Colourless Green Ideas

The need for a consistent routine has just hit me hard in the face. I need to stop talking and just do. Art stops for no one. Art is constantly moving; whether it’s backwards into the past, forwards into the future or sideways through the present. There is no room for inertia or lassitude; no time to be lulled into the sleep of passivity. But this constant movement encourages the mind of an artist to flitter from concept to concept. Without the proper focus this state becomes chronic. I have no intention of letting that happen to me. Again. 

I need to focus. Like I would through the viewfinder of my camera.

The type of rain where umbrellas are useless and canvas shoes get drenched.

Now that I’m done with that project, my thoughts are free once again! My mind can engage the creative process and search for new ideas. In fact, I already have a few in mind. Stay tuned.

So as some of you might know, I am shooting a short film for a competition in April. The brief to create a 3 minute short film which encapsulates some Olympic values. I’ve chosen to do 5 of them: respect, inspiration, courage, truce and determination. I’m illustrating each one through an action which defines that value and a common thread will link all 5 together. I’ve got truce completely shot but the other four remain. I’ve got things ready to get courage and determination done on Monday, but I’m not ready for the other two and they can only get shot on Saturday! This is such a panic and rush!!

ARRRGGGHH! 

I realise it’s been ages since I last posted something and I feel somewhat embarrassed by the fact that I’ve neglected my tumblr so badly. So, here’s a post which pretty much covers everything that’s happened over the past few months.

For starters, I’m really settling in well at Apple. I’ve had an awesome 6 months and am looking forward to pursuing a career here. I’ve met some awesome people and made some great friends. Being at Apple has also encouraged me to pursue excellence in my personal and creative life. We are constantly admonished to be a ‘yardstick of quality’ in everything we do, and I have found this work habit has seeped into my life outside of Apple: I am constantly trying to better myself. Everything I create, I stand back from and scrub over from top to bottom to find a way to improve it. This isn’t just perfectionism for its own sake; this is perfectionism with a view to self-improvement and artistic fulfilment. As a counterbalance, I have also discerned the important of realism and I appreciate my limitations. I am gradually finding out what I can and can’t do; what I need to be taught and what I already know. 

Health wise, it has been quite tough. My ME has been pretty good considering the intensity of the work I do, but I still have a virus that continues to gnaw at my system. For those of you who don’t know about it, I was bitten by a Lyme tick in Richmond Park in July and subsequently got Lyme Disease. The whole of the right and left side of my body went numb. I took antibiotics for two weeks but it made no difference. I then took some herbal remedies in the form of Red Clover and Bio Silver and these worked for a while but soon stopped. I soon realised with the help of trusty Dr Sam that sugar was having a direct impact on my recovery. So, I went on a no sugar diet for a month. It was really hard going, but I could see improvements. However, this meant that when I had sugar after the month was over, my body had no idea how to metabolise it. This made me feel even worse. So I went back to Dr Sam and he explained that I no longer had Lyme Disease, I had a virus which had copied the symptoms of the Lyme before it disappeared. I have been taken medicine for it for about 3 weeks and I can see a vast improvement. However, it will take a bit longer to leave the body completely. 

The impact of the virus means that my mind is still a bit cloudy. I can’t really think as well I could beforehand. This is reflected in the decreased quality of my writing as well as my scattergram approach to things. But I know that when the virus goes, my artistic vision will clear up too. 

In other news, many of you will know that my dream is to get a commission for a film, music video or documentary and I was offered the chance to fulfil that dream and become resident filmmaker at a charity, but after initially accepting, I realised that it was not the right thing for me. The first and foremost reason for declining the offer was that I would be expected to endorse and practice a technique called mindfulness. While I noted that its practice in modern Western psychology deviated somewhat from the original teachings of Buddha, I could not ignore the fact that its origins lie with the Buddhist religion. If I were to practice it, it would conflict with my Christian beliefs as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This was more than a mere creative difference, this was chasm in thought and I knew it would not be appropriate me for to continue. The second reason for declining the offer was that it would eat far too much into my time. My plan for my Gap Year was to get a job, earn money, invest in equipment, film short films, enter film festivals and get my first commission at my own pace. Accepting the job would most certainly not have allowed me to do so. As well as filmmaker and documentary maker, I would have to be a Personal Assistant, devoting 9 hours a week to the job. That commitment would have eaten to much into my personal development time. It was a good experience though, and I appreciate the faith and belief they had in my abilities to offer me that chance. It gave me a lot of confidence and I remain indebted to them for that.

I did manage to fulfil one dream though: I got my Canon 550D. I haven’t had the chance to have a real play with it as yet, but I already love it! I can’t wait to start filming those films in time for the competition next April. 

Oh snap! That’s another thing I haven’t told you guys about. I’m entering Film Nation’s Olympic Shorts competition.  The brief is to create a 3 minute short film which encapsulates some core Olympic values. The film with the most likes and views will make up the top ten films from which a winner will be selected. The wining film will be played at some key Olympic venues in front of thousands of people. I am going to make three entries to maximise my chance of getting into the top ten. I’ve decided on the theme for each of them and will share some more info when I’m ready to shoot in January.

Well thanks for reading that and I hope you guys won’t beat me up for leaving it for so long. I’ll post a lot of more often. I promise.

Peace and love.

of things…Ideas are starting to flow more freely and I’m coming up with some interesting concepts. I look forward to sharing them with you all. I’m so glad my creative mind is working again. It’s been a long time. 

I think I’ve finally discovered what this Tumblr is for. It’s to talk about my artistic struggles. It’s a sounding board for ideas. Now I know this, I can stop worrying about what to post and why. I’m just gonna post whenever I feel like it! Whatever hits me, grabs me, shoves me, punches me in the face. Okay, maybe not the last one. But you get the point. At least that’s one thing sorted out. Now to sort out the million other things in my life.