Harebrained News is the blog of Maija Graham, an artist, educational media developer, graphic designer, and schemer.
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By Maija, on November 16th, 2009
 Click here to see the four versions of the drag-and-drop exercise
Drag and drop exercises have been used frequently in the online courses I have collaborated on because they can be used to quickly self-test knowledge with simple mouse interaction. For the SAIT Polytechnic programs I was working on, we had several different kinds of circumstances requiring drag-and-drop functionality, so I created a script that can behave in a number of different ways, depending upon the value of variables contained in an external XML document. For the types of behaviour not involving original diagrams or icons, Flash wouldn’t have to be opened at all in order to change the behavior and content of the drag-and-drop. All of the content is contained in the XML document and ActionScript generates the entire interactive dynamically. These were displayed in a static HTML page, but with a little modification to the ActionScript, this script could also create drag-and-drop exercises dynamically from a Content Management System.
Continue reading Here be Drag ‘n’ Drops »
By Maija, on November 14th, 2009
 Click to see additional views tad, 2009
Mixed media
5cm X 5cm X 20cm
This was made for the Elephant Artist Relief fundraiser entitled Spawn. I was inspired to make this piece by the name of the auction and by a length of copper pipe I had left over from an earlier project. The title is tad as in “tadpole” or “a small amount” or “a small child”. Nothing to do with “Thaddeus”.
By Maija, on November 14th, 2009
 
Maija & David, circa 1976, 2004
Sculpey, metal armature
5cm X 5cm X 5cm
Aw, aren’t my brother and I cute. This piece was a gift for my mom for her Christmas village. We are to scale with some of her figures, but much larger than some other figures, so in those parts of the village (a large Christmas County, really) we rule as mighty giants.
I chose to spare my brother’s dignity by not including the toy carriage he was pushing in the photo I used for reference. Except that I’ve just published the photo on the intarnets for the whole world to see.
 Sorry, Dave!
By Maija, on November 14th, 2009
 
Cool marbles! 2004
Mixed media
10cm X 10cm X 20cm
In elementary school, instead of written book reports we sometimes made shoebox dioramas. I enjoyed making them (in lumpy plasticine) so I thought I’d revisit the craft for a Truck Gallery fundraiser auction. The scene is inspired by a memory I have of a general store in a tiny prairie town that I visited as a child. I recall that they had taxidermy supplies, and I wished that I had marbles that looked like eyeballs.
The piece is lit with ambient light.
By Maija, on November 14th, 2009
 Click to see additional views 2004
Sculpey, metal armature, metal bottle stopper, acrylic paint
20cm X 13cm X 13 cm
This piece was made for a Stride Gallery fundraiser auction themed on Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. Hieronymus had an aversion to drink and fun of any kind, so a wine bottle stopper seemed fitting.
By Maija, on November 14th, 2009
 Click to see an additional view
Hellboy Junior, 2004
Sculpey, metal armature, acrylic paint
5cm X 5cm X 4cm
Hellboy Junior is Bill Wray’s alternate universe version of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy at a young age (in diapers, but with the mouth of a 40-year-old longshoreman). Bill Wray is known for his contributions to The Ren & Stimpy Show and Mad Magazine, so you can extrapolate from there what kind of character Hellboy Junior is. My friend, Tad Stones, has also doodled his own gags in the Hellboy Junior universe, putting his own touch on the character. So this is Hellboy Junior, as Tad Stones draws him, sculpted by me, as a gift for Tad.
The figure is quite tiny. For scale, see him hanging out with Guillermo del Toro below.
All photos courtesy of Tad Stones.
Hellboy Junior is a trademark of Mike Mignola.
By Maija, on November 14th, 2009
 Click to see additional views , 2004
Sculpey, metal armature, acrylic paint
15cm X 12cm X 13cm
This is where the sculpting began. Prior to this piece, my figurative modelling experience was limited to some ceramics and a little bit of silver-casting, but nothing detailed. A friend of mine in California was struck with a sudden illness and left with large hospital bills. Since he’s a Hellboy fan, an e-bay auction was held on the theme of Hellboy to raise funds for him. While at the art supply store to pick up supplies for a painting, I saw Sculpey. I had heard about it, and was intrigued by the possibilities, so I bought a box. When I started playing around with it, I found that I was able to sculpt things that looked like things, so I made this piece instead of a painting.
Hellboy is a trademark of Mike Mignola.
By Maija, on November 13th, 2009
By Maija, on November 13th, 2009
 Click to see a larger image The Picnic, 2006
Digital
For the Threadless t-shirt design competition, Fast Food Nation
Based on a similar awkward situation of the same name painted by Edouard Manet in 1862-1863.
By Maija, on November 13th, 2009
 Click to see a larger image
Gesture of Protection, 2006
Digital
For the Threadless t-shirt design competition, Peace and Hate
Yes, Rudyard Kipling’s Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was one of my favourite stories as a child.
The baby in this image is holding his hand in the Buddhist mudrâ or hand gesture of “protection”, also known as the “Gesture of Fearlessness”.
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