I am a Figurative Cloth Artist, Pattern Designer and Tutor, holding
weekly classes in the warmer months, and workshops elsewhere in NZ a few
times a year. I am also an active member
of in a Gallery.
Reflections
on the Lion King.
I have had a desire for some time to do something more ‘art
worthy’ than anything I had previously done.
To extend myself beyond what I consciously knew. My mentor had been encouraging me for ages to have
an Exhibition, and I was always hesitant because I didn’t feel ready. But working and focussing on this Exhibition
took me to that “different place.”
I am kinaesthetic, and my inspiration comes from movement –
what I see and hear. I enjoy the process, but to help me think, I need to stop
and maybe sweep the floor, or play with the dog, in between bouts of creative
action.
My impressionable childhood was in the 50’s, after the
war. The era of musicals, song and
dance. My adult family members on my
mothers side were all performers of song, poetry, acting, and different forms
of creativity. My mother was into
politics and had a hunger for learning, but my grandmother was thankfully, very
creative, and my love for making things came from her. It was mum who taught me to sew – not
consciously, because she didn’t have that much patience, but I used my
super-powers of observation while she thought I was doing the ironing, and taught
myself when she was out at Labour party meetings!
I was first inspired by hearing the music from the Lion King,
and then ‘hooked’ the first time I saw the opening number on Utube, with Rafiki
calling – like a Karanga - and singing about the circle of life, which like so
many, I connected with.
The words, the
posturing, passion, dance, costuming, and dramatic effects that told the
story! It caught my imagination and I was
curious to see if I could make any of it.
The decision to go with the Lion King, became a turning point in my
knowledge and understanding of this art form.
I started
making these figures in March 2018, thinking I only had five months to complete
them because it was going to be open for Spring. Then that became December, and
then it became unknow ,as work
progressed at the Forrester. I was pleased I managed to get 15 pieces made
before Spring, and it was so time consuming, which I chaffed at!
I learned
that preparing for an exhibition is an onerous task! Times, when I was inundated with other work, and
big things happening – like they do, made me feel I was wasting my time! Doubts about what I was doing. Why on earth was I doing it? For what? Is it worth it? It felt like such a
waste of time, with everything demanding my attention. I said so to my Mentor, who is always positively
constructive. She said, “Because you
love it!” You don’t need a reason!
Okay, that’s
the other side of it! I began to change my attitude, because I realised I had
been looking for a creative challenge, one that enabled me to dig deeper into
myself and see what was there.
There is nothing like doing a series of something, to develop
skills and techniques that I would otherwise not have learned if I had not
followed my own process of curiosity, to discovery. I like this quote from Dorothy Parker, - “The
cure for boredom is curiosity – there is no cure for curiosity!”
Now I am more aware of what is possible, that I am capable of
more than I ever thought. I learned that
the more you do of something, the more instinctive you become with it, information
I can pass on in my other work.
There are always sacrifices made when you set time aside to
commit to something, and for me it was a year of not communicating as much with
my family, or connecting on social media the same as I had previously with an
online group I help co-ordinate, or on my FB Page, and Blog! I even lost income
from lack of marketing and putting out new patterns, or even workshops last
year – and I missed doing all that!
Instead, I had to
focus, research, design, source, and manufacture materials to make these
figures work. I was grateful to have our
OCDC Group, to sustain and support me, and who gave me plenty of other creative
work to do to fill in the gap – and I am so grateful to them for their
willingness to test things out for me! It has all been worth it in the end.
The
Lion King Disney musical, which these figures are based on, has been going for
22 years, after it opened in 1997 on Broadway, New York. It still plays
today and is the
most successful theatrical production of all time. In 2019,
an adaptation of the musical drama of the Lion King has come out in film.
For those unfamiliar with the Story: The
Lion King tells the story
of Simba, a young lion who is to succeed his father, Mufasa, as King
of the Pride Lands.
After Simba's uncle Scar, (his father’s jealous younger brother),
murders Mufasa, Simba is manipulated into thinking he was responsible, and he
flees into exile, where he lives with two fellow outcasts, Timone, a
meerkat and Pumbaa, a warthog. They all live a carefree life under the motto,
“Kahuna matata - No worries!
When he matures, Simba receives some valuable perspective from his
childhood friend, Nala, and he is urged by
his advisor Rafiki to “Remember who you are!” He returns to challenge Scar, to end his
tyranny, and to take his place in the Circle of Life as the rightful King.
My daughter
Kylee, shared this quote by Kurt Vonnegut that says it all for me;
“Practice any art- music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing,
painting,
sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage,
no matter how well, or badly, not for money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you, to make your soul grow."
