Self taught design

I'm off to Japan soon! I know everyone thinks this makes me a major jet-setter because I was in Canada just last week - actually technically this week - but actually I just had some air miles that were gonna expire and wedging a visit home at the end of April worked for a multitude of reasons: Surprising my best friend for her birthday, seeing my family for my birthday, stocking up on vitamin D because Calgary is the sunniest city in Canada, and getting another edit done on my manuscript so it's even closer to publication!

Anyhoo - Japan has been a trip in the planning for several months and one which I'm looking forward to not because it's a holiday but because it's going to be a whole new culture for me to explore. I'm a huge fan of Japanese art and design. Visiting a country is a fantastic way to get exposure to different ideas and styles and I'm looking forward to how it will influence my work.

For that reason I'm looking at this trip as a working holiday. I've got a lot of personal design projects to work on and I figure, with all the long train journeys, this is going to be the perfect chance for me to get stuck in on them. I'll get to work on my skills with 'Ideas' - the fabulous new app from Adobe that allows a designer to do vector sketches on a tablet.

I've been playing around with it a little bit already. It's super fun but quite a learning curve when I'm used to drawing directly on a paper or canvas surface. It's just adapting to the artificial environment it creates. I will never abandon sketching things by hand but it's nice to know I can create artwork directly on my iPad and then move that into Illustrator to refine.

P.S. I did a few designs for the TrollBeads people's choice contest and have just found out I'm a finalist! My design - Two Peas in a Pod - is up for voting and voting ends May 5th. So please help me out by popping over and voting for my bead!
Thank you!

London Journal - Street Art

Last week I mentioned that Shoreditch is the best place in London for Street Art or graffiti. I really like wandering around the area - preferably when the weather is warm - snapping shots of the incredible stuff I come across. 

I have found a few Banksy installations in the time I've lived here, but he is just one of hundreds of incredibly talented artists that make their mark on what are often run down and decrepit buildings. 

A few weeks back I decided to walk part of the way to King's Cross for my now finished Design course at Saint Martins. I'm really glad I did because I came across several new-to-me installations. 

Spotted this from across the road. If you look carefully
you'll see a grey shape above the tail of the weasel. 

Up close, the 'spot' is in fact and incredibly
detailed little owl. 

This is the work of Stik. I first saw a Stik installation
in Bethnal Green. It was on the way to the studio I
took my tarot card paintings to for imaging.
I would have to say that Stik is my favourite London Street Artist.

Also, notice the sausages in the background. 

I do like the ones that use colour. 

This one is actually in King's Cross.
I love that this is a Barclay's bank. 

All the ideas we have

A new character came to me. This used to happen to me a lot, but not so much since I’ve started sending out manuscripts and sharing all the other characters I’ve written in the past.

I saw a name written down and suddenly he started to talk to me. I could picture what he was like – fair haired, quiet, a little moody. It’s all terribly inconvenient though. Because a character showing up is how I start writing a book and writing a book is something I simply do not have time for at the moment. So I’m making a little shelf and I’m going to sit him on it, to wait.

The inspiring view of King's Cross St. Pancras
from Central Saint Martins

Where there is one more will soon follow. It’s an inevitability. One by one I’ll line them up together, where they can wait for me to find a plot for them to live in. Perhaps in a few months, or perhaps in November, for NaNoWriMo, but not just yet. He’s there and with him are ideas and ideas are fuel for my creativity, so he won’t be ignored or forgotten.

He’s not alone of course. His shelf sits above a chest full of costumes I will one day create which is next to two giant sculptures I have planned. Hanging by their laces from hooks on the wall are shoes I will paint and in a filing cabinet are the frames of animations I will draw. All of them are waiting for their moment.

Right now the moment belongs to a book called ‘Wise at Any Age’, which I’ve been working on for three years. It belongs to three edited young adult fiction manuscripts which I continue to submit to agents. It belongs to psychology studies and design courses and freelancing.

When these things are done they will join the list of accomplishments: The shoes I have painted, the animations I have done, the places I’ve travelled, the books I’ve read, the paintings I’ve brushed, the facts I’ve learned, and all the wonderful discoveries I’ve made.

This is how it should be because these are the things a life is made up of.

Feedback!

I am an open book...

I'm a big fan of Summer Pierre. For those of you not familiar with her, she's a blog-writing book-publishing art-making music-loving polymath. She wrote the very fabulous 'Artist in the Office' which, as a Coach, I feel is an incredibly useful resource for any creative individual who feels 'trapped' in a day job.

She keeps this brilliant blog and recently she published an entry asking for feedback from her readers. Blogs, like anything and everything in life, evolve a lot over time. My blog, for example, was begun as a way to document the progress of my developing career as a Creative Specialist. Since it's inception it has also acted as a travel journal, review forum and most recently has become a place for me to share my view of why life is awesome and how I can help you with my Creative Life coaching.

I write because I love it. To me, writing is akin to breathing, and this blog is yet another outlet for that one passion which has followed me since the beginning of my memories. So no matter what, I'm going to write. But I'm curious to know what the appeal is for my readers. 

Which is where you come in. I want to know what it is about my blog that speaks to you. Which posts have you enjoyed the post? Which ones have kept you coming back? Which ones have sparked your interest and made you want to learn more?

Please post below in a comment or, if you'd rather keep your responses anonymous you can send an email to kaitlyn 'at' creativelifecoachlondon 'dot' com.

You are also invited to post feedback on my Facebook Page or you can send me a tweet. I'm genuinely curious to know what you think.

Priorities and shifts

Since I finished my tarot card series I haven't managed to have much in the way of art to use as images on this blog. Naughty of me but I figure I can post pretty pictures I've taken of nice things and that'll do too...but don't think of me as a photographer. I do like photography in a 'my camera does all the work and my photos look spanking good when the light is right' sort of way, but start talking to be about the ISO and the filter and the zoom and I sort of glaze over. It's something I leave to the very talented photographers in my life. Besides, I have a lot of other things to get on with.

Which sort of presents a problem and was my round-about way of getting to the point of this particular post.

I have a lot of passions in life. I have a lot of ideas and creativity which sometimes feels so pent up that I can't seem to find enough ways to get it all out.

I love making costumes. I love designing and conceptualizing them and then making them real and wearable and magnificent.

I also love to sculpt and have a knack for it. I've often wondered about doing something on a larger scale and living in London can make me ache at the thought of it. Seeing a stunning stone dragon or the smooth, elegant curves of a sculpted silhouette makes my fingers twitch and my imagination run wild. Oh, the things I could do. And on a smaller scale too. I discovered Netsuke and would adore creating my own small creature to hold in my hand, carved with patience and love.

I want to revisit animation - as 'Affinity' gets more screenings I consider all the other ideas I have busting to be let out. A few cell animations, classic hand drawn ones which I think would be novel to try and fun to promote.

And of course there's my writing. I'm rapidly co-editing one of my novels, having another edited by a professional and getting ideas for new stuff which I'm jotting down here and there. I'm finding myself lost in the prose I've been dreaming of, wondering where to take it next and itching to give it another go.

Finally there is my painting - custom shoes and my tarot series, not to forget my Buddhist inspired work.

All jumbled up together these things feel like they should all come first, should all get my focus and time. But there are only so many hours in the day and unfortunately, at the moment a lot of them are spent doing menial administrative tasks so I can pay the bills and fund the supplies for this stuff.

Which is why I'm working on a shift. I'm evolving what I do to survive financially so that it not only meets something I'm passionate about, but gives me the freedom and flexibility (and funding) to continue with and truly pursue everything I want in good time. I may not be about to step into a studio with a chunk of granite awaiting my imagination. I may not be hunched over a drawing table putting the final touches on an animation. I may not be opening a box with a hard copy of one of my novels contained with in. I may not have that mascot costume I always wear entertain my cousin. But I do have the desire for it and that gives me a lot of motivation.

This motivation I have has led me to really look at my life, what comes to me naturally and what my options are for fostering that whilst creating a sustainable income. That was how I decided to look into this Life Coaching business, to explore it further. Now I'm realising that I need to look at how I'm using tools at hand, such as this blog, to promote myself. I've presented myself as a creative (which I am), but now I want to show my professional self.

This gives me a lot to think about as this blog has been an incredibly fantastic tool not only for sharing my art and writing, but for making connections and for giving me a sense of confidence in the talents I have. To that end I don't suppose it would be too different to use it for my life coaching, when I start to develop my career and put myself out there as such. The key difference will be creating confidence in others for their own incredible talents and limitless potential.

I'm mulling all this over and, fortunately, I have time to as my course doesn't start until the autumn. But in the mean time I'm practicing focusing my energy onto this one very important thing with the fact that it will be a fun, sustainable career choice for me that will allow me a great amount of freedom, as long as I go about it effectively. I know from experience that spreading yourself too thin is never effective, unless you want to suffer a nervous breakdown.

People aren't marmite.