Jeremy Rourke is the kind of artist we love. He follows what inspires him, which in this case is stop-motion animation and music, teaching himself what he needs to get there and along the way producing great work that inspires others. One of his movies, Out to See, places cutouts of assorted figures (a man in an overcoat, a ship, a truck, owls, old-timey bicyclists, fish) in modern-day San Francisco. The song is a mixture of up-tempo and melancholy; Rourke reflects this dichotomy in his images by placing emotive characters into ever-changing scenery that is always surprising, yet (despite its fast pace) never feels hurried. Did we mention he writes and performs the music too? Rourke was among our finalists for a $1,500 Masterminds Grant. He was not among the winners, yet now he says he has "given (him)self the grant," purchasing photography books, a new camera, and software to further his own abilities. "It's been great and exhausting," he says. As it should be.