Guy Browning

When I initially began to research into Browning, I was taken in by his humourous book titles including

• How to be normal: a guide for the perplexed
• How to push when it says pull
• Never hit a jellyfish with a spade.

I originally thought these books might be children's tales as I've found its not too often that adult books can appear witty and silly from the outside BUT never judge a book by its cover!! 

WHO IS GUY BROWNING?!

After research I discovered that Guy Browning is a humorist, after dinner speaker and film director.

• He wrote a "how to" column in the Guardian Newspaper from 1999 - 2009
• He was a part of a comedy duo
• He went into advertising and made the slogan "delicious meaty chunks in a nutritious gravy"

WRITING

• Browning has been said to combine his serious career as a business writer and his comedic work in order to create his quirky tales.
• "His humour is gentle and incisive and he steers clear of political comedy and cruelty" 

"Never work for a company that says people are its most important asset. If you wanted to get a mortgage and you said that your only asset was people you would end up living in a tent."

I liked this aspect of Guy Browning when I initially began research on him, I like that he seems to be inquisitive, really researching the everyday happening of ordinary people and things around us and translating them into a humorous quips.

I watched this talk he gave at TED about his life as a director in a small village where the film was set, he came across many difficulties and things that should have gone wrong but he managed to overcome them through having

OUTRAGEOUS OPTIMISM! 

I felt really inspired following the video!

• Positive thinking can change the world!
• Don't give up on things you want!
• Don't rely on other people, if you want something, go out and get it!
• ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!
• have OUTRAGEOUS OPTIMISM!
• Nothing is too crazy if it's your DREAM!

Although I found some of the feeling I had cliche, and felt the overwhelming sense that the feeling of encouragement might fade, I really enjoyed the way Browning phrased the speech.

"PEOPLE IN POWER ARE AS SUPRISED AS YOU ARE THAT THEY'RE IN POWER."

"THERES A FINE LINE BETWEEN OUTRAGEOUS OPTIMIST AND CRAZED FANTASIST"

"THE ABSOLUTE POWER OF ASKING PEOPLE FOR WHAT YOU WANT!"

WHAT COULD I EXPLORE?

• Browning's WIT and humorous charm! I could look at how these translate into illustrations, looking at exaggerating everyday happenings in the work and stories he writes about.
• Looking more closely and inquisitively at everyday life, I find I overlook a lot of this sometimes and it would be interesting to force myself into observing this as part of my work.
• He doesn't have many images or artwork associated with his work so I wouldn't have a pre conceived idea of creating images.

STRUGGLES I COULD FACE?

• I feel like I couldn't find much about GUY BROWNING as a PERSON rather just his thoughts and ideas, this could be a struggle when trying to create specific work but I'd have to do a lot of research into his though process' in order to get a greater understanding of him as a person.
• Although it can be seen as a positive, I find that not having any images or artwork at all associated with his work and writing, might be difficult to create pieces purely from imagination. I haven't yet read the books but unless they're description offering a lot for my imagination I can imagine this might be a bit of a struggle.

Leonora Carrington

I was drawn to Leonora Carrington after reading about her book 'The hearing trumpet', I liked the idea of the book being

• Surreal
• QUIRKY!
• Inquisitive

I began to research into her work and life in order to get a better understanding of Carrington as an author.

• English born, mexican artist, surrealist painter and novelist.
• Founding member of the womans liberation movement 1930's.

EARLY LIFE

• Expelled from two schools due to rebellious behaviour 
• Sent to Florence and attended 'Mrs Penrose's Academy of Art'
• Met German Surrealist artist Max Ernest.
• WWII - Ernest arrested in France for being 'Hostile Alien'
• Carrington fled to Spain, where she had severe anxiety and mental breakdowns/delusional.
• Treated in Spain in the care of a nurse who took her to Lisbon where she sought refuge in the Mexican embassy.

MEXICO

• 1963 created a mural named 'El munro magico de los mayas' and was influenced by folk stories from the region 
• Designed poster for Womens Liberation Movement in Mexico which was personally focused on psychic freedom.

"I PAINTED FOR MYSELF, I NEVER BELIEVED ANYONE WOULD EXHBIT OR BUY MY WORKS."

"I DIDNT HAVE TIME TO BE ANYONES MUSE...I WAS TOO BUSY REBELLING AGAINST MY FAMILY AND LEARNING TO BE AN ARTIST."

MAIN THEMES IN CARRINGTON'S WORK

• The inner psyche and the unconscious mind.
• Cultures and traditions - Mexican/American folk art both play a large role.
• Women and a suggestion of femininity is a theme that is often seen in her works.

WHAT COULD I EXPLORE? 

• I'm intrigued by her surrealist work, it would be interesting to explore her themes and her thought process' in greater detail, looking at how she discovers the unconscious mind.
• I've looked at forms of folk art in the past and really enjoyed the stories and whimsical artwork alongside it.
• Although a slightly darker topic, it would be interesting to explore Carrington's mental breakdown and look into her emotions and feelings behind this after the arrest of her husband at the time.  

 WHAT WOULD I STRUGGLE WITH?

• If I were to choose Carrington as my author of choice I feel that I would struggle with the idea of surrealism. I think the idea of creating work from purely warped reality is a struggle in my mind, it would take a lot for me to overcome this barrier and that would worry my in terms of a time scale and the work that I would be able to produce.
• As she has a lot of artwork herself, alongside being a novelist, I would feel somewhat worried that I would end up creating work in a similar process and method to her own pieces, I really want to step away from this but it would be a struggle already having a visual to go by.

POSSIBLE BOOKS TO EXPLORE

• The Hearing Trumpet 1976
• The House of Fear 1988
• The Strong Door 1977
• The Seventh Horse and Other Tales 1988
• The Oval Lady and Other Stories 1975

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

My initial reaction upon receiving the first brief of second year (!!) was slight worry, I've found that since school I've almost put off reading and have found myself either drawing or watching films as other ways of immersing myself in other worlds.

HOWEVER, I understand after reading the brief over and over that illustration and books/reading really are intrinsically linked, the act of storytelling and understanding of a character, location and objects is a KEY in both reading and illustration in order to create an effective piece of work.

In some ways my break from reading books since GCSE has got me even more excited to start this project..!

I started by looking at EVERY author on the list to get a brief idea of the themes that run through their works.
I managed to whittle the list down to 10 authors based on their books that interested me:

• Oliver Sacks - the man who wore a hat
• Angela Carter - The bloody chamber
• Guy Browning - how to be normal
• Franz Kafta - metamorphosis
• william shakespeare - a midsummers nights dream
• Cormac Mccarthy - the road
• Lin Yutang - the importance of living
• Carl Sagan - contact 
• Leonnora Carrington - the hearing trumpet
• Neil Gaiman - never where, the graveyard book

FOLLOWING this I chose THREE final authors to look at in more detail, exploring their lives and other stories and themes that theyve explored in their works.

1. Guy Browning
2. Leonora Carrington 
3. Angela Carter