Tracey Chan

Music Monday: Art Inspired

2012-01-30T06:30:00.000-04:00

I haven't done Music Monday forever, but I got a smattering of inspiration from my unofficial big sis Mandy. I think this song may be one of my new favourites. It's not the most inspiring theme but it's tragically beautiful, involves nudity and paint. Really, what more could you ask for?

I've been in love with this Avi Buffalo song called "Summer Cum" for a while and only just decided to listen to more. I found this gorgeous video - cute and pretty, just what you might need for a Monday morning. Enjoy!

Another musician pal Jeremy, led me to Patrick Watson to me because I asked for deeply emotive overwhelming recommendations. Needless to say, this is so me. I absolutely love both this video and song.

Feature Friday: BlueMangrove

2012-01-27T11:30:00.000-04:00

"Man's greatness lies in his decision to be stronger than his condition.

And if his condition is unjust, he has only one way of overcoming it,

which is to be just himself." - Albert Camus

Maria-Victoria Malela - Green Lady (Self-Portrait in St. Lucia), 31 x 40 cm, oil & acrylic, 2012

BlueMangrove (Maria-Victoria Malela) is a self-taught artist, traveller, writer, sound engineer, producer and composer based in France. Now more focused on fine art, she is making her way through an interesting journey of longing, questioning, and a search for identity. She has a rich cultural heritage and a limitless passion, making her artfully told stories, whether on canvas, in music or in writing, infused with beauty and soul. We discuss her story, a new painting, Green Lady (Self-Portrait in St. Lucia), completed this week (hooray!), her thoughts on creativity and a bit of her music. I am excited to connect with this amazing young woman.

On Skin & Travel
She was born in the Kharkiv, Ukraine, grew up in Brazzaville, Congo, and lived in Germany and France. At 21 she embarked on her first solo trip to the Caribbean: Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, Barbados then Trinidad - in two weeks. She says, "It was exciting and I did it all over again a couple months later that same year. Since then, I have been to other places like the UK, Belgium, Morocco and recently the Bahamas. The good thing when you are conscious that you come from two totally different cultures is that you are extremely open and curious about all the other cultures, at least in my case."
Her mixed raced heritage offers interesting insight to her art and life. She notes, "My fascination with the Caribbean started as a question on identity. I chose Trinidad as a starting point - I wanted to figure out what it feels like to be in a place where so many people from so many different cultural backgrounds live together. When you are mixed race, harmony and balance is an ideal - I thought that it would help me to understand how other people deal with their cultural heritage. I thought it would help me understand the colour of my skin. So far I have learned a lot, but this is a process."

TC: Tell me about your art life story.
BM: I started out as a self-taught Artist in 2009. Ever since I can remember, I always liked to draw and I've always had this love for colours, yet it was not until I came across what back then felt like a serious retrospection, that it all finally began to make sense. At the time I was struggling with writing my first novel, when I came across a book by Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. This book changed my approach to life and Arts. I began to feel a different kind of expression flowing through me and I began to play with the idea that I might as well write stories on canvases. BlueMangrove is the name that naturally came to mind as it both refers to my first novel and the blog on creativity that I had just started.
In 2010 I attempted to join a Fine Arts School, but luckily I was not retained and went on to study music production and sound engineering instead. While at the music school I continued to paint and experiment with textures, themes and the unconscious mind. I have found that all my paintings on canvas start as abstract and spontaneous attempts, with random shapes suggested by the use of materials as such as plastic bags, papers, glass beads, and dried moss, which evolve into something else like a face, a flower, or a forest.

Meanwhile I developed a passion for composing too, as a means to tell a story differently. I left the music school, because I felt it was up to me to put into practice what I had learned, but also because I was beginning to feel a certain distance and a tension rising between my paintings and school requirements. I did not want to have to choose and moreover I felt like I still had too much to learn from the world to stay in just one place. I wanted to travel and find out for myself how I could possibly live from these two passions. I had to get out of my room, which was also my studio, my experimental cocoon and my comfort zone. I have learned to give up on my need for guarantees and it felt both scary and thrilling!

TC: For "Green Lady", you represent yourself as a wide eyed girl, which seems to reflect your passion and your outlook. Was it a conscious thing?
BM: The theme of this self-portrait includes great expectations, hopes, a sense of yearning, but also a state of grace. When I first started it, I had no idea what it would look like, as I did not do any preparatory sketches for this particular work (this is a result of two 'failed' paintings: orchids and a bride). Rather than that, I let my mind travel, flutter. The initial idea was a bride and then little by little the bridal headpiece turned into a crown of flowers, that are meant to symbolize a state of fulfillment, inner blossom, feminity and love. I left only one eye because her world has already taken over her (thus the symbiosis with the shell). The eye is really just the 'I' looking back and moving forward, candid, excited, open to surprises. I don't think it was a conscious thing though, rather a result of a deep trance.

TC: Your palette is bright and colourful. How does travel and the colours of places affect you, especially when you paint? How do you feel about the colours of places?
BM: I love colours, I think they are the spice of life. Each colour carries its own vibration and bright colours are a treat to the eye, especially the one who is mostly used to seeing colours like grey, black, white. When we see bright colours we think about remote exotic places, summer, sunshine. Our mind travels. It becomes wild. I grew up in the Congo where we are used to seeing bright colours everywhere from advertisements to clothes. When I came to live in France I had to re-educate my eyes to more sober tones. The environment was no longer the same; the seasons had changed too.

When I got serious about painting, it was after a deep period of questioning, I realized that I needed to make colours part of my life again. The truth is that I yearned to be elsewhere so I found through my palette a way to express my nostalgia but also my hopes and joy of life. Whenever I get the chance to travel, it is always an occasion for me to impregnate my vision with new colours, new combinations. When you travel to a place like Essaouira, in Morocco for example, you clearly see that there is not just one colour blue - there is a whole spectrum of it. The same goes for red in Marrakech or green and yellow in the Bahamas.
Consequently I will often find that even though I might use the same colours, the tone and the way I rearrange them on canvas changes after each trip. After my trip to Nassau for example, I have noticed that I now use colours like pieces of a puzzle, in the sense that I will no longer go for one particular dominant colour, but rather 'build' my paintings in the form of a mosaic. Each place is characterized by a particular history, culture, mentality that indeed shows in the colours. You can learn a lot from simply paying attention to that.

TC: How do your flowers make you feel?
BM: Flowers represent the ephemeral beauty. Once captured on canvas, they appear in a timeless dimension where they become eternal. We live in a changing world. Everything is in motion. To me, flowers represent fragility, but also a certain fierceness. Flowers just are, you can use them to express certain feelings, symbolize a trait of character or just for their colours, their shapes. But at the end of the day they will still remain flowers - unconscious of their beauty. To me, flowers are complex. Each time I draw or paint a flower, it is as if its shape and colour allowed me to enter a new level in my work trance. It is like a formed of meditation in fact.

On Work & Creative Careers
TC: How do you feel about life balance, working and or having your own creative business?
BM: There is what people call the good enough job, which is an ideal job that would not be too draining so as to allow you to pursue your creative passions while sustaining you financially. That is when you are still in the process of getting up so as to be able to stand on your feet. I like this idea, even though sometimes we might have to work at jobs that we absolutely do not like, just to make ends meet. My day job is an event hostess. It allows me to be part of exhibitions, conferences and various events where you meet doctors, politicians, informaticians, chefs and you learn a lot. I am not yet in a position where I can say that I live from my Art, so I fall into the category of people who have to work in order to finance their dreams. I don't mind. I think it teaches me responsibility and it is like a test to see how committed I truly am.
Of course when it comes to choosing jobs, I would rather go for the type of job that would still allow me to have sufficient energy to create, but sometimes I have to learn to steal time too (it can be anything from waking up an hour earlier for couple brushstrokes to sketching while on the bus). It is my hope that in the future I will manage to turn my passions into a source of income, as I believe that everyone deserves to be fulfilled in every way. My dream career would be in the Arts and be able to combine music and visual arts - maybe to work at an animation or movie studio or at a theatre.
Everything is an experience we can draw something from. When your work is your passion, I think it is important that no matter how much you love what you do, you don't get engulfed by it. It is important to remember that we are all multi-faceted people and that no thing should take over the other's priorities.
We live in a society where we are prompted to define ourselves according to our achievements, which can have its downside in the fact that so many people end up identifying themselves with their businesses, when in fact they are the reason why the businesses exist. Whatever you do, it is important to make sure that you won't leave with regrets.

On Creativity
TC: Are you living an inspired, creative life? What do you think that requires?
BM: Artists are like athletes, you need to constantly exercise those creative muscles and work on improving your senses, for it is through the senses that we can get in touch with this essence that we then translate into a melody, a poem, a sculpture , etc. To me, living an inspired life means being inhabited by the desire to create and that means that I do not necessarily wait until I actually feel like painting. If the desire is not there, you create it. I have found that sometimes you can get pretty good ideas while you are bored. In fact every state can be used as fuel. This is a recent discovery. For a long time I thought I had to feel comfortable and safe in order to create something, but I now have learned (especially with painting) that experiencing a sense of danger from time to time or a sense of risk (like painting on a train for example) is all the more satisfying.

TC: How do you keep yourself creatively balanced?
BM: I read a lot. There is an incredible amount of powerful and inspiring books on creativity and I think that this is such a pity that in certain institutions where Art is being taught, we are not taught how to nurture creativity, which is the core. Yes, we are taught techniques and we are taught to believe that just by merely applying those techniques will make us good. Then there is the allusion to talent, potential, but what is talent if creativity is not nurtured? When I started on my creative journey, I figured out that since I wouldn't have a support system right away, I would have to create one for myself, therefore I started to explore those books by people who have been where I am before me and who explain that no block is in fact insurmountable. Then there is also the social life, the travel, time with the loved one, time for spirituality, eating healthy - every little thing contributes to creating balance. Also journaling is an excellent tool.

TC: How do you deal with creative burnout?
BM: I write until I can put a word on what it is that I can't seem to figure out. Writing is a way I have found to admit things to yourself, writing makes us have more compassion towards ourselves, writing slows down the pace and allows us to breathe. When I experience creative burnout it is usually because I was becoming too self-absorbed or too fancy in my approach. In this case, it helps to get back to simple things like watching yourself while drinking a glass of water, feeling the water going down your throat, sit in front of a tree, watch a bug swirl around, walk barefoot in the grass (whenever I get the chance to), just connect with simple things and get out of your own mind!

TC: What are your favourite things to do while on a break?
BM: Just sit in the sun and be one with nature. Swim in the ocean or have a hot bath. Hang out with my friends, but also meet new people. Develop an interest for something that is completely different from my usual fields of interests like fractals, aliens, ancient science. For a moment it feels great to forget about the Arts and listen to a lecture on what someone else has to say on a topic they feel passionate about.

TC: What are your favourite inspirational things/books/films that affect how you live?
BM: I like Julia Cameron's series of books on creativity, from the The Artist's Way to Letters to a Young Artist, The Troubleshooting Guide For Creative Difficulties, Fearless Creating by Eric Maisel, Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher and Wild Mind by Natalie Goldberg. I also like to listen to inspirational talks by speakers as such as mystic Sadhguru, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Anthony Robbins and Louise Hay. It all helps me to surround myself with positivity, it keeps me going and it encourages me to be more generous and convey a message that would influence people to bring the best out of themselves.

TC: How would you live without creativity in your life?
BM: I think creativity is our birthright as human beings. No matter what it is we do, we create. In fact we never stop creating. We create thoughts, we create emotions, we create physical reactions. No creativity means death. But I guess if I was unconscious of being in a position where I am aware that I constantly create, I would feel very sad, like I am deprived of something that feels vital.

You can find out more about BlueMangrove at her Website, Blog and on Facebook.

Super8!

2012-01-21T21:00:00.000-04:00

I have this Super 8 movie camera. How amazing is that? My dad casually took this box that looks like a century old, this evening and proceeded to say, "See what you can do with this. It's brand new, never used." At first I was wondering the the hell it was. I couldn't believe it. Super 8? Never. What? Here? Stored up for decades? What the hell dad?

It seriously feels like Christmas day. I've got a studio space (pics to come soon) this week and an antique camera. My buddy on twitter said that it's good karma. Yay karma!

I now need some help with sourcing some accessories, which I am sure are not available in Trinidad. I am crossing my fingers that it's actually working, because it's been in storage for so long. I've been meaning to go to David's Film Vue for a number of reasons but if anyone else has other practical suggestions or contacts please let me know. Meanwhile I am quite excited at all the possibilities.

Postal Art

2012-01-20T12:03:00.000-04:00

Postal Art Trinidad & Tobago is a mail-art project that invites people from all over the world to create a postcard in the theme of "Self Portrait" and mail it in, for an exhibition in March. They have been receiving postcards from all over the world, but are still interested in local ones. They have already done a workshop at NALIS Art & Craft for children. It's a great idea if you're a teacher or group leader to get children, young adults, and adults alike, to be involved in creating, art-making, and a revival of snail mail.
The exhibition will be held in Trinidad, and submissions will be accepted through February 2012. Thanks and love to the folks at Postal Art for putting all of their entries on their blog. I've already sent in my entry below! Can't wait to see yours!

Tracey Chan, Postcard for Postal Art Trinidad & Tobago, 2011

Taking Time

2012-01-19T14:00:00.000-04:00

Back Home, Tracey Chan, 2012

I'm getting back into the habit of making photographs. My mother says my great grandfather would have been happy about all of this. Perhaps his eyes are weaved into mine, and he is somewhere in those trails of DNA, mixed, switched and twisted. We wonder what his work would look like now, with modern equipment.
From stories told by a friend of my grandfather's, he would be out with his camera, taking his time, slowly and steadily, seeing, looking, and waiting for the right moment to take the shot. I really would have liked to meet him.
I try to be mindful about my photographs, but I am not always successful. It is far too easy with a digital camera to let your mind stray, to be unthinking. Sometimes it works, but mostly it's absolute nonsense. Excess in photography for me is never good. I truly hope to get better at this. On each walk I try to think about Great Gramps and his old clunky camera, his film, his mindfulness and frugality. This seems a simpler and lighter way of creating and living. Deleting the excess feels like freedom.
On that note, Photo Walk TT has been a great chance to practice, meet new people, and get out to new and old places in Trinidad. Join us for the next one if you're around.

The Inspired Way

2012-01-05T11:46:00.002-04:00

The Inspired Way cover art: Jessica Swift

Today The Inspired Way e-book has launched! Curated by photographers, Ariane Hunter and Kate Watson, the collection of art and inspired living writings seek to deal with the question of living an inspired, purpose-driven life. They've collected thoughts and art from 22 amazing creative women (I've got my spot!). Get the free e-book at Inspired Way. I am so excited and energized by being part of this collection. Many thanks and congratulations to Ariane and Kate for their fantastic job! As a wee side note, I want to be like Jessica when I grow up..!

Trust Photos

2011-12-28T02:29:00.004-04:00

Lilies, 2011, Tracey Chan

Selected works from a recent series at the Wild Fowl Trust can be found here and you can see more of the full series at inspiritus.

Yay!

2011-12-24T21:59:00.000-04:00

Photowalk: Wild Fowl Trust

2011-12-20T20:12:00.001-04:00

Paradise Opens

2011-11-27T13:15:00.001-04:00

The show opened yesterday afternoon and had a great response. Thanks to all our visitors, and especially to Caribbean Art project for being amazing as always. Stacey and I have a great show up and that I hope some folks in Grenada will be able to see it in person. After the show I will release maybe a few more photos of the work, but probably not the full collection until I am able. I plan to do some presentation of in Trinidad (or elsewhere if I can) about the work I am doing in Grenada. It has been a very long, stressful week, so I am in recovery/new project mode. For the Trinidadians interested in seeing my work, I hope this new series can allow me to do a show in at home. One lives in hope. Thanks from 4Hr Nap!

Paradise Prep

2011-11-20T16:21:00.001-04:00

I've been in Grenada prepping for Paradise with Stacey and getting things sorted out with our collective. We're also napping. Check out a sneak peeks of the work, and find our more about the 4Hr Nap collective at the 4Hr Nap blog.

Prepping a piece for the show

More prep work!

Paradise Show

2011-11-09T13:25:00.001-04:00

Heading off to Grenada soon for this show - it's going to be awesome! :D Much more info to come soon.

Creative Habits: Persist!

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

This is an awesome letter from Pixar animator Austin Madison on Letters of Note that really sums up creative life. It comforts me to know I am not alone even when I am crumpled up in a corner watching crime drama marathons. You aren't either. Stick with it.

Creative Habits: Silos

2011-11-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

Wieden + Kennedy's John Jay for Fast Company Magazine from Matthew Furman on Vimeo.

Defining who you are as an artist and as a person can be an emotionally, physically and mentally draining exercise and is a life-long experiment and journey. Trying to make yourself fit into these silos as John Jay has offered as a metaphor, takes a toll and it becomes quite easy to give up a potentially amazing creative life. I'm at a complete loss much of the time because I do not fit into a category, typical work space or job profile, but I am okay with that because I am making my own way through, what I consider, crazy.terrible.work.crap.
I have done many hours in normal jobs, cubicles and in awful places, and while that is "good work experience", it undermined my creative being. The experience is great no doubt and should be considered by most, but moving toward work that feeds your spirit is always the best choice. I admire those people who, at a much younger age strive to do their own thing despite the norm. I had the misfortune of letting myself be controlled and dictated from a very early age, but that's just my journey. How will you create yours?

Missing Link

2011-10-31T11:34:00.000-04:00

Missing Link, 2011,Digital Illustration

Cute, big, shy and fuzzylicious, he's about 12 feet tall, and eats flowers and fruits. That's about all I know. He hasn't told me his name yet, because he's a wee bit of a hermit. He will come out of his cave when hugged sufficiently.

We Does Draw 11

2011-10-24T00:31:00.003-04:00

This weekend we hosted the 11th edition of We Does Draw, and in usual arty farty style we painted, enjoyed each other's company, met new group members and of course burnt to a crisp. Crazy sun. Okay honestly it wasn't that bad with frequent pauses in the shade and Dave's fancy tarpaulin that saved the day (and our hides). Thank you to everyone who joined in! See more on the group and if you weren't around for the last one, we have another WDD aimed for 12th November in the food court at Trincity Mall. There's now a website for WDD but we're not fully launched yet, so stay tuned for more.

Blog Action Day: Food

2011-10-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hooba and the Cake, 2011, Digital Illustration and Photography. Cupcake courtesy Cupcake Wench

As today is Blog Action Day 2011, I continue my series of my characters in their natural, or in this case, not so natural habitats. Today we find Gloria Hooba, flying by the kitchen on her way home. She's spotted something with lovely red sugar and creamy icing. What could it be? It looks deliciously tempting. Shall she have the pleasure of indulging? Should she break her diet of glow worms and lemongrass? Oh dear. Perhaps it's poison. However will she find out?

The Hoobas

2011-10-15T13:02:00.001-04:00

Gloria Hooba, 2011, Digital Illustration

Meet Gloria Hooba, a winged blob of love. She like pretty things and is easily distracted by them. Don't send clouds her way or she will have a diva-sized fit. Otherwise she's pretty cool.
Her ancestor pictured below is called Hoobalooba but this new breed of is just called a Hooba. I think she evolved from a grape that ate a butterfly. The reports are sketchy.

Hoobalooba, 2008, Digital Illustration

Note: Upon a Google search I found some other incidences of this word being used in children's illustration/ book. It's what I called her in 2008 and didn't actually copy it from anything else, but just in case, I've changed the name for the newer version to avoid being nailed for stealing or something. I hate having the same name for things as someone else especially when I made it up (dammit). I think I may have posted her back then or not - can't really be sure and too tired to go digging. It may have been on one of my old blogs.

Baloobee

2011-10-13T20:39:00.002-04:00

The Baloobee Monster, 2011, Digital Illustration

Baloobee Hangs Out, 2011, Digital Illustration and Photography

This is the Baloobee monster in his natural habitat. He is a quiet chap and just a handful for humans, but has a vicious bite if you bother him while he is sunning himself. He responds well to offerings of tea and chocolate sacrifices. In this scene Fingdingle Baloobee he has seen something amazing and wants to hug it forever (he said so himself just after I shot this). I'm still not sure what it is, because my eyes can't see all that he can. I'll have to find out and take its portrait too.

Mmmmonster

2011-10-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

Cake Monster, 2011, Ink on grey linen paper

My little ravenous friend is done and drooling with delight over his cake. Don't steal his joy because he probably will be upset and not very amicable after that. Very much like people, monsters tend to get a little emotional about their cake. You can see previous process work here.

Cake Monster close up, 2011, Ink on paper

Guess what? My buddy is going to Monsters International! Merci beaucoup to the Monsters team in Canada!

Illustration Friday: Ferocious

2011-09-29T21:56:00.001-04:00

Ferocious, Digital Illustration, 2011

Alli is waving to his mum "Hi mummy I'm home". He's come in the house dragging in his new toy - it's sort of soft and squishy. His mum doesn't know what a clean up she's in for. He is only a baby monster and doesn't quite know his strength yet, nor that it's wrong to munch on people.

Studio Work

2011-09-28T23:23:00.003-04:00

Cake Monster, Pencil sketch, 2011

I've been very quiet lately as usual because I've been planning, writing and preparing many things. As some of you know, I'm a hermit and that's what we do. I've decided to peek out of my hole and share some studio shots with you. While the power was out I forced myself to do this earlier tonight by candlelight. Yes, good old fashioned candlelight, pencil and paper. This is for a call for Monsters International. Maybe you have a piece to share. I am not done yet, but he's getting there.

Pencil sketch from Cake Monster, 2011.

These are some old and studio shots. Some of these you may remember I posted already when I was in Grenada, and some are from a new series I am working on.

Feature Friday: Stacey Byer

2011-09-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

Stacey Byer - Fragile, acrylic on canvas

Stacey Byer is a Grenadian painter and illustrator living and working in Grenada. She earned her B.F.A. at Ringling College of Art and Design, and her work reflects an abstract expressionistic influence. She has sold paintings in Barbados, Grenada, the US, Europe and Asia. Stacey was featured in the first issue of ARC magazine’s emerging artists line-up and was the co-curator of Grenada's first all female art exhibition -WOMA (along with me). Her illustration work includes textiles, illustrating books and painting murals for both private and commercial clients.
She recently completed an A Sketchbook Project with the theme of A Day in The Life. You can find her full sketchbook here: A Day in the Life of a Small Island Girl. I was happy to finally have the chance to do an interview and drill her the story behind the project and other aspects of her work.

Cover

TC: Tell us about the origins of this story and the process of getting it done.

SB: I stumbled across the Fiction Project on the internet and like most of the work I create, it tends to reflect a Caribbean influence. My personal life may not be THAT interesting :) but growing up in Grenada was, so I just drew on elements of Grenadian life and built a story around it. I also thought it would be a brilliant way to showcase Grenada.

TC: Do you have any future plans to build on it or is it a standalone project?
SB: This may be a stand alone project for now as I have other manuscripts I’m working on at different developmental stages. Like all things, this of course can change in the future.

Page 5-6

TC: You are an illustrator and storyteller. What are your favourite stories/books/movies?
SB: Wow, there isn’t enough space for that list! As a child I read all the Enid Blyton stories, I loved Ramona Quimby, aged 8. I'm a big fan of the Miyazaki films (Spirited Away is my favorite), works by Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, and I just finished reading a YA series called Chronicles of Ancient Darkness which I highly recommend.
TC: What kind of stories do you enjoy the most and why?
SB: Highly imaginative, so the fantasy and horror genres, with some humour thrown in. I gravitate towards stories that have created worlds and characters that I have never seen. I am also highly impressed by people who create things that scare you; a lot of thought and sensitivity have to go into the process to produce that universal “shudder”.

Back Cover

TC: Who and what fuel your creativity?
SB: My environment, literature and people’s creative energy.

TC: How does your environment affect your work?
SB: I remember a teacher saying to me once, “do what you know.” If you create work based on something that is already part of your make up, there is strength in your work. My current environment is where I grew up so I can use elements from my childhood and put my own spin on it. People think of the Caribbean as sunny and fun and friendly, which it is, but I grew up with stories that always had a hint of warning menace. This has influenced my own work and given it its dark edge.

Page 13-14

TC: What are your favourite tools for creating?

SB: Hmm, that would have to be paint: watercolor, acrylic and oils.

TC: Creative living is not always easy. What would you do if you weren’t an artist?

SB: I’m not sure if I would ever be out of the creative field; I admire musicians and love dance. I think if I did anything else it would still have to have a connection to art.

TC: What is your process like?

SB: I tend to always have a lot of ideas , so I make a list and if something jumps out at me I use it for a project. Process entails sketching, research for reference and then developing said work.

Illustration Friday : Bottled Sketch

TC: Where do you think your work may go next?
SB: I hope to branch off into the children’s book industry. I want to contribute to Caribbean illustration/literature AND show the rest of the world the new and evolving works of the contemporary Caribbean artist.

Reo's Shark Adventure

TC: If you could be a fictional character - cartoon etc, who would it be?
SB:The road runner - always on the move, unstoppable!

TC: What do you do when you’re taking a break from art?
SB: That thing that we artists tend to deprive ourselves of : SLEEP! And bake, so I can stuff my face, and movie marathons!

On Collaboration
Stacey is not only a friend, but my art buddy. We allow each other to moan and groan on an almost daily basis about our work, our creative life, and projects. We share a similar brand of quirky insanity and humour that, together with our varied talents, balances us as a team. With WOMA behind us, we continue to work together on other things. Our experience has somehow become so connected that many times it's actually a bit creepy that we are doing or thinking similarly.

This is a sample of one of our conversations. For real. (This is one of the fun ones and not an actual serious art conversation - we are stellar at both kinds).
A Conversation about Cake

SB: thin cakes are pathetic and should not be referred to as cake
TC: well they're sort of cake...slivers. they make no sense whatsoever. also, cream cheese frosting...ftw
SB: agreed. it's like they are trying to confuse you - it's icing , it's sweet and it's cow related
TC: mm cows. so cute. i want one. don't have a stuffed cow :(
SB: u would prob mistreat it anyways. what about a stuffed sheep ?
TC: :( i might. the monkey might eat it.
SB: lol shaun ! oh no what's the fat one's name ... i like that one

TC: sheep are nice... shirley? and shirley is a boy? I love him..her.. fluff.
SB: shirley !!! it is ? oh gad it will have gender issues. We will have to send it to oprah
TC: hahahha it's a trannie..or a shrannie. there was an episode with a costume party....
SB: ahahaha
SB: would you eat something called sheep cake ? is your love of cake so great that you would ?
TC: I don't know. those pretty cakes are so pretty. i think i might be far too emotional to eat it...well immediately. it might have to endure a photo shoot... then nomming. wait... sheep cake? as in.. a cake ..out of sheep innards? because that would make me unhappy
SB: lol! i actually don't get the whole character cake thing? why would i want to inhale eeyore or tinkerbell? am i angry at them ? do i need to inhale their essence to become .. them ?
SB: hahah sheep innards! the scots will eat them !
TC: i had a fairy cake for one of my random kid birthday parties. her skirt was the cake. sooooo awesome. by the way ... fairy cakes = cupcakes in english. i did not know this.
SB: yesss i found that out in england... but only after a while at first i just walked around cussin wondering why the hell ppl offerin me tinkerbell cake !
TC: but then, think of easter bunny chocolates...or peeps. sick sick.. so inevitably cute. does that mean we are truly just bastards?
SB: yes we are!! but i do LIKE peeps and i just realized i usually eat their heads first.... dam :(
TC: see? you have issues
TC: we must do a project on this.
SB: so that will make it project # 4025
TC: yes. noted.
SB: sigh
TC: ARGH. there is a BAT flying around the house. totally unimpressed.

Tracey Chan: but really i would make those cool cookie monster cakes
SB: lol blue frosting blue mouth tongue and teeth - score !
TC: that one looks better...with the crumbs

SB: oh gad I worsheep at thee oh baking tray! they look great !
TC: that's your mission..ms baker
SB: i will pass on your msg to SIS baker
TC: you're good at delegating (I swear she said she baked)
SB: i know right. you have to have a certain level of laze in your blood to be able to delegate properly
TC: yay. laze levels. i also need a nap.
SB: well you are two hours ahead of your normal nap announcement grandpa !
TC: yayyyy

As you would have guessed we are awesome. If you can't have conversations like this with your art buddies you should probably find a new one.

Find Stacey at her main art site, illustration site and follow her on facebook.

Merchandise

2011-09-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

Digital Illustration, Waiting, 2011

Apparently I have been busy for the past few days as I am preparing for a million things. The merchandise is now available (and has been for a little while) at the Society6 Store. Want a tee, hoodie, laptop/iPad skin, iPhone/iPod case with this design? Check it.

Prints for Sale!

2011-09-01T02:00:00.000-04:00

Joy, Tracey Chan, digital illustration, 2011 - want a print? get it here!

Hello September. It's the last quarter of the year and things seem to be heating up here. So remember that series I said I was doing since oh, July? Wellllll Today I'm launching the new digital art prints! Hooray! Finally! I know, I know, I'm late to the party as usual, but I've been here and there, and my brain's all over the place. I'm so exhausted.

I'm launching just the prints for today, and will launch the laptop skins, iPhone cases, and tee-shirts later in the week as I am able. I will post links on Facebook and Twitter as they come along. Stay alert, there's more to come, like painting and drawing prints, as well as photographs (hintyhint).

Big thank yous and muchos hugs to some special people who have been asking and who have wanted to order. The tees are coming aphake and Dara! I am ever grateful to all of you who stand with me through my broken times, who are fans and who are my rocks. This life is not the easiest path, but you make it easier. <3

Pat Bishop: In Memoriam

2011-08-22T05:00:00.000-04:00

Pat Bishop: In Memoriam, Digital Illustration, 2011

Dr. Pat Bishop passed away on Saturday and this marks another significant loss to Trinidad and Tobago. A woman of great talent, abundant knowledge and with a beautiful soul, she is one of our country's most important cultural icons. Oh gosh, Miss Bishop, who gonna fill yuh shoes? I hope we can do something. We must.

As one of my lecturers at UWI almost a decade ago, Ms. Bishop's classes, were the most dreaded but in hindsight, the most appreciated and significant. I tried to recall better memories but my battered memory falters. Saying that, Pat's memory was insanely acute. I marveled at her ability to recite entire passages of classic literature. She loved her Shakespeare and history. I swore at one point she knew everything. We braced ourselves for her classes because there was so much history, so many notes to take, and if you didn't do your homework, too bad. It wasn't the marks, and it wasn't the fact that you didn't do it, but how it would affect you personally. The guilt was enough to do the work, at least for me. We did skits. I felt like 12 again, but at least we got to dress up. We groaned with abundance for all the talk - plenty, plenty talk. We wrote hand-written exam essays, because if she couldn't understand your chicken scratch, you'd fail in a blaze of Pat fury. Half the pressure at exam time was making sure your penmanship was good enough. Her looks of disapproval were wonderful (read: instilled fear among the bravest of souls) and it was actually quite satisfying to see some poor sod beaten down because of an offside remark.
In our first class, I believe she asked how many people could name (howmanyever) local artists. At the time, I had trouble myself. Shameful! Needless to say she was most aghast at our lack of education of our own culture, and for good reason. My primary and secondary school education didn't focus on the significant aspects of our culture, of Carnival, of art and artists - what severe cultural/educational system transgressions. I can't speak for now, but I live with hope that there have been changes in the past decade.

Pat Bishop talks about Carnival, multiculturalism, and commerce at the UWI, St Augustine, Centre for Language Learning Auditorium on February 11, 2011, at a TH?NK forum organised by the Department for Creative & Festival Arts.

She left us doing what she loved, passionately fighting tooth and nail for our culture, for our rights to art and expression, for the ability to do what we do. She reminds us to look at where we come from; how this affects us, our culture, our lives, our creativity. We are not to mourn, but to celebrate a wonderful person, a full life and to recognise her landmark contributions to this country. We should perhaps take this as an opportunity to start examining ourselves even closer, to see what we are doing, why we are doing it and approach our 'hows' in new ways. Historically, our cultural icons like Pat, have been beaten down, then lauded, and at the end of the day, terribly ignored again. We, as practitioners and supporters may continue to be the underdogs, but what else can we do? There's nothing heroic in shrinking and giving up. Saving our artistic heritage and culture in order to save ourselves from a seemingly crumbling cultural space is of great importance. In our relatively small efforts we must continue to be a part of a forward movement.

I have used 'we' quite a lot, and for a specific reason. It's us, it's we, it's our thing. It does not have to be a fight but just positive steps forward, trudging, plodding and pausing, but ever onward. Do yuh homework is something possibly that she said, or not. I can't really remember but I can hear her saying it, and it represents something so simple - keep learning. This is not secondary school. I will always carry that with me. Independent thinking, critical thinking and hard work and learning were some of the things she encouraged us to do. Her interview with Christopher Laird covers just a wee smattering of her contributions to our country's heritage. It's good to remind ourselves of our place, our situation, see what has been done, dream of what can be done, and use it as fuel to move forward. Ms. Bishop, may your spirit stay with us as we try to carry your torch.

Consent

2011-08-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

An illustration done for WomenSpeak (women share stories of discrimination). This week there is a Sex and Consent series. Check it out here and follow them on tumblr. Thanks to Simona Leid for giving us an opportunity to offer visual art as part of this great series and ongoing project. Fantastic work lady! Congrats on a brilliant idea.

Feature Friday: Zigwa

2011-08-12T08:00:00.016-04:00

Zigwa: Kerhann Jones, Kenwyn Murray, James Hackett, Richard Thomas. Michael Norgriff

Zigwa is a design and production entity made up of 6 talented friends, Kerhann Jones, Kenwyn Murray, James Hackett, Michael Norgriff, Richard Thomas and Warren Le Platte. They all have strong art backgrounds and a history in mas and mas making, and most of all a history of collaboration. So far their projects include the décor for one of UWI's all-inclusive fetes, Champagne and Pearls in 2008, the Kaiso Dialogues 2010 décor, and an all-inclusive Carnival lime this year "Lime on de Side". They also do custom handmade creations for events like weddings along with the usual design projects like logos, layouts and ads. This year Zigwa also designed and produced a costume for competition in the modern history category of the NCBA Individuals competition at the Savannah and won with Anacoana - The Taino.

Anacoana - winner of the NCBA Individuals Competition 2011

I am excited to share this exclusive interview that includes all of the members of Zigwa coming together as usual to offer some great insight into their work and history. Since we have 6 people rather than one, it's a little longer than usual. For the folks unfamiliar with Trinidadian dialect, you can sound it out, but you’ll be able to catch the drift. I think.

These Zigwa fellas serve as a perfect example of the magic that collaborations create, and moreover, as positive male role models in our society. I am proud that the art community has this group of young men living creatively, making great art, and showing a way forward. I've had the pleasure of working with them on their Champagne and Pearls project (as one of the call-out-to-help-last-minuters). Their kindred spirits and synergy is quite admirable and it is with honour that I present Zigwa.

Michael and Warren at Lime on the Side, Carnival 2011

TC: So tell us the story of ZIGWA.

Michael: Richard and I met since we were in second year in primary school and Kerhann when he came to Rosary Boys R.C. 2 years later, if my memory serves me right. All of us went to school together in Trinity College, so we know one another for more than 14 years at least.

In secondary school where we were mandated to go to Minshall Mas camp and work for the Carnival season, and also in art exhibition productions. Being part of the Trinity Carnival Foundation also brought us closer as a unit. Trinity Carnival Foundation is a non-profit organization which produces a children's band for Carnival. In 2009 carnival, the idea of Zigwa emerged as an entity, after working on the décor for UWI’s endowment fete "Champagne and Pearls".
Kerhann: One of the major events that I think started the evolution of ZIGWA was our first collaborative effort in having an exhibition of our work while we were in school. We had an art exhibition that we hosted in our Art room at Trinity College: "Worth 1000 Words". We curated our own work as well as works of art from forms 1-5 at Trinity College. We did everything from décor to invitations to wine and cheese at the opening. From that point we spent a lot of time with each other's art and process of producing it, being aware of the things that drove the processes.
I think that is where the foundation of ZIGWA might be: from a collaborative effort, where we viewed and understood each other’s art and perspective on expression. From this point we developed a more critical eye for exhibition type work, knowing what kind of individual and collective work needed to be done to achieve a set goal. A lot of time was spent looking at fine artists’ exhibitions, not just a painting or style of media use, but the body of work. It was a period when (local) artists like Bryden, Sylvester, Mosca and the like were exhibiting, before they started to make prints of their work. At the same point we were transitioning into Carnival. For me at least, graphic art was the conduit from art in its conventional sense to Carnival. As Michael said, Trinity Carnival Foundation changed the collaboration from working on individual art to make up a body of work, to working together at the same time on various things.
Kenwyn: Zigwa as a company and as an entity is young and came about in response to and through the work-based friendship we developed through the years. It’s after working together on various creative projects that we banded together as a close collective, to the point where we've made indispensible contributions to each other’s lives personally.
We were fortunate to reap strong meaningful friendships amongst ourselves - Zigwa came in response to that friendship as a way of maintaining it in such a way that it would greater impact on our lives individually as well as the lives of those around us. Apart from being indebted to each other in such a manner , we have strong history of working together creatively and towards the execution of definite professional tasks. It is special for us in that we get feed off that energy on various levels.

Photo by Michael Norgriff for Zigwa

TC: What are your individual talents?

Warren: I bring outta controlness - one of them will explain, because I doh understand, but they always telling meh ah outta control.

James: I usually am Warren with some slightly tweaked talents. I bring knowledge of web developments and somewhat technological advances, advertising and marketing expertise.

Warren Le Platte's handmade wedding gift and cake boxes, 2009

TC: So who is the voice of reason?

James: That usually depends on what is going on at the time. I think each of us have played that role at various intervals; whether it was Richard who in the early stages told us that we needed to move on from our previous engagements or Kerhann, who had an interesting word that described us slacking off a bit too much, or me when I felt we were dallying too long with our logo designs. It depends, and I think that is great!
Richard: That's a toss-up between Kerhann and Kenwyn - they are the level headed ones. I think I'm the prostitute in the bunch - the business head. I keep them focused on the profitability of each project. I'm not at all saying that I'm just in it for the money because we all give 100% to every project. We are all in love with what we do whether the bottom line is to turn a profit or not - James is testimony to that fact.

Kerhann Jones, Wild Indian, 2010

TC: Explain the meaning of VMT (I cannot post any shots here but you can get the link.)
‎James: This is a bit tricky to answer. It was something of an inside joke that took on a life of its own.
Warren: The traditional answer "if yuh doh know, yuh not supposed tuh know", but I’d say that you don't need to understand what it means to know what it looks like.
Michael: V.ery M.any T.hink they know what it means.....HAHAHAHAHA

Tracey: Very Magnificent Tail. That's the best I can come up with.
Michael: Doh strain yuhself - many have tried none have figured it out.

Tracey: Sigh. Give up!

I guess you viewers can try to figure it out too, but don’t expect to get a straight answer.

Kaiso Dialogues decor, 2010

TC: What do you love the most about working together?
Michael: No matter the task or the ridiculous deadline that is facing us there is always room for laughter. I remember for Champagne and Pearls, we slept on campus suffering from a serious lack of sleep because it was also in the middle of the carnival season and we were working on two separate carnival projects, plus doing the décor for the fete. That was pure stress but the shit talk, the offside comments and general relaxed mood in the face of the large looming deadline made the work easier.

ZIGWA, Champagne and Pearls Decor

Another instance was a rush job for a wedding in the middle of Christmas time. TSTT worked a piece of magic and none of the text messages sent by Kerhann (team leader on that project) ever reached any of us. Not getting any word from him, we thought the job had been cancelled and it was not. 2 days before delivery in a mad rush, we called out girlfriends, cousins, sisters, mothers – everybody, to work on these elements for the wedding. Jokes were still made, offside comments were still flying left, right and centre and in that stressful situation, we still got some level of calm, making the work a bit easier.

ZIGWA, Wedding Invitation

TC: Usually more people = more confusion. I'm interested to know if that happens? What happens when you disagree?

Michael: more people= more fun. Zigwa is different. Actually people meeting us for the first time think we are going to fight at any given point, because we have known each other for so long that even if we disagree it does not matter. We cuss and we cuss and we cuss and at the end we go with the most logical choice. We are all level headed people and after all the cussing, we let better judgment prevail. It serves no good purpose in any one of us being a drama queen.

It comes back to feeding off the energy of the others. Some of us love the adrenaline rush of a last minute deadline. I will not call names but Kenwyn loves that shit. He doh feel good unless it right down to the wire. But seriously even if we have people around us working on a project, they seem to feed off the energy, the ole talk and the jokes flying about; it’s not a situation of more people more stress.
James: I like that I trust and respect the abilities and knowledge of everyone in Zigwa.
Kenwyn: For me it is the fact that these are all artists and individuals that I respect tremendously helps to keep things in perspective. I may be good but I am not THAT GOOD because I cannot do what Kerhann does or what Warren does. This helps in creating a continuum of progress and searching that I deeply appreciate. I like that we each have similar backgrounds that demanded that an emphasis on innovation and resourcefulness - the creative capital of the group is ridiculously strong and it flows from that context of having to use one's imagination and mastery of one's skill both as a vehicle and as a release. We all know the importance of struggle and work and being in that environment grounds an individual creatively.
Most of all I like the energy that is generated when the things we are doing catch a momentunm (thatat is not something that we have struggled with). Whether it is liming, talking shit or working on a project the energy that can bounce between us when the momentum catches is something that I cannot readily qualify but it is magical to me and I am very grateful to know that in my life.
Warren: Kenwyn does make everything sound nice eh - bright and shiny. Deez assholes are my brothers, and ah love them. It does usually have beer when everybody together so, daz ah plus.

Zigwa, Champagne and Pearls production, 2008

TC: How do you overcome creative blocks?
Michael: They are never a problem cause I feed off the energy of the others. I see the work that the others create and get ideas.

James: ‎When I am blocked it’s all about taking that as a sign to rest and reset.

Richard: It's simple - pass the ball to the nigga standing next to you. It works every time. Our creativity is a team sport.
Kenwyn: When I'm producing within and through ZIGWA, creativity is not a problem because there is so much to draw from when I look to my left or to my right. The energy and inspiration is always present and exhibited even in the most inconsequential things. It is always humbling for me to be privy to James's doodles or Warren's sketches; to see Kerhann's investment in a line or Michael's photos. In that environment there is an excess of inspiration.

In a personal capacity, I turn to nature, in which I find the resources to be limitless. Our physical organic environment stimulates me greatly and I draw, literally and metaphorically, from its presence in my life. I'm saying this with the appreciation that my work does not make the same demands on my imagination as it does on James or Warren who have to generate new images at a much faster rate and for a more "demanding" audience/clientele.

Working on Anacoana - The Taino, Carnival 2011

TC: What has been the most memorable, enjoyable project so far?
Kenwyn: Doing the decor for the UWI endowment fete Champagne and Pearls in 2008, not because it was the most stimulating project, but because it was the first project we took on as ZIGWA.

James: Two things. The costume for Kenwyn at Carnival, even though it was on a small scale. It started to show the different strengths we can bring individually to larger projects. Also the children’s band together when we were starting out.

Michael: True that. Last Carnival was nice and the children's band was non-stop fun.

Kenwyn: The most enjoyable would have been the Anacoana costume design for this year's carnival. We had a lot of fun doing that and it felt good working on a project that mirrored the context (mas making) under which we really bonded as a group yet because after a long pause from that environment it allowed us to see how far we've grown since those foundation days. I think that James said it best above-the different strengths showed in ways that were dynamic and resonating.

Warren: The most enjoyable and rewarding project so far has been developing ZIGWA's business plan. As artists and individuals we have different paths, different goals that we have set for ourselves, approaches and techniques, but when it comes to ZIGWA, we ALL have the same vision. This has never more apparent to me than now. It is a great feeling to know that with all the disagreements we have had and will probably continue to have that we can and will always agree on what is best for ZIGWA. We are of the same mind.
Kenwyn: I agree with Warren on that too. That process so far has been a remarkable one.

What I've shared is just a little taste of the crazy ball of talent and fun that Zigwa has to offer. I am looking forward to even more top quality work - I expect no less. Check them out at their website and on Facebook and keep looking out for the new things to come.

WDD Part 2

2011-08-08T11:20:00.005-04:00

The official We Does Draw 10 event on 30 July was well attended by some of our favourite artists. I didn't really have a chance to take too many photos since I was painting. More photos from James' set here. You'll see my piece below.

I think all the kids had a load of fun and the wee ones were the cutest things. Thank you for coming, all who did, who came, supported, who donated paint and supplies. A special thanks to Cuptails who brought some kid friendly cupcakes and some adult ones for the crew. Of course thanks to Shalom Centre for hosting us.
WDD has a new fan page so check it out and like us. You can join us on the group as well.

We Does Draw (with Kids)

2011-07-28T13:29:00.001-04:00

We Does Draw is a non-profit group originating in Trinidad & Tobago. Our growing organization is a meet up of young artists who link, think and sync up all in the name of art. The Facebook group “We Does Draw” has attracted over 330 professional, amateur and aspiring artists. The online platform provides a space where work can be shared and peer-critiqued. Through regular events, members are encouraged to meet face to face to exchange, create and collaborate.

The group has grown in leaps and bounds, gaining more attention and venturing into public structured environments, engaging in events such as The Trinidad Street Festival held in Woodbrook in April 2011. We Does Draw 9 was held in June 2011 on the corner of Maraval Road and Warner street in Newtown, Port of Spain and involved the creation of a “Juiceman” themed mural.

Our tenth event “We Does Draw 10: The Kids are all right” is carded for Saturday July 30, 2011, at the Shalom Centre at the St. Dominic’s Children’s Home in Belmont, Port of Spain. Shalom is an activity centre that provides a safe, uplifting environment for the children, ages 4 - 16.

A preliminary workshop was held on Monday June 25th at the venue to engage and warm the children up to the idea of partaking in mural creation. The response to the upcoming event has been overwhelm ing. We expect a turnout in excess of 60 artists accompanied by 50 children of the home.

Our goal is to create, educate and execute a facelift for this worthy cause. This is the first in a series of events we have conceptualized in line of our core principle of fostering a spirit of community goodwill through artistic talent. To learn more about our group or our events check us out on Facebook.

Stick With It

2011-07-27T18:52:00.003-04:00

Some insight into creativity and discipline. I know I am notoriously awful at it.

We Does Do Stuff

2011-07-26T18:00:00.013-04:00

Yesterday was a groovy day out of the house and hey, I even got sunburnt. Hooray I don't look like a pallid lump anymore! I was apparently disillusioned by the lovely cloud cover (sneaky sneaky), and or was so enamoured by Wendell McShine painting his mural piece. Don't worry we all have artist crushes on him. You should too.

As mentioned many times before, the We Does Draw group, an amazing collective of young artists, is undertaking a project that's bigger than anything we've been doing before. Woo! St. Dominic's Children's Home is letting us have a go at some of their wall spaces and we're going to cover them.

Yesterday's session was a preparatory one, so never fear there's still time to get yourself ready if you're interested in participating. I probably should have painted, but I did not. Instead photos were taken and I think it was a good idea, since I probably won't be able to take as many at our official event on Saturday since I'll be painting. I am sure we'll have a plethora of photographers though.

What we still need is paint. People have paint, they say, but are not dropping it off. Check out our flyer! It's easy peasy lemon squeasy!

A Garden Walk Photo Series

2011-07-25T08:07:00.000-04:00

Awaiting, A Garden Walk series, photograph, 2011

Hello darlings. I have launched a new photo series on a new photography portfolio. Feel free to leave comments here or send me an email (I like those) I'll still be photo blogging over at Inspiritus, but the portfolio will contain selected works and series. Enjoy!

Illustration Friday: Perennial

2011-07-22T17:33:00.002-04:00

Tracey Chan, Perennial, Digital Illustration, 2011

Love is a seed, that when planted well, is undying, and spreads wildly. Love begets love. It's awesome. Today in all the heat I decided to do a wee drawing for Illustration Friday.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. - Marcel Proust

Iam: Cake

2011-07-21T08:00:00.002-04:00

I am Cake, 2011, Digital illustration

I started one thing, and then it turned into something else. Mmmm ~~cup~~fairycake (someone will be miffed if I did not make that correction). Omnomnom.

Forming

2011-07-18T14:18:00.001-04:00

Tracey Chan - Forming, 9.5'x9.5", Digital Illustration, 2011

This is a preview of a new series of digital illustrations. Not sure when I will be launching them just yet but if you're interested in prints and merchandise let me know.

Freud

2011-07-17T09:30:00.000-04:00

Creative Habits: Drawing Part 2

2011-07-14T08:00:00.002-04:00

This is the continuing series of a Creative Habits challenge where I grow and develop my art practice. I hope you're following my journey.
The universe had been sort of slipping me a few hints here and there but my spirit wasn't quite there yet to catch up. My buddy Annand finally got me past my confusion point a while ago and alerted me to Tony Orrico. Holy moly. This has brought me to another level of thinking about the work that I'm doing, or not doing. I share it with you because it is pure genius.

I continue to be floored, fascinated, awestruck, i.e., screaming fan-girly about his work. I feel deeply connected because I remember the feeling of being in that state of creation while doing work that is large, overwhelming and exhausting. It is a great unforgettable high. I love the performance, the meditative quality and the sacred ritual of it all, at least in private.

This reminds me of brilliant shodo work and the live performances by calligraphy artists. Shodo is the art of Japanese calligraphy, an art of meditative movement. It is rich, profound, and spiritual. This is from the Art of Calligraphy website and is Prajnaparamita - The Mother of all Buddhas by Nadja Van Ghelue.

take a deep breath

and reach out for the one line.

from emptiness bring it

down to the paper

without hesitation.

concentrate your whole being

on writing.

draw the line

and let it go back

to the empty space.

on the white paper

the one line conceals

emptiness.

the way this happens

cannot be put in words.

it can only be seen
with the heart.

Meanwhile Shodo Girls is a film about Japanese school girls competing in a modern Shodo competition. Modernize that. I do love contemporary versions of shodo as well like this guy, Kotaro Hachinohe. Really beautiful work.

It seems that I want to continue this. I have never been a performance artist and never had plans on becoming one, however, it seems I am interested more and more in expressing myself in this way. We'll see how that works out.
That sort of creative space is heavenly to say the least. I've only had some experience of it, doing live collaborations with my friends (Hackett and detnator) and an audience. That was a very intimate setting, so transitioning to a more public setting is a unique experience. Public murals aside, I am seeking a different sort of audience/performance, and some cathartic connection. I am returning to my scroll for more analysis and because I want to start another series based upon it. Either that or I will be writing more about it, analysing it and moving forward.

Mental Vomit, 2007, installation

My current plans and experiments include music, drawing and video. Maybe not so much like this guy below. I've got no energy for that.

Creative Habits: Drawing Part 1

2011-07-13T08:00:00.071-04:00

As part of my Creative Habits Series I swore to the artgods that I would be drawing; then I moved; everything went awry immediately and I've been delayed since. That's the short version.

Drawing, ink on paper, 9"x 12", 2007

The plan
Essentially I am sending myself back to school. I'm starting over. Sometimes you need to have a bit of a reset in order to move forward. I've been stuck for a while and I really need to move on and develop serious work. I've been "warming up" for a long time. I have not drawn in yonks and I feel guilty about that. I went through some of my old art school drawings and felt even more guilty.
I really need to draw again. Why then am I sitting here writing about it? Vicious cycle.
Improving your drawing skills also involves actually doing it, but also research. With this comes with reading and having a good foundation. Books help a whole lot. Research is a very intrinsic part of art life, so if you're an artist who does not read, it's potentially uncool for you. It's not just about making alone. Practice, yes, without a doubt; you definitely need to expand your horizons and learn something.

Little Things: Flow Series11: 09, ballpoint pen on paper, 2.5" x3", 2010

These are a selection of the books I will be using, hopefully thoroughly. I've only just gotten The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence by Betty Edwards, which I've meant to read for ages. Experimental Drawing is one of my treasures that I found in school through a lecturer. It's quite a fabulous as a start to a great contemporary drawing practice. The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed is newish and it looks to be quite useful to say the least.My anatomy books are Louise Gordon's Anatomy and Figure Drawing and Albinus on Anatomy by Robert Hale. You can also buy them from my handy dandy Amazon store. If you've got any other favourites or suggestions, make sure to comment and I'll add them to my list.

Media

I plan to use the materials I have, bond, drawing, Kraft, construction and watercolour papers. I also have some other random surfaces which will be fun like wood and canvas. Since my art supply reorganization, I realise I have a ton of materials, some of which I have not really used. I have a variety of inks, oil pastels, graphite, pencils, and whatever else. Some of the new things to try include Sumi-E and other calligraphy techniques. I'm excited and intimidated but it should be fun.

Creative Habits: Rituals

2011-07-12T08:00:00.155-04:00

Kalamezhutu being performed. Photo by SK Mohan

According to our friends at Wikipedia you can define a ritual as: a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers. There are many other definitions and applications of the word; they range from religious acts to anthropological studies.

I'll keep it simple though. Since I spoke about creating routines yesterday I think it's important to consider part of creative life as a ritual. For example, drawing every day for 1 hour. That's a nice ritual to adopt, heck, one that I'd like to adopt. It would improve my skills, keep me grounded and disciplined to a routine, and offer some measure of spiritual and mental fortitude.

I find myself needing to connect with my spiritual self in this process of becoming a creative being. Since I'm going to be doing a lot of reading and research, I'm going with Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (Inner Workbook). This I hope will help me develop both spiritually and creatively. It's something that resounds deeply because I am not religious. Art is my religion I suppose.

Gisele Jacquenod's Awesomesauce mug
(I love it and want one pleaseee!)

Currently my main ritual is tea. No tea. No work. Just as birdie says defiantly; but a tea ritual is just part of my story. I have decided to start a new life routine/challenge which is slightly separate from this creative habits plan, but intrinsically linked. It involves yoga and meditation, the latter of which I have been ignoring for some time now. I know it's ultimately important to my creative well-being.

In this Art:21 episode, Janine Antoni (Bahamanian by the way) and Gabriel Orozco speak about rituals in their work. On another note I think I should start every day watching Art:21 and checking out the education section. It is a totally plausible ritual.

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

I'm not sure what form my artistic rituals will take, but I have a fair idea that I'll be using a mixture of media, be it video, drawing or an exercise from one of my drawing books, and well, tea. You can't take that away from me.

Creative Habits: Routines

2011-07-11T08:00:00.052-04:00

Apparently routines produce creative magic. Yay! Changing my routine has proven quite difficult now that I'm back living with my folks. To put it in a nutshell, it's utter hell. I now find myself trying new things, things that conform with how the household works. I have to shift.
My body usually rebels against change and since the move it's been rough. I had a great routine before and now it's been swirled around a bit so that's got me irritable. I am like a baby; a rebellious baby who doesn't want to miss out on anything.

Right, so where do I start? I surely do need a change. I've been stuck but that's part of the process; and yes I'm getting off my ass. I am excited by the concept of a new routine, but somehow skeptical. I get bored so. damn. quickly with routines, especially if I am working in a ~~prison~~ office. I function somewhat well by them.

Dictionary.com's first main definition is: a customary or regular course of procedure. I have tried many methods of self-imposed disciplinary action, but I start slowly ignoring its existence because one thing offsets me and everything goes to shit. My notebooks and index cards have had the brunt of these well thought out "perfect life" routines (very colourfully illustrated), even down to quarter hour blocks of time. Hah! Clearly that does not work for me, else I am really undisciplined.

After so many years, I've learned that being creative is a full-time job with its own daily patterns. That's why writers, for example, like to establish routines for themselves. The most productive ones get started early in the morning, when the world is quiet, the phones aren't ringing, and their minds are rested, alert, and not yet polluted by other people's words. (Twyla Tharp)

This is true for artists as well. I quite like the silence and the freshness of the day. Righto, so that means waking up at ass o'clock if I want to get anything productive done. According to the mundane routine article, in order for it to be effective, my routine must be:

Unique - something (or a combination of things) I don't associate with other activities, otherwise the effect will be diluted, i.e. something eccentric.
Emotionally intense - the kind I experience when really immersed in creative work, i.e. zoned out.
Repetitive - the more times I experience the unique trigger in association with the emotions, the stronger the association becomes, i.e. Pavlov's theory.

That is wonderful to think about, and harder to put into action. For instance, this is a sample of how I might like to function. Perfect Life Routine (I would have this perfect life and all that)

5:00 am: Wake up

5:10 am: Yoga, meditation,shower etc

7:00 am: Brekkie

7:30 am: Email, Daily online checks

8:00 am: Work (be creative!)

10:00 am: Break/stretch
10:15 am Work
12:00 pm: Lunch
12:20 pm: Email, checks, random crap

1:00 pm Nap/free time

3:00 pm Work

5:00 pm Break/Stretch
5:15 pm Chill. Surf, Random crap
7:00 pm Dinner

7:20 pm: Free time

8:15 pm Prep next day's work, planning, extra stuff

9:30 pm Sleep

Strict right? I probably need it. I have also done plans that separate tasks into days. For instance; Sunday for blogging for the week; Monday for painting; Tuesday for sorting stores and so on. I'm still gawking over the routines of artists and other creatives. It is fascinating insight but I also sort of wonder if some folks bothered to have social lives. I'm going to read Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life. That should help me along a bit better. Perhaps you should too if you're struggling.

Feature Friday: Warren Le Platte

2011-07-08T08:00:00.316-04:00

Warren Le Platte, Sun Goddess, 2010, Digital Illustration

Warren Le Platte is a graphic designer, who dabbles in illustration, photography and cartooning. His day job is a paginator (slave) for a local newspaper (salt mine) and teaches part time at the School of Business and Computer Science (SBCS). With a degree in Carnival Studies, Warren is a very well-rounded artist. He is the director of a design company, Zigwa, and says it's the reason he is still relatively sane. He loves comics, manga, anime and gaming, aka "all that good geek shit". That's usually a recipe for a funny, wildly fantastic imagination.

Warren Le Platte, Farmville spoof character design, 2010

Warren Le Platte, comic, 2010

I asked Warren to share some of the work he's doing now and boy is it a nice selection. Currently he is working on a T-shirt line called Hunting Season, intended to promote awareness of endangered fauna using imagery of hunted animals that refer to the animals being the hunters and not the hunted. He says, "Apart from being swanky the t-shirts we will also provide some info on each animal"

Warren Le Platte, Print design for Hunting Season T-Shirt line, Tattoo (Armadillo) Edition,2011

Warren Le Platte, Print design for Hunting Season T-shirt line, Caiman Edition, 2011

"I'm also working on the Donkey Eye project with James (Hackett) and a few others. More info on that will surface soon and it'll be exciting." To get a Donkey Eye teaser, you can attend a talk on July 15th at the Reader's Bookshop in St. James.

Warren Le Platte, Donkey Eye Project Teaser

Like most artists with multiple ongoing projects, Warren has a story to finish that started 5 years ago, he thinks. He's back in research mode and work on Kalenda (read bits in his Facebook notes) is continuing. It's an intriguing story that has local folklore and traditional Carnival characters. For him, it's all about entertainment, education and promoting the local. He also has friends who want him to finish. That should be inspiration enough.

Warren Le Platte, Kalenda: The fall of bois, book

In my usual Q&A bit, I squeezed some information from him. It's one of the more fun, entertaining interviews you'll read. I've left some of the dialect for authentic reasons. Readers unfamiliar should still get the gist!

TC: How's your current creative life? How do you balance personal work and a day job? Can you?
WL: To be honest my personal work is the only thing keeping me sane. My day job sucks big, hairy, watery ass! *sigh* One day...one day soon... that's all I keep telling myself... while I work to escape my creative prison.

TC: You're purdy busy - when do you work?
WL: Usually during slow periods, where there's nothing to do I would design something, or doodle... anything to break the monotony, and home of course.

Warren Le Platte, comic, 2010

TC: What's your dream creative life like?
WL: Hmmmm... apart from the cliche "I wanna do what I love everyday", Ii wanna be able to interact with other creative minds, have the freedom to do whatever. Sleep, read, play videogames, create, and most importantly, get paid bitches!

TC: Do you have a plan to do this?
WL: Yeah I do. The first phase is working for myself, or at least where I can have more creative freedom. Hence the big Zigwa push. There are a number of projects in the works.

TC: What are your methods of diversion when you've got down time or you're a bit burnt out/blocked creatively?
WL: The internet is a great tool. I trawl websites all the time, different blogs, video game sites. I love Penny Arcade. They do what I dream to do, like seriously, they influence me quite a lot.

TC: Do you have any specific daily rituals that feed your creative life?
WL: No not really. I should be drawin' more. I think I'll make THAT my ritual; pick up a pencil and draw something every day.

TC: Do you find that your collaborations bring another dimension to your work?
WL: Zigwa has definitely brought great focus to my work. I mean, it is my company so I'm workin hard to make it successful. I doh wanna be stuck in this dead-end job for the rest of my life.

Angel Thing, Warren Le Platte (left) & Tracey Chan (right) collaboration, 2011, Digital Illustration,

TC: How do you feel about stepping out of your comfort zone re: collabs?

WL: As far as collabs go, I'm all for it... and actually your illustration has been the one that pushed me furthest out of my comfort zone so far. When i first saw it I honestly had no idea where I was gonna start with it, but I'm pleased with the end result (and i think you are too?), so thanks for that. I think I kinda started the "wet up" (digital collabs) trend in the We Does Draw group, something James and i have been doing for over 13 years or so.

Warren and Tracey clowning around at the Bomb Shelter collab, excuse me while I am clobbered for posting this.

TC: Definitely. I have other challenges for you if you're interested. We must paint together as well - another Bomb Shelter shindig will be organised at some point soon. (I'll have a full post on this soon)
WL: I would love to!!! Granted I'm not much of a painter but I'm up for anything. I mean that night in the Bomb Shelter, the level of creative vibes was fuckin INSANE!!!! I was so tired from de office, I was literally just passin' to show meh face so I wouldn't get any ole talk. Next ting is because I have a maker in hand, duttyin people wall. I wish I could experience dat everyday. Soon I will hopefully though, might run outta walls... lol.
TC: That's the crazy thing with these collabs, especially with a group. The energy gets really concentrated and beautiful. You can be tired to death and then something hits you, wham, and you can go again.

TC: What do you think are the most important or interesting art movements/action/development that are happening in Trinidad art/culture/carnival scene?
WL: Definitely the We Does Draw group. I can't stress how much I love what is happening there that shit is growin by leaps and bounds! As far as Facebook is concerned, it's the most active group I've been in, period. This place has so many talented people, it jus' blows my mind.
In terms of Carnival, the other 5 brothers and I who make up Zigwa are working hard to ensure that craft and creativity come back to mas and mas making, but we prefer to show rather than tell, so remember the name, you'll be hearing it a lot more.

TC: Any words of wisdom for upcoming graphic designers and creatives?
WL: Hmmmm, words of wisdom - yuh doh hatta be wise tuh impart dem kinda ting?
Read, read, read
Do, do ,do
Use the technology available tuh you
Learn yuh craft and push yuhself
Right now yuh really don't have to be limited by anything, you can do work (design, illustration, photography etc) and have that work sold to someone in Canada, America, Europe, whereever, and get paid, all without leaving yuh house. That is cool.
Market yuhself. I suggest yuh learn a lil bit about the business side of things.
Learn how to draw up business contracts, because trust me, people ~~may~~ will run you down to get some work done, but then the game switches when you hatta run them down fuh yuh money. A contract can protect yuh from that, so apart from letting people know that yuh serious, they also know that if they try tuh fuck yuh over, it have court in dat, so they know is tuh approach yuh on ah certain level nah.
Know your worth, and make people respect that. A lot of people want quality but not willing to pay for it. It cyar wuk so. As much as possible, try tuh maintain yuh integrity.
I should probably stop before ah start tuh really rant and sound like a bitter ole designer. I should probably go and soak meh teet, Geritol and Red Bull FTW!!!!

Follow his shenanigans, stories, ole talk, and awesome art on his blog and facebook via Zigwa.

Feature: Have a 6x6 Summer!

2011-07-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

12 artists. 6 exhibitions. 6 weeks. Interactive. Un-snooty. Holy smokes. Baang and Burne Contemporary presents 6x6 - a series of 6 back to back shows featuring two different international artists at each, PLUS, even more interesting features at the shows. Whoa!

The dynamic ladies of B+B, Kesha Bruce and Charlie Grosso have a friendly, dynamic, approach to art gallery, art life and artists. The shows will run from September 8 - October 20, 2011. If you're in New York at the time you should definitely check it out. This is a prime example of fabulous artist entrepreneurship and collaboration. This should also be an ongoing example to all artists to break the barriers of the current systems, make our own and find our creative paths.

I've had the chance to ask Kesha a few questions about the 6x6. How fun!

TC: How can international artists in developing countries, with little/no resources, benefit from something like 6x6? What do you hope to achieve after 6x6?

KB: One of the coolest things about what we’re doing with 6x6 is that it isn’t just a bunch of exhibitions. We’re collaborating with other New York City businesses and arts organizations to offer an amazing set of hands-on, interactive, learn by doing workshops and programs for art buyers, artists, and creative entrepreneurs.

At the end of 6x6, we’ll able to take the information, video footage, workshop and panel podcast recordings and package it all up into an affordable, easily accessible, step-by-step DIY "How-To" guide that teaches independent artists how they can plan and re-create their own version of 6x6 in their own art communities.

TC: When do you and Charlie sleep, or do you tag team? Two is always better than one, but you must have a brilliant support system!

KB: Well it helps that we work in 2 different time zones on 2 different continents. Essentially our offices are open for business 18 hours a day even though we only have 2 staff members! But seriously, this is why I am constantly preaching about collaboration and partnerships. I couldn’t run Baang and Burne by myself. The only reason this works is because we’ve combined our knowledge, resources, and energy. Also I take a lot of naps.

TC: How has collaborating with other artists (in 6x6 or otherwise) helped with your own practice?

KB: I’ve always relied on other artists to help me do my work. One of my fondest memories from grad school was all the time I spent working in my studio at the Hunter College Time Square studio building. There were always people coming and going and always someone to lend you a second set of eyes and an opinion. I’ve created some of my strongest work based off of the simple passing comments of one of my colleagues. When the mix is right, a collaboration is an incredibly powerful thing. I say this all the time, because it’s true: When a small army of creative people get together-magic happens.

To read more about 6x6, read Kesha’s weekly articles on art, art marketing, and creativity and to download a free copy of her guide “The 5 Step Art Career Make-Over” visit her blog at www.KeshaBrucestudio.com.

Adios Cy

2011-07-05T16:22:00.001-04:00

Cy Twombly, Leaving Paphos Ringed With Waves III, Acrylic on canvas, 2009

Another great artist gone. Cy Twombly. Bow.

Tuney Thursday

2011-06-23T08:00:00.008-04:00

I Didn't See It Coming (Richard X mix) from Belle & Sebastian on Vimeo.

I Didn't See It Coming (Richard X version) by Belle and Sebastian.

animation and production by Lesley Barnes

Taken from the Come on Sister 12" released on Rough Trade Records, 18th July 2011.

Creative Habits: Down Time

2011-06-22T08:00:00.141-04:00

I've been talking to folks about their creative habits and how they deal with the ol' burn out. Thing is, it's tough for everyone. There's no feeling like the feeling of helplessness, guilt, loneliness, sadness of the inability to work, think and produce work. It's what I like to call down time (or rolling around like a sad baby panda).

My down time consists of long periods doing everything else:
Crosswords
Scrabble
Catch up on films or books
Walk around the house aimlessly
Talk to friends
Take discouraged naps
Pin stuff on Pinterest
Clean (or re-do entire rooms)
Marathon watch TV series
Hover over Google Reader/Tumblr/Facecrap/Twitter endlessly
Bug significant other
Doodle
Make lists
Cook
Eat

A note to the ones in severe need of a little happy at 1:30 am : tea and cake. Instant doldrum cure. What are yours?

I feel like this thingy. I really do. Eeeeeee.

Creative Life: Spaces

2011-06-21T08:00:00.029-04:00

From an early age we artists all should possibly be put into little artist communes in order to grow up untainted from the likes normal folks. At least that's how I feel sometimes. We are sort of a different breed. We think, live and feel differently, and we tend to be quite difficult in relationships of any kind. It doesn't help when we have to live with people either.
I've always thought I would function well in a little house near the sea with my thoughts. Alone. That worked for me while I was in Grenada. What bliss! I cannot tell you how much my spirit soars and my mind eases when that door closes and I am alone nowadays. I am trying to keep balanced, accepting that I had to return, to a house, with humans. Heavy sigh.
At the risk of possibly maiming people I believe I should have a studio. I believe in locked and sound-proofed studios. For now I don't have one. My bedroom has been re-stuffed with the contents of almost a whole apartment. I'm doing what I can, moving things around, decorating and making myself comfortable. At least I have my chair and desk back. It's not that bad honestly. I'm always searching for ways to make it better, more efficient, more pleasant.

However, I still have to find a way to deal with people. Ayn Rand's brilliant bell technique: Dear husband, please wear a bell on your shoe so you won't scare the shit out of me when you come in the house makes sense and does not sound quirky. I love the endearing way Jennifer Burns talks about it like it's a cute puppy. It is not.

I cannot ask my parents to shut up, turn the tv off, stop yapping on the phone, calling me or whatever. I do fear my life. Caribbean parents? Heh, uhm. I'm not fighting that. Ever. You know what I'm talking about folks (well some of you anyway). I remain quite non-confrontational because I know there's no winning in that situation. Parents, you will always be able to hold that over your child's head. "I pwn you 4evahhh". Powerful.
I think I'm doing fairly well as I've not broken anything nor has anyone's head been removed just yet. All of these things drawbacks/noise/people usually serve to help you find a way, even if a little bit drastic. I'm still finding mine.

Music Monday: Weeping Guitars

2011-06-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Today is dedicated to you. You endure the cubicle, making work you hate, that you are silently ashamed of what you do, and you are frustrated, trapped, and lost. You are broke/rich, dressed in rags/diamonds with brave smiling face, sleeping too much/little, eating too much/little, and only can find solace in your art that you abandon every day.

The original is always good of course.

On Happiness

2011-06-19T10:20:00.000-04:00

I am a huge huge girly screaming fan of Stefan Sagmeister. When I grow up I totally want to be like him. That is all.

Feature Friday: Photo Day

2011-06-17T23:38:00.000-04:00

I've taken a bit of a break this week but I figure I should still be able to provide you with at least some form of artful entertainment. These photos were taken at Asa Wright a few weeks ago as I wandered around in the evening. The lines stretch across the sky and the birds rest and look upon us as we go about our lives, as they do theirs. Theirs is a simple life, one that we should probably hope for. One day.

Creative Life: Baggage

2011-06-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

Christopher Stott Baggage II, 36"x36", Oil on Canvas, 2011

While packing up my life a month ago, I realised how attached I am to my crap. Previous bad shipping experience made me carefully photograph (I kid you not) the boxes and bags that were shipping and list their contents. I'm still not sure why I did it, but am quite certain it's OCD-esque and I can laugh at myself and go delete some photos now. I have posted them just for your entertainment - just these two because there are many more unnecessary ones. There were 4 pieces to ship and I took about 5 days to sort and pack and get them shipped off. Needless to say I laughed at myself because my stuff shipped overnight sans problem!

I think mom threw this drawing away when she unpacked it :( or I left it...

Must. Pad. Art supplies. It was a suitcase full of art supplies. I am still attached tho those.

If I'd left everything, if I'd given everything away and just returned with the clothes on my back, and my electronics, what would happen? I'd find a way right? I would use the tools I had remaining, (mourning and sobbing aside). Letting go proffers mental, spiritual freedom and peace of mind most of all. That of course leads to some measure of happiness I suspect.

This physical and emotional attachment to things is scary; these things mean nothing. They are just shiny pieces of junk - replaceable, loseable, sellable, stealable, burnable. Our humanity, our society, and our environment makes us attach so easily and quickly to things. I see it in as many small children as adults, (which does not encourage me to want to reproduce, at all). How do we move away from that in a time of ultra-consumerism? I once asked a very wealthy guy if he would give it all up for a simple life and he shook his head. Never. The man would probably fall apart in the worst way and always smiled but I saw a deep down sadness in his eyes when he put on a show for everyone. Yikes.
I revel in

Fostering creativity by letting go of your mental and emotional baggage is a very good thing. I'm a strong believer in using the tools you have - and I can thank my parents for that. I've got some measure of pack-rat behaviour along with ability to let go. Of course knowing when to let go is another matter. I love my simple, albeit very cluttered, thing-filled life. I believe in simplicity and I sometimes wish I could be more minimalist in living but I'm sentimental and have an overachiever artist brain where I think I can use all my materials. It's a war really.

I'd collected cans, bottles and bags when I was in Grenada. I'd planned to use them. They were probably thrown out. I hope they at least got recycled. That's my only hope for them. I've now left that behind and I'm starting again.

Music Monday + Creative Life: Feeding It Right

2011-06-13T14:51:00.001-04:00

I haven't done Music Monday in a while simply because nothing's been hitting me lately. It's not that there aren't thousands of good songs out there, but you know, sometimes you have to have something smack you hard for you to take notice.
This is definitely a three bird one post scenario: good music, fun animation and pretty groovy words to live by. It got implanted in my head on Saturday while heading to our We Does Draw mural painting event and I wondered why. I checked the lyrics that I'd never read before and they truly are wonderful and inspiring with a touch of rebellion. I love it! Thanks Fwankie.

I solve my problems and I see the light
We gotta plug and think, we gotta feed it right
There ain't no danger we can go too far
We start believing now that we can be who we are
Grease is the word
They think our love is just a growing pain
Why don't they understand, It's just a crying shame
Their lips are lying only real is real
We start to find right now we got to be what we feel
Grease is the word
Grease is the word, is the word that you heard
It's got groove it's got meaning
Grease is the time, is the place is the motion
Grease is the way we are feeling
We take the pressure and we throw away
Conventionality belongs to yesterday
There is a chance that we can make it so far
We start believing now that we can be who we are
Grease is the word
Grease is the word, is the word that you heard
It's got groove it's got meaning
Grease is the time, is the place is the motion
Grease is the way we are feeling
This is the life of illusion
Wrapped up in trouble, laced with confusion
What we doing here?
We take the pressure and we throw away
Conventionality belongs to yesterday
There is a chance that we can make it so far
We start believing now that we can be who we are
Grease is the word
Grease is the word, is the word that you heard
It's got groove it's got meaning
Grease is the time, is the place is the motion
Grease is the way we are feeling
Grease is the word, is the word that you heard
It's got groove it's got meaning
Grease is the time, is the place is the motion
Grease is the way we are feeling

This also came along as a very good time. I've been having difficulty re-adjusting to life in Trinidad. Today marks one month since my return. I've felt lost, flailing and as if the wall are closing in on me. The noisy neighbours disturb me, people disturb me, and the phone makes me want to throw things. The bliss seems to come only in moments when the house is completely empty, and the amazingly irritating dog next door has shut up for just a few moments. That needs to change. Of course I know fully well of what needs to change, how to do it and the whole shabang, but I need to wake up one morning and just get on with it.
Vallie speaks of feeding it right, meaning I would think, shifting your energy from problems to the solutions. Let it go, get inspired, get going, believe, and be who you want to be. Sounds amazingly simple but it's a long process. It's easy to get frustrated when you know what needs to be done, and you still see yourself falling apart and not getting anywhere, but that too is part of the process. Change comes when you need it, when you've called out for it, and it then comes quite beautifully.

It was my first time at a We Does Draw event and it was worth the sunburn. I almost gave in to the heat and didn't leave the house. Seriously. Lavaflow heat. I wanted to go but my body told me "hold up there buddy, too hot, cake or death?". I didn't have cake, so I chose some melanin torture.

Photo by Arnaldo James Digital Photography

Not getting to work how I wanted, I ended up walking up and down the wall, waving my marker around until it cooled my burnt out synapses. I have not done public work in a long time so when I picked up that marker, I was hesitant to make the first mark. Crap - what will the kids say if I make a booboo? Arr. What pressure! I am responsible for only a small part, but it still was a great experience with these new and old folks.
I'm pretty much running on the fuel of my people right now. My artists, musicians and creatives. Thanks - you are all a huge part of my life if you weren't aware. Also, I must to listen to more classic disco hits when I'm in a rut ... apparently.

Feature Friday: Finola Prescott

2011-06-10T20:27:00.002-04:00

Creative Living with Finola Prescott

Cold porcelain and sterling silver set by Finola Prescott

Finola Prescott is an artist, designer, educator and all-round creative being. She works in the Arts and Crafts field in both St. Lucia and Barbados. Born in the UK, half Irish, half English, she arrived in St. Lucia on the banana boat in 1970. Growing up in St. Lucia with nature as entertainment and her mother helping to inspire her creativity she'd never thought about art as a career until she went back to the UK and did a Diploma in Design and Degree in Crafts. Working on the side to pay for college, in Accounts prove to be very helpful to the business side of work. Thus her eclectic art career path was set.

Porcelain and fine silver scallop pendant on cotton cord

TC: What are you currently working on?

FP: This last year or so has been consumed by consulting work - mostly relating to infusing new life into the traditional crafts here in St. Lucia...this and starting up a little group, the Creative Development Network, has left my own creative exploits a bit high 'n dry!
What I'd like to be working on - my personal work - is re-developing using plant fibres for jewelry - fibre-mache - and combining it with metals - aluminum, copper, silver, brass - and with local red clay. I made handmade paper for many years and always loved what you could do with the pulps that were intended for paper - great textures!

Handmade Album by Finola Prescott

TC: Tell us about your inspirations - art, music etc.

FP: My inspirations tend to come from nature - I try to take a moment to have a little chat with some aspect of nature each day, I love the sky...I get teased for taking so many sunset photos.

I tend to like jazzy R&B, old soul, but I also like to have talk radio going in the background, or tv shows about history, culture, travel, and nature. I'm, I guess, eclectic when it comes to art, music, style - either that or I can't make up my mind.

TC: An artistic career is very trying for most - tell us about that choice.
FP: Ain't it just! When I used to teach Visual Art CXC I'd regularly caution the students to think seriously about whether they wanted to do art or design as their way to earn income or as a way to express themselves and unwind from the stress of life; warning that the former can be crushing when it doesn't pay up.
It's a rare thing to have 'the perfect' job, but still, if you can do what you love - and make sufficient to live well, then why not? All roads have their hardships, so really much of it is learning to see and be grateful for what's good and to do a decent job of managing the rest.

I teach, train and develop because I have way far too many ideas and skills than I will use and I get great personal rewards from seeing others have their creative ability unlocked. That said, it is often a balancing act between sharing all that with others - and having time and energy left over for my own work.
I make my own work primarily because I love making - I've had a love hate relationship with earning from my creative work; it's been a hard road with lots of miscalculations along the way - and I can't yet say that my own creative production is enough to keep me financially but I know it's possible!

Another reason I try to earn by sharing what I know is that when I look back, I realize I invested a lot of time and money in learning lots of new things - so I kinda look at it like a second Degree - and if you'd invested in a Degree, you'd expect that you'd use those skills in your career right?

TC: You mentioned that you've been blank creatively lately. How do you deal with that creative burnout?

FP: I'm yet to really figure that one out! Though I have found that networks, blogs, and other social media can yield up some good support, inspiration, clarity but it's all too easy to just end up swimming around in there and not get back up on terra firma and get on with it.

Some days I feel like I need to disconnect from things a bit...no, a lot for a while, to allow my creative voice to dig itself up from underneath, but since I am unlikely to be getting that break for a bit, I try to make time. It is true that you'll never have time unless you make it, so I make little oases and try and soak up as much as I can while I'm there! I'm thinking that after I finish this next project, a break in one of the other islands might just do it!

TC: How do you turn off from your work?

FP: It's hard sometimes, often, when bills are looming, not to stifle the need for balance and to work like a maniac, 16hrs a day...working smart is not easy for me to create as a solid habit though. One of the things I learnt in recent years is how to use 'mantras' to help quiet the noise of the day and actually get some sleep (I love sleeping - not one of those 3hr night ppl at all!) and more recently, good company, Sunday afternoon, head for the beach with eats and drinks and pay some respect to the bounty of Caribbean island life, plenty ol' talk amongst good friends! I try to eat decently, (comfort food in moderation is good for the soul) get some exercise in, work smarter, enjoy friends and family and breathe. That last one can do wonders; just stopping and focusing on breathing deep and slow can turn a panic into a triumph in no time!

Coffee Coconut and Herbal handmade soaps by Tim Prescott

TC: We've been talking about our personal creative support networks. How supportive is yours? How do you put your network to use?
FP: Our little local network is young yet, but the members, and numbers are expanding, are very sharing and every month when we meet at our Craft & Farmers Market, that is what makes the day (aside from good sales of course!)
In our formal group, aside from working out the logistics of group activities, it's the chatting that is most valuable - tossing up ideas, sometimes with pressure, sometimes just chit-chat. It really helps each other sort out what's a possibility and what ain't gonna work. We share contacts, blog posts, and generally lift each other's spirits with some wicked senses of humour...it's good! That said, as a new network, the work can be overwhelming; the key is that everyone pitches in and allows for differences.

TC: Anything else to add?
FP: I would love to see two images erased from people's minds: the Starving Artist and the Arts as a fall back for the less academically inclined. While I totally understand the artist who works for expression rather than directly for money, I fully believe in the artist who makes captivating things that people pay well for.
The concept that a career in the Arts is in some way more appropriate for lower achievers - pshhhh! If used correctly, the Arts unlocks the capacity of those who don't fit the rigid norm of our education systems and the creativity of those who excel in them too. Imagine where we could be if we bumped up our already impressive academic performances with a true grasp of creative thinking.

True talk Fi, and by the way, one can never have too many sunset photos. Find her on facebook and on her main blog. I've put in links to some of her other art sites and galleries under the photos so go have a clickyclick!

Feature Friday: Andrew F Photography

2011-06-03T19:35:00.000-04:00

Andrew F, Shadows, 2011

Andrew F. is an American fine art and erotic nude photographer. He draws inspiration from real life, focusing on lines, shadows, shapes, and subtle eroticism.

Balancing a corporate job and his love for photography, he spends much of his free time pursuing his passion, but he is not an artist who is just waiting to be freed from the confines of work. In fact, he actually likes his day job.

Asked if he would consider doing photography full time, Andrew said, "If I could make enough money to live on it, but I do enjoy my other job immensely. It's a different set of challenges, different skills used and I prefer to balance the two. It makes my life seem that much busier and richer."

Work
This is Andrew's second year of erotic art explorations. His personality and work style seem to suit his choice of work and play and that strikes an interesting balance. "I'm the kind of person who gets bored too easily.
If I get bored, then I get depressed, so I can't let that happen!" This is one of the banes of all creatives' lives. For some it's boredom and for others like me it's not creating that creates depression.

I was curious to find out how Andrew's work-life balance plays out and the time spent on work and art.

AF: I work 40-50 hours a week for my primary job and the remainder is spent on photography: nights and weekends. Usually when I come home for work I'll spend about 3 hours scouring the web for interesting photographs and new photographers. I do shooting on weeknights and weekends. Sometimes I'll take a day off work if I want to shoot with a model I really like, who can't be available at any other time.

Andrew F, Of Breasts, 2011

TC: Do you ever feel burnt out creatively?

AF: Often. That's why I look at new work by other photographers. I usually won't rip off an idea from them, but rather use an idea they use and mix it with my own creativity to create a whole new idea. I often solicit ideas from models; sometimes they contribute, sometimes they don't. Usually I create my better photos with models who, I have to say, I find sexually attractive. It creates a very interesting tension and stirs up a lot of emotions inside of me. I can approach shooting them from a more confident and interested standpoint.

TC: Aha! So how do you keep it professional?

AF: That's one area where my other job helps me deal with it. I talk to models about other photographers they work with and I find out that a few of them can be very unprofessional and kind of scummy. Some have said that most of the photographers they work with are 40 or 50-something year old men who use the photos as their personal spank banks. I am not like that at all. I am only 27, I do this for art, and I have a job that keeps me in a professional mindset always.

My (day) job has everyone take sexual harassment training, and in the United States over the last 50 years or so, with the women's liberation movement, many men are afraid to "come on" to women lest they face consequences, so sexual harassment in the workplace is now more rare.

A lot of it has to do with the strong female influences in my early life from my mother and grandmother. I consider them to both be quasi-feminists. They taught me from early on to be immensely respectful towards all people, especially women. I try very hard to achieve this, and I hope it comes out in my art.

Andrew F, Shock and Awe, 2011

Inspiration
Like many artists, Andrew's inspiration is derived from daily as well as extracurricular activities. "I go hiking and see a vista and think, "wow, I'd like to take some shots with a model here" or I see an advertisement and say, "I'd like to incorporate some of this idea into my work". When I'm at work I'm also thinking about an idea I want to realize in my photography."

TC: Who are you inspired by?

AF: When I started, I was really into the work of Ralf Mohr and Thomas Karsten, and their work was primarily just nudes. Then I discovered the work of other artists like Laurent Benaim, Tony Ward, or Aeric Meredith-Goujon and saw that their work was a lot more erotic, and it's like they opened up so much more of my brain to the creative process. Four American photographers I really like at the moment are K Leo, Scott Nichol, David Hilton, and Gary Breckheimer.

TC: What is it about creating a photo that excites you?
AF: It's the emotion that is conveyed by the model. Are they sad, happy, angry and why? Why would a model be happy if she were naked? Emotion is really important. I hate when I see a nude photograph and the model has a wooden, lifeless expression. I find humanity to be quite amazing, it's so incredibly beautiful. Granted, I would not want to photograph someone like a co-worker or family member!

Andrew F, The Space In Between, 2011

Taboo
Living a bit of a secret life, Andrew is still doubtful about the reactions his family and friends would have about his work. Erotic art is still taboo, even in semi (pseudo) liberated societies.

TC: It's easier to work with strangers then?

AF: Absolutely. People say it's easier to open up to a stranger than to a close friend. Maybe it's because we're worried about being judged by those whose opinions we care about.

TC: I think I am closer to many online friends than offline.
AF: I agree. My "real-life" friends would never understand this. If they found out, they would either say it was awful to do this or would get all testosterone-y as guys get when they find out about naked girls.

TC: So who knows about your work?

AF: No friends, no family, no co-workers. The models, other artists, and the people who've seen my work online, they all know.

TC: You may also be surprised by who accepts it.

AF: That's true, but I might be afraid to find out. I find that some of the models do this on the down-low as well.

TC: Do you think you'll eventually "come out" publicly?
AF: Oh, maybe but I'm sure I'll be outed first, and that will be one bad, crazy day.

You can see Andrew's work on Flickr and Tumblr. I'm starting on a collaborative series with him so look out for that at some point.

Worky Wednesday: Chakra

2011-06-01T09:47:00.000-04:00

Ajna 3, (Chakra Series), 2011, Gouache, paint on mat board, 6.5"x11"

I'm a bit unimpressed with my scanner at the moment - it takes out the pretty shine of the gold paint.
I'm adding to the Chakra series that I restarted earlier this year. These are photographs so there's some icky reflection but at least you can see some more of the detail.

Ajna 1, Chakra Series, 2011, Mixed media acrylic on canvas, 12" x 12"

Ajna 2, (Chakra Series), 2011, Mixed media acrylic on canvas, 12" x 12"

If you're curious about the history of the Chakra series, you can have a look here at the full series. It started in 2006 in school and I've returned once again. I'm planning to continue and build upon it in my future works because for the moment I am drawn to this again.

Feature Friday (Night): a_phake

2011-05-27T06:58:00.002-04:00

a_phake is Trinidadian musician, singer-songwriter, vocalist and producer Ravi Maharaj. In 2007 he started experimenting with electronic music after almost a decade in the fringe of the indie rock scene. The use of live instruments during performances, including Indian drumming, lends a different energy to the usual EDM (electronic dance music) DJ scene. In 2010 he became the first live artist to perform at a rave in Trinidad. I got linked with him through his Outlish Magazine article, a great starting point for many of us (thanks Karel). See more of his story there!

Aiming to challenge himself to make and produce music that is memorable, emotionally appealing, original in approach, yet mysterious, a_phake manages to do work that others may be afraid of doing. He's got his own style and a unique creative voice. Recent collaborations with other musicians/producers help to further amp up his creativity.

This week a_phake has chosen to share a little about Friday Night, a song that has a wide range of diverse remixes, all of which are just as slick as the original. Perhaps the word is schmexy. I am squealing with excitement that he's created a special acoustic version of his popular song, Friday Night and I'm quite honoured to have it officially debuting here (other than YouTube).

The final produced version, all polished and prettified is the first video on this article.
You may inveigle your senses further with Friday Night EP remixes demo from pre-released today on B.P.M. Recordz Canada. The remixers are Andy-Himself, Chris Kurbanali, Kat Hennessy.

Friday Night Remixes Demo by a_phake

The Music
TC: What is the prettification process like?
RM: After I put down a rough sketch of the vocal melody, the piano motif, some pads and bass, I implemented the chord changes I wanted for the different sections of the song - the structure. Then I picked out some of the garbled non-sense i was singing an formed the gist of the lyrics. After tightening up the song I made a decision to go for something as commercial as possible while not only staying true to myself, but doing something cool and fun with the vocals.
I was looking for ideas when around that time i started listening to Skrillex. I got the idea for the chopped up vocals with their song "Nice Sprites and Scary Monsters". I tightened up the lyrics in post-production, paying attention to the target market (teenagers). I purposely changed the lyrics for the chorus from "Words to rock me" to "Girls to rock me" just to make it more appealing directly to them. This was my first experiment with the much maligned autotune (Logic's pitch correction actually). I did many processes with the production of the track itself - trying out sidechain compressing with the drums and bass; sidechain gating with the pads and guitars. I really wanted it to be very interesting musically so I took a while to put in all the little details. The part in the middle where I filtered out everything and dropped it back in was the icing on the cake. I was like "ok if that doesn't keep their attention then they're not alive to begin with."

TC: How do you know when to stop / when is the piece done?
RM: With this piece I had a fairly good idea about the impact I wanted it to have. Through research and experimentation I eventually got to a place where I felt satisfied enough; where nothing else I added brought further value to it or made a difference with the original impact I envisioned. That doesn't always happen though. There are projects sitting on my hard drive that are still sorta waiting for the bus..

TC: Have a favourite Friday Night version?
RM: Because they all stand so well on their own and are all so different in mood I can't compare or have a favourite. I think they're all really solid actually and I must thank all the remixers on a job that surpassed my expectations.

TC: Are you planning more remixes of this song?
RM: No. Unless Nicky Minaj wants to ride it. Anybody out there can make the hook up?

On Creativity
TC:You're one of the folks with a day/regular job and your creativity is reserved for after hours. How do you deal with burnout?
RM: Well I’ve never had the luxury of a creative burnout. Only the regular “no extra cheese” burnout that comes from attempting to manage multiple aspects of my life. This fatigue continues to affect me creatively to the extent that it’s sort of shaping my creative identity.
Look I don’t accept having to shaft the creative side of me but while looking to improve upon my lifestyle, I’m kinda observing, learning a lot about the role and character of the Half Dead (HD) music producer. As a matter of fact he’s making an appearance at my next show.
I have to be very efficient now with how I manage the various aspects of my musicality. I’ve locked off performing for the while because that in itself is an art form and I don’t want to do it unless I can dedicate the time to doing it right. I don’t wanna be contributing to the mediocrity of live shows in Trinidad. Too many local rock bands on bad PA systems are already doing that.
So how do I deal with it?
Well, exercise, except when I’m feeling depressed (ironic isn’t it?), a walk in the wilderness, a long weekend by the beach or nature resort with a book and some friends. Gosh I need some friends. A mild hallucinogen every now and again seems to do the trick at recalibrating my system…
You know on second thought all this makes things sound so “oh i’ve got everything under control”. That’s one thing I hate about interviews. Artists and editors always end up painting the picture in such a way. But me, I don’t have anything under control. My creative life is in complete turmoil. I want badly to take an extended hiatus from all things music to deal with introducing myself to a new lifestyle - but it hurts because I have all these things I want to do so badly in the next few months, some to which I’ve already committed. My friend Gerard will say that my ego has taken control over me. I don’t know. I don’t believe in fully taming the ego.

TC: What's your creative support network (CSN) like?
RM: It’s important to define what exactly a Creative Support Network is and its purpose and it's a highly subjective thing. Some people’s idea of a CSN is just to feel secure, drink with their buddies and feel vindicated in their opinions and lot in life. Others thrive on people "liking" their social networks posts and then go take a piss.
To me the concept feels fairly non-existent in my life. I say this without at all thinking that I’ll be offending any of my friends and fellow collaborators because of what I want out of it. I know I have a long way to go. This year alone I decided to reach out as much as possible to other artists/producers and as such I am only now slowly building a network of people I work with. These are relationships we’re talking about here. That takes time.
In the meantime I’m really grateful for guys like CK and Baidawi with whom I’ve spent a valuable time just playing and discussing music. I remember the first time I stepped into the Bomb Shelter to try singing some of QD’s lyrics (never did that before as I usually write my own). Man I felt like a real artist! I couldn't stop telling people about it!
A CSN consists of a few highly skilled, imaginative individuals who have formed their own approach to music and the creative process. These people should be folks you feel comfortable around, to be yourself and express your ideas about a project at hand or something in general. It's the people you go to when you want to bounce an idea around, to get things rolling, to get it out. Someone who will take you seriously, people that bring out the best in you, who make you feel comfortable with being creative, expressive and stupid. Of course it allows you to give that support to them.
I was researching the Michael Jackson Thriller video because I wanted to make a reference to it in a song, and I stumbled upon a conversation Michael was having with the director. They were discussing/trying out approaches, processes and techniques that would make dancing zombies appear awesome and uber cool instead of hilarious. After reading this I see the massive importance of having such a network on a professional level. In that way art becomes the biggest winner.
You don't want your CSN to become a comfort zone because you then are liable to create to please people. It's great having associates and all but finding your own voice and developing your process is what's important at the end of the day. It’s what you must fight for the most. Sometimes your own mentors may be the ones holding you back without you realizing it. My girlfriend has a way of blurting out “Look ah not takin this shit” every now and again. It’s a kind of self actualizing non-shit acceptance mechanism that gets triggered when the world tries to dupe her creative side. It’s something I think we as artists need to develop. Keenly.

TC: How have you overcme a big obstacle in your creative life?
RM: Becoming/Being taken seriously as a vocalist:
I was always the quietest shyest kid around and it was always very hard for me to command a place as a vocalist – a role people usually see as the “leader/cunt” of a band. I was never really a cunt so it took a while to develop my skills there but when I was alone and felt comfortable, I would open my mouth and sing. I would practice a lot and most importantly put feeling into what I was doing. When opportunities came to showcase my vocal/writing skills (those two were always inseparable to me) and I felt I was in a supportive environment, I took them. I had two friends who were incredibly kind, patient and encouraging with me. They believed in me and I’m not talking about someone who would just have nice words to say. I mean people who would stick by you year after year after year and never fail to see the potential in you. I’ve been blessed to have superior musician/artist friends who would bear with me like that.
TC: (There's part of your CSN Ravi!)
RM: Figuring out how to write songs:
In my early stages as a songwriter, most importantlywas my sense of rejecting my own mediocrity. I was never satisfied with what I produced. For years I tried and failed to write songs I was happy with. They were always un-catchy and moronic. I tried writing on many instruments besides the guitar – piano, drums, harmonica, violin and mandolin – just to say "I’m trying a different palette here, a different medium." That didn’t really work. I tried alternative tunings. I then decided to take myself out of the equation. Change the Process. Composing lyrics, vocal melody, song structure and harmony while at the same time playing the instrument just seemed too limiting, un-exciting and difficult for me. I needed to record and play back what I was doing, take it in and build on top of that. Give my imagination some breathing space. Hence my switch to using Digital Audio Ware and programs like Reason and Garageband.

TC: Can you share some advice on creativity - developing/creating/sharing?
RM: My friend Lyndon recently told me something that helped so I’ll pass it on. I was asking him for advice on managing multiple projects as I am challenged with managing at least 7-8 different projects at a time. He said that to get through a piece, you must determine and realize that there is a process for dealing with it. So if I have multiple projects to manage, they may all require different processes or may all use the same one! It’s up to me to find my own process.
It takes a while to settle into and find that zone so the last thing I want at that critical moment is a distraction - someone calling you or some shit, or just social media addiction. Eliminating distractions is very important but it can be a tough thing to do. Creating always stems from working within limits, necessity being the mother of invention and all. That's how I operate; I suck at her nipples.
As for sharing, well there are different ways to share. It’s hard for a guy like me to share, not because I’m selfish but because I’m a perfectionist. I don’t wanna be made to feel like I could have done better when I'm the one who knows that the most.
If you’re trying to establish yourself and don’t share, people forget about you and that’s hard. It’s not always about sharing a product. Sometimes it’s about sharing your thoughts. Right now I am focusing on becoming a better writer not in terms of songs but in terms of blogging. It’s important to appeal to and communicate with people on that level. Not only can it present new opportunities but also new ways of being creative. Now count the number of times the word “creative” was used in this piece. Then divide it by the number of times the word “shit” was used. What’s the answer? Be creative.

Find him and his music at Facebook, Myspace and ReverbNation.

Creative Life: Musings

2011-05-21T14:42:00.001-04:00

[I think this was posted before I left but then Blogger decided to fubar so here it is again "officially".]

I got this from Andrea Scher's Superhero Designs blog. Any semi creative person needs to sit and listen to this as they talk about the creative process and creativity blocks: Me, Myself and Muse. Before you read any further, click that link and listen! It's prudent advice.

There are times I wonder what I'm doing, why I'm an artist, and why I didn't choose something easier to do. I wonder how life would be in a cushy job, sitting pretty and buying nice things. It's a constant war with ourselves and our muses.
Dayne heads upped me on this comic by Jelly Vampire that sums up much of our creative lives. You can actually click the picture on the left to see it full size.
I obviously need to name and put a face to my muse now. I think it should have a name like FloppyEars Jack, but I digress.
In light of all of this, I want to share a snippet of conversation I had with James Hackett about our creative lives. We have one of those long standing friendships that has developed from casual hellos to very spontaneous, synergistic collaborations. We are very different but in a way that complements one another, and our styles seem merge very well.

Last week we had a short online chat about our art lives. I am constantly surprised and almost comforted that I am never alone in my creative life experiences. I told J about moving back while I was hemming and hawing about it. Since I am about to change course again it's quite overwhelming when I've just made seemingly good plans. Ah well life right?

I've only changed a couple things to make the local dialect/slang easier to understand for those readers who may be a bit confused.

TC: I am guilty that am disappointing my followers

JH: What are you going to change, for someone who has several projects that started and stopped , just to keep going is an evolution because yuh cyah be slave to that or else is just another trap you in.

TC: Indeed, last night I had a bit of a cry about it and listened to some good music (Ryuichi Sakamoto)

JH: Music my soulmate

TC: Sometimes it's good to be quiet but I got a set of lovely ideas listening to it.

JH: Lemme tell you what happen to me yesterday eh. I say I coming off the computer, I am going to lie down and read, but every two sentence is like I have a chorus in my mind, about things to do, how I can do them, I had to put the book down. I can't turn my mind off, and that is why I have trouble reading of late.

TC: ohmyeffinggawd, lol *raises hand* mind no turn off

JH: LOL yuh know exactly what I mean ent?

TC: god that's why I have yoga. I didn't even do yoga yesterday and I should have. I have to calmtf down, but sometimes wow, iit doesn't work.

JH: haha ent, sometimes I wish I wasn't creative. I would get meh little bank job and go home and play video games and stuff when I done

TC: is a process, OMG I know right. See why i want a post office wuk? Sometimes I just wonder why am not an engineer, my life would be more profitable, lol

JH: Haha ent, build yuh little house and ting, life normal, go beach on weekend and life simple

TC: lolol ikr!!! I truly admire creatives who have semi normal lives

JH: yeah some people work that balance

TC: I am tryin

JH: I just say look it; will be what it is yes, once I figure out how to make money off this thing people will understand (or not but who cares I getting paid)

TC: Lol, I had a heated discussion with my mom yesterday about moving back - still don't think she gets it

JH: Probably won't until yuh walking out a limousine with European glasses. (kidding)

TC: yuh know! Fuck's sake lol. Have had this discussion with several ppl - same thing.

JH: It hard, but we have to work it and prove dem wrong.

And that's all there is to it. The show goes on.

Snore

2011-05-15T08:00:00.001-04:00

Excuse me today while I sleep

Feature Friday: Excuse Me?

2011-05-13T08:00:00.048-04:00

Happy Friday the 13th lovelies! I hope you're not friggatriskaidekaphobic. I actually quite like these days and find them to be quite lucky, but I'm weird. In light of current moving house circumstances, this week I must forego a proper feature to answer a few questions everyone is asking. Because I feel guilty about not having a guest other than moi, I'll do it in Feature Friday style, just to amuse you (read myself).

You All: Firstly, WTF? Dry so you moving?

Tracey C: Er well yes. Sorry about that. It was a bit sudden for me too actually. I actually tried postponing it for a bit but it didn't make sense.

YA: But waaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii?

TC: Several reasons actually. To cut a long story short, the sabbatical is over, there are a lack of jobs in Grenada, and frankly, I'm restless. It's time to move forward to the next step in my life. The people who know me well know that I am capable of sudden moves and randomness. It's actually quite fun sometimes. I've enjoyed my time in Grenada. It's a beautiful place and I will miss it dearly.

YA: Damn that sucks. I am so sorry. Are you sad to leave? When will you be back?

TC: I've had my mourning period and I'm very much over it, so no pity is necessary. Really. I have other plans in the making so it's really not the end, rather a continuation of work. I'll be still conducting business in Grenada. It is my art base (the start of my art career) after all. I will miss my friends and adopted families I have acquired there. There is Skype though thankfully! Magic!
I am quite sad that I will no longer be able to see the sea every day. I'll have to look at the Grand Anse web cams for some confort once in a while.

YA: So what what are you going to do in Trinidad?

TC: I'm going home to eat loads of curry, doubles and mummy's food. Also I'll be looking for a full time job/jobs/projects etc. I've got no time for down time actually because even as I leave I am prepping for a show in Grenada on May 23rd. Stop panicking already!

YA: What's next on your artistic agenda?

TC: My burgeoning list of projects continues to haunt me daily. I'll launch my online stores soon (bit delayed because of all of this moving drama) and I still plan to move forward with the Creative Habits series. Developing a new body of work will take another month or two depending on what's happening with work.

Because I've developed a fairly good Grenadian network, I'll still do shows and things. (Look out for it soon!)

YA: Dude. Good luck.

TC: Thanks. I will be happy to be back at home to be able to participate in things I've been missing out on. My friends who are itching for collaborations will have me bugging them. Guys like Hackett and detnator are all go for projects. Now to find the time!

YA: Any last words for us?

TC: The show goes on my darlings - business as usual. Nothing to see here, carry on.

Home

2011-05-11T09:17:00.001-04:00

Here we go with a Mid-week Music Mashup in honour of the move back home. Nic reminded of this song I love so much. It's a beautiful little love song that I am dedicating to my muse; that thing that keeps me going, that annoying little bastard that continues to excite me and elude me. I don't have a name for it yet. Maybe I should name it Jack (after Cap'n Harkness of Torchwood).

I'm goin' hooooommmmme...to live with my parents again. Facepalm. I'm going through the motions of dealing with this. My mother retorted to my lack of enthusiasm about moving, "Well it's not like we really want you coming back here but it's ok. I'll go clear my stuff off your dressing table." Thanks parents. Love you too. I do love them and consistently feel guilty and pathetic in front of them. I suppose that's part of the drama of being a child forever in front of your parents.

Speaking of parents, I also found this superbly cute cover version of the song (I teared up).Ok I'm sappy and emo and you might not actually tear up but oh my, it's super freaking cute. Also, just a note, daddy whistler guy can sing to me any day.

I am looking forward to going home for a little bit despite all the whining. I am calm and it shall be a positive step upward and forward. I'm in a much better place than I was when I left Trinidad. Thanks Grenada, you're awesome. I will always return.

Moving House: Stage 2

2011-05-10T11:50:00.006-04:00

Not me really. That cut of pants is so unflattering.

Dear clients, you will find from the startling array of posts dealing with my move, that I am beyond frazzled. I've been packing, stopping (because my back is lame), packing, re-packing and wishing I had a tea fairy. It's also interesting when you've taped up a box completely, and then realise you've forgotten to add a nice huge fragile thing.
I am exhausted, hungry and overwhelmed. In fact, I look very much like this. Note the eyes.

(not sure where this is from - pinched from a pinched Resident Evil site)

It would therefore be prudent to approach me with offerings of tea and cookies first before asking me about work.
The boxes and suitcases are stuffed, organized. Three large suitcases, 2 fairly large boxes. I have a general overview of what is in them in case someone fucks up the scene.

Lawrence Yang's foul mouthed doggy on a dino

This drawing might actually be quite accurate but I shall behave in case they set fire to my stuff.
I have to wonder if any human can lift any of this crap. Apologies to the lovely folk who have helped me and will help me with this. I can offer painkillers.
My goal for a minimalist life has failed miserably. This reminds me of photographer Peter Menzel's Material World A Global Family Portrait, except I own like everything and that's only Grenada stuff. I clearly need to clean and let go of my 16 year old t-shirts (yes I have a couple of those). I also must do Kesha Bruce's In-House Residency Challenge. (Yo Stacey Byer you need to do this with me) Of course that's another project of which we shall not yet speak. Heh.

So I am now living out a suitcase until Friday. What an adventure,surely. An empty apartment, blank walls, no food - how very homey. Can I has sleep? Oh no wait, I have work to do now. Goodbye.

Move House in 30 Steps: Stage 1

2011-05-09T18:15:00.000-04:00

Courtesy VA Comicon

PART 1

Step 1: Make Tea.
Step 2: Make list of things to pack and ship/different areas of house/what to take in ONE bag am allowed on plane.
Step 3: Wince at lovely books and art supplies on a boat over ocean.
Step 4: Giggle at random notes in notebook while making list.
Step 5: Wee discouraged nap.
Step 6: Make tea.
Step 7: Watch random TV series marathon.
Step 8: Look at belongings.
Step 9: Discouraged nap.
Step 10: Cook.
Step 11: Eat and watch the Muppet Show.
Step 12: Blog about moving.
Step 13: Prepare for art show that will happen post move.
Step 14: Look at crap and walk away.
Step 15: Talk to significant other.
Step 16: Change curtains, sneeze.
Step 17: Look at things online because I want to stop sneezing (dust allergy, bad)
Step 18: Glance at crap.
Step 19: Start piling dining room table with crap. Also realise there are extra curtains. Oops.
Step 20: Take paracetamol for incoming headache.
Step 21: Discouraged nap.
Step 22: Go to toilet and notice all the crap in there to sort.
Step 23: Think about making tea but walk away discouraged.
Step 24: Take pictures and things off walls and start feeling depressed at blank walls.
Step 25: Open wardrobe and stare into it. Take suitcases out.
Step 26: Sort things and wonder why I have all this crap.
Step 27: Stare at walls and think about doing laundry.
Step 28: Get a million projects to do at same time and think fleetingly about deadlines.
Step 29: Finally get tea made.
Step 30: Sit and think about more things to pack and sort.

You probably don't really want to take my advice if you want to get anything done. Hire packing elves and pay in cookies. I would but I have no cookies. In reality you just don't want to own anything so being a nomad is far easier. It causes much less back ache in the long run.

Music Monday: Salento

2011-05-09T08:00:00.013-04:00

I love a guitar. (I wish I could play) and I love a well played flamenco guitar and violin. I love the clean, crisp, fresh, sweet, sexy sound of this. Words cannot do justice to this in any way. (I'm not that talented)
I don't even care that Salento is an Italian place. Another stereomood find, this song offers me peace in a very tumultuous world. It takes me to a different dimension and makes me sit back a while, take a break and breathe it in. That's when you know a song has done its job.

Moving!

2011-05-08T08:05:00.000-04:00

Natalie Dee a Sharing Machine comic

I'm moving back home to Trinidad next week (quite suddenly I know, I know, so get the hell up off the floor) and my final decision was made in about 5 minutes. If you know me for a long time you'll know that this is actually quite normal for me. I've had my few days of mourning, and I will miss Grenada quite a bit. I will no longer be able to peek through my window and see the ocean. Bloody hell. While I am a bit moany about these changes I am also going to make the most of it while I repatriate to Trinidad. Holy prison.
I will write a bit more about this later on, but I'm alright and I am looking forward to many new things. Business will continue as usual in Grenada and I shall be doing a couple more shows here at the end of this month and in August. I've still got to pack my house up and sort a million things before the end of the week. Gack. Spit. Off I go! Consider yourselves officially informed. See you soon Trinis.

Feature Friday: Defining Shadow with James Hackett

2011-05-06T09:02:00.000-04:00

Pepper from James Hackett's new book: Maljo

James Hackett and I have been friends for many years (more than I care to remember because I feel creaky), through gaming, art and collaboration. He has not only dubbed me the "MissIah", designed an avatar for me, and has been a great art buddy, but we've also done various collaborations together. Not only is he is a fabulously talented illustrator, and a lifelong experimenter, but also a musician in his own right. Another powerhouse. I must say that I love my bunch of amazing friends.

James is currently doing his degree in Fashion Design at UTT (University of Trinidad and Tobago) and has several other projects going on including We Does Draw (WDD) and a graphic novel. I mentioned this in detnator's feature last week so you may have a head's up. If not look at the video below.

This was the seventh We Does Draw event at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain. I've been talking to James about the evolution of this event, which brings folks together to draw. It's brilliant really. Simple concept and a big development in the local art scene.

About We Does Draw
Tell us a little about the WDD story.
One of the WDD members, Nabeel Mohammed had an idea for an artist meetup in 2010 and I took the initiative to create a group and then an event after a couple weeks. I had no idea what would happen but I just decided to go for it and see who would show up. It's meant to be a place for artists, the illustrators and graphic designers, to connect with each other in real life, find support and encouragement to keep on making work.

What are your thoughts about these events as they evolve?
It is evolving as I had hoped; it's about the art and for artists to just have some fun. Some people came as friends or groups on their own already but I notice new friendships forming which is absolutely awesome.

What's the general format of a WDD meet-up?
We keep it simple: we decide on a date, post it on the facebook group and then meet in a public space with our sketchbooks. We draw based on what is around usand share it with one another. We have also started giving ourselves themes, choosing random people walking around and finding a fun way to interpret them. As you saw in the video, the last WDD saw us foregoing sketchbooks and drawing on 2x4 feet ply boards.

What about special WDD group events?

WDD7 was the detnator collab and before that we were at Trinidad Street Fest where we drew on ply boards.

What happens with the boards afterwards? Are you planning an exhibition or anything eventually?

Hopefully. We are still working it out, but we want to have an exhibition at some point. That planning will come after some.

I see there may be plans for a magazine. Care to give us deets?
The magazine is still an idea, but I think the group is still trying to figure out the best way to go about it. Right now we would like to create a downloadable online magazine showcasing the members' works.

Where do you see WDD going? What are your hopes for it?
I am not sure where WDD will go next as it depends on upon the members of the group. They suggest ideas and are the ones truly dictating the pace of it, (with some nudging from the vocal members of course). We hope that we continue to make the public aware of drawing. We also want to educate and encourage a lot of younger artists to pick up pencil, markers, computer and create some art as opposed to all the other negative things that distract youths from achieving great things.

Let's talk about drawing as a skill. Do you think drawing is properly taught in schools/university?
I think there are some good teachers out there, but there are some bad ones. Increasingly though I think a lot of the younger ones who want to learn have been using the internet a lot and finding what they need to improve their skills. WDD can only help us go forward.

On Creativity
How do you deal with your creative down time? What do you do?
I always find a way to relax and enjoy myself. Some people may find it hard to understand but a lot of people always find me to be that guy that never is angry. I watch a lot of TV shows and movies. I like storytelling so I enjoy it in all its forms. I also play a lot of video games but of late I have had little time or have not played any good ones because my computer is like 5 years old. I keep trying to read more, but I blame the internet since I do all my reading there; blogs, movie sites fan sites, forums and Wikipedia. My friends have tons of books they have urged me to get into and I really must since I used to read a lot when I am younger.

What's your favourite drawing tool/technique and why?
The pencil, although of plate I have been using cheap ballpoint pens, nothing like that drive to not having an erase options to get you going!

What's been your favourite drawing experiment?
Scanning my sketches and converting it to vectors in Illustrator and finishing it in Photoshop. Most of what I do now is some form of that. I like playing with the lines of the drawing and making it appear like a resist batik looking image. In Photoshop I layer textures and paints brush samples to make it seem like this painted mess over structured lines.

As for personal projects Hackett has gathered inspiration from WDD and felt the positive energy from the artists he meets.
He has started working on follow up to his daaknite stories.
About it he says, "At the heart of it is going to be a graphic novel but I am going to attach a number of other things onto it such as collaborative music with Detnator and some other things."

The new book is called Maljo and he will be blogging about his experiences and process at shizzies.com. You'll definitely want to follow his journey especially if you're an artist.

Any last words of advice for your fellow artists?

Never stop working and don’t be afraid to experiment and evolve.
The light is a lie, the shadow defines.

I could have not said it better myself! Thanks James! As an extra bit of goodies I shall feature a small snippet of conversation between us, as we talk about our creative lives.

Call to International Artists

2011-05-04T09:13:00.000-04:00

trevorjonesart: Call to artists around the world!: "Let’s get back to nature and raise some money for a great cause" The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests."

This is a charity exhibition that will raise money for conservation. I'm taking part. Will you?

Kesha Bruce Feature : Art School Confidential

2011-05-04T08:42:00.000-04:00

Pressy press press.

My arty twitter buddy Kesha Bruce has interviewed me for one of her features: Art School Confidential. I talk about my art school experience, so, go on lovelies, click the link or photo to read if you've not before!

Thanks Kesha! (She has some loverrrrly art too so check her sites out)

Music Monday: Pure Imagination

2011-05-02T08:00:00.001-04:00

Hold your breath,

make a wish,

count to three.

This is one of my favourite movie songs (from a fave film): Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory singing Pure Imagination. Unfortunately I couldn't embed the video but you can click the link to listen and see it. I just want to remind you folks that:

If you want to view paradise

Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Wanta change the world?
There's nothing to it

There's not much more I can say because if you don't believe that you're sort of doomed really. (Poor little things) I would say more but I'd be spouting on like the hippie that I am. Enjoy the music at least.

The song has been revamped and very supersexified by Maroon 5 but I still love the original simply because it just sounds more magical and wonderful. Am I an old timer? Yeah well, there's no doubt about that. You tell me which one you like more after listening to both. I'm curious.

Creative Habits Part 2: Goals

2011-04-30T20:22:00.000-04:00

I've been quiet about my Creative Habits series because I've pretty much gone underground again, skipping a few paces to actually doing more work rather than writing about it. Essentially you'll be seeing more action rather than me blabber on.
I've been revamping both my daily routine and workload. Of course it also has meant ignoring friends, ignoring laundry, chores, food and not leaving the house. I think the sacrifice is worth it for now, until of course I get frustrated and take a day off to clean all the things.
Since part of goal success is being accountable to you, sweet readers, I'm going to share my sordid list so that you can nag me to get it done. My general goals for at least the next month are as follows:

1. Draw [a whole bloody lot]
This is Sylvia Tran's super cute 30 Day drawing challenge. Actually it's not a bad project idea, but maybe for another time. Anyone willing to do this? It looks fun and educational. I see there are a few people who are doing it and I don't mind using it as a creative exercise at all. Perhaps it will be a nice side project or something for say a Sketchbook project.

My main goal however is to get myself schooled with drawing and create a new body of work.

I am going to do a few more exhibitions this year, so they need to be a bit more focused than last year's showings. This is also connected to the solo show work. See more deets below!

2. Set up online stores
This is an enormous challenge for me and it's something I have put off for many years because I've wanted conditions to be just right. This will no doubt be an ongoing process since I want to do this in a very mindful way. I have my own original pieces, as well as fine art prints and other merchandise to sell, so there will be multiple stores for you to gawk. Finally. I hope I don't need to tell you how much time all of this stuff takes.

3.Writing [I've already started!]

I'm finally starting to write again after stopping for years. I'll be doing more interviews and some articles for various websites as we go along. Apparently I have crap to say.

4.Prepare for a solo show [that's connected to #1]
My first solo show. That's a big one. Holy crap. Haven't thought about it further than the fact that I shall have one. The details shall be worked out along the way.

So basically I have a full month ahead and I suspect even longer working days, as if I needed more of those. Your moral support will be greatly appreciated. It's nice to have folks like you all to have my back, to leave sweet comments and to help however you can. You can of help me even more by spreading the word about my work, so spread some happy little links on your pages, blogs and twitter. That would be amazing.

Feature Friday: detnator

2011-04-29T08:00:00.175-04:00

detnator aka Dawi (Baidawi Assing) is a dear friend of mine - we go way back. Needless to say I am totally biased, not that honey badger gives a shit. I've had the pleasure of collaborating with him on a couple occasions and we do have other plans in the making.

An amazing musician, producer, sound engineer among other things, detnator has great energy as well as the right idea when it comes to collaborations and creative work. detnator after all is a collective of wonderfully creative minds, Baidawi, Quincy and Spanna. The studio (the Bomb Shelter) is small and cosy and can hold a staggering number of people (personal experience!). Great things have come out of it and your proof is below. You may have to rinse and repeat.

This is the final track which has a totally different vibe. Very sexy. Again with the rinsing and repeating.

Rule Of Thumb by detnator

It is an honour to have him give us all an in depth peek into the creation of this music. I don't really need to blabber on anymore.

The Music

Rule of Thumb basically started as a jam session. Did you have a basic outline then went from there? Was that (youtube) video the first take?

We were working on ideas all day long. Basically, I would just go through my archive of music and pick out something that I thought we could all work on together and then we would jam to it. I put on the Rule Of Thumb track late in the evening at a point where we were winding down and somehow that track just ignited a spark within the jam session. I was in awe of what was happening but I managed to contain it on camera… if you look at the video @1:55 I turn to Quincy and make a stupid face… at that point I was thinking “MADDDDD!!!!!” The youtube video is the first and only take, it was purely spontaneous, unrehearsed and unscripted.

You have a good history of collaborating with fantastic folks. Tell me a little about these folks.
Quincy (Ross - a fellow friend,collaborator/creative) has been friends with Mark Dopson for many years now. Mark was abroad for quite some time and upon his return to T&T he contacted Quincy to let him know so we could organize to meet up and just vibes. We bounced into Anderson Mitchell and Scott Homer outside Casa De Ibiza one night having a conversation about music, girls and starcraft. Anderson introduced us to Scott and as you could well imagine, that was a very easy lime to fit into. We stood there for a while then Nikolai Salcedo showed up and joined the lime, then Mark showed up. The conversation progressed into musicians coming together to collaborate and I immediately took the opportunity to invite them all to pass through the studio over the coming weekend to which they agreed with much enthusiasm.

Alright so spill about the transformation from the jam sesh to the final piece. I'm not a technical music person so you have to break it down a little bit.
So after the jam session I had this 15 – 20 minute recording of pure musical madness. I recorded each instrument into its own audio channel simultaneously. That means that Nikolai, Scott & Mark had their own individual audio channels after the session. That would allow me to go in and have total control over each performance. That night I listened to it about 20 times before going to sleep. I wanted to start arranging it at once but I learned that its good to give the ears a rest especially after hearing the same piece of music all day long.
I opened Abelton Live the following day just looking at the wavforms laid out in the sequencer like it was a massive piece of graffiti on a sprawling wall. The challenge was to now take all of this and arrange it in a way that would take the listener on a journey.

Any issues creating it? If so explain how you got past them.
One of the major issues was being able to listen to the piece in its entirety while taking mental snapshots of clips that could be pulled out and chopped and looped. I was literally holding down CTRL and clicking and dragging the mouse on parts that I felt were the most useful while the song was playing. This was the most tedious part of the process because I had to do this for each instrument while listening to the entire performance and tuning specifically to each track. At the end of that part of the process I had a bunch of clips laid out in no particular order. The next challenge was to start arranging the clips which included my parts as well. Honestly, I didn’t have a vision for the end product; I was just going with the flow. I didn’t know how long the track was going to be how long the intro should be, if was going to establish a verse, chorus and bridge… I just went with what was sounding good and what felt good. I was happy with the outcome.

Both songs stand on their own as brilliant pieces with their own vibe. What do you like about each one and do you have a personal favourite (because I can't choose)?
The jam session is a snapshot, it captures musical talent in a raw form and showcases one of the things I love most about doing what I do which is collaborating. There is no better feeling for me than to watch ideas flourish in a pure creative environment right before my eyes (or ears).
The “finished” or arranged version kinda highlights my capabilities as a producer and sound engineer. I was quite proud of myself when I was done with it. Even my father commented on it… he said “wha boy yuh make it sound like they perform it so! It sound like something foreign!!”
Honestly I can’t say that I have a personal favorite. I love them both and listen to them equally as much. When I’m in a mood for rawness I soak in the video, when I want a more polished experience I listen to the other version. I would admit though that I am totally in love with 2:36 - 2:48 of the arranged version.

How'd you come up with the title?
This was an old piece of music I created a few years ago. I named it Rule Of Thumb because the bell synth, when filtered out, sounded to me like I was lightly tapping my fingers on a desk. It’s the kind of melody that I would tap with my fingers and hum in my head while listening to a drum and bass loop.

What are you listening to lately?

These days I’m listening to anything Nicholas Haskell posts on my wall on facebook and any music I get from Sean Gonzales. It’s a lot of dubstep, chillstep and other forms of electronic music.

What's your next on your agenda? Any plans? Projects anything you can reveal?

The studio machine is down right now (fried motherboard) so its hard to say. I’m going through serious withdrawal symptoms. I don’t have anything planned per se. I’m working with James Hackett & Lab 206 on a project… well actually they’re doing the work I’m just offering an opinion here and there if anyone asks. Can’t say too much more about that! You’ll have to wait and see.

On Creativity

As a creative how do you handle down time/burn out? What techniques do you use to get through it ?
I have no set way of handling it really. Sometimes I spend time on the internet researching stuff. Whether it be the latest gear or software or some techniques that would help in recording/producing or video editing. Sometimes I lime, sometimes I just play Free Cell and listen to music.

How do you overcome creative blocks?
I’m learning to let them take their course. A creative block means most times that my brain either needs a rest or needs to focus on whatever its focusing on and get it out of the way.

What do you like to do otherwise to stay motivated?
These days the art movement e.g. We Does Draw is a great source of motivation. We helped (James) Hackett pull off the last one and it felt really good to be part of that process. I also recently decided to get back into drawing… I used to be good at it now I suck. I bought a sketch book and I’m practicing. That is helping me a lot. It keeps my brain in a certain space that is good for creativity.

Anything last thoughts?
I’m seeing more and more these days, people getting involved in creative things for all the wrong reasons. Creativity is not a fad, not a hair style, a way of dressing or a particular type of shoe to wear or type of music to listen to. It’s just a brain function. There is nothing to be gained by doing anything creative for the wrong reason. If you’re doing music or art, fashion or film for the wrong reasons, sooner or later it will be exposed for what it is. Always stay true and stay grounded.

Thanks Dawi and the detnator crew! You're amazin'! Find detnator on facebook and YouTube for more fabulous music and videos.

Inspiration

2011-04-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

Just a little bit of loveliness to get you started today!

Creative Habits Series: Part 1

2011-04-27T10:48:00.001-04:00

Clean and Organize Studio

Tracey's horrific artwork to sort

Before you start, prepare and organize your art making space. You’ll waste less time and resources and you won’t squander precious creative energy that is better spent on production.

I'm an organizing queen, when I'm good and ready. I'm at my happiest when everything is in its place otherwise my brain goes berserk. I look at lovely messy studios that other folks have and I turn green because there is freedom there. I need a real studio one day. Anyway, things get tragically disorganized as I stuff piles of folders with work so that everywhere else is tidy. At least they are pretty, colourful folders - I am triumphantly proud of my knack for colour coding.

Aletta de Wal goes on to to say:

I suggest that you arrange your studio space into two areas—one for making your art, where you work and have all of your supplies; and another space for storing completed work so that you can easily find what you need when it’s time to exhibit.

Yeah. Okay. Heavy sigh. Please don't snicker as I bare my space.

Desk (dining room table) has been cleared since photo was taken. All stacks of artwork have been put on "shelves" and scary Jehovah Witness mag thrown out (sorry trees). Note the rolly cart on the left filled with things.

These are my "shelves" (no I don't do dinner parties just yet) Please ignore the box, that's extra storage plus I really hate stuff on the floor, critters, etc.

I'm notorious for working on the couch or on the floor, depending on what I'm doing and how large the piece is. My latest comfort spot is the sofa because I can surround myself with everything I need and peek out the window once in a while to see the ocean. Yeah that is the wonderful thing about where I live! It sure beats the dining room table where I have to stare at the walls. I also have a nice empty floor to work on if need be.
The little rolling cart contains many of my supplies and at the end of the work day they can go back into place. I also have a ton of white wall space where I can plaster up new work.
Organized supplies aside, organizing my artwork is something I've not been great at. At home (Trinidad) my drawings are rolled up, stacked, placed in a drawer, under the bed, in a huge folder, paintings are in a cupboard. Yes. *hangs head*
I usually can whittle them down to styles and sizes, maybe even series, but I usually do them and stick them somewhere. It is shameful. I don't have a large body of work in Grenada really and they are small pieces so are easy to pack away without overwhelming me. Figuring out what to do with them all is my current challenge. There is a large "Some Day" pile of ideas just waiting to be awesome. I just know it.

For the most part I'm ready to begin my journey even if it will be more than 21 days. My books are out, some notes have been made and I'm sorting my little brain out.

Music Monday: Elephants & Little Girls

2011-04-25T08:00:00.186-04:00

You know you've found a winner when you fall in love with a song within the first five seconds.
Loch Lomond? I'd never hear of them before, but that's the case with 90% of the music I listen to nowadays.
I raise my virtual hat to Stereomood for having it on one of their playlists. That's where I get a hell of a lot of my music (thanks Minty). This song is from the album Tender Loving Empire. TLE is a media and arts collective made up of loads of talent. (I also adore the TLE store and yes, that may have been a hint)

There is no real explanation as to why I love this song; it might be an eerie combination of the strings, glockenspiel, and semi creepy lyrics. It pretends to uplift, and doesn't really stay melancholy even if there still remains an underlying stark coldness there. You cannot ask how a writer puts these words together, nor how an artist puts lines together to make something beautiful.

There is an untranslatable, inexplicable human connection in music and art, memories and subconscious. Resonance. One of the lines of the song says: "Look at the skin around her eyes" I immediately made that connection but it's internal and strange for me. My friend Erik (architect, collector, curator, gallerist) has commented on art and what it means to people, and how people buy art and he offers the explanation: "It's what resonates". The same applies to music and there isn't that much more to it.

I think I am drawn to this band because of their choice of illustration and design for album artwork. It calls out to me, draws me closer, and bathes me with the sort of comforting enchantment I seek in music. The one-shot video also makes me squeal internally because I love that sort of thing. On the first view I didn't see it and actually wondered about the editing.

I absolutely love the synergy of this piece because of that, and it makes me smile. This reminds me of my collaborations with friends with whom I share many proud moments. It's such a good feeling to connect with other spirits in a meaningful way.

Before I continue sounding like a total hippie, I'll just let you all mosey on along and I'll continue talking about collaborations in another post.