When in doubt, draw.
Film Opening December 6th 2015
On Sunday December 6th, I hosted an event to celebrate creativity and community in 2015.
We debuted the short film, ‘Drawings for Stories’, created to honour an exchange I initiated earlier in the year. The film, created in collaboration with Kyle McCloskey, film and Ten Cats, music, highlights the what can happen if we simply ‘start and see’ and is being used as research for my book, ‘When in doubt, draw’ How Drawing Helps Get Over Doubts & Difficult Times. We also watched a bonus video revealing a sneak peek behind the scenes! The nuts and bolts, the process, the team and the why behind the work. Below you’ll find my speech, plus our behind the scenes video. Enjoy.
It was night I’ll never forget.
Raising another (virtual) glass here to creativity, community and our incredible human stories.
Ever draws,
DMK x
My Speech
Firstly I’m proud to welcome the up and coming photographer, Tia Haywood, of Top Tia, as our official photographer for the evening. Thank you for being here Tia!
“Who knew?”
Sarah said this to me as she walked in tonight. I wanted to start with this and acknowledge the great mystery. Yes we may well keep at our work and do all the things we need to do, but we must also allow space for the unexplainable unfolding of life as we move forward.
Welcome and thank you – you may well have moved small mountains to be here and I appreciate this.
I’ve been climbing up my own mountain this year.
If my choices so far have been getting closer to the mountain,
My choices this year have been climbing it.
Slowly,
One foot in front of the other.
The mountain of becoming a professional.
What that looks like and how that translates into every thing I do.
A professional artist.
Going from:
Dreaming – here’s a brand, new sketchbook
to
Done – and here’s an empty one!
This summer the sounds of the cicadas had a very different effect on me,
Took on a new significance.
More so than the butterfly.
Perhaps because more prehistoric looking?
Ancient.
7-14 years in the earth.
In the deep, dark.
The long climb up and out,
The crawling to find a tree,
The long climb up the bark,
Digging in.
Waiting.
And then,
The signing.
SUCH singing.
Not just the sound of the summer,
The distinctive, unmistakable, UNignorable sound of summer.
If you’re going to do something,
REALLY do it.
What I want to share with you all this evening is the film we’ve made and also my biggest takeaways of 2015.
It’s been three years since leaving full time employment to reach this stage.
Not alone. Not without failing and trying. Not without accepting the invitation.
To do the work I am here to do.
Leaves: Brought from the park this morning. The park now blushing with the colors of autumn.
Learning:
Not the “Tada’s!” of my youth.
I have a new respect for the ways things change and develop.
Organically.
Over time. Slow and deep realizations.
“Aha”.
Recognizing that something bigger than self.
Something bigger and beyond.
2015
A year of investing in myself.
In learning.
In systems.
This is not my hobby. This is my work.
B School – the business course I invested in to learn the nuts and bolts of being an entrepreneur.
Biggest takeaway:
“If I was a professional and the best at what I do, what would it look like?”
Taking this as far as it would go:
What would my fridge look like? What would my words sound like? What would my diary and schedule look like?
Working on:
Book Proposals
Presentations
Coaching
Support Systems
Most importantly I learned how to invest my time.
The Book: Momo by Michael Ende.
Made me think about time as currency.
Turned around the way I live, the way I work, the way I serve.
The Book: Essentialism by Greg McKeown has also served me well this year.
Saying no to make space.
As a former people pleaser, this was tough! And like everything, like drawing, takes practice!
Saying no to make:
Our highest possible contribution.
Highest contribution.
With the time we have.
In 2015, I have worked with some incredible humans.
I have had the honor of many incredibles touching my life.
Mr Leech
My art teacher – do the work! 10 drawings and 1 good one – you’re winning! Keep the page – your drawing will be all the richer for you working to find the lines.
Sarah Everitt Furuya
My mastermind and partner and friend. We check in with each other every morning, every night. Care, Coaching, Counsel. Leading me to a space of tenderness and non-apologetic truth. I’m so happy Sarah introduced us. You’re always on the ball!
Laura
Thank you for not only helping me with my business, but for your insight and understanding.
Kyle
Who can’t be with us today but who has worked tirelessly with me to create the two films we will enjoy today.
Ellen Motohashi
More on this to come
Maho Takahashi
So much more on this too!
Sarah Achilles
Thank you for welcoming me back into the FEW community. I’m looking forward to being a part of FEW in 2016.
Rachel
For Shinjuku Chapters.
Joy
For telling me that my dream was too big for my apartment. You helped me more with that one sentence than you will ever know.
Lori
For inviting me to join you for the volunteer painting weekend in Onagawa. This was right at the time when I had left my job and was standing at the crossroads. I loved being a part of that project. I learned so much from the trip. Meeting Shuhei Sensei and seeing his work, through painting, breathing new life into his town following the earthquake and tsunami is something I will always keep close.
Jim
For your work with Alam Aksara, your project to hep sponsor children in Indonesia. I am always grateful for this work that you do. It inspires me to come from things from a bigger place. It inspired me when I think about the meaning of service.
Tracey
I’m so happy we got to know each other better this year. As neighbours, as friends, Tokyo family.
Helen
For writing with me, for feedback, for sharing this part of the journey.
Tia
Thank you for capturing tonight with your photography.
Shivani and Kat
My students. Thank you for the courage to learn something new!
For everyone who has reached out to me this year and shared a story.
I know there’s one more person to be mentioned, I haven’t forgotten you!
I have many things to thank Sarah Everitt Furuya for. Here’s another:
Her ‘Authentic Voice’ Worksheet.
Her defining work in guiding us to tell our story.
To be able to share it with the best value for others.
Through this I discovered that I am first and foremost an Observer.
As an artist, I take what I see inside and out it comes on the page.
I have been drawing my whole life,
Although I never knew why.
Other than this was my way of processing the world,
To be with my thoughts and feelings,
To understand them and be able to express them.
“We’re getting a divorce” “Will you marry me?”
“It’s cancer” “You’re lucky to be alive!”
“He’s not coming back” “I’ve found your father”
“We should break up” “Happy anniversary”
“We’re bankrupt” “Savings! We did it!”
“You have to leave your school” “Congratulations on your scholarship”
“I don’t love you” “I love you more than anything”
“I’m afraid you didn’t make it” “We only want to work with you”
The things we hear. A few things from my story. My human experience. My 33 years.
Rebellion – Revolution
Domestic Abuse — Falling in love
Divorce – Marriage
Abandonment – Reunion
Betrayal – Learning to Trust
Broken heart – Fullness of Spirit
Cancer – Health
Bankruptcy – Abundance
I know we share so many of these.
We sympathize with the suffering of others.
We rejoice in the achievements of others.
As humans we go through so many experiences.
How do we go about processing these? What happens to us? What we see, hear and feel?
For me, this is why drawing is so important.
Observing – Reflecting (in) and Expressing (Out)
Processing the world.
Processing our human experience.
Helen, although we’ve only met recently I would like to thank you. The afternoon spent writing side by side – analogue and digital – in a cafe was a gift.
For describing and likening this reflecting and expressing of our experiences to breathing.
Inhaing.
Exhaling.
Taking in.
Keeping what’s needed.
Expelling the rest.
For the book, ‘Turning Pro’, by Stephen Pressfield.
This morning Lisa Gravestock’s Boot Camp.
Walking back, our body’s awake and buzzing, we talked about the first class. The first try.
The growing pains.
The showing up.
The commitment.
The easier it gets.
Doom Vs Celebration: The 2 Ways to Stand for Something
Maho Takahashi.
I had the great pleasure of being invited by Maho to collaborate with LUSH Japan this year.
The brief: to highlight the issue of the proposed re-location of the US Army base to Henoko Bay, Okinawa.
A sensitive issue.
Deep history.
Many stories.
We decided to go to Henoko,
To listen. To see.
Although we had differing opinions and many ideas about what to do for the event beforehand, we were unanimous after our trip.
After listening to the stories. Getting to know the locals. Spending an afternoon drawing the collection of a local diver.
We discovered that there are 2 ways to protest.
To stand up for what you believe in.
To highlight a cause.
With force and with anger.
With joy and with wonder.
We chose the latter.
Our event to highlight this issue was a celebration.
We painted our model, Risa, in all the colors of Henoko Bay.
She walked out onto Omotesando.
It was inviting.
Accessible.
An inivitation.
Come. See. Enjoy.
Ask questions. Learn. Share.
Shivani & Kat. My Students.
This choice came up again with my student Shivani.
On Tuesday we had a drawing class out side. We drew the Torii – the Japanese gate – at the entrance to Meiji Jingu shrine.
This followed from our class together where Shivani expressed sensitivity for something she was dealing with – perhaps she will share this later on.
Echoed with my other student Kat, who expressed to me one class:
“I didn’t expect this!” “I thought this was just a drawing class!”
Discovering something new.
What I hear most from the people I work with.
Ellen Motohashi.
This year I have been invited to Dokkyo University.
To participate in a program Ellen has worked hard towards getting funding for.
A programme designed specifically for international students.
A place where they feel safe.
Appreciated.
Accepted.
Fit In.
Can learn language.
We spent our first class drawing shells.
Shells from Henoko Bay.
Drawing – being a stage before words – helped with the process of expression.
We then shared and talked about our drawings together.
Reflect.
Express.
An invitation.
Working with Shinjuku chapters.
A group of students from international marriages.
Bi-lingual, bicultural children.
A space for them.
To meet.
To learn.
To play.
To learn.
I taught them on Sundays and would like to extend my thanks to Rachel Armstrong for the opportunity.
We would talk. Write. Read. Draw. Present. Share.
Reflect.
Express.
An invitation.
I met Grace Kishino here as well and she shared her experience of drawing with me and how it’s helped her work through her experiences. She is also an author in her own right. The author of the children’s book, ‘Dennis’. Congratulations Grace. For getting from dreaming to done.
Drawing.
A stage before language.
Cuts to the heart of the matter.
The true story.
Out and Onto the page.
Masa
Finally, I have one very special human being to thank.
My best friend.
My partner (in all things!)
Masa.
Thank you for your support, encouragement, insight, generosity and help with wrapping!
Thank you for being a loving human being.
It radiates out into the world.
Thank you for loving me.
And making me tea!
Kyle
Who couldn’t be here today, wanted to share a few words:
First of all, I’m very sorry that I couldn’t attend this wonderful event tonight.
I was lucky enough to watch Divya develop this into a true celebration of artistry and connection.
I was excited to be a part of it and screen out two short films for you. And then I got called away on a job.
As Divya reminded me, such is the life of a freelancer.
But I am so happy that I was able to participate in this exchange and share a part of myself with those of you here tonight.
Divya’s work inspires me because it celebrates the everyday and finds joy and meaning in the things we might otherwise miss.
I hope that her work and our videos help you find and maintain this new perspective, that you can find beauty in boots, in flowers, in the power of pens and paper, in the things around you everyday.
And if she ever invites you to tea, I hope you remember to bring milk… Just in case Masa forgot!Thank you so much, have a great evening.
Kyle
Presents
Now, I extend an invitation to you!
My writing has been described as a creative, almost arabic looking scrawl – so I’ll tell you here what it says on your card:
“An invitation for you at this festive time of year!”
However you celebrate this time of year.
May it be filled with wonder.
For those who are courageous! You can share your findings with me via email.
Share with me what happens.
When pencil
Meets paper.
Its worth so much more than its separate parts.
Best wishes and thanks to all of you for this year and for the year ahead.
Now without further ado, we are proud to show you the fruits of the year.
Not one, but two, short films about community, about creativity, the beauty of the everyday and the power of our human stories.
DMK x
The film, ‘Drawings for Stories’, is not available for release just yet – watch this space!
Here’s our behind the scenes video: The Book. The Team. The Why behind the Work. Click here or watch below!
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