A Wonderful & Wandering Dream: ''Into The Wanderland''

Finally, I found or rather made some time to perform some much needed updates to this blog, starting with the page Witty Art Series 2011-2014. I've added some new (or older) images, some of them not even shown before. Some of these images are proper (low res) scans or photos from my art work, others are made with iPhone or iPad. The latter I do not find to be the most ideal e.g. professional looking, but in my current living and working situation, stuck with no home and no studio, let alone suffice equipment at hand (for that, please read blogs posted here) I have to make do with it. 

And guess what? I actually am pretty content with it for now! 

Anyway, a couple of stuff has been long overdue posting, like ''Into The Wanderland''', which I consider to be one of my more poetic, surrealistic series. Perhaps even dreamlike.

You see, I dream a lot. I know most (highly) creative minds dream a lot and a lot has been written about the relation between sleep, dreams and creativity. The thing with me is, whereas most people remember their dreams to some agree, I seldom remember mine, except when they are extremely vivid and almost physical. But, normally I do not remember them.

Yet I cannot help but thinking that, in a way, I do, as sometimes I do look at my work and wonder where some of the images appearing on paper come from. Surely, they must come from somewhere, either from the subconscious, which, I suppose, is the domain of sweet dreams and (un)pleasant nightmares. As well as vivid imagination and translucent visions.

With Witty Art, I know where the inspiration for some works comes from and I can recall that very directly and also talk about it. Where it was born from, which grounds it is rooted in. With others, I can absolutely not. They just occur. They just are. And sometimes are just as elusive are to me as they are to others. 

So, what can I tell you about ''Into The Wanderland'', then? Well, that it's not about ''The Wonderland'' that a certain Alice gets lost in, nor that it's about some magic fairytale kingdom from my or your childhood. Not the stuff that dreams are made off, I'm afraid, even though mythical creatures like unicorns do seem to appear. This Wanderland is the domain of nightmares rather than dreams, a place in which you are lured into to wander but are strictly forbidden to do so. Well, it seems to be a somewhat inhospitable place to me, at least, but, you, the viewer, are kindly invited to think, to feel and to experience otherwise.

Such is the case with ''Into The Wanderland''. I can only conclude it must have been one Wonderful and Wandering Dream - so I hope to dream it more often.

Witty Art is appreciated even by the most feline of creatures!

My Witty Art Book ''My Life In Limbo'' attracts quite a divers but genuinely interested following. It has even achieved its own fandom in the animal world.

Here's one of the most advert fans and followers of Witty Art:: my dear furry feline friend Lord Westenwind. Regal, if not royal and refined, this artistoc(r)at is a great connaisseur of the arts and even owns a few pieces of Witty Art himself.

If you are interested (and especially if you are a lover of cats, black cats in particular) you might want to follow the Lord's daily grooming and other exciting routines on Instagram. 

On rebuilding my Life In Limbo on Rock Bottom and what J.K. Rowling's got to do with it

So, here are more sketches and drawings I made for my Witty Art Book ''My Life In Limbo'', my very own personal reflection of my journey through life since I effectively became homeless. Since losing the house that once had been a trusted home to me, I have been living the life of a 21s century city nomad, or, as I somewhat jokingly call it, the life of a Displaced Diva.

Originally started as a way of being able to keep on drawing and making little sketches and notes for later artwork, as losing my house also meant losing my workplace, this artbook has indeed become a way of sharing my story with the world, in particular with the friends and followers of Witty Art. Or rather: sharing the emotions behind the story, as my work, unavoidably and irreversibly, has been greatly impacted by the fact that my life had been thrown upside down.

As I've written in previous blogposts, the book became some kind of mirror, in which I saw my relationship with my art, with my own creations, reflected and that way I saw my life, my past and present relationships with the people in my life reflected; and the way I dealt with life's challenges - or the way I didn't or didn't dare to. I saw the characters from my artwork drop by, one by one, all those Perfectly Imperfect MisFits that inhabit the World of Witty Art. And each and every single of one of them telling me something about myself I didn't know - or I already knew but didn't want to know. Some loved, some feared, I hold all of them dear, as without them, my world would be empty and my artwork non-existent.

So, writing and drawing this artbook offered me a great deal of insight, not only in how my work will develop further, but also in the relationship between me and my artwork, and, equally important, the relationship between me and the world around me, the people in it - in my life. It helps me to come to terms with things that happened in the past; and to face up to the challenges now - and those yet to come.

For yes, I might be homeless at this very moment, I might be displaced, without a place of myself, I am still not living on the streets, as so many people unfortunately have to. I still have people who look after me, who support and love me. And I might have lost a lot, I feel like I have gained even more as my life has been enriched by the kindness, generosity and care from old and new friends, some which had been complete strangers before.

And, one thing I now know for sure, as corny as it may sound: whatever is taken away from me or will be taken away, I will always have my creativity. My ability to create art. To create my very own World of Witty, and that way, rebuild my life again. 

And when someone very special recently told me: ''You will rebuild your Witty Art Empire on rock bottom'', I had to think of what author J.K. Rowling (of Harry Potter fame, for those of you that have been sleeping under a rock for the last decade or so ;-)) had to say about the ''benefits of failure'', when she addressed the Harvard Alumni Association back in 2008: 

 'So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.'

So, why should I not be able and capable to rebuild my life on my very own rock bottom, while creating my very own Witty Art Book? 

You can read and view J.K. Rowling's full Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association here. A truly inspirational read for anyone who currently finds him or herself on that place called Rock Bottom. 

I was. I am. So, on and forward I go. 

'Have You Ever Had It Blue?' A Witty Art tribute to The Blues

 

'Did You Ever Have It Blue?' was created, rather unintentionally, as a tribute to that feeling of feeling down and out, a feeling more commonly known as 'The Blues'. And I can fairly say that when I created this particular series of drawings, I experienced a MAJOR case of having the blues. 

So, what does Miss Witty do when she's feeling blue? She literally brings on the blues and starts listening to those blue notes that might bring you down a bit more, but definitely will lift your spirits back up again. Even if you have to serve some kind of other spirit to help you through it!

The music of great blues legends like B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Bobby Womack and more. And ofcourse, Mr. Bobby 'Blue' Bland, whose epic 'Ain't No Love (In The Heart Of The City)' helped me through a couple of very dark and dreary days.

The series' title was inspired by the song with the same name, performed and recorded by 80's band The Style Council, who were heavily influenced by old fifties and sixties jazz/rhythym & blues (and even some bossa nova swing) and are still among my all time favourites today, too.

'My Life In LImbo': how a little book helps me understand my own artwork a bit better

As painfully confronting as it may be, I am getting quite addicted of working on my Witty Art Book 'My Life In Limbo'. Filling each blank page with thoughts and visions, words and images, has become an absolute must for me. Which is good, because that means my creative energy is flowing freely again, without any restrictions or inhibitions. And that means I feel stronger to take on the battle of getting my life back on track again. Or at least strong enough to start venturing out again, making new plans for projects, for a new workspace, and a new place to live as well.

Working on this little book of dreams and nightmares alike also helps me to gain new insights of my own work. It helps me understand a bit better where certain themes and figurines come from, what role they play in my work and where they more or less stand for - or not. Just a bit, mind you, as some characters are just as elusive as they have always been and even for me are just too hard to grasp.

 

Let's just say that I rediscovered how long some of these characters have been around, ever since I was a child. A curious, but shy, withdrawn child who'd rather spend time drawing and writing then going outside to play. Other kids might have liked to venture out, go out on adventures and discovering stuff. I prefered to wander in my own mind and drift of there. So, I might have become a bit more outgoing as an adult, but not that much has changed. 

So, I can safely say that the contours of the World of Witty Art were shaped in those early years of childish wondering and wandering. And it has been my biggest loss, my biggest regret that I have allowed myself to lose that feeling of wondering and wandering during such a huge part of my adult life. 

Having been able to find that back, to find I did not lose it after all, to discover it was still there, has been a bittersweet experience. I lost a lot during that process, too. A process that more or less ended with losing my house. But I gained something so much more important, so vital, so crucial for me to be who I really am: my ability to create this thing I call Witty Art, the world it comprises and the creatures who try to survive there.

(Click on any image to enlarge) 

When reading a Witty Art Book, have a coffee to go with it!

It's always nice seeing people admiring your artwork, or responding to it one way or the other. In this case, it's Rotterdam funky bakery Twinkle Cakes' founder and owner Riri Putranti having a browse through my artbook 'My Life In Limbo', my very own personal diary as I now live the life of a more or less homeless person. Or at least without a place of my own, for the time being. 

But, hey, at least there's always coffee to keep you from going totally insane! And while you're at it, get one of those delicious Twinkle Cakes to accompany your espresso or cappucino!

ARTificial Uprising #11: or just a bad case of Artist Paranoia?

... and even in my temporary surroundings, I discover that Witty Art is conspiring against me...

To be continued...