Creatabot has a new contributor on board, James Bovington from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. James is a writer and will be writing various topical articles for the site. We asked him a few questions to find out more…
So what is your creative background?
Thanks to my mother I was raised on science fiction, basically. I’ve been reading voraciously from a very young age. In fact the only ‘children’s’ book I can recall reading as a child is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, after that it’s all just ‘actual’ books, or books on tape.
Because of that I’ve always loved words, particularly the placing of words into nice lines. I wrote a lot of poetry when I was younger. These days I write a lot of fiction and a handful of articles on various subjects.
Did you study any creative subjects?
I studied radio journalism at university for a little while, then I dropped out; not for me, the life of a scholar.
It hasn’t helped me in my creative endeavours at all.
What other career paths have you taken?
I’ve done the most basic, lowest-rung drudge work in various kitchens; pot-washing and the like. It’s not exactly the most mentally engaging of jobs; gives one a lot of time to think.
Now I sell electronic cigarettes from a kiosk in a shopping centre. For large chunks of the day I have nothing official to do; gives one a lot of time to write. And ‘smoke’. I like it quite a lot.
Who inspires you both locally and universally?
I’m very lucky in that years ago I fell in with a group of people, all of whom are thoughtful, artistic and creative without exception. While we don’t necessarily always take impetus from each other’s work it’s nice to be, and to have been for so long, within that framework of creativity.
In an overall sense I, like everyone, have my influences. A list of names is in order, I think:
Kerouac
Thompson
Asimov
Vonnegut
Clarke
McCaffrey
Adams
Brooker
There are others, but listing them all would take too much room. Those are the main few.
What would you like to achieve in the future?
I’d like to eventually have at least one novel published. I’d like to get my comic script finished, drawn and online, and if I’m allowed a flight of fancy I’d like it to be picked up for an actual print run.
I think all creative people want to be recognised, and paid, for what they love doing.
I just want to keep writing for as long as I can.
Can you recommend a creative website you love?
Actually no, sorry. Everything I see by way of creative stuff comes to me over my Tumblr feed, or links and suggestions from my friends.
Although, once you filter through the endless reams of crap, Tumblr is actually awesome for finding cool artists and photographers and writers. Wimp and YouTube are the same, but for videos.
My advice is ‘You can never follow enough links.’ Keep clicking on stuff and you’ll find the diamonds amid the mud.
Thank you James, we look forward to reading your articles!
Eleanor Leonne Bennett is a 16 year old internationally award winning photographer and artist based in Manchester who has won first places with National Geographic, The World Photography Organisation, Nature’s Best Photography, Papworth Trust, Mencap, The Woodland trust and Postal Heritage. Her photography has been published in the Telegraph , The Guardian, BBC News Website and on the cover of books and magazines in the United states and Canada.
Her art is globally exhibited, having shown work in London, Paris, Indonesia, Los Angeles,Florida, Washington, Scotland,Wales, Ireland,Canada,Spain,Germany, Japan, Australia and The Environmental Photographer of the year Exhibition (2011) amongst many other locations. She was also the only person from the UK to have her work displayed in the National Geographic and Airbus run See The Bigger Picture global exhibition tour with the United Nations International Year Of Biodiversity 2010.
We had the wonderful opportunity of speaking to her to find out more…
So what is your creative background?
I am a self-taught artist and started entering competitions as soon as I picked up a camera. I learnt a lot from the rejections I received but also gained experience in getting published in the real world. I have had over 70 front covers of magazines and books within 12 months.
What other career paths have you taken?
When I was younger I wanted to take care of animals or become a stop motion animator. I would still find it hard to pass up the chance to create and animate if it was given to me. When I was younger I never thought photography would become my chosen medium. Until my teens I have had more experience with holiday snapshots than Cindy Sherman. The internet is a great tool to widen young horizons.
Who inspires you both locally and universally?
Everything and all. I like to make the weird into fine art and the dull into splendour. I like to change opinions and minds.
What would you like to achieve in the future?
At least 1000 front covers, interviews and featured artists, I plan to be taking images when I am 70, at this time I am barely 17. I want to retain my style no matter what education I may receive in the future as a professional artist.
Can you recommend a creative website you love?
Duotropes Digest– All markets. Something for everyone you have ever met, loved or hated. A read can be found for all those with minds in the now, future or past.
We love your work Eleanor, thank you for speaking to us. We look forward to seeing even more of your photography and art!
Another contributor, woo! And from a different creative angle again. Kael, from Kent, spends most of his creative time acting and making music so will be bringing this interest into his articles. Here is a lovely mini interview so that you can find out more about him:
So Kael, what is your creative background?
I have Studied both media and drama at college.
What made you decide to concentrate on acting?
I tried my hand at everything creative I could, but acting was the one thing that made me think “this is what I want to do”.
Who inspires you both locally and universally?
I have yet to find local inspiration but if I had to pick one it would have to be my mum because she has always supported me through anything I have ever wanted to pursue. Universally I would have to say music as a whole inspires me.
Who would you love to work with?
The people I have done acting with have all been friends and people I know, and I actually enjoy working with them most. I know that if I try my best they will do the same and we can all work together.
Are there any other creative subjects you would love to learn?
I have always wanted to be in a band, and I was in one in the past. It was a lot of fun but I didn’t like the music we were making so I would love to be in a band where I truly loved the music we are creating and the style as a whole.
What would you like to achieve in the future?
I would like to get more notice as an actor and I would also like to be in a band again because those are two main things I love doing.
Isobel Eats Fish is the creative name for Vicky Partner. Based in Kent, Vicky is a photographer and poet who combines both talents to create a unique vision. Her project creates one photo and poem for every minute of a 24 hour day – making 1440 images and poems. Vicky spoke to us about her background, things that inspire her and why she started 1440.
Life
I grew up in Stevenage, a new town with lots of cycle tracks that I used to do time trail circuits of as a teenager in the nineties. My dad was a coach driver and there are not many seaside places in this country I haven’t been to, plus the occasional day trip to France on the ferry. Music was our big thing, huge stereo’s and big music collections. The soundtrack to my childhood included the Stones, Pink Floyd, Status Quo, Led Zeppelin, you get the idea. I used to climb the tree in the back garden, but other than that it was a pretty humble and modest beginning though obviously I developed my own tastes as I grew into supposed adulthood. School wasn’t brilliant, but I got through, did the college and uni circuit, then crashed out after graduation (the joys of academia without the savvy). At least I can say I have a degree in Management and Tourism to my name from the University of Brighton.
Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun 00.00 – The Blue Comfort The First and Last pub, camera image inverted, opposite my evicted flat, resistant to adding words, as know the score already, so writing my discomforture. (The First and Last Pub, Bower Place, Maidstone)
After my dad died my mum bought me and my younger sister Debra, up herself, working in kitchens of local schools, gradually rising to become head chef at a secondary school canteen. She worked very hard and still managed to take us abroad on holiday every year. It was important to her we didn’t miss out, and nowadays she has a masters herself in comparative literature. I think it is through her and my step dad that the seed of who I am now, at least creatively, stemmed.
Nowadays I live in Maidstone, having moved here seven years ago. I had found myself doing a community regeneration type post in Ashford, but it really wasn’t my sort of thing. It was a consultation role and the residents had a habit of moaning a lot about everything that was wrong in their lives and where they lived. It was very depressing to say the least.
Why Maidstone? I’d escaped into nightclub and bar djing. Self taught I was first involved with a club called Bar Three Zero in Ashford, but after coming 4th out of 50 dj’s at a competition in Dover, and a residency at London’s Renaissance Rooms I found myself drawn to the town because of a scene called Club Class who were based at what was then the River Bar. Nowadays they have evolved into Saved Records, an eventwhich operates from the Source Bar when it is in town. My perspective on life started to change, though I still wouldn’t have called myself savvy, there was still definitely something I was missing, an invisible barrier of sorts I couldn’t break through. Passion and talent alone wasn’t enough, though I came close, coming 5th in another competition, this time run by an international djing magazine.
Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun 00.01…The Ale House Four bright red no entry signs, and closeby drunken limitation, pissheads all out their league, in meaningless conversation, an aggressive confrontation, what does this say of me, this being judgemental. (The First and Last Pub, Bower Place, Maidstone)
Right deep breath, writing about that time in my life does tend to bring to the surface some very strong feelings, but bottom line is I have moved on. That was then and it’s impossible to go back. It’s like an ex boyfriend or girlfriend, the split is very painful, but you recover and hey, plenty more fish in the sea, if you’ll forgive the Isobel Eats Fish pun. And I am actually pretty happy where I am right now. I genuinely have no regrets.
Inspiration
Whoever I’m communicating with, working with, or friends with at any time inspires me, these people are our teachers, our own reflections. So who inspires me could be anyone and anybody, even if the experience is negative it teaches you about what you don’t want, a process of elimination is still a positive as long as you don’t give up.
Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun 00.02…The Lady Peace in sufferation, is important to forgive, a pair of black swans, workshops of beauty, holy connectedness, in discovering Mary. (Aylesford Priory, near Maidstone).
Outside of friends, family and everyday type situations I would have to say people like Nic Fancily of the aforementioned Saved Records, Michael Palin, JK Rowling, Stephen Fry, and a name not as many people would have heard of, Steve Pavlina, my personal development guru. I’m also somewhat of a Twilight movie junkie, I just love the idea of vampires and really, just about anything that challenges the imagination and takes you to another place, raises the game. I mean, I’ve been reading for the last year and a half the British Museum’s History of the World in 100 Objects which has been fascinating, I’ve just finished reading it. In relation to that I really have to mention that Neil Macgregor the author of the book, and director of the British Museum, inspires me.
Travel and seeing new places also inspires me. To date I’ve visited 20 countries, mostly in Europe, but also the US and Canada. I want to get to Italy at the earliest possibility and have my sights set on Florence, a simple act of kindness, a million and one things at risk of sounding like Sleepless in Seattle.
Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun 00.03…That Serves Punters Pieces of eight in a till, illuminating the chapel. (Relic Chapel of St Simon Stock, Aylesford Priory)
I would have to say positive qualities in a person are something that moves me. It seems a really obvious thing to say, but in my experience often people forget to mention it. I find it so refreshing when someone has a can do attitude, there’s not enough of that in this world.
History and science is another subject that fascinates me. This is a later development and wasn’t always the case. I remember once getting 14% in a history test at school, I figure because I’d spelt my name right at the top of the paper. So it’s sort of odd how it’s swung to the other extreme now. I sort of get it nowadays, Night at the Museum is a film I like. It’s not my favourite by a long shot, but it works. I think for pure artistry it would have to be films like Memoirs of a Geisha and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. They are intelligent and beautiful to watch, and the fight scenes are just like, wow!
One day I might be inspired by Gershwin, the next by Faithless or U2, or something the radio plays unexpectedly.
Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun 00.04…Ringing Bell A churchyard gravestone, an extraordinary message, the death of your averaging, and the birth of the new star, blood on all of their red flags, when looking for final frontier. (St Peter and St Paul’s Churchyard, Aylesford)
Present and Future
1440, one photo and poem for every minute of the day is what I am currently working on, a project I started when I was in temporary accommodation of all places. It became a way out of my situation then. I figured why should I think anything less of myself as a person just because of where I live. It was sort of like fighting back when I started out on it, and you can see that in some of the early photos and poems, where I reference Banksy, the subversive graffiti artist. Yet I’ve always tried to put a balanced slant on my work even when the subject matter has been quite negative, or dark, which hasn’t always been easy.
Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun 00.05…Before Closing Time A mannequin without balls, for all of the world to see, calm in his expression, yet quite ambiguous, packing or unpacking, reflected journey behind. (Unused retail unit, High Street, Maidstone)
At any rate it’s taken me so far to places like Newcastle, Edinburgh, Prague, Budapest, all glued together by Maidstone, my home town, and London and the South East. Each one of which has been a wonderful learning experience. I give each hour a title and theme, hour 1 was “Smoking Gun”, hour two was “The Dream That Died For Me”, and so on. The latest hour I’ve completed, hour nine is entitled “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”.
I have early thoughts and some photos already on what theme and approach to take for hour ten, only time will tell. Watch this space…
Jane Ayres is a writer from Maidstone, Kent, who has just joined us as a valuable contributor. We thought you would like to know some more about Jane so asked some questions about her background and what inspires her…
So what is your creative background?
I’ve always enjoyed writing stories and had my first piece published in a national magazine when I was just fourteen. I played piano from age seven, later trained to be a professional singer, and did my BA (Hons) in Music with Cultural and Community Studies at Sussex University in the 1980s. But the writing has been the one constant for me, and over the past 37 years my thirty novels have been translated into 7 languages and I’ve had hundreds of short stories, poems and articles in print. In January this year, I finally started a blog http://www.janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/
What other career paths have you taken?
Several! I have a marketing diploma and a teaching certificate and after working in the sales department of a major publisher after graduating, I spent the last 25 years working in further and higher education, in marketing, outreach and also some teaching (music, dance, media and creative writing). I also set up and ran a mentoring programme for people wanting to work in the creative industries.
Who inspires you both locally and universally?
People who combine compassion and tenacity to change the world for the better.
What would you like to achieve in the future?
To use my writing as a tool to raise funds for a number of charities.
Can you recommend a creative website you love?
I’m a fan ofhttp://www.ifbook.co.uk/which is at the forefront of the debate about the future of reading and writing, as well as Joel Friedlander’s brillianthttp://www.thebookdesigner.com/ which generously shares his wealth of knowledge and experience to help writers publish their work using the amazing opportunities that the digital future offers.
We have another contributor! Helen Hanson is from Doncaster and is an all round creative who will be writing about many different subjects. I asked her some questions so that we could all get to know her better…
So what is your creative background?
My creative background has involved art in one form or another from cake making, rug making and cross stitching to ceramics, stained glass windows and painting. I have always had creative flair and have a Masters in Multimedia and Education and am looking to start my Doctorate in Social Media and Education in September. I have been involved in e-learning and love learning new software and looking at alternative ways of using technology. I work in a College which gives me lots of opportunities to experiment with new technologies and learn techniques with my students and really bring out their creative side and transferrable skills around technology and software.
I have an addiction to learning new things and playing with technology. I am also a traditional artist using oil paints and pastels and experimenting with a different range of image manipulation packages and then mixing my art mediums to create different creative art pieces.
Who inspires you both locally and universally?
I am inspired by lots of different artists and love to see the different art works that are now coming through on my Twitter feed as well as on Facebook and these have inspired me recently to get more involved with my own art work and produce some digital pieces rather than just the traditional artwork that I have always created.
I have an open mind which can get very over inspired by what I see around me in everyday working life and have got to the stage that I have so many ideas that I now have to create a list to make sure that I don’t forget some of the things that I have seen and what I would like to experiment with. Time is my biggest issue as the days are not long enough and burning the candle at both ends seems to be becoming a traditional pastime.
What would you like to achieve in the future?
I would like to be able to have time to myself to be selfish and just do what I wanted to do rather than life itself having an impact on my time. I would like to be able to spend all my time being creative and creating pieces of art work in the sun with no time constraints. We all need dreams and hopes to aim for and something to look forward to and make plans to achieve to keep us improving and moving forward.
Can you recommend a creative website you love?
There are so many to choose from each with their own different views and perspectives on life. Deviant Art is a brilliant collection of pieces as well as 500px and Planetvisions.com. I am currently enjoying social media like Twitter, it gives me the opportunity to create an interactive list and categorise some of the feeds and interesting people that are sharing their art work, blogs and websites. I would not have met Creatabot had it not been for this aspect of Social Media.
Recently at the 10th anniversary celebration of Nucleus arts I came across a new range of jewellery – which I absolutely LOVE. I felt I had to feature these creatives on Creatabot. So I introduce to you Shelley and John from Snapdragon Designs…
So what is your creative background?
John and I met at KIAD (Kent Institute of Art and Design, now UCA) in Canterbury where we both studied for a BTEC National Diploma in general art and design. We both went on to study Graphic Design at De Montfort University in Lincoln graduating in 2004. John has always made military themed models and scenery and I discovered a love for bookbinding and print making at KIAD.
What made you set up Snapdragon Designs?
Snapdragon Designs was set up initially to give me a way of creating my own line of luxury books but when John’s school (where he teaches) bought the laser cutter last year it opened up new ideas and made us create the jewellery side of Snapdragons.
CC BY-NC-ND Snapdragon Designs
What other career paths have you taken?
After uni we took quite divergent paths, I went to get an apprenticeship in bookbinding and have been working as a bookbinder for almost 8 years. John initially went into Graphic Design for a small company (Team Cortexx) near Maidstone and later retrained as a design and technology teacher which he has been doing for 5 years. John is also an archery instructor and we both enjoy making our own arrows.
Who inspires you both locally and universally?
Vivienne Westwood has always inspired me and in the future I hope to do a whole line of jewellery using vintage tartans. Its really hard to say who inspires me locally as I’ve only just started getting involved with the creatives of Kent but I think Nucleus arts are doing a great job and there’s lots of inspiration to be found there. John’s inspiration tends to come from more traditional sources and artists such as Barbara Hepworth, John Constable and artistic movements such as Art Deco, but also from many wargaming/fantasy artists.
CC BY-NC-ND Snapdragon Designs
What would you like to achieve in the future?
We would love to see the jewellery really taking off with a hope to expanding further and getting it into shops.
Can you recommend a creative website you love?
I love looking around www.folksy.com it has so many talented people.
You can see the gorgeous Snapdragon Designs range at
Henrietta Franklin is a fashion label run by Sharon Richards from her shop and studio in Gillingham, Kent. Designing and making made to measure garments for women and children, Sharon is one of the few fashion designers that still see’s through each stage of her garments being made – from her initial sketch through to the finished garment. Sharon talked to Creatabot to tell our readers how she got into fashion and remains independent as a designer…
I progressed into fashion naturally, I believe because I was an only child for the first 8 years of my life as well as the fact I was also an only child among my parents’s piers. Let me explain: on birthdays and at Christmas I received many presents, one year when I was about 8 I had accumulated 7 dolls and they all needed clothes! My mother dabbled in making curtains and the odd dress for me, which is where I got started, by using the off cuts. I began by making dolls clothes and my hunger for clothes making and design progressed from there. At John Burn’s primary school, Battersea, we had needle work lessons, which stretched my imagination. At secondary school, Garret Green, Tooting, I took needle work and art as subjects, which I enjoyed. I remember my art teacher Sue Skelton, she was very inspirational. She opened my mind to many options in art and design.
I went onto to study at the London College of Fashion, I remember the interview day. I remember what I wore, of course I do, I designed and made it! To this day I believe that was the biggest and most important event of my life to date. I got in! I studied there for 4 years, it was a wonderful time. I was one of the lucky ones: I was offered a job at my end of year fashion show: for an outer wear company.
“To succeed you would need to stand out and have contacts in large established fashion houses or be prepared to globetrot to places like China and India”.
From my experience I would say that my formal fashion education was paramount in facilitating my path in fashion. Unfortunately the fashion industry is an ever decreasing circle in this country. The combination of the intervention of computers and ever shrinking world make it feel almost like a pointless venture for new students leaving universities. To succeed you would need to stand out and have contacts in large established fashion houses or be prepared to globetrot to places like China and India.
The fashion industry “Rag Trade” that I worked in was primarily run by 3 ethnic groups. The largest of which was from a Jewish background mainly based in the West End of London, North London: Greek/Turkish Cyprian backgrounds, and the smallest group was in East London from Pakistani and Bengali backgrounds. I personally did not fit into any of these backgrounds so could only go so far. I started out as a designer/pattern/cutter at a Jewish company and ended up in design/sales at a Greek Cyprian company actually based in Cyprus. I felt that was the top of my career within the “Rag Trade”.
I soon reached a point though when I realised I wanted to be independent in my career, so the next natural progression was working for myself. This is when Henrietta Franklin came out of the shadows.
When I think about who inspires me today, I have to say Natasha Steerlocally, she is an eclectic little maverick, she helps people to stand up for themselves, something she has done for herself successfully. She exudes confidence subtly. She is a bright light in the community that can only get brighter. Universally I have to back into history. Samuel “Sam” Sharpe – a Jamaican slave who played an instrumental part in the beginning of the journey that ended slavery. He is a part of why I am free and here today.
What about the future? I can answer that kind of question easily – to have a successful international business. Truly, in today’s economic climate my goal is to keep my business going.
Henrietta Franklin specialises in day wear, evening wear, wedding dresses, bridesmaids dresses and mother of the bride outfits. Sharon has also created the label “Tropical Fruit” which is her new range of hand made children’s wear made from natural fabrics wherever possible.
We have a fab new contributor – Alice Stansfield is a creative Vlogger from East Sussex who will be bringing a nice selection of articles and videos to Creatabot. We are really looking forward to reading and seeing her work and we thought you would like to know more about her.
So Alice, what is your creative background?
I used to be in a local group at my college called ‘Spiritus’ which performs at festivals (such as London and Brighton) so I would be dancing, on stilts or designing costumes. From this I got really into choreographing and directing scenes and routines. In primary school I was part of a dance club but this was when my dance really started. However, at this point I became more involved in drama and recently left a club I was part of for 3 years performing on stage, directing, making films and more. Outside of this drama club I audition at National Youth Theatre and performed at the Royal Shakespeare Festival.
I’m still very into my drama studying at it at AS level and hoping to carry it on to next year with media studies. Studying media has made me want to continue it on to University as I love making films and for the last few years I’ve been making vlogs (video blogs) and other projects to put up on my YouTube channel and one I share with two friends called ‘TwoNAC’ (www.twonac.com).
At GCSE level I won an award for a project I did, ‘The Barnes Gate Manor Award’ for a project I wrote called ‘Ripper’ and made a trailer for with a friend. At my college, outside of my subjects, I film and write some articles for the school website to gain experience. Also, a few years ago I entered a competition with people at my school to write a short story (one page long) to be published in a book called ‘SAGAS’. I was one of the people to get published and still try to write short stories today, although my stories become more video based. Recently I have been busy writing lyrics for a song, which my friend is creating as part of his music experience and we have already made a music video.
Creativity has really made me who I am and I have left a few things out, but this is the things I have done and currently do that really shape my creative mind.
Who inspires you both locally and universally?
Local inspiration has to come from working with friends, as cheesy as it sounds, without working with people ideas do not get shared. At this point in my life where we are all in college still and fresh with ideas, listening to each other and experimenting with ideas is inspiration itself.
Universally, many actors are inspirational (such as: David Tennant) but mainly people from YouTube such as Alex Day. Those who amaze so many people out of just putting their content on YouTube and make money from something so simple, are so inspirational to me.
What would you like to achieve in the future?
In the future I would like to still be making video projects and be able to earn a living out of what I make. I am still unsure which area of media I would like to go into, but would love to always be making videos.
Can you recommend a creative website you love?
A creative website I love, as mentioned before, has to be YouTube where people share all their video projects to make their own channel content. Another website I use is Flickr where you can share photos for others to see. Both these websites produce UGC (user-generated content) meaning people can give feedback on what I and others have worked hard on which really boosts confidence and allows improvement to be made.
Thank you Alice, we are really looking forward to seeing your articles!
