Zemotion in Paris

I had the greatest pleasure being part of a group who greeted zemotion to Paris on her first day, and in fact, she had gone straight from the airport to the venue I organized for her on a river-barge called Péniche le Six-Huit - complete with her luggage!  Had we known that she would head straight for us, some of us would have gone to help her, but she was a real trooper and just managed on her own after touching down in Paris direct from Singapore early that Saturday morning.



It was very thoughtful of her to make it straight to us and arrive early, although Paris isn't at all "traveller-friendly" and she had to lug two massive bags up and down metro stairs (I don't know why they don't think to install escalators everywhere!) and then again, down the stone stairway path that led to the moored boat and across the gangway plank into the boat itself.  Poor dear, but she did say she's used to travelling about by herself and dealing with inconvenient hassles.

Ahhh ... then the sunny Paris mornings and days of the earlier two days didn't re-appear and repeat themselves that morning.  It became a cold and wet Saturday morning, not quite the weather that could entice anyone out of bed easily on the first day of a weekend.  

But for those of us who made the effort to brave the element and the overpowering weekend lethargy,  I have to say, the effort was all worth it that morning.

It's not easy to be someone with exceptional talent.  If we looked back in time some decades earlier, to be known across a neighbourhood, or a district would be fantastic enough.  Local newspaper or media highlighting someone extraordinary would really have to pinpoint that special talent from among the local population before news space would be given up for promotion and support.  These days and if we take deviantArt into consideration - it's not just local or a district awareness of an exceptional talent, but a global one.  It's the world, folks.

I had invited a young French politician friend who supports the youth movement in France and I wanted him to see something in action with zemotion and her friends.  I wanted him to understand what happens when creative youths get together and meet one of their kind who they acknowlege to have outstanding skills.  It was really wonderful. There was such lack of industrial or commercial competitiveness and suspicion and everyone was genuine and kind to each other.  Most were quiet and shy but they paid keen attention to the conversation that flowed.

zemotion at first encounter, and with her ready smile, struck me to be friendly and confident, although I did detect a slight shyness and awareness that she was meeting everyone new for the first time.  It's never easy to do that - get up close and personal with people who want to meet you because they like your work and have been following the works more than the physical person for some time.  

It's not easy to combine a virtual persona with a real-life persona ... you never quite know if the bits of soul extracted and entrenched in a work of art really is part of the whole person in front of you.  Is it possible for auras to emanate beyond and impress themselves on to something you create  so when people encounter a painting, a photography, a poem offered by an artist, they can actually sense the inner spirit of the artist him or herself?

You are then either repelled or attracted by the work of art and thus by the artist - to such an extent that you're drawn to proving to yourself, you really have to see by an actual encounter, if the work and the person are one, and if familiarity will breed content.

zemotion introduced herself to everyone, and then we went through the process of introducing ourselves to her.  And straight after, the conversation became interesting as so much was covered from the type of equipment she and everyone used, to techniques, to earlier works, difficult commissions, to her process of dedicating tremendous time and focus on her own works and the speed she had to adapt with commercial projects ... I wish I had taped her and everyone now, it would have been not only highly informative but educational as well.  I was touched when I heard how sincere and open zemotion was about her life and how she chose to explain and answer all the questions asked of her simply and without reserve.  There was no indication of any ego-tripping exercise in how she spoke of her experiences ... and I am left with admiration for this young talent.  Although, I sense it must have been hard for her to learn so much at an early age and then constantly challenge herself to meet not only her own discriminating and demanding expectation, but those of her followers and watchers from around the world through deviantArt.

She brought up, in the course of explaining why she chose to follow her creative work, the insecurities faced by so many young creative talents when they have to decide between following their artistic calling and taking up a "stable" job just to sustain their daily needs and the responsibilities thrown at them.  It's true, if it is possible to learn and do so much at so early an age, the path is clearer ahead, although it would be peppered with unseen obstacles that would leave one with bruises and scars but ... there's youth and the ability to bounce back and recover fast.  Then the path ahead would be clearer - one would gain confidence and already know what direction one wants to follow.  Youth helps when one is single and able.  

With age ... comes responsibility ... and compromises.

zemotion is young ... but she has a wise, old soul that knows much because it was already exposed to so much in this world.  I can only hope and pray that happiness and joy will always be there for her not only through her work, but from the knowledge that so many people, whose lives she touches through her presence in deviantArt or her friendship in the real world, will always care and love her.

Have a super time in Paris, Jingna






PS: A little background into how all this happened ... I need to write this down now as I was earlier trying to get the initial story I wanted to tell of zemotion out before I get bombarded again with distractions that demand my every minute attention - such is my normal life   It's a good thing I was able to write a bit - I normally draft my journals live, then take a break and return to read everything just to make sure I don't forget anything.  I'm sure I'll be adding and editing a bit more as capturing 3 hours of conversations (11h-14h) with everyone contributing to the various subjects raised isn't easy to recall immediately.

I must really return to spending more time in deviantArt - it brought me, in addition to zemotion, a very special young friend, NEOkeitaro, who not only told me of zemotion's intended Paris visit and worked with me on preparing for her arrival, but shares with me a passion for protecting the creative artist in the areas of IPR, Intellectual Property Rights, and the global promotion of artists in general through a physical setup.  We met earlier to work on the logistics of organizing a physical presence so we could effect the protection globally, and ended up in the process, having fantastic conversations and meetups on various creative projects and the realisation of such projects.

We're moving ahead with the CreatifHQ which is the hub intended for Paris for us to start the protection process as well as the promotion of various artists and creative talents and I have to say that when NEOkeitaro "introduced" zemotion to me, and I had the chance to also meet the supporters and visitors who came to see zemotion, the importance of how necessary it is to work and take care of young creative talents was driven strongly home.

NEOkeitaro and zemotion are wonderful inspirations!  I am determined to really focus on helping every young creative talent now.  That's a fabulous lifetime career to focus on!