Stargirl
Stargirl is the first role model I can actively remember making the choice to have. The book written by Jerry Spinelli and read in my adolescence, became part of my make-up as I modeled much of my actions navigating those strange times. Jerry Spinelli is a powerful writer who writes books aimed at the leaving childhood entering puberty stage. Stargirl is the person who taught me it is totally ok to get up and dance if I feel that is what I need to do, pick up litter if it is blowing around my ankles and it is more than acceptable for me to dedicate a whole afternoon making a card for someone, regardless of how well I know them.
Leonora Carrington
Now, she was actually a real person but her illusive life has been condensed into snippets and speculations to the point where she has become some what of a fiction in retrospect. There is nothing concrete about her apart from that she existed, she moved, she created. I connect deeply with her as a human being. Read what you can about her and go seek her art. She is the is the one who reminds me it is ok to change what it is I am creating, the fact that I am releasing my art is what matters, that this world is a strange and tangible place where the borders get blurred and that indulging in my madness is both a joy and terror to be relished and explored.
Fevvers
Fevvers came to me just recently and in the nick of time as my art is currently seeking circus and what better mentor than her. Angela Carters ‘Nights At The Circus’. is an exquisitely written book, descriptions so plush and tactile I could feel the grease of the clown make-up and scratch the arm of the rotting whorehouse velvet sofa where I sat and watched the show. Fevvers, a larger than life gal has given me permission to be open about my love for the big rotting city. The grit, the grime, the locura and most of all the people. I love people and humanity more than ever, our interactions with one another, our buzzing universe within the universe, we are incredible. Yes I appreciate animals and the countryside and visiting places of natural history, all great, all luxuries… But what I really love, deep down and forever is the heart of the city, especially the big ones, because they are the melting pots for all the best kind of madness, the movement, the finest tales and above all… Whatever you need, you can always find it on the street.
English