Well having written of my life in several volumes, I would have considered this nigh on impossible but after attending a workshop with BBC Southern Radio last week, I have changed my mind. It was a long arduous day and condensing anything from your life to 250 words meant picking one solitary event that meant something to you and spoke a thousand words.
My subject was violence in the home, and how that can have a profound effect on children involved, leaving everyone with haunting memories. Amazing that so few words can portray so much……………………………in peace, Janet
Janet on April 17th 2007 in Creative Thinking
I started painting 6 years ago. I’d had this romantic notion of being a painter but now the time had come, I didn’t actually have a clue what I was going to paint!
I was given a book, one of those huge hard backed ones full of beautiful glossy photographs of African women. They were decorated with fabulous jewellery. I decided to try and paint one of these women. I was really fascinated by the tiniest beads and the repetition of the strands. It seemed that by repeating the same object several times, they somehow took on a different meaning.
I had a big problem painting from photographs. Not only were these copyrighted but it felt like I was cheating. My parents had discouraged me from becoming an artist because I’d spent most of my childhood copying pictures. They felt that this was not showing true talent or skill. I don’t really agree with this, it’s a different art form, but for me, I wanted to be original. I also wanted to have a message, not just paint for the sake of painting. Continue Reading »
Cathy on April 15th 2007 in Creative Thinking
Its 7.58 am on a Saturday. Normally I like to have a lie in on a Saturday to get some rest for the week ahead. But today, like yesterday I am up before 7 as I am waiting for a delivery. I hate waiting for things, but above all I really hate waiting for deliveries. You see the postal service around here is crazy! They just pop round when they feel like it, and you can guarantee they will try to deliver your parcel the moment you walk away from the front door as you need to go to the toilet or get a drink. It’s as if they know.
Ok, I am in full on moan mode. Its something I have to do now and then to let off some steam (many members from the Voodoochilli forum will know this). But there is a reason I am moaning here and writing it down. When I studied illustration often we were set specific projects to illustrate, for example they might have said we had to do a 3 piece triptych based on communicating an idea taken from a topical piece of news. These sorts of projects were relatively easy to get your head around and were reserved mostly for the first and second years of study. The third year however was based on self directed study, meaning that we would have to find our own subjects and inspiration to work on. I happened to be interested in outsider art and mental illness and it made great material to work with, and nearly everyone picked subjects that somehow related to their own interests. We essentially illustrated ourselves. Continue Reading »
Harry on April 14th 2007 in Articles, Creative Thinking
