By Paul Kidby

Ragged Elf

"I have been in the business of 'creating' for almost all my life.  It all started with plasticine, paper and glue during my early school days, progressed to a brief period of creating havoc during my teenage years before moving onto the creating of false teeth as a school leaver; this was followed by creating hand-painted roller blinds in a factory and then greetings cards.  By my early twenties I had left London and moved to the Somerset countryside where as a young father I spent my days creating magazine covers in our living room surrounded by toddlers and squeaky toys.

It had been a full 29 years before I was able to combine my implicit desire to be a creator with full job satisfaction; and that was when I began a career as an artist for the fantasy series of 'Discworld' books by Terry Pratchett.  I was given a free and generous rein by the author to wander his universe with my sketchbook to hand, which resulted in the publication of a variety of illustrated books and products.

These days I still dip into the ingenious world of Sir Pratchett to illustrate book jackets and various commissions, but most of my time nowadays is spent working in the realms of my own imagination. 

Moving to the New Forest and marrying my wife Vanessa helped to open the doors into a new world of deep inspiration.  Fuelled by folklore and a taste for the peculiar, inspired by nature and coupled with the oblique squint of my own perspective, (rather like those joke spectacles that give you the vision of a fly, or a fairground mirror) I have recently been painting and sculpting the mythology of faerie, enchantment and magic and it feels like I have at last found my way home to being a creator in my own right.

My recipe for a happy and creatively busy artist (but yours might be different)...

Jokes and ridiculous conversations - sometimes they spin into the absurd and trigger an idea.  Can be very useful and the laughter is invaluable, even if it doesn't lead to any eureka moments.

Cake - but it has to be home-made, just don't eat too much.

Going for a walk, we have a dog so there is no excuse not to get out there whatever the weather and we are always thankful to have done it.

Exhibitions, invaluable, whatever the subject matter... it's always great to see the creative processes other folks gets up to, whatever their style.

Movies, for the same reason.

Music, the right music playing in the studio helps me capture the right feel in my artwork.  It might be anything from my large and eclectic collection, but just lately I have been listening to The Fleet Foxes, The Mummers, Goldfrappe and REM.

A veg patch, it's very grounding to get your hands dirty and work in the soil when you do a sedentary job like mine.  Growing stuff is one of the best feelings.

Sleep and enough of it, if I don't have it my eyes go pink and itchy.

Family, mine's a large and jumbly one but they are all inspiring in their own unique (and sometimes infuriating) lovable ways.  They always bring a fresh perspective too.

Going away on holiday.  It's fascinating to go to new places, eat new food, see new art and architecture hear new languages and smell new smells; and it's always wonderful to come home."

 

Paul has been a member of Enchanted Folk since February 2009

members.enchantedfolk.com/paulkidby

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