On Friday night I went to see 'The Rum Diary', starring Johnny Depp. It was based on the book by Hunter S. Thompson, so had a very druggy drunk induced rambley story line (A bit of a 'Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas' vibe), but was accompanied by the amazing decor, scenery and style of Puerto Rico in the 1950s.
Think: men in collard shirts, ties, leather shoes & panama hats, Outdoor bars with string lights, remote beach shack cafes, smoking cigars, shot glasses of rum, by the sea. Cock fighting, run down deteriorating interiors, classic 1950s cars & vehicles that are lucky to be running at all. Then mix it with this beautiful tropical paradise, glistening beaches, long winding roads with lush jungle & palms,
This prompted an idea to create some water colour patterns - for tropical lush textiles - but ended up more of a play with greens & different jungle leaves.
A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend about her plans for the future, as she has recently made some big changes in her life and is about to head off in a new direction. She was talking about the sacrifices she was making for her future and that they had to be made. She was talking about the importance of being true to herself and needing to follow her dreams/passions and that she thought that people who weren't true to themselves lived a tortured life.
For me - I need to be creative - and I don't feel like myself until I'm drawing and painting and being expressive! I also have a deep longing for travel & adventure. What are your priorities? Family? Travel? Following your passion?
It takes a lot of courage to be yourself. I have been thinking a lot lately about my passion for creating art and there is definitely a lot of fear holding me back from making it into work. Confidence, skill, MONEY! I was thinking that I would like to interview other artists that I admire and find out how they are coping with the very same thing. I wonder: Do they have part time jobs? Are they scared? How is it working for them? I love this section on Etsy of inspiring success stories for Etsy sellers called 'Quit your day job'.
Saturday I went to a workshop at the SLQ - The Edge, run by the lovely ladies from Greedy Hen - Katherine Brickman & Kate Mitchell. (I kind of put them on the spot here! Thanks so much to Greedy Hen for being good sports!)
I am a big fan of Greedy Hen’s work & collaboration with musicians on Film clips, Album Art & Posters, create art for exhibition & even dabble in fashion. This is basically what I dream of doing.
Greedy Hen make magical Film Clips that are intuitive, creative, experimental and raw – where everything is hand made, using minimal digital effects. See their ShowReel below:
Go see the Greedy Hen website: http://www.greedyhen.com and look at more of their beautiful work!
The workshop was really interesting for me coming from a background in animation as apposed to Greedy Hen coming from a fine art background. I love that their film making/stop motion practices find experimental & non-digital techniques to create different effects. It leaves the audience wondering how it was possibly made!? I also loved the fact that not coming from an animation background they break so many “rules” and find the beauty in mistakes. This is what I love about animating and is the reason that I don’t have much of a desire to work in an animation studio. I had so much fun playing with craft materials and space and collage that so many new ideas have come to mind! I’m really keen to get back into some animation.
My little diorama set made by my group & myself.
Another thing that I took away from the workshop was getting to ask about the business side of things. I was really excited to hear that Greedy Hen is Katherine & Kate’s main source of work. They also spoke about how everyone has those embarrassing day jobs that they don’t really talk about and how terrifying it is to quit your day jobs and rely on your business. And that it continues to be scary & a struggle, but that they love what they do. This was extremely comforting to me to know that it was ok to have so much fear and that I’m not expected to feel relaxed and easy-going about the concept of doing it myself in the future. I always have this idea that artists who are brave enough to go freelance and rely on their own businesses are so confident and relaxed about the fact that they don’t have a predictable job.
It was really inspiring to meet them and hear their story.
And here is a little digital collage continuing in a similar vein. I played around with some water colour mountains. I'd like to take this further soon...
On the way home from the workshop there was an incident.
Lets call it: The CAMERA TRAIN FIASCO of 2012!!!
It’s a fairly predictable title.
I left my Cannon EOS 500D camera on the train. I was talking on the phone and picked up my handbag, but not my camera! IDIOT!
And I didn’t realize until 4 hours later! After making dinner and watching Fantastic Mr Fox. In a panic I did 20 laps of the house tearing things apart. A gecko fell on my head, adding to the panic. I called translink straight away and after being redirected a few times was able to contact someone who would find out if a camera had been found. Then it was an agonizing sweaty wait for half an hour. IT WAS FOUND! So then on Sunday instead of attending Day 2 of Greedy Hen workshop – I spent it trekking out to Ipswich train station (at the end of the line) where my camera was found. I would like to mention a big thank you to my caring and supportive lover Shane Hannan for offering to take me to Ipswich to pick it up! When I collected my camera I was told that they had found it on the ramp at the train station. SO - Someone had taken it OFF the train and then dropped it in paranoia (or stupidity like myself) on the train ramp. I’M SO LUCKY. I need my camera for everything. It is a serious part of my life.
Finally – this weekend I have fallen IN LOVE with foxes. Yes, that’s right. I can’t get enough foxes in my life. I spent the weekend looking at images & youtube videos of foxes and even watched my favourite film ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’.
Here are some of my favourites:
Wild foxes jumping on a trampoline: http://youtu.be/c8xJtH6UcQY
Fox eats a biscuit & then runs off into the wilderness: http://youtu.be/KAMOmk2SQTY
Inspired by this weekend (and foxes), I've had a little confidence boost which has prompted this Motivational Poster #2.
Let this fox be a reminder to you: have confidence, be proud of who you are and what you are trying to do with your life!
