Theatre and Painting and Arts, Oh My!

Gimme a break...

2009-06-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

Please excuse this somewhat erratic post that I'm about to bestow onto you. My mind is running 20 to the dozen and thought it was high time I posted something, suffice to say I've been slack of late, is quite the understatement!

...As far as Art goes, I don't have too much report on my behalf, but I did visit my friend Jackie's excellent exhibition recently. We share a common interest of painting without a brush (woop woop), but she uses oils...I'm an acrylic boy, myself. Check out her stuff, it's great.

...As far as Theatre goes, I've been pretty busy. When I'm not seeing it (recent outings include: Jonathan Larson's 'Tick Tick Boom' (bravo, Leon) and a surprisingly good Gareth Gates in 'Joseph'), or being concerned about shows closing (poor 'Spring Awakening'), or distracting myself with intriguing announcements (Julie Taymor and U2 bringing us 'Spiderman the Musical' on Broadway(!!??) or the sublime Sheridan Smith opening in 'Legally Blonde - the Musical' in London), I've been hatching some directorial plans (possibly including a large cast, possibly not...cards-firmly-close-to-chest) and umming and ahhing about returning to the stage (y'aaargh, it's been at least 5 years and promised it was all behind me) in a potential Theatre Company 10 year anniversary reunion show...all in the light of 'Billy Elliott - the Musical' sweeping the board at the Tonys this week - winning 10 awards...!

My new website is very nearly ready to go live...as soon as it is, I'll post the link :)

Until such a time...

An Inspiring Theatre Company...

2009-04-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

I've just come back to Columbus, Ohio...and within days end up at the theatre watching something rather stunning. It was a production by the Available Light Theatre Company called 'Dirty Math'. If you can get down to the Riffe Centre, downtown Columbus, I totally recommend that you do.

The play deals with the absurdity of the economy and the crisis we are all in. The amount of research and development that must have gone into this show is bloody amazing. Giving light and shade, this theatre company is a force to be reckoned with. Witty, satirical, informative and sobering - more people should see this show...click below to find out more:

Moving Art...

2009-03-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. I'm working on a commission right now (more about that in another post), but for the moment I thought I would share with you a piece of art, of another kind. Film. I made this pop-video after a night out. Enjoy.

'The' comment...

2008-11-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to update this beautiful blog. To say things have been hectic, is quite the understatement. I got back from DC this week and am now getting ready to go back to the UK, where I plan to rest for a while until my next travelling adventure.

A lot of people have been asking me about the infamous comment from Jenny, at my recent art show so I thought I would share it with you all now...

19th September – I’m writing this w/ my left hand since my right is currently occupied. Side note, I’m training myself to become ambidextrous…it’s coming along quite nicely – but you probably don’t believe me judging from the handwriting alone. So I didn’t read your entire description of the exhibit (short attention span…) but I just wanted to contribute this thought (I put down what I was holding…my L hand was makin’ me crazy…)
LOVE IS FREEDOM.
There are so many notions of what love is in this world, and I’ve only met one person who I actually understands what love actually really really is: Thank God he’s my boyfriend, right?..................
So many people think that love is giving or showing that you care or sharing or doing things for someone else. While you may do all of that BECAUSE you want to – that’s not love.
LOVE IS LETTING GO.
It’s letting everyone be themselves and letting you be yourself. People say ‘I love you’ as if it’s some kind of reward, and they say ‘but I love you’ like it’s a stipulation. Love is not a term reserved for the person you have sex with and marry. Love is for everyone.
I LOVE EVERYONE ON THIS ENTIRE PLANET.
I even love you. Not because we’ve had an intimate connection, but because if I were even to meet you, I’d accept you as you are and let you be you and me be me. There’s no such thing as ‘unconditional love’ because there’s no such thing as ‘conditional love’. I feel that so many people give their love under certain conditions – in which case, it’s not love at all. It’s slavery. It’s rewarding behaviour that you want to see. Like I said…
LOVE IS FREEDOM.
Be free, and you will love and be loved. I hope that this all makes sense. It’s kind of foreign to some people – they just don’t understand and that they’re actually destroying their boyfriends by trying to force them to quit smoking (like I did, for example) I finally read some books by Miguel Ruiz and discovered that love is something quite the opposite of what everyone I see does. Sorry to sound harsh – it’s just how I feel. OK, I’m wrapping up now. I hope this becomes good fuel for thought and perhaps comes out somewhere on the other end. I just don’t get a chance to tell people this because they just don’t get it. But I felt comfortable here because
1) I wrote it out
2) The exhibit is about love
3) I thought I should speak out how I truly feel about the topic.
…sorry it turned into a novel…it’s just that love is so important – it deserves as many words.
[symbol] Jenny

Ain't she sweet!?

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All Good Things...

2008-10-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

...Must come to an End. If you didn't know already, my exhibition: "Love. A Condition of Absolute Value" (hence the picture I've added to this post) ends tomorrow, so if you haven't seen it, you have less than 24 hours to get down to ModMod on High Street, Columbus. It's been a long and at times, hard process, and I've learnt so much from the whole thing. For my first show, I must say, I'm very pleased. I can't wait to get my "Comments book" back and post some of them on here, there are some absolute classic...and of course, Jenny's epic comment, bless her. I'm off to WashingtonDC this weekend, so when I get back I'll enlighten you all.

In theatre news, this week I've heard that AvenueQ is to close in the next few weeks, sad news. I don't know what's up with the West End this year, but everything seems to be closing, or reducing it's runs. It looks like Hairspray is still going strong though, but who knows if the 'economic crisis' will take it as it's next victim. A strange rumour I heard this week also, is that Zac Efron is to take over from Daniel Radcliffe in Equus on Broadway...not sure I can see Disney letting THAT happen!

A Process...

2008-10-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have been asking me, how do I go about creating a piece of art? It's a hard thing to explain, as I just do it, instinctively. To try and explain, here are some photo's detailing the progress of a commission I painted this summer (the process starts at the top, left to the right, then the bottom, left to right:

I hope you can see the differences between each picture. I start with a sketch then build. The hardest part is knowing where to stop.

If you want to see any more of my commissions, click here

Or, if you interested in having a chat about something I could paint for you, feel free to email me.

(or to see any of the other stuff I'm up to online, you can do so here)

An inspiring lady...

2008-10-21T14:11:00.001-07:00

I'm not going to make a habit of posting things here that deviate from theatre or my art, but I just wanted to share this with you. It's an old(ish) blog from the UK artist Imogen Heap. In it, she talks about what she has been doing for her forthcoming album and how she has been experimenting with unusual sounds to fit in with some of her tracks. I find her process of creativity both highly interesting and very inspiring. A true artist. Hope you like it.

read more | digg story

Feeling Inspired...

2008-10-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

This week I got free tickets to see Broadway production of "Frost/Nixon" (that started at the Donmar, in London), very good it was too, it felt very appropriate too as election fever is sweeping America right now. It was also the finale of Project Runway last night.

These two things have got my creative juices flowing again and I'm feeling ready for another exhibition. If you haven't had chance to check out my work in Columbus yet, there's not long left until the show ends, so go go go! I still have lots more travelling in store before I go back to the UK...tomorrow I'm off to Mickey and friends at DisneyWorld...I've never been to a Disney Park, so I'm very excited. We're spending all day Saturday in Animal Kingdom, so we may even bump into the Lion King, who knows.

I'm currently in the process of setting up an online store, where you can buy prints of my art and other lovely fangdangled things...but I'll post links on here as soon as I'm done :)

CLICK HERE TO VISIT MY WEBSITE

Jenny...

2008-10-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

So, I had my 2nd Gallery Hop show last Saturday, and I'm happy to report that it went very well. It's funny having the work on display, that you've spent weeks and week putting together. The feeling of vulnerability is immense. What will people think? I was pretty gobsmacked to have people coming up to me and thanking me for my creativity, an amazing feeling, let me tell you!

Since my last show, I had a rather extensive comment left for me, from a lady called Jenny. When most people leave me a message in my comments book, it's usually a short and succinct statement...Jenny's comment went on for 6 pages! She liked my overall concept, being about love, and well, she had a lot to say. She signed her name along with a symbol she has a tattoe, it was like a mix of a heart and a peace sign. So, I added in a new piece to the show. I thought the black and white reflected nicely the ink on paper reference. Good ole Jenny, eh?

Rent Remixed: A year ago today...

2008-10-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

Wow - a year ago today, we had our first preview for the hotly anticipated 'Rent Remixed', directed by the wonderful William Baker. It feels like so long ago now. I'm in Ohio right now, and the weather has suddenly dropped, so I needed my jacket to go out...I reached into the pocket and what do I find...Mimi's handkerchief (that was never actually used in the show, in the end), very strange, as I wonder what it's doing there, I realise...we opened to the public a year ago today...weird huh?

For those that didn't know, I worked behind the scenes. In rehearsals, I was a production assistant. I also interviewed the cast and made videos for myspace and facebook etc. Then in the run, I operated and programmed a dot matrix system (never thought I would be doing that!). To be honest, the only thing that kept me in the job was the fact that the whole team and cast were bloody lovely people, especially the creatives and the DSM extraordinaire, Jakki. Did I like the show? Yes...Do I miss the show? Not so much...Do I miss the people? Hell yeah!

For more information on the show, go here: Rent Remixed

Good News! My Exhibition has been extended...

2008-10-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

For those that didn't know, I have had my art on display for the past month, in Columbus, Ohio. After a brief meeting with the gallery owner this week, I was invited to stay in the gallery for another month. I hope to get the portfolio online over the next few weeks, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here is a sneeky peek. This piece is called 'Every Heartbeat', and is from the 'A Condition of Absolute Value' collection.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT MY WEBSITE

On Tour...

2008-09-30T15:45:00.001-07:00

As some of you know, I've been travelling and have just got back to Columbus, Ohio from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had a wonderful time, some of the local art there was amazing, as was the art in Santa Fe. I spent a lot of time in the hotel's outdoor pool too (hard life isn't it?) and ate far too much. The lack of exercise has meant that I've been missing my Body Attack classes back home, so I've made a website dedicated to my exercise love...(click read more, or digg story for more details)

read more | digg story

Laugh yourself fit...

2008-09-24T08:14:00.001-07:00

Ok, hands up...I know this has nothing to do with theatre or art, or the arts...but it does contain the art of laughter (see what I did there?). Tenuous link, yes. Funny, oh yes!

read more | digg story

Theatrical musings...

2008-09-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

I work in theatre. Although, actually right now I don't. Right now I'm travelling around America and am currently in Albuquerque (NM), it's fine, there's sun and a pool, so I'm happy. I like to keep myself up to date with all things theatrical goings on. I'm a preferer of Musicals, I must say. I'm sad that I can't make it to the Musical Theatre Festival in NYC, there are lots of new shows debuting, so I'm going to have to do some catching up. Whilst on Broadway earlier this year, I got round to see one of Broadway's biggest buzzes Spring Awakening. The show has also been on the radar lately as they have recently changed their cast, and in their re-review, it didn't go so well. It would seem their lead guy is phenomenal, he used to be on 'Pushing Daises', but I've never seen it, so I don't know. For a show that won 8 Tony Awards in 2007, isn't it a bit weird that the reviews weren't that favourable this year? hmmm...the fickle world of the Broadway Critic.

It starts...

2008-09-22T11:11:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now...a space on the world wide web where I can share the projects I've been working on...the art I've made, the theatre I know, and all other adventures I come across on my travels.

So this is it, I will update as often as I can.

Enjoy your stay with me :)