planes are soaring
into the light
@marymcdonald.ca

mobile art multimedia animation — dancing in light

This mobile art multimedia animation was created by using a number of apps.  I used various mobile photo and video editing tools within those apps. App smashing for art!

mobile art multimedia animation

Featured in this video is the sculpture, dance of life, that I created while studying at the Instituto de Bellas Artes, in San Miguel de Allende. I traveled to San Miguel with my sister, Anne McDonald, after being evacuated from Kinshasa, Zaire where I was teaching at The American School of Kinshasa (TASOK).

This sculpture was my response to the grief I experienced from witnessing the political upheaval in that beautiful country in Africa and losing so suddenly the home and community I loved there.

Dance of life, dancing in light.

My sister, Anne McDonald is a writer. We have traveled far and well together. On the plane home, I carried my sculpture, Anne carried a beautiful vase, and above us in the luggage compartment was a donkey piñata ….but that’s another story.

photograph of artist and writers, Mary McDonald and Anne McDonald
Mary McDonald and Anne McDonald, Mexico, 1991.

A Photographer’s Inspiration — Hitting Close to Home

Most of my photographs are taken here in my hometown,  London, Ontario. In fact, most of them were taken on my daily walks in the small patch of woods in front of my home. Before the woods, there is a green space with a large, old oak tree with a deep depression around it. As …

And then there were two….

Our first concert!
T’was the Night Before St. Paddy’s
When All through The House….
Mary McDonald and Kelly Murdock performing an evening of Irish songs featuring covers from: The Dubliners, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Sandy Denny, Loreena McKennitt, and Katie Baggs
Friday, March 16th (St. Paddy’s Eve)
 509 Teeple Terrace
Doors Open at 7:00 p.m.
Concert from 7:30 – 8:30
Refreshments to Follow
No Cover
Donations at the Door ($5 Suggested)

Parking on south side of Teeple Terrace, Old Wonderland Road or plaza lot at corner of wonderland and Teeple Terrace.

Introducing…

Introducing Mary McDonald, fine art multimedia artist. I am committed to telling stories in ways that cross disciplines and mix the arts. I am fascinated by movement, drawn to images, stilled in sound, and inspired by words.

I have always been a writer. I have dabbled in visual arts. I discovered a passion for animation, in particular, fine art multimedia animation through the graduate, Master’s of Educational Technology (MET) I am pursuing through an international, online program offered at the University of British Columbia. I began creating animations and artistic video for projects for my courses — twisting assignments to suit my passions and desire to create.

Introducing Fine Art Multimedia Artist -- Mary McDonald, showing a collage of photos: Mary McDonald's father's Saturn steel-neck guitar, animated avatar, collage of photos submitted for CAIP, mystery musician photo of reflection of Mary McDonald taking selfie holding guitar in front of her, Mary McDonald on beach in P.E.I., dance of life relief sculpture by Mary McDonald, Mary's Alto 1713 travel trailer at campsite at Kouchigoubuac National Park, wildflower seed wish, reflection in puddle of Mary McDonald with her Border Collie, Arrow
fine art multimedia artist — Mary McDonald marymcdonald.ca