Serets Shared by Keri Smith

I presented this list to my illustration class today. It was targeted to illustration but I realized it has wider applications. Simple truths I have learned over the years, many I’m sure you have heard before. I am hoping to give them some mental tools to work with as well as tools of the trade. Part of being successful is having a belief in yourself and the process. Plus, sometimes it just feels good to read a list and feel like you can do it (especially number 6). I told them number 6 is the source for all of my best ideas (wreck this journal, guerilla art kit, explorer, all were done when I was supposed to be working on other things). True story.

Secrets of the Self Employed (or How to be an Amazing [insert profession here])
1. Don’t worry about marks while you are in school. No one will ever ask you what school you went to or what your marks were when you leave it. (this pertains to the field of illustration).

2. You are always working for yourself, even when you work for others. Sometimes it feels like you are just the hired hand (and some clients can be really challenging to work with). But there is always some way to turn an illustration job into something exciting for you. Some ideas: experiment with a new technique (or a new color palette), use it as an opportunity to learn about a new topic, rebel against the job in tiny ways (do some roughs just for yourself in which you insert subversive material).

3. There are no actual rules for how to become a successful [insert profession here]. Make your own path.

4. It will help you to create a social network of other self-employed people.

5. Move your body every day. There are many health reasons for this, but it also helps you to work on ideas subconsciously. Ideas and solutions will come in when you least expect them but (almost always after a minimum of one hour of walking). There are new studies that suggest increased oxygen to the brain is a greater source for creativity than “creative brain exercises”. I have found this to be true for myself.

6. Goof off on a regular basis.

7. If you want to work on your art, work on your life. All those personality traits that aren’t working for you will come back to haunt you in your career (i.e. assertiveness, fear of conflict, fear of confrontation.) It’s all connected.

8. What you think becomes your reality. I always had a belief that if I cleaned out my recycling bin in my studio I would get new work. And guess what, it always happened. If you think the industry is screwed and there is no work to be had, guess what you will find out there?

9. Focus on ideas instead of tools (technology). Anyone can learn to use the tools, but it is the thinkers who really impact the culture in important ways. In the end the tools don’t offer anything interesting.

10. Worrying about the competition does very little to help your career. I know it’s hard sometimes to ignore what other people are doing (we all think that others are doing better than us), but every one of us is on a different life path. We are all here to accomplish different things and even though it would seem like one person’s path is similar to yours, it is not.

11. Only work for free if you are passionate about the cause or receive something of value in return. (Be wary of people who offer your name in lights in lieu of money. Many people will tell you something is good promotion for you, often it is not and there are no guarantees when it comes to promotional value). If you are not getting something of a measurable value (i.e. printed pieces, or money) ask for something else, creative freedom. If they refuse then they may not be a good client to work for anyway.

12. Take some small risks on a regular basis. Some ideas: write some places/companies you would really like to work and let them know why you think they are great.

13. Don’t worry about whether or not you are good (good is subjective and most people are not great judges of their own work), just keep making work.

14. Ignore cool. Successful people do not try to be hip, they just do work that excites them.

15. Always come back to work that excites you. Even if you get off track for a while. Do personal work on a regular basis, show it to others. You can reinvent yourself at any time.

Keri Smith

Interview with Herworld by Aneesa A

Been spending time/working/volunteering for Rumah Nur Salam with the kids is great and a fruitful event. All thanks to Dina Zaman for getting me into this NGO organization. This is something that I have wanted to do for a long while. And I've meeting great interesting people in KL, they are all so passionate about what they do for the kids and a street angel indeed.  They may not dress as colorful/flamboyant as the people of the industry that I am in. But, their life are full of colors which something money can't buy or have, only they can experience it. To me, that is incredible....I still have so much to learn from them.

Join me If you have time to spare for the kids....

EVERY CHILD MATTERS!

Thich Nhat Hanh

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

Quote form Mother Teresa

Peole are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered; forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives: Be kind anyway. What you spend years creating others could destroy overnight: Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it may never be enough: Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God: it was never between you and them anyway.

Art....

To communicate something of what I feel about what we do as artists, as musicians and as human beings. The sun will not fall down from the sky if there are no more [artists]. The world can and will go on without us but I have to think that we have made this world a better place. That we have left it richer, wiser than had we not chosen the way of art. The older I get, the less I know but I am certain that what we do matters. You must know what you want to do in life, you must decide, for we cannot do everything. Do not think [art] is an easy career. IT is a lifetime’s work; it does not stop here. What matters is that you use whatever you have learned wisely. – Maria Callas

Malaikat-malaikat perjalananku. (Angels on my path) by Petra Gimbad

It's been a crazy few days, and contrary to what many say - I don't think that one should use the poor to feel better about oneself. There are reasons to feel blessed, but Lord, let's not turn the disadvantaged into token meditation tools.



The reason why I can feel refreshed is because of two kids, who make me reflect on how God can exist in foresaken places. There's something about seeing a place through the eyes of a child. Not all, but some children just have that light and it's always an honour to know and be loved by some of them.



My little street angels.



Yesterday, I offered to take a couple of children home after buka puasa (open fast) since it was dark and I was at the centre anyway. The older refused and her younger brother piped up shyly, "Aku nak kakak ikut kita balik." (I want older sister to follow us home)



So I did. It was a short walk and an absolutely joyful one, with their high-pitched voices lighting the way. We passed a mentally ill man waving a sheaf of blank white papers at oncoming cars on the road, and a mamak (stall) flanked by a transgendered sex worker and female sex workers. That corner, on some nights, is a popular joint for the lower income European sex worker circuit.



After we passed the man, the older asked, "Kakak tak takut ke? Jalan ni tak selamat." (Isn't older sister scared? These streets aren't safe.)



"Engkau pula tiap-tiap hari jalan jalan ni - tak selamat ke? Takkan budak nak jalan kakak tak berani pulak." (You walk these streets daily - aren't you scared? If you kids can walk, surely there's no reason for me to be scared)



They asked me where I lived and I told them. "Oo, jauh - tak perlu ikut kita. Nanti kak balik lambat." (Oo, that's far - you don't have to follow us. Or you'll reach home late.)



I laughed and told them it's ok, as long as they get home safe.



The teen turned to the child sibling and explained, "Biar lambat, asal selamat." (Better late than never.) I wondered whether I should tell them it's drink and drive wisdom.



They waved and looked back after they cross the road to their home. They wanted to see if I was watching, and I am so glad I was.



I went home and told mum how moved I was that they were so concerned for my safety, when this was behaviour I took for granted as a child. I thought that this is how adults SHOULD treat me.



These kids, from a lower-income household in a red light district, were so incredibly sweet and sensitive to my safety, an adult.



One of the kids just waved at me from my office window and asked if I got home safe.



I told her I did.

A romantic note from a friend.....

That first kiss. The shock of something right.

Bodies melting, renewing. Discovering the familiar for the first time.

Falling asleep by your side, because I could.

Sounds and taste. Your hair mingled with mine.

Sniffing my fingers in the aftermath. The smell of you on my hands.

The scent of you during long plane rides. The goodbyes before the goodbye.

How I miss you now. You used to drive me in the moonlight, to our
secret space where we would hike in the dark.

I miss that stone house. You promised we would return, and we never did.

But that house lingers in my body. The memory of the cold wind and you.

The soft kisses in the dark. The smell of the ground rising. The scent
of soil in your hair.

Kissing you in a yellow dress. Aching now.

My hands are empty with longing. The smell and taste of you lingers.