BRILLUSTRATORS' PROJECT: "WE FEEL FINE" (STRONG LANGUAGE WARNING!)

The latest Brillustrator project required us to visit "We Feel Fine", a website containing phrases and sentences relating to emotions that have been harvested from blogs the world over. Our task was to choose a piece that fired our imagination and to illustrate it one or more images.
As is probably apparent to anyone looking at these pictures, I've had personal experience of depression and as I trawled the website I kept noticing related statements and so it just seemed the obvious or even necessary route to take. I found it quite emotionally difficult to do this, but ultimately it has been something of a release; enabling me to express, understand and perhaps exorcise feelings that have been festering for a long time.
The aim for me was to show just how debilitating my depression was and how viciously unpleasant and unforgiving my "inner bully" could be, hence the strong language!
I'm feeling a lot better now, by the way, I might even go so far as to say that I feel fine!
Antidepressants, Brillustrators and Dr McG be praised...

RHYS HAS THIS TO SAY:

Firstly, a chance piece of eaves-dropping late last year led me to expose myself (in a non-arrestable fashion) to a slender young lady called Katie Green (yes, THE Katie Green!) as she stood behind the counter in CREATIVITY, the pre-eminent craft shop here in Bristol. She too is a crafty illustrator who had started a group of like-minded individuals going by the name of "BRILLUSTRATORS" and I'm pleased to say that I've been welcomed into the fold. It's been such a long time since I had regular contact with other creative creatures that I'd forgotten how interesting and inspirational it can be and with the added benefit of a comforting sense of being with "my kind of people"... it's really cool.
Secondly, next to Katie stood Sophie Swindells, internationally renouned cyclist, dancer, illustrator (we're everywhere!) and craft guru who just happens to be the daughter of Pip, the owner of the CREATIVITY empire! Through getting to know these lovely people I've realised that my passion for getting my fingers mucky could actually lead to a crafty source of income and in fact I've just been commissioned by Pip to produce a spring window display for Creativity!!
So, who knows where all this might lead, eh?
Keep your eyes peeled for www.craftybugger.co.uk

Here's something that I couldn't shake from my head, so I put it on paper... and then into my mac...

ELMCROFT ON RHYS

Whilst I was very impressed by his illustration prowess and sense of humour and ignoring his cavalier approach to home security and personal hygiene, I have to say that it was when I observed him flying like a daddy-long-legs that I knew I'd found a kindred spirit in Rhys.

Upon examining my feet, a bed-ridden gypsy had once suggested that such an encounter would come to pass. I dismissed it at the time as fanciful gibberish and demanded my money back to which she/he responded by cursing my chin. To this day I am only able to grow stubble on one side, but this, of course, is how we learn our lessons in life, is it not?

Be it serendipity, fate or just pure chance it seems to me that our meeting was meant to be and although he rarely offers me the last piece of chocolate I have few complaints.

RHYS ON ELMCROFT

When Elmcroft first approached me to illustrate his books I was at once flattered, excited and terrified. Flattered because I find his writing to be almost simultaneously wonderful, profound, insightful, moving, imaginative and nauseating, excited because I could see the potential for my career to blossom with such a collaboration and terrified because I happened to be in the bath at the time and under the impression that I'd locked all appropriate doors and windows.

Working with him has become something of a nightmarish/joyful habit and at times I find it quite hard to remember life without him whilst at others I'd be more than happy to return to to those halcyon, cuckoo clock days.

I feel as though I've known him all my life, and perhaps I have, but whilst we have our ups and downs, overall I'm glad he disturbed my ablutions all those years ago.