CreativeCatFX: Catching a Drift, part 2

2014 started with promise, crumbled in the middle, rose again, then sank again rather steeply but shot right back up amid tears of Joy and Sadness.

It was a challenging 12 months of setbacks, achievements, cultural highlights, influences and revealing truths. My passions have directed me along this creative journey. I want to thank everybody who were part of it for helping me understand how this insanely tiny world works.

January-March

Sherlock bounced back into our lives with Series 3. Illustrations and Oscar memes were hugely popular with Speedy's Cafe and fans.
(pictured) Beren's Cat tries and fails to catch the mice.
Tour of BBC Broadcasting House
Animated Women UK MPC Showcase, Moving Picture Company
The Image Is the Servant, Hansom Hall
Designed the logo for Animated Women UK
3D Creative Summit, BFi
Attended my first Animgather networking event: introduced to Bournemouth students, VFX pros, and other creative cats who are campaigning to save the Doodle Bar from redevelopment.

April-June

Source: Bubble_Fun_Tea

Fargo made our Sunday evenings a little more sinister. Eventually we would binge-watch the first series of Happy Valley.
Submitted a project proposal to LCB Depot - rejected, but...
A collaboration with Mini Productions on the Acting on a Dream campaign begins.
(pictured) Gok Wan, Miss GB and Leicester's Strongest Man appeared during the launch of the Fun Tea brand in Highcross.
Godzilla, despite a triumphant return, started to haunt my dreams.
The period when things kind of went…eh.
Friends and family, Smod Co podcasts, Glen Keane's short film Duet, Days of Future Past and the Moving Together Dance show made me feel hopeful and less lonely. Also, this song(s):

July-September

Watercolours and cooking slowly brought me out of my slump. Confidence grows but business is still very slow.
Started designing illustrations for a Jurassic World fan project.
Everybody's Music attracted more views via Toon Boom Showcase.
The folks at somewhereto_ helped me run workshops and a market stall; neither attracted enough attention but they gave me bags of popcorn and a lead or two.
Completely starstruck by Jenna Coleman and Richard Madden on the way to Animgather Summer Edition, Regent's Park.
The popcorn was warmly received with fellow animators. I recommended a young man to seek Prince's Trust and somewhereto_.

Danced like Star-Lord around Cardiff after attending the Doctor Who World Tour/Series 8 launch (pictured) where I met lots of lovely fans including Lizzie George, Michael Crumpton and Peter Capaldi.
Fresh from Guardians of the Galaxy and Deep Breath, this video blew my mind:

Attended Frank Gladstone's Visual Storytelling Masterclass at the University of Wales, before logging into Nik Ranieri's master lecture over at Virtual Animators.
In September the bright spots of a frustrating holiday included a filmmaking lecture by Don Hahn, closely followed by Listen, Pride, Aunt Susan, and return to Caswell Bay.

"Keep Drawing"

(pictured) Making of Duet, Curzon Soho: Glen Keane has seen 40 seconds of Everybody's Music.
Revisiting Keane's classic movies helped improve my animation drawing skills.
MADE Festival Conference in Sheffield; highlights include Michelle Mone, Levi Roots and bumping into the Seed Creativity guys.

October-December

Stephen Fry replied to a tweet about making a fool of yourself in front of your heroes: …"I overslept [and] missed tea with Al Pacino. I mean you just don't stand up Don Corleone or Scarface…"
I painted another watercolour of a scene from Kill the Moon.
(pictured) Brand Licensing Europe at the Olympia, where I felt out of my depth, but I saw some exclusive footage and networked.

(pictured) Opening Gala of LFF: besides some decent photos, the evening was a shambles. Came home later than planned. Wrecked by the ordeal and the death of our beloved Austin.
My sister Emily, who was also going through hard times, encouraged me to draw The Midnight Beast fan art for her.
Doctor Who + Virtual Animators (with drawing demos by Andreas Deja)
UK Young Artists Festival, highlights: the Hermes Experiment, Jo Kelen, Gurdain Singh Rayatt, and Annlin Chao's Phantom on the Cliff.
Interstellar rocks the Showcase in XPLUS, thanks to Christopher Nolan's championing of large screen formats.
Doctor Who DVD Launch, Ham Yard Hotel
Installations: Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, Paddington Trail
The Imitation Game brought me to tears
Leicester for Business Awards, Y Theatre
Tour Jurassic World and trailer were both revealed
(pictured) Aberavon sunset + chips + Paddington
The Greatest Adventure came to an end with The Battle of Five Armies. I do love spending time in that world, whatever Age.
AWUK networking (missed out last time when I got lost in Bloomsbury)
Best Christmas Day Ever

Resolutions

Tidy room
Lose weight
Sketch every morning
Purchase Oyster and Young Person's coach card
Get a business account
Spend wisely
Save up for Sherlocked Convention
Read more books
Sharpen pitch, selling and marketing abilities
Improve communication skills
Launch an art auction; donate the profits to the Glasgow School of Art Development Trust
Make that film