Inspirational Spotlight – Interview With Sondra Rymer, Founder of Fairy Tales Imagery

For my 2^nd inspirational spotlight feature I would like to introduce you all to the multi talented and all round super woman Sondra Rymer aka Fairy Tales Imagery. I have known Sondra for about  a year now and we met through the wonderful twitter hub. I refer to Sondra as twinny as she is the complete mirror image of me, but I am the more lazier one ha ha. We have had many chats and rants about our creative journey and one thing that always amazes me is how much this lovely lady is capable of! I have no idea how Sondra fits everything in, at times I have wondered if she is super human because the amount of work that she puts in is ridiculous. Not only for her own creative pursuits but also in helping and supporting others in the creative community. On top of being a working Mum Sondra is also a photographer, graphic designer, blogger and active on pretty much every social media platform out there.

Sondra’s work has always made me smile, she creates worlds of happy ever afters and you just wish you could transport yourself into one of her images. Sondra manages to capture  unique worlds by digitally manipulating images using her own photos, occasional stock photos and props. Her children also feature in some pieces and are so soooo adorable!

Sondra does many interviews with other creatives and I was honoured to be featured on her Artist Spotlight Interview recently. So I thought it was about time we knew more about this super woman. So with further ado  I bring to you Sondra Rymer aka Twinny….

Tell us a little bit about you and what you do

Howdy! I am a conceptual photographer and digital illustration artist specializing in children's and YA fantasy and fairy tale art.  In college my time was spent primarily in photojournalism, theatre arts, graphic design and English literature. As life goes my career has taken many different turns from managing a photography department of a large curriculum and book publisher to freelancing photography from my home studio. I have ALWAYS wanted to be a creative visual storyteller. When I worked on newspaper feature stories, I adored telling a story through my photography and I think this has always stayed as a core value and desire in my work through the years.  Making art personable, engaging, and unique has always been key components in my profession. I have a desire to want to engage an audience with photography and art that tells a story. 

What inspired you as a child? Did you ever know that you wanted to pursue a career in the creative field?

Yes, I do believe I always knew I would pursue a career in the arts. From early grade school days I distinctly remember always leaning heavily on my favorite courses such as art, photography, reading, literature, language and music. Unfortunately, courses like math and science held little interest for me. I have always had a rather wild, vivid imagination and can easily get lost in a good book or day dream for hours, days and weeks. haha. As a child, I was always attracted to fantasy and fairy tales story books and theater. I loved the costumes, the lighting, the music, the story.... much like I still do today.  

Did you have any further training when you left school to hone your creative skills?

Since graduating from college, I have taken several courses over the years to brush up on skills and learn new ones. But honestly, nothing really replaces just getting in there and submersing yourself in a creative project where you have to learn on the spot. I think that is what I favor the most as I have never been a "read the directions first" kind of gal. New camera? Just take it out and start shooting. I rarely read instruction manuals on anything, haha. I just want to DO (said in my best YODA voice, lol) and get going already with it all! So nothing to me beats being able to constructively and in a positive moving forward type manner learn, figure out, and grow in various capacities necessary in creating whatever project I am currently involved in... for now this is conceptual fairy tale photography and digital art. 

Did you always know which area you wanted to work in or did you discover that as you went along your artistic journey?

I discovered it in the VERY beginning. I adored photography, storytelling, fantasy and theater. And then I lost it completely for a good 15 years. How wild is that. Different career  moves, what jobs I thought I had to be involved in, and personal choices led me away from the very things that I so loved to do creatively. It was not until I had children that I had a significant wake up call and complete turn around heading back to my first love. I just needed to figure out how to combine my love for visual storytelling, fantasy, photography and theatre arts. It was all there in the beginning, I just was too young and immature to fully grasp what direction I could take and be capable of career wise. But hey, all roads lead to where we are suppose to be. I could not be more happier then where I am creatively at this point in my life and the direction I hope to continue to explore, learn and take with my art career. I hope for this journey to keep going strong as it will be so amazing to see where I am at say 10 years from now. 

Can you run through your creative process with us.

My creative process always starts with storyboards.. well, actually, in my head. I saw the funniest profile blurb on someone's twitter last week something along the lines of "I think it in my head and draw it. Yep, that's about it." haha. how great is that.  

Either way, if I am working for a client or just doing something for fun and my portfolio, I always start with storyboard sketches. I am not by any means skilled at hand drawing (one of my goals is to take lessons as I believe this would greatly enhance my skill level in all my other art work,) so the storyboards are rough but important to set the start of the project and concept in place. 

From there I pick up my camera and plan, organize and execute the necessary photo shoots with models, costumes, specialized props, and / or on location or in my studio. This is one of my favorite parts of course of the whole process. I adore taking the pictures that I will be using in my art. I also enjoy finding or having created original costumes, specialty props and finding the models. 

After the photo shoot, I spend quite a bit of time editing all the images to select out my top ones that will be used in the feature art piece. 

Next, I go to my computer and the digital art process begins. I first arrange and place out all the main images, taking a look at which of those I will be utilizing and if there is anything that I will need to digitally paint or illustrate myself to complete the art. I spend quite a bit of time cutting out my models from backgrounds, or cutting out scenics, props or animals to use in the art piece. I am SUPER picky about how my imagery is cut out and applied, nothing is worse then seeing a bad Photoshop cut out job. ugh. So I probably spend more time then necessary in this step alone to insure that my art is going to blend WELL and consistently throughout the whole art piece. 

In all honesty, I do not care much for sitting long hours at my computer, but I can get totally lost in creating a new art piece! This can take a few days or a long week as my pieces usually involve MANY layers and details by adding textures, light, color enhancements, DOF, and all the other little tweaks here and there. It's all about the light, color, textures, details, more details, and making sure the piece just looks completely polished and put together. I check my lighting to make sure it is consistent all through the piece (nothing is a dead giveaway that a piece has been "pasted together" then 1. bad cut outs as I mentioned above of the models and other picture elements and 2. when the lighting is NOT consistent... yes this is fantasy and fairy tales, but the image STILL has to have some things "real" and consistent in order for it to BLEND WELL together. I am a little obsessed about blending, can you tell. I can look back at some of my earlier pieces and pick out immediately parts that I feel were not blended well with my incorrect cut outs, lighting or color balance. Makes me crazy. haha. Even on art pieces that I recently finish, I will go back with a critical eye and see things I should have done better. All part of the learning and growing process as an artist. 

     Do you use all of your own photos to create your imaginary worlds?

I would say I use 95%.. I really make a HUGE effort to use my own imagery and I am constantly taking pictures where ever I travel to build up my personal stock library. Even so, I might stumble upon something that I need as a main component in a fantasy art piece that I can not myself photography or digitally draw. A prime example of this is my recent Jurassic park children's art with a little explorer. He is surrounded by dinosaurs and looking at a fossil egg he holds in his hands. The fossil egg was designed and created by my good friend Robert de la Pena, dlpStudios who creates all my speciality props. His work is amazing! As for the dinosaur art that is featured in the piece, I can not draw or photograph dinosaurs! haha  I knew the style and look that I wanted for the dinosaurs, so I went to one of my favorite online stock agencies and legally purchased the dinosaur art. I am always SUPER careful about copyright laws, due to my journalism background. If I think I am going to sell my art, I purchase the correct applicable rights and licensing of any stock imagery. If I am not going to sell the art or I am not working for a client, then I seek out basic royalty free images that can be used on personal work. I have a number of stock agencies I have purchased art from over the years as well as other favorite sites such as deviantart.com from which I obtain images that I can not create or photograph myself. Again, I am always super careful on deviantart.com to make sure I am using someone's else art or image with the correct rights and legal permissions.  

You are diverse with your subjects, which images and worlds do you like creating the most?

I hope when I look back on my portfolio that I will see a evolving style and experience level as well as a diverse imagery gallery.  I get restless easily so I hope I am always moving forward and that my gallery will one day reflect this in terms of subjects and stories. My favorite worlds to create right now are the children's fantasy storybook and fairy tale imagery. I also have a growing to do list of more realistic imagery that I hope to find time to tackle one day. 

 Where do you get your inspiration from?

My children. Books. Music. Art. :) 

My children as their whole world of storybooks and games are so entirely and passionately driven by fantasy, stories, light and color, love it! 

Fantasy books I have read as both a child and as an adult ~ I have always been an avid book reader.  I dream about the stories and form images in my mind that are ever changing and evolving about the characters and the story line. For example, I will read a favorite fantasy book and for months afterwards day dream about the characters and evolve their storylines further in my mind while thinking of imagery to go along with each scene. 

Music. I love music. Soundtracks. Lots and lots of soundtracks. 80's. some classical. even some opera. Unless I am doing something super difficult and challenging in Photoshop where I have to really concentrate,  I have to have music. It is just the gel to my soul while I am working creatively. Art comes together in response to what music I am playing as it sets the tone and mood in my mind so to speak when I have my favorite music playing that "matches" the direction, energy and feel I want my work to take.

Art. Specifically, as this may surprise you because it is not current fantasy or fairy tales per say, haha, the Renaissance Art sculptures and painters ... those deep beautiful realistic rich oil paintings by the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Sandro Botticelli.. basically all the Italian Renaissance painters as well as Dutch "Golden Age"and Flemish, French, and Spanish Baroque. I can stare all day long. :)  Jump to modern day and I find so many exceptional talents via the creative fantasy / fairy tale communities on Flickr and Deviantart. Too many to name... but the talent is jaw dropping inspiring and overwhelming. I will be doing a good job if I can create something even with half the creativity and talent of those whose work I admire in these communities. 

I am constantly amazed at how much you do in the background. Not only do you create these amazing pieces of art you are also an active blogger and do a lot of online marketing. On top of this you are a busy mum who also has a day job lurking in the background… how on earth do you fit this all in? 

I don't. I am constantly dropping all the balls I seem to try to juggle in the air ~ like hot air balloons I will feel for a moment like I have everything together and then slips a handful as they vanish off into the sky. haha

As a mother, my children and family always comes first. As an artist and professional creative I have to "balance" (I say that almost jokingly bc I never feel like I have anything balanced) the time for creative art and the time for marketing, social media and the blogs I love running which feature interviews with other creative colleagues.  I adore doing the interviews partly because of my journalism background, but also partly because I spent a lot of time inside my home office or busy with my children. Honestly, gone are the days when I would have time to get out and socialize at venues or events with other like minded creatives. So doing the interviews feeds the part of myself that still wants to connect with other artists on a regular basis. I feel like I also grow in my work in one way or another by these connections. They help motivate, support and provide enormous inspiration and goals for my own work just by taking a peek into their creative world.  I have learned the value and wonderful importance of being involved in a creative community. 

Unless an artist has an agent or money to throw at resources to help with marketing and social media strategy and content management on a weekly if not daily basis, everything has to be done ourselves.  I feel often as much as I try to organize this properly, I am running sloppy at the end of the day and exhausted. So, I constantly have to sit back, prioritize, accept what I will get to do and what I will not and just be ok with it all. 

I have put time and energy this year into taking specific social media marketing courses with the intend to run things all around better and more professionally  (which is actually not like me.. but see, that is not my favorite thing to do, so therefore, I just want to learn the quickest and easiest way possible rather then how I usually am about figuring things out and experimenting myself in photography and digital art)  So that time in doing all that marking and social media work took precious time away from what time I have for my art. I see a huge dip in my portfolio when I am throwing a great deal of my time at the marketing management but you can't have one without the other these days. Sooooo at the end of the day, I am not much help in detailing out how this balancing act can be done more successfully.  Spread too thin... that is what I always feel like in this regard. One aspect of this whole way of life for now that I find difficult is my desire to be able to sit down a JUST work solidly on a creative piece until it is done. Now I have to go in spurts either in an established time frame set by a client to meet a deadline or if it is just personal, starting something that I know I may not even get a chance to finish a year later it seems. I am sure this is the case for many creatives that balance many different jobs and or freelance work. I have to work in time slots throughout the day, get done what has to be done, and let go of the craziness of all the rest. Tomorrow is always another day! 

Can you give us a brief outline of what your typical day comprises of

oh my, this is difficult because every day seems to go at a different pace and all... I kinda like it though to be honest. I have always struggled with too much organized same ol same ol days... don't fence me in!! haha  Having children has forced me to be much more organized that is my go with the flow nature.

I try to get up a little early before the children are up... nice to have a little quite time to just get emails done and social media started. Mornings are a mix of taking kiddos to school, checking in with my mom to see if she needs help with anything, and more time spent on social media and looking for work. Even if I am in the middle of freelance work I am always thinking ahead to the next months and trying to set something up work wise. One of my goals this year was to try to manage a bit more exercise for a healthier lifestyle so I try to fit in that several times a week about mid morning. Then there are errands and household management. Afternoons are spent working in some capacity either on one of my "day" jobs, freelance or other client work. After kiddos are done with school I am focusing on personal family time. After they are in bed I go back to work. Again, more social media time or mostly work on freelance and my art.  Of course all that I just said gets flipped around like pancakes and every which way as life happens. I never have a "set schedule" but I enjoy that as it fits more my personality and nature. I just have to be free! 

As a working mother, I do everything revolving around my children and family, finding the spaces for work as I can and working at night. Just writing this is confusing, isn't it? lol On one hand I have to be scheduled and organized (yikes!) and on the other hand I have to be very "go with the flow" (yah!)  Honestly, no one will understand this unless they themselves are "in" it similar themselves. I know I sure never imagined all that I would be doing as a working full time artist and mother!

What would you say are your top tips out there for other creatives just starting out?

You know I often ask this similar question to other creatives I interview, just wondering if others are working smarter and on a better path to finding how to make a livable and working career as an artist. And what I find for both myself and with others is that NO ONE seems to have any good tips or suggestions that is per say hugely applicable to where I am at because everyone's goals, life circumstances are different! Keep at it. Learn as much as you can and work as hard as you can to find your creative "voice" and style, what you are passionate about expressing whether it is children's literature art, painting street art murals or sculpting! Yes, we all know this. Being a successful artist is all about having a huge desire for creating and getting better at what you create, hard work and determination, and ... good fortune. I have seen some amazingly talented artists get passed over and ignored and some others that I consider to be a little less experienced or professional get picked up for amazing jobs. go figure... we all have seen these things happen. In a professional art world where connections are just as important if not more as talent, I would say to other creatives just starting out that getting into a community of talented artists that you can learn from and also gain creative and technical support is crucial to paving the road to having a decent art career.  

I think as artists, a lot of us start out very independent and working solely "in" our art. I knew the importance of connecting with other artists but it took me a long time to truly "get it", make time for it, and realize how vital this was to moving forward in my career. See, there it revolves back to all those hours in social media and networking. And of course not just networking to make connections that are based on quantity over quality. I am talking make real quality connections ... establishing a sound group of supportive and networking artists that you actually DO get to know well and that care in return about you as an artist and your work. I had no idea of the importance of this when I was younger, or if I had an inkling I didn't actually "get it" until much later when I realized that 500+ connections on LINKEDIN do not matter in the least unless you actually really KNOW and connect with them. So if you are anything like me when I first started out, you will read this and go, oh, ok, totally get it (but don't really) and go right back to what you were doing which is creating your art and in a hurry, trying to make the "important key" connections of Art Directors and Publishers in the industry, but sadly ending up with a bunch of empty followers and quite a bit less work then desired.  Yes, been there, done that. :()

What is the best resource / tool you have found for gaining more exposure with your work?

Again, goes back to the connections. Getting involved in mastermind and like minded community groups on FB, IG, Flickr, and Twitter that help support and pass around art. It's all about making those quality connections with other artists that are not competitive but genuinely wanting to be involved with colleagues in their group in a supportive way. Just look at this... I became friends with you on Twitter and FB. We now have a friendship based on similar interest, life experience and work endeavors. You asked me to do this cool interview which in turn gets passed around YOUR group of colleagues and artist creative friends. How amazing is that and THAT is exactly how it works. It does not come from having a 1,000 followers on Twitter that have no idea who I am and what I do. It comes from making those real friendships and connections, so that if say something DOES come up that you hear about fitting for my work you pass my name along and vice versa.

What is your dream, where would you like to see yourself in say five years time?

ahhhh. this is a hard question for me right now. I am at a turning point ... Do I get a "day" job in photography / graphic design and work for a publisher, putting my fairy tales and storybook children's book art dreams on the back burner as more of a hobby for now (but still enjoying my day job) ... doing it only when I find the time but not as a main career? Or do I continue to try to make my photography and digital art my career while juggling all kinds of crazy part time freelance work? I am all over the place. There are certainly pros and cons to each scenario. Ask me again in about a year's time and I will see what happened. :) 

Wowsers! Thank you Sondra…Well I thoroughly enjoyed reading that and it was so nice to learn more about you. I thank the lucky stars that our paths crossed and I look forward to seeing where our odd little paths take us and being part of your creative journey. Thank you for everything you do Sondra and for giving us such an insightful interview.

To connect with Sondra you can find her on any of the following social media platforms:

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Well that’s me done for 2015. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and may all of you have much love, luck and happiness in 2016. What a year!

Animania Meets Critterish Allsorts - We Learn About Animals and the Healing Power of Pet Therapy

Me and Stoosh

As mentioned in my previous post Animania sponsors Critterish Allsorts I decided earlier this year to sponsor Critterish Allsorts through my new book Animania. Well last month we actually went to visit Dale and his critters to learn more about the animals and the organization. We had the best day ever and learned so much. It will be a day that none of us will forget in a hurry.

We were introduced to every one of the critters and had a cuddle with a few too. What amazed me was how all of them were more than happy being handled by complete strangers. It just shows how much time and commitment Dale puts into looking after and caring for his animals.

I wanted to explain in more detail what this organization is about, so here is an interview with the man himself.

Interview with Dale Preece Kelly, founder of Critterish Allsorts

How long have you been running Critterish Allsorts?

Critterish Allsorts was founded in August 2010 so a little over 5 years

What made you decide to get into pet therapy?

I got the opportunity to work inside a secure psychiatric hospital with people with severe mental health problems (like paranoid schizophrenia, psychosis, severe depression etc) with brain injuries and severe forms of aspergers and autism. I saw the difference my visits made to these people and had psychologists and speech therapists asking how it managed to get the responses it did. The fact I was helping people, well I was facilitating my animals to help people, made me feel very proud and fulfilled. It’s such a great feeling. I decided there and then this was the direction I wanted to follow with Critterish Allsorts rather than the traditional animal man route - this was a really special thing to do. So I set about researching everything I possibly could about pet therapy and realised that nobody else was using the animals I was using in this way, people were just using dogs cats rabbits and horses. That was in 2011, I am now recognised worldwide as a pioneer in the field

How do you become a qualified pet therapy practitioner?

At the time there were no college courses I could attend, no degrees to do, I was the only person doing it in this way with this range of species. I found an online course with the British School of Yoga. It was based around dogs and horses but the course materials and content were excellent. It taught me a lot - the history, techniques, counselling methods etc more importantly it taught me why and how it worked and allowed me to understand exactly what I am doing with my animals. At the same time, I taught the college a lot about using different types of animals in different ways - they were blown away by my assignments and case studies, using skunks and reptiles and insects. I won their student of the year award!! There is now a degree course at a university in Yorkshire, but that too is a distance learning course. A lot of universities teach about my work when students courses touch in animal assisted therapy, and every year I get approached by anywhere up to 30 students who want to do dissertations on my work or come and make academic studies of its effects. That’s a great feeling. I believe I am still the only "animal man"/animal encounter company who is qualified as an animal assisted therapy practitioner. Many companies offer pet therapy, but many give a type of animal assisted activity, they do not practice the therapy side, which has real identifiable and measurable goals. I do both working one to one with patients and mental health professionals, to give measured results to the patients. If it was not a successful treatment there is no way that we would have the contracts that we do with the huge public and private corporations that we do

How many animals make up the Critterish Allsorts team?

Somewhere between 50 and 60 unless the stick insects have babies in which case it can increase by more than a hundred!!

Can you tell us a bit about the healing powers of pet therapy?

There are so many. Animals don’t judge for starters, they expect nothing, they ask no questions. Animals just exude love and thats all that many people need. For psychiatric patients it offers a focus that takes their minds off everything else thats going on, to be able to just sit with their thoughts and feel loved and wanted by another being. The most profound thing I have had a patient tell me came from a paranoid schizophrenic who told me that when he was with my animals all of the voices in his head disappeared and he was free of noise. That made me cry, to think you have done something like that for somebody who has been plagued by voices for decades just blew me away. He was able to have rational lucid conversations with his doctors for the first time. For others its the only session they will attend because it offers them respite from the pressures. Patients who identify with snakes (each person identifies with a different animal as their therapy animal) get 4 dimensions and snakes do wonders for self esteem...imagine feeling really down about yourself and then doing something nobody else is prepared to do. Suddenly you feel like a hero and so good about yourself. I am currently developing a new revolutionary form of animal assisted therapy that will go into territory as yet uncharted but more on that when its developed (thats an exclusive)

What is the most rewarding part about your job?

Seeing what it does for people. When we are educating it’s how it affects the kids. The looks on their faces when they meet and interact with the animals and the interest they take. With the therapy work, its’ just watching in awe at how amazing my animals are, they seem to know what they are there for and act differently in both settings. They make me so proud, and the results that they achieve are phenomenal. Such a satisfying aspect of it. I also love that I am one of the only people in the world doing what I do the way that I do it, it makes me very proud of what I have accomplished. I’ve always said from day 1 that if I won the lotto or for some other reason became a millionaire, I  would continue to do the work but I would do it for free

What future plans do you have for Critterish Allsorts? 

Who knows what the future holds? I have never had a business plan, I just let the universe guide me (try explaining that to a bank manager) but its worked so far. I come into contact with people by chance and they change the direction of my life. I am a completely different person now than I was in 2010...better, more grounded, I have a better understanding of how all sentient beings work, I work personally on a higher plain than I did then (if that makes sense - I don’t mean I’m above anyone but that I understand more about life about what makes me tick and everything else...in the last 5 years I’ve discovered myself), I have also grown with my animals (I am connected spiritually with each and every one of them and we have a true relationship, they are not just my pets, they are my friends, they are my heroes, they are my equals, they are my colleagues, they are me we are one, they speak and I hear – that’s one of the most important and special things that we have and it’s what makes it work so well).....this possibly sounds like a really pretentious answer – it’s not meant to nor is it my intention but its honest. I have no plans for the future I take everything a day at a time, recent events have taught me that lifes too short to plan anything, you just have to live for the now because truthfully tomorrow is of no consequence until tomorrow. Makes living life so easy. I’ve also discovered a spiritual side in the past 6 months that I never realised I had and I am very much in touch with that, and I know from 4 years of believing the universe will see me right, that whenever I am in need the universe will provide (I could cite so many examples of when it has) so long as I lead my life in the right way and think in the right way too (if any of that makes sense)

You are also the author of the life changing book Organic Guniea Pig. Have you ever thought about writing books based on your animals?

Haha...many times Corrina, but I never thought I could write. Then I met Gerry Roberts when I attended one of his talks, completely random decision. Went on my own, took it all in, and got really excited about it. Went away and wrote that book in 3 months !! I am now working on my 2nd book "You Can" which will hopefully inspire people to follow their dreams as I have for the last 5 years - this one is taking me longer to write unfortunately, due to current demands on my time, but its all good it will be written. I also have another 6 which I have titles for. Now that I know how, nothing will stop me !! I love writing.

In terms of writing about my animals....there may be a book about my work at some point.  I did consider writing some kids books about the animals adventures and that would be really kewl, but I had no idea how to do it or how I would illustrate them - Success Skunks has allowed me to become connected with a few children’s authors and illustrators, but I think I'll leave the children’s books to the experts (hint hint!)

I wont write any kids books now, when I had the opportunity the time wasn’t right for me. If someone else wanted to write them, emphasising the great work they do, then that would make me very happy because they deserve the recognition and kids are always so interested in the idea of animal assisted therapy esp in the States. I visited a high school in Virginia last year to take part in a class and debate on the subject with a group of final year students. I became the mentor of the student who organised it all and she graduated with top marks

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Thank you so much Dale for such a fascinating and insightful interview. I am sure a lot of people will be enlightened and touched by it, I certainly was. I am also a great believer in the power of positive thinking and trying to live your life to it’s full potential despite what life may throw at you. I wonder if anybody else out there can relate to this spiritual side too. Do you ever feel that sometimes your life is mapped out? I do at times, you try and go down one path and then things happen forcing you down another. I see any failure or disappointment (and trust me, I have had a few !) on my part as a stepping stone to something better. I may not be where I want to be right now but I am quite content living in the now, even if it does get hard going at times. There is a lot to smile about and meeting Dale and his critters was an experience that my little brood will never forget.

I can’t explain why I was drawn to help Critterish Allsorts, I had never met Dale before, I hadn't even spoken to him before yet something touched my heart and I wanted to help. People didn’t get why I was doing it and it certainly raised a few eyebrows. I can’t explain it myself, it was never part of my plan… it just felt right and things just slotted into place naturally. Over the last few months I have got to know Dale well and we are very similar with our beliefs and outlook on life. He is one of the nicest and kindest people I know, it’s another example of how some people come into your life for a reason. 

I have no idea where things are going, Like Dale I am leaving it all up to the universe, yes I will work really hard but not a clue where it will take me. I am just looking forward to what other fun opportunities come up. For now I am really looking forward to Animania and Critterish Allsorts first joint school visit in October at my children’s school. I am sure there will be other collaborations between the two of us in the near future. I would love to think one day we can work on an animal book together, watch this space.

Have you had any experiences with pet therapy or using the power of positive thinking? If so I would love to hear them so please do leave a comment below.

You can contact Critterish Allsorts via:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

How to involve children in your creative process

Do you ever have writer or artists block?... 

I know I do!! Not so much with thinking up illustrations but the times I have tried to sit down and write a story I am as much use as a chocolate teapot. I used to love writing as a child so you would think this would come naturally but I find it very hard to get that initial concept for the story line down. Once I have it then it all flows but getting it is the tricky bit! I tried writing my first book around five years ago and I really struggled. 

So what did I do….. I asked my son Dylan who was five at the time to come up with a story. It took him seconds to come up with an idea and went something like this….

“ so there’s this penguin who wants to fly but he can’t…. so he travels to the jungle and meets a peacock and he teaches him how to fly”

My initial thoughts were…. Okaaaay!... that was a pointless exercise!  But at the time Dylan had a fascination with peacocks and I couldn’t find them as a character in any picture book out there so I sat down and I started writing and you know what.. we came up with a really cute little story called Flic’s wish. It’s a book I would still like to illustrate one day. That was my first attempt at writing as a grown up and I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed it but full credit goes to Dylan as I would never have thought the initial idea up in a million years.

It’s a similar story with my latest book Animania. The original idea is something Dylan came up with a few years back. We were having one of our nonsense chats on the way to school and he mentioned how strange it would be to mix animals up. So we landed up discussing what animals we could make up, what we could call them and what they would look like etc We came up with characters such as the prickly python, antosaurus and fluffa fish.  A little light bulb switched on flashing "picture book" So I was going to write a story based on that idea but after doing some research I noticed that there was already a book out on the market like that…typical!. So I have now gone with a rhyming animal alphabet book with a twist. Making it a fun educational tool, if anything I actually prefer this concept so it was  a blessing in disguise.

My daughter Felicity aka Flic also has her characters included which are the tickly bears and hefty weirdos. These names came up when we were reading one of her bedtime stories. I can’t remember the exact wording but the characters were a hippo and a panda. She muddled her words up some how and came up with the names hefty weirdos and tickly bears. I fell in love with them and they have been used many a time ever since. So when Animania came up it was only natural that they were to be included.

My children are a massive part of my inspiration, I very much doubt I would have thought of these ideas up myself and I am sure my illustrations are influenced a lot by them. So how can you too gain inspiration from the little people in your life….

How to get children involved with the creative process

Have brainstorming sessions

Children love being part of the creative process and they have the best imaginations in the world. Make the most of this and utilise it. If you have absolutely no idea of a concept then ask them to come up with a story, simples….you will be very surprised with how quick they can do this. Or start off with a main character, discuss what they should look like, do they have any special talents? What kind or personality do they have? What do they look like? What do they love doing? etc From there you can start to build a story. You will be very surprised how a little brain storming session like this can open up a floodgate of inspiration.

I tend to have our little "chats" on our walks to and from school or while they are having a bath etc. The key is for them to enjoy the experience so by turning it into a “game” you will most probably find the best ideas come up. I find this works better for us rather than sitting  down with a notepad and pen and quizzing them, this turns the experience more into a homework session, and that is a big no no with my lot. So try to make it as relaxed as possible, and keep mental notes that you can jot down after.

Turn it into a game

One of the games my children enjoy is making up a story by taking it in turns  to come up with the next scene in a story. So for example I will say “Once upon a time there was a little mouse called tufty who lived with his mum dad and sister in an old abandoned farm”

Then they would then continue with the next scene …. “ Tufty loved going on adventures with his best friend Chip, one day they decided to go to the seaside.

You get the jist. More often than not the stories just get ridiculous and make no sense whatsoever but you will be surprised how they might just trigger something off for a concept.

All children will enjoy doing this, they don’t have to be a budding author or illustrator. Dylan doesn’t enjoy writing but he has such a good imagination on him and is a fantastic story teller so if you see this in your child please encourage it. If they aren’t a keen writer then play games like this to feed their imagination.  

Photocopy your sketches to use as colouring pages

Some children enjoy drawing more than others. Flic loves drawing and painting and will more often than not sit with me while I am painting. I let her colour in my sketch book so when I have my pencil draft I will transfer it over to my heavyweight paper and work on that and she will sit there and colour in my original sketch. 

I also try and get photocopies of my initial sketches as they make great colouring in pages. Their friends often ask if I have any of my colouring sheets to use so if your child has an interest in drawing this would be a great way to get them involved in your creative process.

I always feel guilty when I am working on a  book that I am not spending enough time with the children but by doing things like this you are making the whole experience more interactive, they get a bit more mum time and you in return are rewarded with the best inspiration available out there!

If you don’t have children then there are plenty out there you can borrow he he! Nephews, nieces, cousins, everyone must have  a tiny person somewhere they can reach out to. Now go out there and get inspired!

Have you involved children in your creative process? Perhaps you have a game or tips you would like to share. If so please leave a comment :)