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SWEET DREAMS BROWN FOX STUDIO MORGAN LINFORTH SHARES H E R C R E AT I V E S E C R E T S

$4.99 ISSUE SIX

Tell me a bit about yourself?

tea and a chat with...

MORGAN LINFORTH Creative Entrepreneur, student, and local artist, Morgan Linforth is a busy bee. She reveals the secrets of her latest creative success.

Words: MORGAN LINFORTH Photographs: SARAH CHAMPION

Morgan Linforth is a local up and coming artist, she has recently joined the Brown Fox Collective and is now organising local events, markets, has her artwork in the Brown Fox Studio, which is a studio space for local artists, and volunteers her time. The Brown fox studio has recently been established for businesses and anyone that creates interesting things to have on display and sell to the public! Her goal in life is to become recognised as a artist and make money off what she loves doing! As well as painting and illustrations, she also enjoys photography, making jewelery and just generally being creative. Morgan is currently studying art extramurally and is throughly enjoying it, she enjoys being in her own space when she is working and finds that she generally gets more done when her studio space is tidy and looking pretty. Some of Morgans favourite inspirations are skulls, nature and music. Her life is very busy and bursting with uniqueness. In this article Morgan talks about her creative life!

I am 22, and I grew up in the hills just out of Palmerston North. I live in a cute little cottage-like flat with my partner but sadly no pets. My mum is Irish and my dad is from Zimbabwe so I grew up with and interesting set of accents as a child. I have two younger siblings one of whom is studying design and one who is studying IT. (I’m really not quite sure what to say, it’s always so hard writing about yourself!)

How did you get invol ved with the Brown Fox Studios?

It was actually through my part time job at Urban Charm. Karilyn who owns the shop is one of the founding members of The Brown Fox Collective and when I started working for her she asked if I would be interested in doing the illustrations for the night market posters. From there I became a member of the collective which is entirely run by volunteers and moved into the studio space behind the shop. I decided to put some work in the shop because it provides an easily accessible start point for making and selling art.

Describe your style in a few words.

Confused? At this point I am still trying to work out where I want to be in terms of style. It changes a lot because I see something new and want to try it or I want to push mediums in different ways. I think my style changes mostly depending on what I am working on, my illustration work is very different

INTRODUCING tea & a chat

Nature is what I “draw inspiration from more often than not because it is easy to access.

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from the abstract paintings I am currently experimenting with for example.

Have you always wanted to be an artist?

When I was a child I wanted to be a farmer, and also a horse. But to be honest art has been something I have consistently returned to. When I was in 7th form I took three art subjects (which they generally tell you not to do) because I was convinced I wanted to do art. However, I found the NCEA system for teaching and marking art frustrating and I started to hate it. I got

cold feet so to speak and decided to give it up and study science (which I still love) so I could get a job. I didn’t pick up a pencil for about 6 months until I realised that I needed to be creative and by that point I was halfway through semester one of an agricultural science degree. It took me a year and a half to drop out, (leaving with a certificate in science and technology) and sort myself out so I could pursue a more creative career path.

Who are your creative heroes/ Who/ what inspires you?

I spent some time in Europe at the end of 2012 and it was one of the most eye opening and inspiring experiences I have had artistically. I spent most of my time in art galleries and museums and being around so much brilliant art was amazing.

So traveling and seeing new places and cultures is a huge inspiration for me, as is history and mythology.

Nature is what I draw inspiration from more often than not because

INTRODUCING tea & a chat

nicer than having a different tutor for each subject or paper who has 100 students to look after, it is much more personal.

Name your top three creative blogs.

it is easy to access in my daily life and always fascinating, it’s probably my biggest inspiration. People who inspire me are those around me, friends, family, creative people I meet and other artists whose work I look at online. Also myself to an extent, it is a more recent thing but I am trying to work on more self reflective art at the moment. I tend to be quite reserved when it comes to letting people know things about me so its quite a challenge to make personal work.

What are you currently studying?

I am currently studying a diploma of art and creativity through The Learning Connexion which is based in Lower Hutt. It’s a private tertiary institute that allows me to study extramurally with the option to be on site for weekend, block week and evening classes in everything from life drawing to knife making and pottery. It is a fantastic course that is entirely practical, I had to write my own briefs and I am responsible for my projects and their direction.

I work closely with one mentor who provides me with feedback and suggestions every month which is much

1. bluecohosh.tumblr.com is a fantastic illustrator and clothes designer from Sweden. She uses all recycled material and hand dyes everything, and her life is also just filled with lots of pretty places so I like her blog heaps. 2. Not particularly ‘creative' as such but scientificillustration.tumblr.com (I spend a lot of time on tumblr) is awesome for pictures and references when it comes to plants, animals and old techniques. 3. I’m really not sure what to say for a third, I follow a lot of people who are interested in 'vulture culture’ which is basically collecting and using bones and home taxidermy/preservation. Some people make great jewellery from bones which is something I would like to do and if I am walking somewhere and find bones I always pick them up. So I enjoy blogs like that because they are always fulll of ideas.

Tell us about your workspace- how do you ensure it continues to fuel your creativity?

Haha, to be honest I don’t really have much of a process to keep it running, it gets too messy for me to work in and then one day I decide I have to clean absolutely everything before I can possibly use the space again. Those days usually involve a lot of coffee and

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My work space is “small and split between my little studio at The Brown Fox and home.

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swearing but they are productive in their own way because I get lot’s of time to think. My work space is small and split between my little studio at The Brown Fox and home, generally in my bed. I have lots of plants and things that are interesting to look out decorating the studio and my flat so if I am stuck for inspiration I can just look around and hopefully find something in the room.

Describe a typical working day. How does your creative process work? Do you keep sketch books or use any online

resources? Where do you like searching for creative inspiration?

My typical working day is sort of a mess, I am not very good at doing one thing all day so I tend to split the day into sections and give myself time to have a break after every few hours. At the moment I am working a lot so my creative time has generally been at night, that usually involves drinking tea and working on projects from the comfort of my bed. My creative process is never particularly thought out, I tend to have an idea, and then

go for it and keep pushing it until I feel like it is finished. I don’t tend to sketch out things before trying them but I do write a lot of lists and all my ideas down. So my sketch books tend to just be books of writing for the most part with the occasional picture. I suppose I use online resources in terms of flicking through blogs or researching techniques and other artists quite often. Normally this becomes a bit of a lunch break for me during creative sessions.

Nature is my biggest source of creative inspiration so when I feel

INTRODUCING tea & a chat

INTRODUCING tea & a chat

like I am lacking inspiration I always go for a walk or a drive. I grew up in the country on the edge of a pine forest where I spent all day running around the trees making huts, collecting bones and feathers and looking at plants and mushrooms.

Living in town makes it a bit harder to immerse yourself in nature but the esplanade is lovely for a quick walk or I will drive out to a beach or forest park if I want to spend half a day looking at things. I think my childhood was a huge influence on what I find inspirational, I had so much first hand experience with the cycles of nature and how I, even as a young person could interact with them.

What projects are you currently working on? Finally, whats the best peice of creative advice you have been given?

I am currently working on a 3D Jewellery making project, some commissions for a few people and then my personal drawing projects. I am just about to jump into the painting part of my course and create a body of work that is quite abstract which will be a bit different to what I have been doing recently. The best creative advice I have been given is probably don’t compare yourself to other people in a negative way, it is okay to aim to be 'as good as’ whoever but judging yourself harshly because you are not at that level yet never helps. http: //morganlinforth.tumblr.com/about