Fireside Chat Artist's Statement

            When dealing with the stories of our lives, we want to convey them with the tone that best suits what is being shared. For the story I chose, I didn’t have any form of angst, drama or sorrow tied to the experience. The story is a genuinely happy moment in my life and I wanted to communicate that not only in my story telling but also in my visual. With that in mind, I created the presentation that was shown at the event.

            The idea for the stick figures came from a friend, but I think it actually really suited what I wanted to do. The story is a part of my childhood and it is a very simple story as much as I had a relatively simple childhood. In one way, it communicates the effect of memory. I imagined what it would be like if my fourth grade version of myself attempted to draw the events to the best of his ability. As I have demonstrated, my fourth grade self is no Rembrandt. In another way though, I wanted it to be genuine in its simplicity. This is supposed to be a very humble story and with that I wanted a humble presentation.

            As for the performance, I wanted the piece to be genuine yet leaning to a comedic bent. I didn’t want this to just make a testimony meeting out of it and I didn’t want any emotionally heavy stuff. It is a fun story to tell people and I wanted to make it fun. I rehearsed it several times to try and pinpoint lines I could tie specifically to certain slides. Funny comments, specific descriptions and other details were worked and reworked to make the flow of the piece more organic. In the end, I wanted the aim for something that would edify through happier emotions than the more weighty things.