making things

So many times I remember how much everything arises from a hand-drawn animation. Scribble by scribble, page by page, saving moment by moment. A tiny, incremental change, added to other tiny, incremental changes, saved and spliced together to create the movement forward.

When I create an animation with GIF images, I'm always aware of the limitations of the skills I bring to bear--but also aware that the biggest limitations are time and attention. If I chose to give anything the same amount of focus that I give to this or that, then I could perhaps animate a village.

I never counted myself as a railroad buff, but I liked the tiny trains of the gauge called "N". Everything in miniature appears larger than life. I love the way the trees look like trees, because they are too small to look like pale, wiry green imitations.

Bonsai shares a secret with model railways. Everything arises from the illusion of size--derived from perspective. A rock stands in for a mountain. A dish becomes a plateau. Perhaps somewhere a Heaven of smallish but workable intentions rises to meet the ascending angels of small but sufficient effort.

Tomorrow I figure out a small, good thing I can do. Then, the next day, another.