At the beginning of this year I decided that I want to be more creative again, practice & be active about it.
In Jan I entered an art exhibition where my painting sold! Yay! It was a wonderful experience. I’ve sold work before but they were mostly commissions & they just don’t feel like they’re really you.
So having your own artwork up where everyone can see it, enjoy it, criticise it, love it & possibly buy it is an extraordinary feeling.
The opening night had such a buzz and was full of artsys, artists & anyone just wanting to see something beautiful, quirky and unusual.
I tried a different painting style - Pop Art. Realistic & very detailed was my favourite style since I was little and first ever picked up a pencil. I love little birds and this was the inspiration for my painting below.
I entered a t-shirt design competition for a big client in SA, Vodacom, hosted by Springleap. The brief was:
"Connectivity is power. Imagine living a life without chatting to your mates, without SMS and email, without Facebook and Twitter, without all those things that you take for granted. By connecting you in all of these ways and more, Vodacom gives you power.
Your brief for this competition is to express this visually – encapsulate our guiding principle where ‘connectivity is power’ into a design that captures the imagination.
The idea is that it’s about you and not Vodacom, so no logos and nothing corporate. We’re giving the power to you on this one (ha) so go mad."
I was excited to enter and after 5 sketches I had the one I wanted to enter.
Since I had not dabbled in digital art before I learned how to vectorise my sketch, with the help of my brother. He gave me a Fireworks Trial and the basic guidelines to accomplish what I needed to do.
This is a different form of art for me and I am thoroughly enjoying it, I'm so glad I finally tried digital art. Unfortunately my design was not chosen but at least I tried & will keep trying.
I read a great quote, which I love…
“Nobody should congratulate you on your success more sincerely, generously & regularly than yourself.”
This year & onwards is all about being creative & doing what I am naturally good at. I don't mean it in an arrogant way but let's face the music & be who we are & be happy about it! I believe you will succeed at what you are good at, if you focus on it & practice. Take a look at Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Oprah & Tim Burton to name but a few, they started out by doing what they love & are good at and continued to grow, still.
I hope you will be inspired to be creative too.
