Goals & Dreams Project (NYCA 2016)

This project is called 'Goals & Dreams,' which was the name of the theme for the Nottingham Young Creative Awards 2016. For this project I based mine on Michael Jackson because I always admired his way of succeeding in life and that he was just like me, a person who always wanted to achieve his goals & dreams by working hard, having a positive attitude and persevering (we're both perfectionists too). Because he made his dreams come true, being the King of Pop, his story really inspired me to do the same for myself. My dream is to be a Designer Maker/Artist and sell my own work. My goal is to learn from Michael Jackson's experiences, which is to get me a full understanding of how to never give up on my dreams and myself.
I made a pillow (sculpture) because to me it is a representation of dreams. And when you're asleep, you fantasize on how you want to see your life in those moments. Also for a Designer Maker/Artist they can make and design pillows too, so it's like pretending I'm already living the dream.
In this project, I've learnt so many skills that I've never done before. And I'm glad I've learnt them because if I never took a risk and practiced them, this pillow wouldn't of came out successfully nor would it exist. 

The skills I've learnt and used for my pillow were:

• Embroidery/Sewing
• PVA (Decorating surfaces)
• Heat Transfer
• Making Feather Flowers with a glue gun
• Needle Felting

The embroidery/sewing was for MJ's inspirational quotes and the surface of the heat transfer drawing. The PVA was for the main design of the pillowcase (which is inspired by MJ's album cover art of XSCAPE) and to stick the drawing onto the pillow. The heat transfer was for the visual drawing of me and Michael Jackson. I used that drawing because it reflects how much Michael inspires me and how we both have vivid imagination. The feather flowers are to make the pillow look dreamy and to represent Neverland Ranch. Needle felting was to give the drawing a soft texture.
Unfortunately I didn't get selected in the NYCA. I wasn't happy about it, but at least it didn't stop me getting a good grade from this project. One thing I've learnt from this experience was that every successful person (including a designer maker and artist) can get setbacks in life (e.g. competitions); I could imagine Michael went through the same thing too. However it doesn't stop them achieving their dreams. It actually makes them into stronger people; this is exactly what I'm going to remember as my motto.

I really enjoyed this project because it was a chance to express myself and my personal Goals & Dreams. Also to express how I'm such a big fan of Michael Jackson. There were a bit of ups and downs in this project, but I managed to get back on my feet and kept going, just like Michael would.