PRECIOUS THINGS: JAY WATSON

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I know I’ve said this about a few people, but Jay Watson is one of the loveliest human beings alive. He’s a giant of a man, tall and broad, and just big, but there’s not an ounce of malice or intimidation in him. Quite the opposite: he’s one of the gentlest, most caring people I’ve ever come across. And while it is often a truism, in this case it’s simply true: there’s not a person you’ll meet who doesn’t adore the man.

A passionate and long-time SF fan, he’s been on more Swancon committees than is healthy, is one of the organisers behind the excellent CrimeScene convention, and is a friend and safe space for anyone who needs it. My first experience of him was sitting at a dinner table, throwing Goon Show lines at each other, and it’s been a long, happy association ever since. Now here he is, in his own words.

 

Precious Things: Jay Watson

Image may contain: 2 people, beard and text

Jay’s on the left.

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FIVE FOR FRIDAY: VISUAL ARTISTS

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Full disclosure: if I could play guitar the way I wish I could, I probably wouldn’t be a writer. If I could act as well as I wish I could, I probably wouldn’t be just a writer. If I could draw, or paint, or create visual art… ah, if I could only do that…..

I’ve always loved the visual arts: deeply, at a level beyond my capacity to articulate. No trip to a new town, a new State, a new country, is complete until I’ve experienced the art gallery, the sculpture park, the local museum. I think in pictures, explain in diagrams, communicate in sketches and arms waved around to delineate space and placement.

Sadly, as anybody who has been following my Thumbnail Thursday posts, or has seen the few cartoons I actually managed to finish and have published over the years, can attest, it turns out I can’t draw for shite.

My sense of visualisation, however, is very strong. When I’m writing– when it’s going well, and the words are flowing at their highest swell– I have a very clear image of what I’m writing about; so strong that, at times, I’m doing little more than transcribing what I see, rather than truly creating from empty cloth.

Still, words are an artificial construct, a mechanical choice between pre-forged components relying on a social contract between author and audience to assign meaning to the thoughts being relayed. (See?) When I experience an image; when I see the combination of light, colour, form and medium and it sparks of an emotional recognition in me; it feels pure, unrestrained.

If I could, I would. Until then, I rely on my own imperfect tools, and my own limited repertoire of creative skills. But here are five artists who do things to me I can only wish I had the talent to replicate.

FIVE FOR FRIDAY: VISUAL ARTISTS

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I CONSIDER MYSELF A FASS… A FASLY… A FACILILY… A TEACHER

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My stint as Writer-in-Residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre approaches like a monster riding a runaway train over a cliff while on fire (Of course I’m ready. Why wouldn’t I be ready? What would make you think that? Ha. Ha ha ha. Oh, you. Am I ready, you ask. Hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaahhhhhccccchhhhhh…..)

From the 10th to the 24th I’ll be ensconced in one of the Centre’s delightful cabins; staring out at the beautiful gardens while I pretend to write; visiting writing groups to spread love, bonhomie and my usual blend of fatuous advice; mentoring aspiring authors who haven’t yet worked out what a complete fraud I am; and generally living the life of a swanny writah dahling while I work on my next round of rejection fodder.

I’ll also be helming a workshop:

World Building 101 will be an intense, 3 hour session in what I do best– bringing the odd into the mundane; tipping normality so that it doesn’t look quite right, whatever angle you view it from; and generally injecting a note of weirdness into your work. We’ll be discussing, and practicing, the elements of fantasy world-building, and smashing through a series of exercises designed to give participants the beginnings of a whole bunch of different fantastical stories. You can see my full itinerary here, including the literary dinner on the 11th July, for which tickets are still available.

The workshop takes place from 1-4pm, Saturday 22 July, at the KSP in Greenmount. Bookings are open now through Eventbrite.

PRECIOUS THINGS: COLIN SHARPE

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Colin Sharpe is one of those irritatingly handsome men who you can’t hate because he’s also extremely likable and manages to keep the terrifying things he does to kittens a secret. He’s a father, a cyclist, a rock-climber, hockey player, an Inventory Controller and an artist, but not always in that order. He has been involved in many aspects of Perth fandom, in many different roles, and was proudly one of the editors of the superb manga anthology Xuan Xuan.

Here he discusses his passion for comic books, and reveals his Precious Thing as an issue that those of us who were there at the time will recall with the kind of horrified fascination that we had the first time Johnny Depp sucked, or Al Pacino did that weird shouty thing he does, or the first time we saw Rob Liefeld’s work, or heard a Mariah Carey song, or realised Steven Segal was serious……

Precious Things: Colin Sharpe

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FIVE FOR FRIDAY: FAVOURITE AUTHORS

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Back when I was growing up, it’s fair to say that the explosion of artistic experimentation represented by the post-war literary boom, the New Wave, the Sixties, sexual liberation, good music, haircuts longer than a piece of peach fuzz, and colour television hadn’t really reached my hometown of Boganville. When I first started to entertain the idea of becoming a writer, benchmarking options were fairly thin on the ground: what i looked on as some sort of aspirational holy trinity consisted of everybody’s starter for 10: Asimov, Bradbury and Heinlein.

It’s far to say, I don’t exaggerate when I say going to University was the saving of my soul.

Over the years, I’ve stumbled across countless authors who have filled in gaps in my education, my understanding of the Universe, and paved the way for me to become an infinitely better human being than I was the day I first walked across campus (First, yes, I pretty much do separate my life into before and after day one of Uni, and second, if you think I’m an arsehole now, that’s probably fair, you should have known me then).

So, for today, here’s a list of five authors whose works I remain in love with, who continue to inspire me, and for whom I am, unashamedly, a fanboy.

FIVE for FRIDAY: AUTHORS

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