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 Earlier in September I got let go from my full time job. It was a little bit of a shock but I was already planning an exit strategy of my own. I guess the universe thought my timeline was a little too slow and conservative. You just gotta roll with it and take it as it comes. Instead of looking at the things I've lost I am going to look at the opportunities I gain. Read more below... Add Comment  I had the lovely pleasure of working my client Jackie in creating this "tickled pink" wonderland for her daughter Emerson's 1st birthday at the East Bank Club in the riverview room. This is my first kids birthday party and I had a blast! Emme's favorite part of the design was her name in lights. Who wouldn't be attracted to blinking, shiny, feather trimmed letters? Often the family members would take her over near the letters and she would just stare. It's nice that guests of all ages enjoyed the aesthetic :) Want to know how I created some of these pink-a-licious items? Read on for more! After the crash in season three, our fair policies find themselves trapped in a world of rolling blackouts. The narrative of the the party is that the ever gracious, Vice President Davenport, has gathered all of middle management (our guests) for a fundraising party to restore the power. Our production team worked this angle and used this simple story to animate a part of Hartlife for the evening. Our sound designer, DJ Catnip contributed this wonderful soundscape that felt like hollow gilded age music with a brilliant dance backbeat. It truly was the pulse of our party. Our lighting designer, Brianna Johnson, really embraced the outage idea. We, in the world of the party, had too many lamps and not enough power to run all of them at once. This gave us a neat flicker effect and provided movement of light around the space.  Davonte Johnson, our amazing video designer, created the feel of a old time super scratchy film projector being shown to our loyal policies. Our bar featured two coffee style cocktails and our food spread was inspired by the algae supplements our characters endure, clearly ours were far more delicious! All of these visual elements added with the set dressing and layout created a wonderful place to spend a couple of hours supporting and celebrating Our Fair City's Season Four Launch. Read on for more details!
We, at Means of Production, had the pleasure to work with Riveli. Riveli is this AWESOME art+shelving company. We created their display for a tradeshow at McCormick Place. This project had some interesting products that we don't often get to use such as MDO. MDO is plywood with a paper side to it. The paper side helped us get a super smooth finish along with the use of a pneumatic sprayer and patience. It's always nice to stretch my finishing skills. 
 I've finally gotten pictures of the super fun fine art that has been gathering in my studio. I enlisted the assistance of my favorite local photographer, Sebastian. This was a fun experiment for Sebastian and me both since neither of us has photographed fine art in a studio setting. What i've done in the past is find a nice spot of sunlight and I try desperately to keep my hand steady. This was a vast improvement for me! Please if you get a chance check out my fine art tab for all of the lovely new picture of my artwork! If you are interested in purchasing and of the pieces don't hesitate to contact me, s.charaska@gmail.com. Enjoy! Hey All! Today I went with my mom to get her Christmas present from me. I designed her a tattoo. I chatted with her about it and she wanted one that was pretty, delicate and about her kids.
Today I am posting a picture of a 7' x 7' drop I painted for Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Sadly it was cut from their production of Julius Caesar, but not before I finished it. It was nice practice in drop preparation and cartoon style line work. I wouldn't chalk it up to a total loss, they might use it sometime in the future and I had a really fun time painting it!
 If you are one of Our Fair Cities' loyal policies you should take a little time out of your day to explore the image board I've been curating about the world in and around the HartLife tower. The Our Fair City Pinterest board will take you through some icy imagery that informs the way I see the world outside of the tower. Some of the imagery comes from the exterior of formerly burning buildings in the winter to the interior of a thawing meat packing plant in Chicago, to the Antarctic where huge waves are frozen in time. I enjoy sculpting this visual world along with many of our other very talented visual artists. You can check their websites out here... Dann OFC's Visual Art Director
 Spoiler Alert: Julius Caesar Dies Hey All! I have got my fingers in a lot of pies as of late. I am rocking out the freelancing lifestyle while our shop has hit the slowness of February. I have had the joy to work at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre with their props department. I always enjoy working as a props painter. The items I get to paint are often fun and have great back stories that I can illuminate with paint. For Julius Caesar I got to paint a burnt-out car, a hot dog cart that got blown up and rioted around, and a corpse. Fun times all around :) | These Are Creative Times
Steph is originally from the chicagoland area and has been creating in Chicago since 2009.
Steph received her BFA in Scenic Design/Art from the University of Illinois- Urbana. Thanks much to all of my friends and family for their continued support! 
Up Next!
Jan 2014:
-Our Fair City Season 5 Launch Party - hamlet is dead. no gravity. | Red Tape Theatre CategoriesAll ArchivesOctober 2013 |
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