Videos & Reels
Until now my iPad drawings have been living inside AI-generated scenery built from imagination. This time, however, I wanted to try something different and step into a real space myself, and let the viewer watch the drawing come alive.
This video was filmed in the foyer of the Art Department at Smith College. Drawing the figure took me 30 minutes on the iPad. Turning it into this video took almost a month, on and off — tracking the camera’s motion frame by frame so the artwork fits believably (work in progress) in the real space, moving and shifting with the room exactly as if it were really there.
Like my earlier reels, this one isn’t just about showing a finished piece — it’s about bringing the viewer into the process, so they can see how a drawing becomes something more.
Framing Rebecca — The Library (2026) Digital portraiture & spatial animation composite | Runtime: 0:53.
A visual experiment placing life-drawn digital portraiture inside an imagined, atmospheric interior. Set within a dimly lit, historic baroque library, a framed canvas hangs centrally behind a dusted study table and candelabras.
As the camera slowly pushes in toward the framed canvas, the portrait of Rebecca materializes stroke by stroke—progressing from raw contour underdrawing to layered flesh tones, vivid highlights, and rich background color. The piece explores the intersection of traditional portraiture, stroke-recording animation, and ambient virtual architecture, inviting the viewer to witness the emergence of a face within a quiet, contemplative space.
Horse Pull — Tri-County Fair, Northampton, MA (September 2026)
Experimental video study | Runtime: 0:29
A visual motion study documenting the draft horse pull competition at the Tri-County Fair in Northampton. Captured under evening arena lighting, this short piece focuses on the explosive surge of a draft pair as they strain against the weighted sled.
Through temporal layering and trailing motion blur, the piece dissolves the mechanical clarity of the pull into sweeping sweeps of muscle, harness, and earth—transforming raw agricultural power into a dynamic study of force, rhythm, and forward momentum.
Stillness in Motion (2026) Digital painting, spatial animation & composite reel
A visual investigation into the tension between human presence and machine-generated space. Beginning with a life-drawn figure painted on an iPad using Procreate, the piece stages the human form within an imagined interior—an ambient architectural frame where subtle background motions, like drifting leaves or quiet shifts in light, contrast with the painted stillness.
As the figure emerges stroke by stroke across the composition, the work reframes the digital nude not as fleeting screen media, but as a deliberate meditation on gesture, intimacy, and presence, treating artificial intelligence not as the subject, but as an atmospheric collaborator.
Art 2 AI (Version 2) — 2024. Experimental process video | Runtime: 2:14
A process study exploring the recursive translation between hand-drawn digital gesture and generative image models. The piece begins with a life-drawn figure study painted on an iPad using Procreate, shown through a real-time playback of initial line contours and tonal impasto washes.
Once complete, the painting is analyzed by an AI vision-language model to synthesize a dense textual description of its form, pose, and emotional weight. This descriptive prompt is then routed into generative models—including Stable Diffusion 3 and Midjourney—both directly and with targeted keyword shifts, producing an evolving series of reimagined variations that dialogue with the original hand-drawn work.
Videography by Dominique Thiebaut | Runtime: 2:42.
Captured at the Big E Coliseum in September 2024, this video studies the immense power and disciplined coordination of draft horse teams. The piece documents the tension of the hitch, the collective strain against the sled, and the raw kinetic energy of the arena, concluding with layered motion sequences that accentuate the animals’ weight and propulsion.
Pacifico Palumbo Presents His Grey Gardens Paintings (July 2024). Video interview & studio presentation | Runtime: 12:39
A recorded conversation with artist Pacifico Palumbo as he walks through his series of approximately twenty oil paintings inspired by Albert and David Maysles’ iconic 1975 documentary, Grey Gardens.
In the video, Palumbo reflects on his creative process—freezing frames from the original documentary film to serve as photographic studies, interpreting black-and-white archival imagery into vivid color, and exploring the eccentric domestic world of Big Edie and Little Edie Beale in East Hampton. Along the way, he shares personal anecdotes, from photographer Peter Beard’s connection to his partner Michael, to the tragic, theatrical glamour that defines Little Edie’s iconic self-fashioned costumes.
Hilltown Pub Sing at Sena Farm Brewery, Worthington, MA (March 2024). Community documentary & 360° video | Runtime: 5:29
An immersive, observational document of the monthly Hilltown Pub Sing and potluck gathering at Sena Farm Brewery in Worthington, MA. Captured using dynamic wide-angle and 360° perspectives, the piece brings the viewer straight into the circle as voices harmonize across folk ballads, work songs, and drinking tunes.
Layered transitions weave between the cozy, crowded taproom, individual song leaders, and the cool hillside night outside, capturing the shared warmth, spontaneous choruses, and living communal music tradition of the Hilltowns.
Framing Rebecca, Take 2 (2026.) Digital portraiture & generative environmental composite | Runtime: 1:17
A surreal study in permanence and ephemerality, placing live-drawn portraiture directly into a dynamic coastal ecosystem. Staged within an ornate baroque frame resting on wet tidal sand, Rebecca’s portrait materializes brushstroke by brushstroke—unfolding from structural block-in tones to rich, painterly modeling.
As the drawing builds, the synthetic natural environment encroaches: seafoam gently laps against the gilded moulding, starfish and crabs crawl around the borders, and passing shorebirds cast fleeting shadows. When a surging tide finally washes away the frame and dissolves the sand, the hand-drawn portrait holds its ground, persisting through the elements before expanding into full view.