My Muse Is

In April of 2003, I was a student in Virginia Commonwealth University's Department of Communication Arts and Design. We were given a poster for a department wide project called "My Muse Is" in which we could do whatever we wanted. The poster had blue grid and the title at top in a digital looking typeface. At the bottom, there was a questionnaire with some questions about the future and if you liked grids or not or if you thought MTV graphics were cool or not or if you drank coffee or something like that.


I selected to turn the poster over and work on the plain white back. I painted a picture of Curls with Bugs Bunny and wrote some of the questions given in paragraph form at the bottom. I remember one of my teachers saying that if he stood back and watched the entire gallery, my poster stood out the most... especially because of the hot pink border! Haha! Looking back, I can see how far I've come and how far I have to go. It is good to have this piece as a reminder of my original intent as an artist and a reminder of my love for Bugs Bunny. What's up doc?

Here is what I wrote: My name is Carolyn Belefski. I am graduating in May 2004 with a degree in Communication Arts & Design. I don't want or plan to be a millionaire, but if it happens, I bet I'll be the same person (but with better clothes). I believe a designer can change the world. Grids are useful, but very constraining. For inspiration I go on a walk and go out to see things and watch people. Sometimes I find inspiration from movies and characters. I really love to design characters. The girl posing with Bugs Bunny in this poster is a character I created. Her name is Curls Girl and she is a character in my comic strip, Curls. My Muse is Chuck Jones, who designed many of the Warner Brothers cartoon characters. His work is amazing. I looked back and realized how I got into art and drawing when I was smaller and thought of how much Chuck Jones and cartoons in general influenced me. Chuck Jones was really the first artist name I can remember hearing about and his work "drew" me into the art world. I'm lucky it did because I am happy to be where I am in life right now and it can only get better!

And here is a video I just rediscovered and posted to my YouTube channel of the reception at VCU's Anderson Gallery: