Fashioning art

Up to this summer, I hadn't bought a fashion magazine for years; I'd rather spend the money on a good book or some juicy art supplies. However, this year I bucked the trend and went 'glossy'. My most thumbed and now a touch dog-earred is June's Vogue. Being a little off-trend I bought from a discount market stall in July - for a mere 80 pence - a top tip for the cash-challenged. I've devoured its pages since in a fashion probably never seen before. No, readers I have not been eating it, but I have tried out a few recipes.

Vogue inspires many a fair maiden - most often to part with their cash on clothing, make up and accessories and to drool over Jimmy Choo's. For me however, it's the paintbrush, pastels and acrylics, it's the new photoshop skills I'm learning on my visual poetry course; it's the colouring in of Nicole Kidman, the magical mermaids swimming off the swimsuit pages and the experiments with shade. I have collaged, gessoed, snipped, stuck and now had a bit of fun with my scanner and photoshop.

Thank you Vogue - June 2009 - you have helped release my creativity. In your honour I create this digital collage from you and for you ... and also Mixed Media Monday's 'Fashion' challenge.

Ice Maiden

Ice Maiden: Sounds a bit heavy metal when I wanted it to be ethereal and conjuring up a sense of magic.

I've been writing about elves all week for NaNoWriMo. I should be there now - I left my travellers recovering from an attack by stinking trolls. They are about to make a new acquaintance. My lead character, provisionally named Fila (which makes her sound like some sort of pastry) has a silver streak running through her hair - the result of a powerful magical encounter.

She's a lovely thing with a binding destiny to fulfill. When I saw that this week's Inspiration Avenue challenge was 'frosty', she begged me to give her visual as well as written form. So meet Fila - as her skin is so pale, perhaps she earns the surname pasty!

Fila Pasty - frost maiden, is a mixed media creation formed magically from scrapbook papers, acrylic painting, old book (you may have noticed a slight obsession with me and bits of old book in my artwork), ink, pastels, mica and some silver stars I found in my bits & pieces pot. The mica looks much more silvery and frosty in real life, the scanner seemed to intensify the colour somehow.

Playaway

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

Picasso was a chap who wrote a lot of terribly useful quotes about creativity. Apparently he also knocked up the odd canvas or two but I'm not sure if he was terribly successful in those endeavours or matched the success of his perfumier daughter.

Thinking on the same vein, Martha Beck in the Joy Diet, argues that 'play' is something we as adults should ensure we don't forget the value of. Play is how a child learns. Rolling the ball teaches that round things ... well, roll. Simple stuff. Play is what differentiates us from our animal cousins. They stop playing and just get bigger and stronger. We keep playing and learning and forming our minds. We get clever. What we mustn't do though is ever stop playing.

You know she's right and I've had the perfect experience of this. I've been playing at writing a novel. Yes, you are permitted to pick yourself up from the floor. I have finally begun what I've been wittering on about all year. I am taking my barely formed novel concept and giving it some substance. I'm switching between modern day London and LA to a magical land that exists (somehow, don't ask for exact details please) in parallel to our own. My characters are dusting off their cobwebs, pulling on some fine clothing and getting to know each other (they don't all get along too well just yet). The shock of the whole experience has even seen one poor Elf's hair be shot through with a silver streak!

As participant in NaNoWriMo I have been instructed to banish my inner critic and get words onto pages. I'm not to worry about it being any good. I just have to write a 50,000 word story. It's about play. It's about practice. How can I ever expect to write a publishable piece, let alone Pullitzer Prize winning novel with my first attempt? I'd have to be some kind of freak genius which I am well aware I'm not. So, we don't worry about publication. We don't even have to show anyone else what we've written. We just play.

And do you know what? It's actually rather fun! Take away your inner critic, the voice of reason, the need for a market, possibility of a multi-million dollar screenplay and a film starring George Clooney and just let go and write a story. Takes me back to primary school where we wrote stories for the fun of it and illustrated them with little bunnies and squirrels dressed in pinafores!

No animals in costume so far in my book (but I wouldn't rule them out - you never know what direction my imagination might choose to head in).

NaNoWriMo, aside from being an intensely irritating acronym to type, is my route to finding out if I have the bones of a novel in me and more importantly the real desire to become a novelist. As Martha so wisely writes "when we know we're playing a game, we're less attached to the outcome". If this novel turns out to be a D minus then so be it. I'll learn from it and move onto the next one. I know I love writing, we'll just see if that actually extends to novels too. Stay tuned and we'll find out.

OK, to finish up a little something for British readers of a certain age - check out that Playaway poster up top, team portrait below and the names starring alongside the legend that is Brian Cant... They didn't amount to much did they?

And now for a spot of playful nostalgia?

Up the revolution

Did you ever wish you were part of a revolution? Wouldn't you have loved to be pulling down walls in Berlin, dying your hair green or embracing free love?

I'm afraid I didn't do any of those things. The closest I've ever been to becoming a revolutionary was walking through Trafalgar Square about five minutes before the peacefull Poll Tax protest turned into an out and out riot, but those crucial five minutes ensured I missed even that!

But hey, you know what? I have the opportunity to be in at the beginning of something new, a trailblazer and banner waver. What? What? I hear you cry and is it legal?

Yesterday I attended a New Brand Tribalism workshop. Get used to this phrase because I believe it's going to become much more commonplace in the years ahead. Not wishing to steal the thunder of those who came up with the concept, why not pop along to their website to find out more.

In short, these clever folk believe:

"Brands don't belong to corporations anymore, they belong to the people, the customers, the employees, the media, the analysts, and the activists. We are now all part of a myriad of sub-tribes and can choose at any moment to act, to comment, to contribute, to participate, to consume - or not.

We call this new reality New Brand Tribalism™ which is the biggest challenge for companies and organisations to address when they want to manage; sustainable, responsible, relevant and successful brands in the next 5-10 years."

Tribes create a sense of belonging. Today we associate that with the brands we buy and support or even the TV programmes we watch - who has been on the X-Factor forums? You're a part of that tribe. A brand is no longer just about image and identity - culture is moving us way beyond what has always been the norm. Brands are creating association and building communities - often out of the control of the very companies themselves. In five minutes, for example, I could nip onto Facebook and create a fan site for any brand of my choosing - powerful stuff.

As I understand it, brands today stand on a tipping point. Increasingly redundant are the companies still thinking "20th century" who focused on being a complex functional organisation. Change was slow and structured. Strategy was black and white. What's happening today as the world shrinks and new markets emerge is a more fast and fluid approach that shifts with the tides and fashions. Interpretation is open, involvement from consumers and suppliers becomes an essential component of the mix. Just think of Apple - whose suppliers for their ever popular Apps are most times the very consumers they sell to. Who would have imagined this even a few years ago? This is a fundamental shift in business where we see consumers no longer buying just the product but the experience too and likewise employees are demanding more - what does it feel like to work here? What am I getting out of it? Right now we are just seeing the start... now just imagine the possibilities! What's important to remember is that after such major corrections, the world is never the same again - look what Rock n Roll did to pop music! Management of brands going forward therefore must be based on different notions.

For an internal communications professional like me this is incredibly exciting stuff which sends all my creative bells a-clanging in a deafening fashion! If companies get this right and align passion for the brand with their employees and their consumers then a bit of magic happens - what the new brand tribalists are calling the 'sweet spot' where fully engaged employees and consumers drive loyalty by building a tribe and, by default, increase business value.

It's all about creating authenticity in both your brand proposition and culture. We spend far too many hours of our week at work for it not to have some meaning for us. Bringing your employees into a tribe and creating a sense of belonging is therefore key. Work no longer has to be about turning up, getting the job done and going home. It can be much more than that. It is our job as communicators, marketeers and HR professionals to ensure that the meaning and experience our colleagues and customers take away is really something quite special.

What excites me most is how it ticks all the boxes of how I like to work, gets my creative juices positively gushing. This is all new thinking so we can invent as we go along, trying on until we see what fits and having a lot of fun in the process then adjusting and adding to keep up with the world around us. It's not prescriptive but joyfully multi-levelled, holistic and dynamic. It's never going to be about a uniform approach, one size fits all again. I can't think of a better time to be involved!

If you're interested in finding out more pop along to http://www.newbrandtribalism.com/ or contact my buddies at The Alternative.

Experiencing life

Jamie Ridler's spell around the dream pot this week invites us to announce what we wish to experience. Well, with your permission I will comply but with a little digression along the way. If it's alright with you I'd like to interpret this question from another angle. Could I perhaps discuss what I experienced today instead? It's more than one thing, so bear with me and be patient!

Today was most refreshing, invigorating, inspiring... I think you're getting the message. I was ensconced in a room surrounded by a tribe of like-minded individuals. Many of you may experience this every day but believe me, when you've been out of this environment for six months it's like finding a bar of chocolate at the back of the cupboard when you were scrabbling around in the hope of a dry biscuit at best!

I was with over 100 'new brand tribalists'; thinkers on the same wave length. I'll tell you more it tomorrow when I've time to digest and cogitate. Right now it's been a long day and I've a couple of units of very fine alcohol racing around my bloodstream, a full belly and a boyfriend that needs to be cuddled (whether he likes it or not, though as Arsenal are currently 2-0 up at half time he's in a good mood for receiving affection).

After my experiences at work these last few months, you have no idea what a breath of fresh air this has been. I met some great people today, both old acquaintances and new. My newly-sprouted wings are fairly fluttering with excitement.

So, that dear readers was experience number 1. I'd like more of this please - more exciting, forward-thinking engagement, more visionary thinking, more joining in with the revolution (cue T-Rex). It's great stuff - I promise! Come back tomorrow and read all about it!

Then, experience number 2 comes down to location location location. I was in London. Regular readers will be well aware I LOVE THIS CITY! I lived and worked her in my 20s. I miss it. Walking the crowded streets between train/tube and venue today was like filling my veins with narcotic. It was my City. It still is my City. I need to experience it again and again - I need my fix. I might not live or work there anymore but that's no excuse. It's a mere hour away by train.

The workshop I attended today was masquerading by day as a corporate venue. However, at night the Latin fairies come out and reveal its true persona. The bands arrive and beat out a Cuban rhythm; Argentines tango out their passion across the dance floor and Londoners transport themselves to Havana with a sip of Mojito. I want to go dancing, let my (short) hair down, flick up my tail feathers and.... EXPERIENCE!

If you're interested in learning about New Brand Tribalism, you might like to check out my previous posts here and here or just turn up tomorrow, notebook in hand.

Na-Nu Na-Nu

Woah there! I am officially feeling very strange. I'm at home - on a work day. I don't currently have a job. It's great!

I finished up at lunchtime today - the world is now my oyster. But right now I'm sitting at home on my own feeling a bit lost. Part of me wants to dive straight into setting myself up as a freelancer, investigating opportunities, putting out feelers... Another bit says "hey chill woman, go and hide under the duvet for an hour". Well, I confess I tried that and it lasted about 5 minutes. I am in no mood to relax. This is good. I've already written a to-do list for the rest of the week which is getting longer by the second.

I have PLANS. I am back to being me the professional internal communications expert. I'm not a part of that dull company anymore that was sucking me dry. It's amazing when you tell people you're leaving how you suddenly discover how close to going they are too, how depressed the place makes them feel, how resistant to change.

Well, enough of that now. Moving on. I'm free and tomorrow is another day. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, this afternoon is another day.

You know what else I could crack on with today? Why it is what I affectionately refer to as Na-Nu-Na-Nu - national novel writing month (NaNoWriMo - what a mouthful!). This could be the moment that my book finally sees the light of day. My characters are all packed and ready to head off on their adventures. I wrote 500 words yesterday, only another 45,000 to go! The beauty of Na-Nu is the simplicity of the concept - write a 50,000 novel in 30 days - but don't worry about how good it is - just get it out. Inner critics are bound and gagged and left at departures. Authors and characters are at the boarding gate about to head on the trip of a lifetime!

There's still a few seats left on the plane if you want to join us, though you might end up sitting next to one of my egomaniac baddies - they don't wash very often so frankly its no surprise there's a free seat (naturally though they bagsied the one by the window, being egomaniacs and all that). Before you get too excited, the Unicorns are travelling in the hold - you'd think they'd be willing to fly themselves but it's all about health & safety these days and equal rights for mythical animals...

Right I'm off to do .... exciting stuff!

PS: Did you know that Mork was originally in an episode of Happy Days? It's amazing what google can teach you...

More chickens and a rose centred block

How frightfully appropriate that I sit in a darkened room on Halloween writing about zombies.

My black wig with the silver streak has fallen to an odd angle and bits of the nylon hair are sticking to the orange face paint, joining the dots of my stick on warts. My hat keeps falling off and I smell of wood smoke. We left the party before they announced the winner of the best costume... (frankly it was so dark, I have no idea how they intended on judging it!). But am I dejected? Why of course not dear readers, for I am nonetheless a winner - twicefold!

Yes, once again, I climb the award winner's pedestal in Bloglandia to collect my glittering prizes. And what prizes... On the desk beside me sits a rather pretty pastel block with delightful rose centre and... an undead chicken....

The zombie bird in question is giving me a strange look from its one eye that swings droopily from a gaping socket. I think it might be smiling but that is probably just the way its beak is rotting. If you view him from the side you can actually see right through his ribs - amazing.

I've moved the pastel block with the rose centre away from the shedding feathers and onto the mantlepiece with the other awards to keep it nice. I'm not too sure what to do with the zombie. Will it stay on display or insist on wandering around the lounge groaning with its wings held at a slightly forward angle? Ah well, it matters not - it's a conversation starter...

Speaking of which... I know you are dying to ask... Zombie Chicken awards?? Well, allow the proud owner of one enlighten you:

“The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken – excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all.”

I must say I'm rather chuffed that Chapter Forty wished to award my poultry efforts. I thank you, I thank you, I thank you. Now I have to pass it on... Hmm.... decisions, decisions:

• Creating Wings - if nothing else just for the name!
• Ilka's Attic - the talented Susan Tuttle - I am sucking up to teacher as I just joined her online course!
• Oh, hello friend - lots of lovely inspiration
• Writing from life - because I'd love to see what a mermaid does with a zombie chicken!
• The English Muse - she's not English, but she muses
  

That's a chicken in the post for you all - enjoy!

Now, my poor pastel block with the rose centre is feeling a little left out. It doesn't groan dramatically or shed bits of flesh. It does however, give me a rosy glow. How delightful to be given the title Kreativ blogger (even if creative is spelt wrong!). Thank you Mana Moon... too kind.... too kind.

Well, what do I do next with this little beauty?
Thank the person who gave this to you.
Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
Link back to the person who nominated you.
Name 7 things about yourself that no one would really know.
Nominate seven 'Kreativ Bloggers'.
Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.
Leave a comment on each blog letting them know you nominated them.
OK, we start with the amazing facts...

1. In a previous life I was a paintbrush.
2. Almost every year I wrote to Father Christmas asking for the game Mousetrap. I never got it. Last night I dreamt I bought it. Shall I get it for my son?
3. I eat too much chocolate.
4. I did not win the lottery again this week.
5. I found John & Edward 'entertaining' tonight on the X-Factor in a painful sort of way.
6. I would love to live life in a musical where folk regularly burst into spontaneous (yet perfectly choreographed) song and dance routines.
7. I once fell down a hill, banged my elbow on a rock and landed with my face in an ants' nest.

I may have to go to bed now and finish this tomorrow - it's either that or dance around the kitchen...

It's quite hard deciding who to bestow these awards upon. It will take me all day to visit all these sites and give them the good news! I shall be exhausted, yet happy to be the bearer of such glad tidings.

I pass to:

• Kathryn Collage Diva
• Freubel
• The art and life of the ruby nest
• Grys photos
• Ravenpainting
• The Queen of Creativity
• Joy rebel

Now, if I didn't mention you, please don't be sad. I tried to find a nice mixture of different sites. Some people know me; others don't. Just remember... I love you all!

Mwah Mwah - lots of kisses.