Life Illustrated
It starts with a blank sheet of paper. Concentrating, while a cascade of ideas release from the lead of a pencil onto the page, is how animation begins.
Animator Scott Claus used to work on one drawing an hour, sometimes for 10 to 12 hours.
Born and raised in Oregon, Claus studied motion pictures and television at the University...
Work hard, play harder
Certain characteristics such as height and hair and eye color are determined by a person’s genetic makeup before birth. It has been argued that personality traits like sarcasm or shyness can be passed from parent to child. For BDSM community member Janice Hartz-Pettit, the apple did not fall far from the tree; genetically speaking or not.
Hartz-Pettit and her mother...
Producer on the run
Juxtaposed against her thin frame and bubbly personality, Racquel Lehrman plays a leading role in theater entertainment. Despite being almost 3,000 miles from New York, she is bringing Broadway to Southern California.
Theater is Lehrman’s greatest passion. Her goal is to help keep the art alive as she runs her own production company in Los Angeles.
She believes in the personable...
Jamming with the Lord
The ambient light glares upon a pearl white drum set arranged on the sound stage encompassed by an array of instruments, while the musicians accumulate to perform a piece. A mocha-skinned man in glasses, tattered jeans and a plain T-shirt strolls over to his drum set looking nonchalant. Devell Riley has played the drums for as long as he...
Corbin’s Monsters
Tucked away in a cramped garage in Calabasas, California, monsters are created. The smell of burnt fuel and melted metal stains the atmosphere. The monsters that leave this space are flame-spitting, ear-splitting, sensory-polarizing devil’s chariots.
Corbin Goodwin, a 25-year-old mechanical engineering major at CSUN, gained notoriety when his first mad creation was featured on the /Drive Channel on YouTube. His...
Louder than Words
Two women, two artists, from two different countries share one common voice.
A voice against injustice and inequality, a voice against sexual assault and domestic violence, a voice, “Louder Than Words.”
Sexual assault is rooted in history. When a land army was victorious, the women were captured and raped. This problem has never disappeared, however, in times of peace, they were...
Smith & Hammer
The hot orange glow of the metal grows brighter by the minute. As soon as it reaches a pale yellow, the iron is ripped from fire and beat into submission. When the scorching metal takes the desired shape, the still-glowing rod is dunked into water, hardening the sizzling material in a cloud of steam.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Phillip Bowling...
Creating the Odd
The exterior is painted a dull red color. The outside walls, chipping, are holding large windows together. The building is more window than wall. If one were to walk by the storefront on a regular day, they might think an abandoned building was situated between a coffee shop and a film studio. But on certain days, this dusty storefront...
Fantastic Oddities
Judging a book by its cover, it looks like they are just playing and running around the studio while Ellie Goulding’s “On My Mind” is playing in the background. These children, wearing just their socks, leggings and tank tops, have their hair tied up, regardless if it’s nicely done, or just in a messy bun. Some of them are...
Guitars for the Stars
Eric “Chaz” Czechanski is one of the only true guitar luthiers in the San Fernando Valley. Working out of his small shop in Los Angeles, Czechanski’s guitar shop is carved into the side of the same complex where the legendary Sound City once stood. He has provided, and continues to provide, a one-of-a-kind service to a clientele, both local...