The Story of Donna K. And The Cutest Clay Dress Ever!

Donna K. I think she made that shirt.

My fabulously talented friend Donna K. just participated in an art/literary combo project that resulted in the creation of the cutest claymation dress ever. The project is called Single Sentence Animation and it's produced by the progressively hip literary journal Electric Literature, which publishes its issues in each and every way (via paper, Kindle, iPod, Tweet, etc.) effectively utilizing the Interwebs and new technology without bemoaning the state of the printed word. The Single Sentence project teams a writer with an animator and asks one to bring visual life to the other's work. Donna's piece is based on a sentence by Lydia Davis. It's about cows and it's equal parts cute and intriguing:



How wonderful are the cow thought bubbles? Randy and hungry, that's all that really matters, isn't it? Also, I'm not kidding when I say I want that clay dress. I love the stripes.

So, initially I was just going to show you Donna's piece above, but why stop there? The girl--ahem, woman--is full of talent. Her art is homespun and seriously handmade; from the stop motion projects she scripts, sculpts, scores, and films; to the paper pieces she puts together with old magazine photos and hand-set typeface. I'm such a fan of it all.

A selection of Donna's works on paper.

Donna is currently working on a project with her boyfriend/partner in crime Brent Green which involves a giant set that they've built by hand in the backyard of their barn in the woods in Pennsylvania. I can't wait to see the finished product. In fact, I can't wait to see the thing in progress. Donna keeps telling me amazing stories about their shooting adventures (like say, "There are ten little kids in the front yard fishing in holes we dug and stocked," or, "I'm on stilts!") and I keep threatening to show up on set. If only it weren't in The Middle of Nowhere, PA, then I'd be there all the time. Until I can make the trek, I have Donna's Flickr Stream to keep me company. Thank God for modern technology! Here are some Donna short film pieces, which all make me want wings:







She's good, right? The best part: She's sweet as pie.

All images are Donna's work and can be found on her Flickr Photostream.