A New Creative Year Begins

So firstly - I'd like to bring attention to my comment on my last post about my Blogaversary. Janice McLeod, a.k.a. "Blog Mama", left a comment and I replied in kind, expressing my thanks for her influence. I'd like you all to have a read and then go to her incredible blog of nomadic brilliance and give her more of the much-deserved love her followers reward her with.

Now onto today. I'm currently in NYC at CMJ Marathon 2011, playing with a very happening pop-rock-funk-reggae band called, The Trip. Check 'em out. During the day there are talks, presentations, performances and panel discussion for emerging artists and I've found them very interesting, informative and inspiring. I've met some great people an if any of them are reading this I thank-you so much for your help and advise these past few days.

This leads me to why I've not posted on my blog since my Blogaversary. I've been thinking about what goal, plan and focus I want to set for my blog over the current year. My previous plan of posting a record of my daily creativity was very effective. So much so that by mid-way through the year I was progressively running out of time to blog due to putting time into working out how I was going to "package" all this new creativity of mine. The first "package" will be my first solo EP, Calienteza, to be released in the coming month or so.

This year though I'm going to be a little more regimented.

I want to explore the key points to being an artist - inspiration, motivation and originality.

And here's what you can expect.

Everyone knows you need a little extra motivation on a Monday. So every Monday I will be doing a bit of writing discussing a quote which has inspired and motivated me. My hope is to pass on and multiply this inspiration and motivation, without multiplying the amount of words too much.

By the middle of the week you'll hopefully feel ready for some of my creative work and I'll post something entirely new and original I've created. This could be anything of the breadth that my blog has covered so far - poems, songs, photos, photo editing, short stories, general comment & discussion, etc...

Everyone knows the end of the week is really busy so I'll likely leave you alone, except if I have something new that I've created that I'm busting to show you. Then on the weekend I'll post something that is original but directly influenced or inspired by something or someone specific.

This is my current idea anyway. I make a point of not over-thinking these blog posts too much so this idea could change as it's only come to mind today.

So please keep your eye out for Facebook and Twitter posts about my latest blog entry or for other developments in my artistis career.

For now, here's something I did on Wednesday. It's a collage I did of photos I've taken (except the one in the middle, taken of me), using only the Photoshop selection tool called "magic wand", colour adjustment using "curves" editing, and the use of layers. I wanted to see what would come of it. I think it's pretty interesting and I may use it on the new webpage that I'm currently designing for my original music.

I look forward to another interesting creative journey over the year ahead.



After posting this blog I remembered one more photo I wanted add. Let's treat it as a "spot the difference" exercise. You tell me what you see has been added. I think it's a very stereo-typically Hawaiian addition.