Me and my “Fly Girl” (2006) piece which is made up of: antique & magazine fragments, beads, sequins, miniature bottles, metallic glitter, labels, charms, quotes and acrylic paint.
Where does an artist draw inspiration from for their work? I’d say from many sources: life experience; dreams; nightmares; visions; fears; wishes or even their idols… the list goes on. Their skill and imagination takes these things and transforms them into art. Ever since I began creating collages, my favourite sources to draw from are extraordinary people who’ve shaped my life view. Lately, that list has grown to such proportions that I’m just bursting inside to create a series devoted to them. For a long time, I’ve been thinking almost nothing is more important than the relationships we have with people in our lives: real or imagined. I feel as humans getting on with the daily grind of our lives, it’s the compelling stories of other inspiring personalities that can make us feel that perhaps we too have the possibility of becoming more than we really are… more than fate has determined us to be…
When I was working as a secretary many years ago, someone gave me a poster of the famous pilot Amelia Earhart for my office. Drawn to the image, I became smitten by the stories of twentieth century women pilots. Why? Well, because they worked so damn hard against all odds to achieve their dream of flying! In some way, I felt their dream of flying and attaining a sense of freedom through the skies was a lot like me striving to become a visual artist. At that time, women didn’t just flow into the profession as their male counterparts did, instead, in a century teeming with technological wonders, women were expected to take on age-old traditional jobs. Yet, even still after playing their customary role in the service, beauty industries or as housewives, some women longed for more. Pilot Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran (former beautician and nurse) had this to say about becoming an aviator: “I might have been born in a hovel but I am determined to travel with the wind and the stars.” This adventurous outlook on life had a profound effect on my imagination and spirit; I was compelled to translate their stories into a series of mixed media pieces about women aviators – “Fly Girls” as they were called… ones who flew to the stars and further beyond into history books! This is why you see the image of the woman aviator “Fly Girl” on the main page of my website… without her as a source of inspiration, Collage Your World wouldn’t exist. I’m so happy with this particular piece – like a compass, it has set the direction of my art business. I was so proud to have it featured in Somerset Studio magazine some years ago. Today fly girls still haunt my imagination… and their inspiration comes to me just in the nick of time, too…
It isn’t every day some one wakes up and says, “Hey, I want to be wing walker!” That’s what Carol Pilon had to say after witnessing someone walking on the wing of a plane. She decided then and there that this was what she longed to do… feeling this was what she was put on this earth for. The only problem was she knew absolutely nothing about the field or where to get the answers to the many questions she needed to know about it. What she did have all along, however, to help her achieve that impossible dream was her tenacity. When I make my next vision board, I’ll definitely be making that word the central element on my board thanks to Carol! Through years of research and practice, Carol found a way to learn her craft from the best wing walking experts in North America. She has built her own team of pilots and planes (Third Strike Wing Walking) to carry her safely and boldly through the skies. She sees herself not only as a wing walker but as a story teller (*sigh*, such a kindred spirit!). Her life story thus far is filled with triumphs, as she’s considered an innovator in her field, as well as tragedies, such as the death of her pilot husband some years ago. Nevertheless, she’s leading an amazing existence. If you’re intrigued to learn more about Carol Pilon you can read further details about her career on the link below. I don’t have too go to far to find her — I hear she lives in a little town not too far away from me near Wakefield, Quebec. One day I hope to see her perform… and, I’m quite sure one day this wing walker will find her way into one of my collages!
Even though I’m achieving my dream of running an art business, some days are tough. I say to myself: What will I do next? What am I doing here? Who do I think I am? Is what I have to offer any good? Am I good enough at what I do? I look around and feel very depressed some days not finding satisfactory answers to these questions, or realizing the answers will take me some time to find out. But then out of the blue, I’ll read a positive article about someone going through a parallel situation in another field and I pick myself up, dust myself off and start believing in my dream again. All because of a story of an ordinary person doing something extraordinary… and you my dear reader, where do you unearth your sources of inspiration for your work? I’d love to know…
Special thanks to photographers Peter Farris-Manning (on the home page and portfolio) and Carmin Davidson (above) for taking such incredible images of my “Fly Girl” mixed media piece.
Everything I do during a performance is to absolutely move somebody. I want to touch people’s hearts with aviation. I want to inspire them to be a part of my world. Aviation is one of the last bastions where you can truly be free, because you’re expected to be ultimately responsible, and being ultimately responsible is the only thing that leads to ultimate freedom. (Carol Pilon, Wing Walker)
Other Related Links:
Article about Carol Pilon
Smithsonian Website of Famous Women Aviators
EdSitement! Website: Incorporating the History of Women Aviators into Classrooms
Fly Girl Portfolio Page
Note: Just to let you know that I’ll be away the next couple of weeks… back again on November 4, 2012!
Kimberly Farris-Manning, a former collage student of mine, has written a wonderful poem about “Fly Girl”. You can find it at: http://mindofamatryoshka.blogspot.ca/.
She’s such a wonderful young writer and creative spirit. Thanks Kimberly, reading your poem has made my day! I’m so glad you found inspiration too in the stories of the fly girls.