Its all a big hoot! #bighoot2015

It’s all a big hoot guys and things have gotten very inky at my little studio lately. On top of my new venture occupying my time and attention I was also *drum roll* selected as one of the winning designers for the Birmingham wild in art big hoot project.

So for a week this may I’ll be commuting to Birmingham to get inky producing the Big hoot owl and I’m so excited about it! This is my first ever big art commission so this tiny inky illustrator is taking big steps to better things.

You can do anything I believe if you try your best and have a little faith in yourself .

Katie x

 

A trip to Derby and a Pete Mosley talk

“Be Proud . Be yourself . Live the creative life . Take risks” – Pete Mosley

Last week I pottered on down to Derby to the Friargate studio to attend a certain ” business talk for quiet people” I was very excited to see by Creative writer and coach Pete Mosley. I’ve been an admirer of Pete’s creative work after coming across his blog way back when I started my pursuit of a creative career as an inky illustrator and writer.

Being a naturally shy and quiet person I’ve often always found it hard to promote my talents and put myself in front of people socially to share with them what I do. Many of you may no doubt feel this way to and at times rehearse what you do or say to be confident, which in turn means pretending to be someone else entirely to who we really are inside.

Through many of Pete’s blog posts and podcasts which you can find at the Craft & Design  website I’ve been inspired in my own creative work. Taking his creative advice and thinking about things differently, I challenged myself to be a little “cheeky” in some creative cases despite my shy exterior and its started to make positive change for me and my career.  What I learned though through Pete’s inspirational talk is it’s not all that complicated to promote yourself as a shy person,  you just have to find your own way of doing things.

We over think things to seem much more scarier and complex than they are. However once you get past that and find your own way of doing things you can go far even if you’re a quiet business person. I’d really recommend Pete’s talks if you ever get the chance to sit in and listen, his words are genuine down to earth and just what any shy person might need to get going. 

Kate x

Sly farts in yoga class #truestory

So last month I started going to yoga classes because frankly my butt started to mold into my chair and hurt my back pretty badly ( not enough breaks = inky workaholic). After a quick googling I found a local yoga class not to far from my house and so off I went to my first sunday session.

 It’s really true though that when you work for yourself from home and particularly as a Creative , its super hard to peel ourselves away from work because we feel so bad when we’re not working.

You get into the habit of working too much because you want to be your best and everything we achieve relies on us.  In the end though we actually forget about the engine that runs everything ( that’s you by the way).

 

(Chubby yoga kitties)

Even though I’ve only been working freelance for about 18 months now , I’m already thinking of the future consequences of not looking after our health and how working at our inky desks are going to affect that. So my advice is do something small everyday to contribute to a better happier you.

•  Go to yoga classes
•  Take up that hula hooping ( just try not to break anything like me)
•  Walk your dog
• Put on a face mask ( thank goodness no one can see us behind the computer screen)
• Paint your nails ( unless you’re a guy although you could look rather fetching in a shade of pink?)
• Talk out your troubles
• Meet up with a friend for brunch.

Although now the only thing that makes me slightly anxious during my graceful poses in class is the chances of letting out a fart on the sly (#truestory) since everyone’s so quiet! Hence if you’re going to start classes yourself I don’t recommend beans on toast for breakfast.

Have a wonderful day and please let me know what you do to stay at your best as a creative?

Kate x