Think of an idea....and DO IT TO DEATH!

How easy is it to be truly original?

Am I an artist or craftsperson?

Is it possible for the common or garden wo/man to actually make money from Art?

Is it only me that thinks that they are either a) waiting to be discovered before the big breakthrough or b) waiting to be discovered as a fraud?

Am I just amusing myself with my artwork in some self indulgent fantasy?

The contents of the books below are all identical. The only difference is the cover. These are a commission to be given to members of a family to celebrate the life of

Alan Jeffrey Thomas Badby, who sadly died aged 50.

These are some of the questions I ask myself on a regular basis. It’s my belief that each and every one of us is creative, on a greater or lesser scale perhaps, but we all have it in us to BE CREATIVE!
Many of us believe we are not., and this can come from way, way back in our childhoods. No young child is asked to draw a picture of their summer holidays, then recoils in horror saying ‘But miss…I CAN’T draw!’
So those who think they can’t have to look deep into their past to find the blockage. Regarding creativity….Is not cooking a meal creative? Or growing things in the garden, taking a walk in nature and absorbing the landscape can be a creative experience if you just let it.
I was persuaded to drop out of art at 14 as I would never amount to anything and didn’t have a ‘natural’ talent for it. Even my mums suggestion that I could perhaps go into graphic Design was poo poo’d by the art teacher. This art teacher I held in high regard, I remember many lunchtimes going and watching him in the Art Room lettering the names on helmets for the lads in my year….and a fantastic sign writer he was too! If only he had taught lettering and calligraphy as part of the school curriculum I possibly wouldn’t have had to wait another 12 years before starting and taking it up as a serious passion.
It is a passion that has grown and taken me down many paths. Interesting quotations and a potential life threatening illness and resulting depression led me to see my spiritual path. The quotations I found most interesting were followed up and research into the people who wrote them and why they ‘spoke’ to me. Of these Rumi, Buddha, Tagore, Jung, Native American, Sir Winston Churchill to name just a few. Inspiring writers of books such as Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway, Living Magically, Stepping Into The Magic….oh I could go on forever! This and the inspiration from all the Self Esteem and Positive Thinking Books as well as the many philosophers both from the past and modern day as well as the many calligraphy tutors who without their help, guidance and inspirations have led me to where I am today.
I don’t class myself as original, nor do I class myself as talented, I just do what I love and love what I do. Among the many inspirational tutors I had was one lady in particular. Her name is Celia Kilner, she doesn’t class herself as a calligrapher at all, in fact when I mused over her work one day and asked her where she got all her ideas from she replied ‘My darling, I’m no calligrapher, nor can I come up with 100’s of ideas….I just find one that works and ‘do it to death!’ Hmmmm these were probably some of the best words I ever heard and they have stuck with me over a long period of time. There’s no need to come up with something different and totally unique every time…..just find something that works, and DO IT TO DEATH!

Yule Cards for 2007

another example of thinking of an idea and doing it to death!

I really have a problem doing repetitive things.

To work in a factory on a production line would make me loose the will to live. I take my hat off to ANYONE who manages to do this without complaining....You're worth your weight in gold.

I had the idea of the cards with scanned calligraphy to the top and the bottom half had printed transtrace on it. Then the only thing I really had to think about was how to make them different.