I´ve always liked art and arty things, i´ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. At Christmas in my house, instead of Barbies and Dolls my parents always bought me what seemed like tons back then, because I was small, of pencils, crayons, markers, stickers, paints, paper, brushes, stamps and other goodies. I was one of those weird kids that when you invited her to your birthday party she would bring you a box she made herself or a desk organizer made of icecream sticks with your name messily painted on it. Hey! I was proud of the stupid stuff I made! Anyway, time moved on, I got older, desk organizers turned into brooches, bags, painted t-shirts...
When I was 16, I went to a high school that specialized in art and at 18 I moved to Granada to study fashion design. I did that for 2 years from 3 to 9 every day and I took on some sewing and pattern making lessons in the mornings from 9 to 1. Exhaustion is a word I would use to describe this time. I enjoyed it, I learnt how to sew like a pro and went from practising lines and zig zags on the industrial machine to making wedding dresses in about 6 months. But, the fashion world is an ugly, competitive world and I got tired of having to look over my shoulder all the time. I finished the course I was doing and a couple of months later I started a theatre costume course. This, was where I wanted to be, the theatre. I helped out with several shows, first designing and making the costumes and then helping backstage to make sure shirts were buttoned up properly and the glasses were in the right pocket. After I finished my course I got to design the costumes for a 16 caracter show all by myself and was put in charge of a one woman show set in the 1960s. Bliss! One problem... Oh yeah, I had to eat. Time to get a "real" job.
I´ve was pretty tortured with the whole job situation. I worked for two years in an pub, which was fun, but very very unsatisfying for the arty brain! When that ended I spent 4 months searching for some more bar work but with not much luck. All the while I was looking for a job, I had an itching in the back of my head... Lice! No, "This is you´re mind talking! What are you doing?! You want to kill what little bit of me you have doing something that´s not going to fulfill our arty need!?" (I happen to have a very needy, bossy mind). I started giving english lesson to 3 children and later on I was offered a position as an english conversation helper in a private bilingual school. Who knew? Working with kids is fun! Then... the art teacher went on sick leave! We need you to cover the art classes. Best thing ever! (Giving art class I mean, not that the teacher was sick). When she came back I was put back into my old position of helping with english but I was asked to paint murals in the classrooms and in the cafeteria.
When the summer holidays came around, so did unemployment. Again. Recession, yay! Now what do I want to do?
So here you have it, Annie´s Fingers. Annie, is not me, she was my Grandmother, a woman with the most bent fingers you´ve ever seen. Why? Well, apparently from all the knitting, bit I wouldn´t believe a word of it... Twisted fingers to go with her twisted mind I´d say! She was a great inspiration to me all my life and I wanted to dedicate my work in some little way to her. (She made a face and called me something obscene when she heard my idea).
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