What is the best thing that I love about my work? I love to channel my endless imagination in my works, being creative for me is like breathing, I know no other way of living. Plus, when your art touches people, makes them happy, makes them smile and dream it is such a pleasure to have done that. To conjure up new worlds, new images out of nothing is a very heady feeling indeed.
What is my idea of perfect happiness? Doing the things I love to do surrounded by the people I love
What is my greatest fear? I have many fears being of an anxious nature, in the end what I fear the most is that fear will be the strongest and rule some aspects of my life
What is the trait that I most deplore in myself? I do not really deplore it being too impulsive but sometimes it is not always practical. Not planning enough can be tricky. I do admire people who plan it all so perfectly, art, their lives, everything… I am more of a “I make it up as I go” kind of person, although I consecrate lots of time in those steps and am a maniac about them
Which living persons in my profession do i most admire? So many but they all share this one trait, their art is honest, original and comes from their hearts
What is my greatest extravagance? Most definitely shoes lol. Also being extravagantly romantic but I do not see that as a disadvantage, it helps an artist and it makes for great love stories which in turn helps the artist in me again
On what occasion would I lie? I’d rather not lie because it often is a mess but to save those I love I would certainly lie without qualms
What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work? The fact that I am not schooled, that I am self-trained and that I lack good bases like perspective, anatomy etc… there I feel my limitations
When and where was I the happiest, in my work? I would say that every work that I finish makes me happy but if I had to pick one moment then it certainly was when I got my first job for the gaming industry for a serious company in London with “The heart of the jungle”
If I could, what would I change about myself? Haha, we only get a certain space for this? I mean the list is long but if I have to pick one, I would say, I wish is was not an insomniac…
What is my greatest achievement in work? Every work is an achievement, to finish it, to have people love it, that is great. I made a calendar for 2018 and people liked it, that is a great achievement, to make people happy with my art
Where would I most like to live? Rome or a Greek island but Brussels is doing just fine too
What is my most treasured possession? My silver wedding ring which has so much history behind it that I did not want to change it for the traditional golden one
What is my most marked characteristic? Most definitely creativity
What is my most inspirational location, in my city? The historical centre of Brussels for romantic reasons
What is my favourite place to eat and drink, in my city? Home, sorry if it sounds pretentious but it is the truth, although my husband and I have many favourite little eateries we adore to cook together and explore new things
What books influenced my life and how? Here the list is incredibly long, I am a voracious reader, but I fell in love with ancient Rome though a compilation of the old classics like Quo Vadis, Ben Hur and the last days of Pompey. My romantic imagination was set aflame by the Brontes and my love for detectives first came from Agatha Christie. Also I am a huge Tolkien fan way before the hype of the movies hit us all, I wrote my masters degree’s essay on LOTR
Who are my favorite writers? Val Mc Dermid, Steven Saylor, Marilyn Todd, Lindsey Davis, Elisabeth Peters, the Brontes, Tolkien, …
What music would I listen on my last day? Staying Alive from the Bee Gees I presume
Who is my hero or heroine in fiction? Ross and Demelza Poldark, King Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere
Who are my heroes and heroines in real life? Very corny but it is the truth: most definitely my husband and then all the people working in the health sector
Which movie would I recommend to see once in a lifetime? Gone with the wind
What role plays art in my life and work? It is all pervading, art is everything, without art there is no life for me
Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime? Again my husband, we met through my art
Whom would I like to work with in 2018? I am a loner when it comes to art but any serious company can knock on my door any day and a joint project with my fabulous colleagues, many of whom are here in your files would be fun too
Which people in my profession would I love to meet in 2018? All of them, that would be fabulous
What project, in 2018, am I looking forward to work on? Another calendar if no work from a gaming company comes along
Where can you see me or my work in 2018? On my Facebook site as Crayonmaniac
What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me? Clever person who said that because it is so true
Which creative heroines should Peter invite to tell their story? Claudine Roelens (fabulous doll maker) Flori Antoniou (traditional painter) Cynthia Radthorne (3D artist) Inna Vjuzhanina (digital painter) Carole Humphreys (traditional artist)
How can you contact me ? As Crayonmaniac on my Facebook page
Email : christine.vereecken@gmail.com
Here follows a message of Peter de Kuster, founder of The Heroine’s Journey
Spring Journey
Wednesday 14th March – Sunday 18th March
The best of The Heroine’s Journey condensed into a single, unforgettable week.
The Heroine’s Journey is a global organisation dedicated to teaching skills not covered by the regular education system – skills that develop storytelling intelligence and encourage psychological well-being for creative professionals. The Spring Journey brings together the very best in our storytelling.
We will cover such themes as how to make money doing what you love, how to promote your business, which is you, how to choose our partners more wisely, how to make relationships last, how to find and create your dreamjob by meeting your rolemodels and making testdrives, how to manage your time and organize yourself creativitely, how to focus on our creative goals, how to have the financial freedom to create and how to more regularly experience creative flow and happiness.
You’ll embark on a rich and enlightening voyage, discovering how to make lasting, meaningful change across every aspect of your creative life. By working within a fixed group led by Peter de Kuster over the week, you’ll dive deeper than would be possible in any single daytrip. You’ll be challenged to think deeply about the issues that matter most, and provided with a space to share your thoughts, ideas and experiences.
The Journey is ideal for those seeking a more meaningful, transformative vacation; for attendees of our daytrips who now wish to take a structured journey through our expertly curated material; and for those wishing to save time in the long run by working through the dilemmas of creative life, business, passion, and your own story in a single, high intensity week.
Blending tuition, exercises, meeting with stories of rolemodels, and discussion in journeys in a world city, each day of the Spring Journey will equip you with tools and strategies to help you find answers for your creative life’s big questions.
Join us for a truly transformational vacation for the mind in Rome
Ticket costs Euro 1250 excluding VAT per person, includes all teaching, materials, light refreshments & additional activities.
You can reach Peter for a skype meeting about questions you have by mailing him at peterdekuster@hotmail.nl
DAILY TIMETABLE
09.40 Tea & Coffee on arrival
10.00 Morning Session
13.00 Lunch Break
14.00 Afternoon Session
17.00 Drinks
Read on for a detailed breakdown of the Spring Journey itinerary.
“You are the Storyteller of Your Own Creative Life. You can Create Your Own Legend – Or Not” – Peter de Kuster
Spring Journey Itinerary
Day One: The first day of the Spring Journey is designed to equip us with the core skills of The Heroine’s Journey and Storytelling. We will learn the power of the story we tell ourselves, why our minds have a hard time understanding themselves, how to map and understand our passions, and how and why we characteristically respond to them.
Day Two: The second day of the Spring Journey takes us on a structured journey around the power of your story as creative professional. Creative flow is always in essence a mental phenomenon, it is a result of ideas- and a story you tell yourself therefore relies on having to hand a raft of enriching stories about your business, your money management, your self promotion and your time management that can be called upon in moments of truth. The day begins with a Heroine’s Journey Breakfast – considering what three of the greatest creative heroines of all time have as story about the art of creative living wisely and well.
Day Three: The third day of the Spring Journey teaches us how to choose our clients and business partners wisely and make our relationships last. One of the gravest errors we make around business relationships is to imagine that they aren’t things we can get wiser or better at. On this day we will learn to practise and rehearse our skills at working with the people who can help you further your creative business (clients and business partners like agents, publishers, marketing professionals etcera). In the evening, we will attend a Storytelling Dinner in a local restaurant – learning to overturn small talk and master the art of opening up our deepest stories.
Day Four: The fourth day of the Spring Journey teaches us how to achieve our creative career potential. We will employ storytelling tools to be better able to understand our creative talents and to move forward using the opportunities that are open to us.
Day Five: The final day of the Spring Journey explores new business opportunities and markets for you to as creative professional. Many of the challenges we encounter in modern life require us to develop creative solutions to complex problems. And even when we’re not tackling big problems, continuously improving the way we live using invention and imaginative strategy is deeply important.
You can reach Peter for a skype meeting about questions you have by mailing him at peterdekuster@hotmail.nl
The Heroine's Journey 