R/T 023 - The Art of Not Giving a Cluck
This issue of Radical Things is about: Creativity thriving in what you love.
Chickens have no clucks to give
I never thought looking after chickens would be so traumatic.
Two years ago my wife decided to take the plunge and get some chickens. It had been a long, painstakingly researched decision. She joined a Facebook group called ‘Chicken Chat’. Here she poured over posts and comments planning the most perfect chicken environment possible. I’d also gifted her two chicken books for Christmas.
One day she found someone on Chicken Chat giving away their chickens. A young couple moving in together - their new home lacking space for chickens. In preparation for their arrival we had set up our ‘Egloo”. A modern, but pricey chicken home. Two years later I can say this was a sound investment.
One warm Sunday afternoon we took charge of four chickens. Mel and Sue (named after the UK comedians) Feathers and Ghost. All seemed well until we tried to put them to bed.
Now my wife is no chicken novice. She grew up raising chickens, so I’m unsure why we tried to herd them into their new house like cattle. Spooked - two decided to jump the custom fence leaving two human adults panicking.
Rather than pursuing them we cut our losses and regrouped inside. Our back yard is quite wild and we were anxious they’d escape onto the road, So we were stoked when one returned later the same evening.
But Mel had vanished.
Trauma ensued as the renegade chicken hid out in the woods. It fell on me to be the search party, flyering the neighbourhood and performing daily garden patrols. On day two we ordered a chicken trap. I found myself tracking chicken poop in the woods like a suburban John Rambo.
As you might guess, Mel eventually returned, popping up inside the fence line four-days later. Strutting mid-flock like nothing had happened. No clucks to give.
Since this episode of chicken run, the brood became a permanent fixture in our lives. Ghost passed away from natural causes. In her place acquired two more - Splash and Fire.
My wife loves our chickens almost as much as our dog. It’s a running joke how I fall below them in the family pecking order. Recently, due to a close family bereavement my wife had to travel back and forth to the UK. In her absence I’ve been solo parenting human children and chickens.
At first this was a chore - an extra layer of complexity in the daily routine. Up early to let them out of their coop. Feeding and putting them away in an evening. Yet over time I began to appreciate my time with the chickens. It’s funny how you strike up a bond with animals. I’m convinced that caring for something other than yourself is a blessing for your mental health.
But what does any of this have to do with creativity?
Get clucking creative
My wife is a talented artist. Every year she works towards her main focus - the NZ Art Show. The show happens over King's Birthday weekend. A national holiday in New Zealand. It’s an event that involves all the household and starts in earnest around March. For my wife it takes up the whole year.
Nicola has a talent for creating joyful combinations of marks and colour. She honed this through a successful career as a printed textile designer. She’s sold work to major brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs and Disney. At one point she had a range of signature greetings cards and stationery on two different brands.
Last year one of the art show's main sponsors bought one of her abstract canvases. Luna Estate regularly buys art to turn into wine labels. Nicola’s work will become the label for their 2024 vintage Rosé. It’s an exciting prospect to see it launched towards the end of the year.
This year, in preparing for the art show, she came to me with an idea for new art. One afternoon I popped down to the studio for a visit. “I want to do something with the Chickens,” she told me.
Nicola often runs things by me to see what I think. It was a statement that could easily prompt a commercial conversation:
“Do you think it will sell?”
“Will it spoil your brand?”
“What will your regular customers think?”
But my reaction was a visceral one.
“You need to do whatever you love doing.”
The reality is that creativity blossoms when doing what you love. A subject with which you connect creates the intrinsic motivation to do great work. It provides the fuel to power through the challenges ahead. The motivation to not stop until you’re satisfied.
We’d all do better if we gave less clucks about what other people think. Less clucks about what may or may not sell. Less clucks about views and engagement. The algorithms don’t care about us. And there’s no benefit in caring about all those negative cluckers out there on the internet.
If there’s something you love doing, but for some reason you stopped. If you had an idea that's so weird you're anxious about people judging you. Or if you want to paint a chicken.
Now’s the moment to stop giving a cluck and just do it!
Finish the clucking story
So you want to know what happened at the art show?
We convinced ourselves the chickens wouldn't sell. They were more an experiment in doing what you love. The response in the first couple of days proved us right. A few visitors saw the chickens and smiled. Many viewers exclaiming “How Cute!” before walking on.
But on the last day a peculiar feeling overcame me. Something deep in my bones telling me that today would be the day. There was a palpable sense of anticipation. I could feel the chicken lovers walking around the art show. A distinct smell of hay, chicken poop and corn filled the venue.
Then it happened - our first clucking sale!
Which turned into two sales. Then a third. A lovely lady bought a piece of art for herself. Then she spotted a bright-yellow chicken screen print on the wall.
“I’ll take that as well. My eight-year old son loves chickens. This will be the first real piece of art he owns.”
What a great clucking ending.
Watch
I just finished Ripley on Netflix.
A serialised version of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’. You might remember the 1999 film treatment of the same name starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett.
A great example of pursuing an artistic vision and not caring about people on the internet.
Read
What’s a ‘Wardley Map’ and why is it useful?
If you haven’t heard of Wardley Mapping I wrote an introduction.
Escape the grip of Adobe
Affinity Serif are offering a free 6-month trial on their Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign replacements.
Generative AI is a climate disaster
Paris Marx lived in New Zealand for a while. His critical writing on tech is worth a read.
AI should bolster creatives, not replace them
The future of creative work is about how AI is reshaping the roles of writers, artists, and designers.
R/T 008 - The AI Takeover of Design
In the last issue I bemoaned writing about generative AI. I’d forgotten I’d written about it more than a year ago in issue eight.
Offer
Get 50% off ‘Career Strategy in a Sentence’ during July
Designers are doing it tough so I’m offering a huge discount on my one-on-one, personalised career workshop. Just grab your place during July for a 50% discount.
Question
What’s preventing you from starting your dream project?
Leave your answer as a comment and I’ll share a selection in the next issue.