One of the wonderful opportunities a storyteller has, is to explore getting ‘inside’ a vast array of characters and embodying them.
Becoming different characters is enormous fun, but also very instructive. In the creative process of discovering what any character might be like physically, vocally or imaginatively, you can’t help learning things about yourself and about humanity in general. Getting under the skin of characters offers the opportunity to find out how they tick, in a very intimate way. I admit I enjoy being ferocious monsters, wily crones and muscular warriors just as much as beautiful queens and wise kings. In a way, I am keeping alive a skill of imaginative play many people offload when the think they are too grown up for it.
Drawing is an important part of my creative process. I often sit down to draw without deciding what I want to draw and just scratch about until something emerges. It is a thing of wonder to be surprised by your own drawings! It’s always fascinating to discover what is lurking in my unconscious, especially since this is one time it happens when I am awake, rather than in my dreams.
These two lovely sisters showed up this morning and I am more than sure they have many stories to tell.
Since I was a teenager, I have wanted to write and illustrate books for children. Slowly I am inching my way down a path to the place where this dream will come true!
Niki na Meadhra 