my 'big fat art' interview and...

You've heard me talk about my friend Karen, who is a textile artist, painter, art therapist ... well she's an artist and that will encompass these and her many other talents.

Big Fat Art Cloth blog

Her blog, Big Fat Art Cloth, which I have encouraged you to read and follow, has started a series of artist interviews, and she's ventured away from her own medium to pick l'il ol' me for her first subject. Questionable as that sounds, it was a very nice experience for me and I look forward to reading what other artists have to say in future interviews.

Interestingly for me, while I've received many lovely comments from friends and family about the interview, it seems one of the most interesting things mentioned was the fact that I appeared in a Freddie Mercury video. Anyone who has seen my work should not be surprised, the influence and effect are still resounding in my current body of work (and anyone who doesn't know I'm kidding...).

So here's the story, just so I can refer people to this post when I get asked again:

20-somethin' years ago, I visited my friend Anne in London, where she was getting one of her many degrees and teaching Australians how to play quarters with home-brewed beer (ok, so I helped on that). An opportunity came for local students to be a part of a video shoot at a West End theater, and she couldn't go but arranged for me to go. At the time, when a West End musical was a hit, the soundtrack was often covered by pop artists. For this show, "Time", Freddie Mercury was recording the title track, and shooting the video in the theater. At that time, I was working in theater so it was a huge thrill to get an on-stage look at such a production, and it was the 80's ... who didn't love Queen?! So there I was along with several dozen students from one of the local performing academies. We spent the day learning the lyrics, then got onstage and Freddie Mercury joined us for the shoot. When he arrived, we may have made even bigger news as a good portion of our chorus, perched on hastily assembled risers, started stomping and clapping the beat to "We Will Rock You", sending the techies and producers into a frenzy trying to stop the motion before we collapsed. But we all survived and lived to rock another day.

Another big bonus was a free ticket to the show after we ran over a couple of hours. The show never made it to the US as it was based on the existence of the Cold War, and before it could move across the pond, the Berlin Wall came down. The show was a lot of fun, and the highlight for me beyond seeing the stage effects in action was the projection of Sir Laurence Olivier's head on a sculpted form inside a giant planet that opened up for his appearance (yes, he was the Big Giant Head). It was a memorable experience all around.

For years it never occurred to me to look for the video, as I figured it was lost on some obscure collection only available in England. But now we know that if it's been filmed or taped, it's bound to be on YouTube! So here it is - I'm part of the blur in the back somewhere.

I get by...

...with a lotta help from my friends.  So I've been away from the blog lately and I have a long list that could follow 'because...'

But I think more than a few of us are going through a whole lotta that, and really while I'd love to rant it just doesn't feel like it'll accomplish much.  I'd rather say that in spite of seeing a lot of other people going through a lot of other struggles - many like my own, many not so hard, many so much harder it makes me want to cry ... what I see, hear and feel far more are the smiles, words and hugs of support.  I certainly have a wealth of it in my life, and I see it in and for other people too, and it's not that other people are 'going through a rough time' too that makes it easier.  It's the other people who are there to help, whether it's by packing up a box or just being that friendly voice on the phone. 

I do have many things to catch up with on the blog, and they all involve some of these incredible people - pictures of the move, of the new studio, of the work finally getting made.  And an incredible weekend with the 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Candle Wax' ... as soon as I figure out how to get the pictures off the phone ...

For now, I just wanted to share that my return to enthusiasm for the blog is fueled by my friend Karen.

 She goes by K., but I'm one of the few allowed to stick with 

Karen as that's how I met her and I'm just stubborn that way.  

Karen and I go back to the days of yore, and she's been a big source of inspiration to me through my own artistic travels and continues to do so with her own fearless exploration.

 This is a link to her blog, Big Fat Art Cloth.  

She's entered a challenge with artists she knows to create art and blog every day.  This is a great motivation for me as I've been stupid busy without getting much done lately and needed goals with the right motivation.  That being said, for now my big commitment is to read her blog every day.  Maybe I'll just blog about what I read in her blog. I've been planning this post for two days myself, so that's a good first step.

I'm looking forward to finally seeing more of Karen's work 'out there', but more so I'm excited to be able to hear her voice in these posts.  Her perspective comes from a great depth of experience - personal, professional, academic and artistic.  It's about her art, but you'll get a lot of who she is (and isn't that what we get with any of our art?), and if you follow this blog you'll get to know one of the best people around.  But don't call her Karen unless she says it's ok.

And if you need more motivation in your own studio, check out my blog links and read some cool blogs. Then check out the links list on those blogs - some of the best summer reading, and you never now where the next burst of new inspiration will find you!