Creative me

Those who know me, know that I’ve always been a creative being, for those that don’t: here’s a little background.

I grew up being a very girly-girl, playing tea parties, playing with Barbie dolls, being obsessed with all thinks pink and cute. I used to love singing and dancing and putting on ‘shows’ for my family, and when I was about 6 my Dad even built a stage for me in the playroom. It was a wooden stage in the corner of the room, where a microphone and plastic microphone stand sat on top.I used to sing and dance and impress friends when they came to visit, and I was so proud of my special stage.

We used to holiday in Weymouth and Tenby when I was younger, and I loved joining in the fun at the kid’s holiday clubs. I fondly remember one holiday we went to a Haven holiday park, and this was back when they had Rory’s Tiger Club (does that still exist?). It was a cheesy kids club… They were holding a talent show, one night and obviously, I wanted to take part. A band were employed to learn the music and play live with the performer – and of course, I entered. I was around 5 or 6 at the time and I chose to sing a song by one of my favourite girl bands, B*Witched. I was very very nervous, and I remember being a bit off time – but singing on my own, so young, with a live band … in front of a rather large holiday park audience, was amazing. I’ll never forget it.

At the age of 6, I started ballroom dancing lessons. The local dance studio was located a few streets away from my house, so me and my best friend at the time joined the company. I learnt so much from the teachers Frank and Christine as Edwards Dance Studios, a lot of which I still remember today and can be seen make an appearance after a  few too many glasses of wine. We attended galas and I still have all of my rosettes and trophies from these special days. I loved to glitz and glam of the costumes, make-up and shoes and it was something I was proud to be a part of. I had silver ballroom dance shoes, which had the slightest 1-inch heel and I was desperate to get ‘big shoes’ like the big girls who attended the class after ours had finished.

As time went on, I decided that ballroom dance may not be for me anymore, and I joined a  modern pop dance troup called Popstars Dance School at the age of 9 r 10. I had an amazing experience here, and clearly remember the first class that I attended was the very first class at Fairwater leisure centre. There were only about 4 of us, and as the class progressed over the years it grew and grew and is now a really successful dance group who have appeared on the likes of Britain’s Got Talent.

I loved going to Popstars every Thursday, we used to learn the dance routines from pop videos, such as S Club 7, JLo, Christina Aguilera, Spice Girls and many, may more. These dances are definitely prone to come out more frequently, and I distinctly remember teaching a group of friends the Don’t Stop Moving dance routine (by S Club 7), in Popworld in my uni days at Swansea. So many of these dances were true to the pop videos, and I would go home and practice the moves all the time. The dance teacher Jill used to take along her two daughters Helen and Sophie, and I became really good friends with Sophie as we were the same age. I ended up standing at the front next to the girls and Jill so that other members of the class could watch us and copy. This grew my confidence and dancing ability so much and I really loved being singled out as a ‘special one’. As the class numbers grew over the years, somehow I lost interest in dance and I stopped attending the classes in my early teens. I definitely regret that now, but who knows, maybe I’ll take up some form of dance again in the future.

I have always been creatively influenced and when I got to High School, I decided to take Art and Design or double Art as it was known, for one of my ‘options’ for GCSE. Double art was 2 GCSE qualification, not the typical 1 GCSE that Art was. The course was very intense, and obviously meant that we’d be spending twice as much time in the art rooms, with twice as much dedication to the subject, and definitely twice as much work as regular art students. My favourite ‘arty’ thing to do is paint. I feel like I can draw most things, but I feel more confident that I can paint anything. Every year, the classes were small and the teachers capped te amount of students. I think there were around 20 or less of us in the GCSE class and around 10 in the A Level class. As challenging as most of us found the pressure of the subject, my skill and confidence in my ability grew over those four years. Originally I was taking 4 AS Levels, English Language, (double art)  and Philosophy, but a few weeks into the first term of AS study, I dropped English due to the overwhelming demand that came with double art, so completed 3 AS and A Levels. I’m still glad that I dedicated so much time to art though because I enjoyed it immensely, and developed a skill I know a lot of people don’t have. Although saying that, I really don’t think anyone will understand the hardship that came with such dedication other than the other students who completed the course for both GCSE and A Level like I did.

This brings me onto the root of this blog post. Evidently, I’ve always been involved and intrigued by any relation to the arts. I think that’s why I’m so invested in hair and make-up these days. Blending eyeshadow is like a mini work of daily art, to intensify and work on and I see the fun in that. I love baking and presenting a finished product to wow, and anything that involves design or creativity, even when it comes to handwriting – I’m there! Presentation is key to most things, and I think that’s something I’m rather good at, so I marvel at the chance to get my hands on anything creative.

Over the past few years, I’ve been keen to look into getting a tattoo. But It’s not until the past few month’s that I’ve been proactively considering it. I’ve tried designing my own on a few occasions, but ultimately I’d become too critical of a design of my own on my body. – Contrasting that, I’ve combined a few elements which I’m happy with that I’d now like to present to a tattoo artist and get their feedback.

My idea for my first tattoo is a Lotus flower. I’ve done a lot of research, scrolled Pinterest boards and hunted Instagram over and over searching for inspiration. I adore the meaning behind the symbol of a lotus flower.  I found this quote from Goldie Horn on Pinterest, and it really supports some of my reasonings for wanting one:

It’s a metaphor for growing through hard times and climbing to reach the top, and I really like that meaning for many reasons. I don’t have any tattoos at the moment, and I’m not going to say I’m too scared to get one – but I am a little nervous. I’m pretty tolerant when it comes to pain, but I’ve heard the pain on a tattoo your foot is supposed to be BAD. And that’s where I want it (insert monkey covering his eyes emoji here). If I’m honest I don’t want something huge, incredibly detailed or intricate, I just want a few fairly simple black lines.

Stay tuned to see if I actually get it done!