Monday, February 25, 2019

Soundtracks to films that were never made...


Career & Creative Influences, Part One.


 Vale, Mark Hollis.

Your incredible voice & musical legacy have kept me
company over so, so many years..
.
I first discovered you as a young art student,
in the late 80s/early 90s.
Your music was perfect to paint and create to
(influencing but not distracting);
your ethereal singing & lyrics becoming
yet another instrument in the mix.
And there were many.
But your production skills were out of this world.

Those of us that discovered, loved and treasured your (truly) original,
haunting, fragile (and at times, dear I say it, violent?) aural "masterpieces":
(I don't use that word lightly)
We saw beyond that 'big single'.
And our lives were transformed from the encounter.
This was not merely music to listen to,
but to transcend to...
And an experience to completely soak and immerse the senses in
.
Who needed drugs, when there was music like this being created.

I always described his latter releases as
(to my more commercial-loving friends,
who stopped listening after 'Life's What You Make It):

"soundtracks to films that were never made".

If you have never heard Mark / Talk Talk's music before,

this is where the magic really began...


'Spirit of Eden' (1988)
  'Laughing Stock' (1991)
  'Watershed AKA Mark Hollis' (1998)

These are the three essentials 
for late-at-night headphone listening.

Music that completely defies
labels, genre, expectation or description. 
 
The world has lost a rare, unique & uncompromising
voice, musician and producer.

Do yourself a huge favor tonight
& dust off those headphones.

Discover Mr. Hollis & Talk Talk
(perhaps for the second time?). 

And be prepared.
To be transported.
Somewhere else entirely.



(26 February, 2019.)

Friday, February 22, 2019

a (true) labour of love...




What is
'A Labour of Love' ??


A couple of weeks back, I was contacted
(by a local woman, via my FB page)
to work on a very special & top secret illustration job...
A series of water-colour cartoons
(a life in pictures) to accompany a Mother's loving speech to her son at his Wedding.
This project was very timely, as I am still recovering from recent hernia surgery,
and have been unable to get out and draw/busk in the street.
So, it meant I could work from the comfort of my purple couch, at home.
This little project became a "real labour of love" for me, seeing how much love
my client had for her son, and wanting to do something *very* special & unique for him.
If you look close enough at the cartoons, you'll see the blood, sweat & tears!!

I don't usually do watercolour in my cartoons... But, realising (very early on) the scope
and life of this project (and how much aroha was needed/expected),
I invested in a nice pad of watercolour paper, and worked my little heart out!
There were a few sleepless nights, and LOTS of coffee consumed...
The deadline was tight! But these pictures were a real joy to create!
And (perhaps?) some of the best work I have ever created
(in a career spanning nearly thirty years!!).

I hope my client doesn't mind me sharing them so publicly, now that the wedding is over.
I am very happy to report that she was SO happy with my work that she even paid
me a (much-appreciated!) bonus!! And she gave me a huge hug as I left, too.
I wish I could have been there, at the family wedding, seeing her proudly
tell her son's life-story, and holding up each of these cartoons as she did so. 
I am very grateful for some of the smaller
(but much bigger, if you know what I mean)
contracts and people that come to me through my work.

"Do what you love - Love what you do."


PS I am very happy to live in a country
where we leave the u in labour, making it "our".
The same with the word humour.
❤️