Hello! My name is Kim Smith! Here is some basic background info and fun facts. [:
I'm twenty years old and I live in London, England. I moved from America was I was 15 and it was one of the best decisions of my life. It was like coming home. When we moved, we settled down in Bristol and lived there for 4 years. I did my A-levels there (Photography, Graphics and Animation) and rode a vespa named Louie.
Now, I live in London, with my sweetheart of a cat (name of Negative- like black and white film. Negs for short.) and we tend to spend our evenings knitting and listening to records and drinking milkshakes. I'm also a university student, although I act like I am about 60!
The college that I go to is called Camberwell and it's part of a group of really amazing schools that make up The University of the Arts, London (UAL for short). I was pretty sure that I'd be doing photography, but I'm a sucker for punishment and chose a BA in Illustration instead. I love the challenge and the people that I've met are so talented and keep me motivated!
I've always been a bit nerdy and I enjoy a good days work (as long as it's FUN work!). Lets see... I tend to watch a lot of films and eat a lot of chips (for you americans, fries) and use a lot of masking tape. I really like vintage clothes and I wear a lot of men's shirts. My favourite band of all time is The Who, but I do listen to a lot of other stuff. Favourites being Folk of all kinds, 60's Brit Pop, classic rock, hippie lovely stuff, and a bit of Indie thrown in for good measure.
I like to change my hair colour a lot. I've been black, ginger, turquoise and brown in the past few years. Also, just grown it out and loving the change. [:
My dream, since I was old enough to figure out that if I made stuff and took a cardboard box to the end of the road and put a sign on the front of it, I could sell things- has always been to open a shop of my own. I love all things homemade, handmade, bespoke, folk... anything made by people interests me. My Mum is a kind and loving quilter and my grandparents are incredibly creatively inspiring- I think it was written in the stars that I was meant to make things. That and my Dad's amazing, positive, supporting attitude has made it possible for me to continue with my dreams even though I deal with a Chronic Illness...
I've been dealing with CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) or M.E. since the summer of 2008. It's something which impacts all of the corners of my life but in a nutshell makes me incredibly tired and old-lady like.
We all have things in our life which hold us back in one way or another and although sometimes it feels like the end of the world...
...I've learnt that it's not impossible to hold on and keep going. I believe in honesty and truth and I'm not going to hide parts of myself on this blog. I did a project in 2010 in which I opened up and tried to express this illness (which hides itself from other people's view so well) and the response I got back from you was incredible and heartwarming. If I can help a couple of people by being a bit vulnerable then it's worth it. We're all strong on the inside- sometimes it just takes a while to figure that out. I'm still learning and expressing the 'journey' of it through drawings and photographs and words. (Some people call this 'art journalling')
Making things makes me happy and at the root of this blog that's what it's all about. And that's the meaning behind the title, Art Equals Happy.
Generally I post about things that I'm doing, projects that I'm working on, fun things that I do with friends, photographs that I've taken, drawings I've made, knitting that I've done... it's a nice little mash up and a fun way for me to keep track of my productivity.
Just to make you smile, I also really like Harry Potter (well, magic of anykind really), Star Trek (any retro sci-fi), eating in Diners, dressing up like a mod, autumn time, being a hostess, Dr. Pepper, England, clean sheets, watercolours, being organised and laughing really hard.
Oh, and I love a good beard.
It's nice to meet you and I hope you enjoy. If you'd like to support me, you can leave me a sweet comment, send me an e-mail (in sidebar) or check out my shop. Your kind words really do mean a lot to me! Thank you! [: Kxo
