Tim Burton, my new hero.

I was having a hard time coming up with something to write about this week. As you can see I'm finally posting a blog on, what is supposed to be, wordless wednesday. But its my blog so I can do whatever I want. ; )

There's been a lot of good stuff going on these past couple weeks! Spending time with family and friends, snowboarding, going into the city, crafting, a lunar eclipse, and I could write about any of these things, BUT, I have something better...

"Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else's dreams?" 

" . . . you always have to feel like it`s gonna be the greatest, even if it`s a . . . you know . . . piece of crap."

"I remember, I was at Cal Arts and I wasn`t a good life-drawer; I struggled with that realistic style of drawing. And one day I was sitting in Farmer`s Market sketching, and it was this weird, mind-blowing experience. I said, `Goddamit, I don`t care if I can`t draw, I`m just gonna draw how I feel about it.` All of a sudden I had my own personal breakthrough, and then I could draw, and satisfied myself. I`ve had very few experiences like that, and I`ll never forget it."

-Tim Burton

I was lucky enough to catch the Tim Burton exhibit at TIFF yesterday, and I absolutely LOVED it! It was inspiring, to say the least. I feel like creativity just pours out of this man. Tim Burton creates...but not to meet the expectations of others...he creates what he feels like bringing to life. His inventions are his own, out of his unique inner workings. He follows his vision, and in doing so has stayed far out of any mediocre box that could have tempted him. People have told me that if you are passionate enough about something, others will jump on board with you. And I think that there is hard proof of this in Tim Burton.

It was encouraging to see the work he had done as a high schooler and the drive and originality he possessed even then. He was writing children's books and mailing them to publishers! He was knocking on doors and trying to make things happen. It was very cool to watch his progress from his teens up to the present time. Tim Burton's success didn't happen overnight, but as he continued to learn and transform as a person, his work grew as well.

I often feel like a weirdo, and at times, a misfit, so I can take comfort in experiencing other people who are "different." Like, even in the last quote above, when he says he couldn't really draw realistic people well, so he accepted that, stopped trying so hard to be like everybody else, and just DREW! Come on! I get fired up about people who go against the grain and honestly bring their own personality to the table. His work is dark, and crazy, and that's why I love it! If we're all trying to be one way...to be "normal" then nothing extraordinary is going to happen.

It took time for Tim Burton to find his groove, but he kept at it. Its in the doing that we work out all bugs and make the necessary tweaks and adjustments.

Tim Burton is my new hero. I would love to have a talk over lunch with him, I'll tell ya. He teaches me to stick to my guns and to do things like no one has done them before. And that I'm never going to please everyone...maybe only a few...but that doesn't mean that what I'm doing isn't GREAT!

This is my own creation!

Never Shoot a Constipated Poodle

Good ol' Jack!