Beecher Stowe (Hartford Travel Series)

Beecher Stowe (Hartford Travel Series)

Design Details

  • Created by Katherine Barnett
  • Tools to create art and speed video: Adobe After Effects | Drawing & Picture of Harriet Beecher Stowe House| Sony Vegas | Paintshop Pro | Debut Video Capture | Windows Movie Maker |
  • Song in video: Apollo by Mystery Mammal

This design features Harriet Beecher Stowe’s House, located in Hartford, CT. You can find the house at 77 Forest St in Hartford. Next to Mark Twain’s House.

One of the most beautiful things about the journey I’m on is learning more about history. I’ll be honest and say I never heard of Harriet Beecher Stowe. I definitely heard of Mark Twain. When I started planning the trip to Harford, one of the popular sites listed was her house, which was next to Mark Twain. I thought at the time it was perfect since I can take pictures of both houses. I started to look for more information and she had a very interesting life. I won’t go into too much detail. I will say that I should have known more about her and I feel a bit silly for not knowing. It’s wonderful to learn more about life and history. I am incredibly thankful to be on this journey. I want to learn more and each new place gives me that opportunity.

One thing, I will probably never forget is what happened when I took the picture. I called for uber before I took the pictures. I was heading to Blue Back Square and it was getting late. I wanted to take photos before sunset. I was thinking, the house was just a few feet from me. I just finished taking photos of the Mark Twain house. When I called for an uber, it said it would take only three minutes to get to me. I immediately panicked because I wanted to take at least 3 to 5 photos and they use to take longer. So… I sprinted towards the house. I thought the entrance to the house was facing the street I was on. However, the entrance was around the corner where I was. I ran towards the end of the block. There’s a small distance between the house and the pavement. I ran upwards between trees, turned left, and then I saw the entrance. I really loved the structure and I was able to get a perfectly centered shot but I only had a minute to get back to where I was when I called the uber so I had to run back. Luckily, I made it back in time right before the driver showed up. Looking back, I thought it was funny to me.

I made two different versions of this design. I really like them both. Towards the end of the design process, I felt something was missing. So… I played around with rotating mirror. At first, I was a bit hesitant because I didn’t want the house to be unrecognizable. However, I found a great angle in rotating mirror that put all the pieces together for the design. You can still see the house. I like the colors and the texture is almost perfect.

A few days ago, I was thinking there was a good amount of pressure for this design because it’s a big number for me as an artist. I created lots of designs but this one is made for my 150th speed art video. A big number! An ultimate achievement for me is to reach 1000. Now, I know that’s a lot. I’m not expecting to hit that number anytime soon. It’s just a benchmark that I would love to reach before the end of my life. I hope I am able to reach this number. 500 is the halfway point and I’m close to 250 which is half of that number. I definitely think it’s achievable if I’m able to live long enough to reach it. In this world, you never know what might happen at any given moment. I do know that if I’m able to reach 1000 videos, I’m going to have a huge party to celebrate. Hopefully, I’ll be living in Paris by that point. Or someplace that I absolutely love…

Well, I made a rash decision. I deleted the Art Promoter Group. I’m sad about it but I can’t save it. I don’t have the time. I’m already behind in creating the Hartford album. I have a huge time management problem. Doesn’t help that I only have 3 to 4 hours during the week to work on this site. I know it’s an excuse but someone made a comment in the group that really hit a nerve. Someone suggested doing things to save the group and each one of those things I did do before I took my very long hiatus from this website. Things I just don’t have the time to do anymore. I would like to create something that could help other artists showcase their work. What I would love to do is rebuild my other website and update my website tutorials. I think it might be helpful. I have another idea but it’s going to take some time to implement. I won’t mention what I really want to do but I think it’s going to be epic if I’m able to achieve it. I will… I just need to manage my time better. I’m also going to delete the podcast. It’s not a good decision, I know…. but I want to do something different. I would love to do an audio journal of my travels. It does sound similar to a podcast but I’m only going to post episodes during my travels. I don’t want to delete the recordings I made while I was in Hartford. I’m not sure how I’m going to do this but I will figure out something.

Well… have to go. Hope you love the design.

January 2019: Thumbnail features the full version of Beecher Stowe.

Katherine