What's Hot What's Not - Entrepreneurs

A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts. - Richard Branson, founder of Virgin

The word “entrepreneur” is believed to have come from the French economist Jean-Baptiste Say, in the 19th century. His definition was: "one who undertakes an enterprise, especially a contractor, acting as intermediatory between capital and labour."

Entrepreneurs are often gifted individuals who, seeing a new idea or recognizing a gap in the market have the talent to turn it, more often than not, into a viable business. From the onset they are willingly accountable for all the risks, as well as the final outcome, when it comes to making their idea or dream a reality.

Those who possess real entrepreneurial spirit will enjoy the successes and be undeterred by the failures; oftentimes, the latter only serves to fuel the drive to succeed and be independent, in what is an increasingly competitive world. In the immortal words of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (1980’s): ‘It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under…’ In their heyday they were entrepreneurs too; they pioneered the start of a musical revolution known as ‘hip-hop’, and were the first popular music band to use a line up of one DJ and five rapping MCs (Master of Ceremonies). The latter idea, they took from the Jamaican dance halls, where the different musical acts were introduced by toasting in rhyme, which was directed at both the audience and the performers.

So, are entrepreneurs born or can you learn to become one? Opinions differ; some say that people are born entrepreneurs, whilst others believe that the qualities can be learnt and all you need is the sheer determination to succeed. Interestingly enough, psychological tests show, when it comes to gender, that both sexes are equally matched and equipped when it comes to entrepreneurial qualities. Any thoughts to the contrary are generally a result of stereotyping. That said, more economically secure countries have a higher proportion of opportunity-driven, as opposed to necessity-driven, women entrepreneurs.

Should you want to test the waters and see if you’ve got what it takes character-wise, before launching head long into the world of the entrepreneur, why not take the assessment test on this website:

The Entrepreneur Next Door.

Then there is the question as to why people become entrepreneurs? Certainly it’s a less secure lifestyle and a lot more work, but what could be more satisfying than seeing an idea grow, being one’s own boss and reaping the rewards? Plus the fact that after recent world affairs, a job for life is no longer assured.

An entrepreneur of note and my personal favourite has to be Sir Richard Branson. From the humble beginnings of a music mail order to the multi-national Virgin company. I admire his ceaseless energy, the get-up-and-go spirit, yet all the while remaining himself. Also, the amusing story he told in an interview of how at the end of the month he and his then partners invariably had to hide (on their premises) from those they owed money to, in order to buy for time. These days he has the financial freedom to be able to pick and choose his entrepreneurial enterprises.

A little closer to home and we come across the ever-increasing availability of groups of like-minded entrepreneurs to join. Seeing as these days most self-employed work from home, which although great can prove to be isolating, it is useful to be part of a network. With a network you have the possibility to meet people, make contacts, exchange ideas, and use others as sounding boards for support and any problems encountered.

One such group, which I am connected to, is CRAVE; entrepreneur Melody Biringer started it in the United States and it is now taking The Netherlands by storm; this is a network of entrepreneurial women. The Urban Girl’s Manifesto for Amsterdam came out in 2010, and features over 150 women in the Amsterdam area alone that you really should know. They offer a diversity of products and services via their businesses. There will soon be one for the Den Haag ladies, as this is still in the making. Crave is proving to be a very interesting but also invaluable network.

For more information: 

CRAVE Amsterdam. Should you wish to purchase a copy of the book, please contact me. Other interesting and informal ZZP groups of note in Groningen, in Dutch: Zelfstandig Zonder Personnel (Self-employed Without Personel) include, The Groningen Open Coffee Club, and The Societe de Pudding Fabrique. Both websites are in Dutch.

And finally, should the entrepreneurial assessment test turn out positive and you decide to dive into business, don’t forget to heed the laws of Karma whilst doing business: ‘What goes around comes around.’ Unlike the famous American entrepreneur, P. T. Barnum who posted signs in his museum, which said “This Way to the Egress!” Excited visitors followed the signs and ended up outside the museum. In order to re-enter and continue their tour they had to pay another entrance fee. He may well have had a sense of humour, but someone else had the last laugh, as the museum burned to the ground in 1865!

If you would like to learn more about the rules and regulations with regard to starting a business, why not read the article on page 13 of this issue?

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

sbinfocanada.about.com

entrepreneur.com

www.answerbag.com

© Alison Day Designs

First published in the Connections magazine, Spring issue # 31 2011

Exhibition - 9 Women

Just picked up the flyers for my upcoming exhibition: ' 9 Women' - If you're in The Netherlands come and see the ladies. Otherwise they can be viewed on my website: 9 Women

Blue, Blue, Electric Blue

 ❤️ 'Blue, blue, electric blue' for the Starman 

'Blue, blue, electric blue
That's the colour of my room
Where I will live
Blue, blue...'
... David Bowie (Sound & Vision) 

© Alison Day Designs

A. Hallucination - Menswear - London Fashion Week

According to the Fashion Scouts the 'Ones to Watch' Menswear show - This illustration portrays the work of one of the four designers participating in the show: A. Hallucination @ London Fashion Week.

First published in Amelia's Magazine, March 2011
©Alison Day

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Tin Tabernacle Tour by Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou

 

Illustrations for the article on the Tin Tabernacle Tour of Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou. The second illustration was published (March 2011) in Amelia's Magazine for an article about the tour. You can read the article  here

© Alison Day

The Sketchbook Tour USA

And they're off! 

With an opening at the Brooklyn Art Library in New York — Feb 19 - March 6 2011 —, 10,000 (28839 originally sent out) sketchbooks returned creatively filled and have taken to the road, for a five month tour around the USA. 

During this period the sketchbooks will be exhibited, are on display, can be taken out and viewed in galleries and museums whilst touring through eight different states in the USA. Each sketchbook is themed and has been submitted by artists from over 94 different countries, of which I am one.

Catalogued and packed up the sketchbooks  have left New York. First stop, Austin, Texas where they appeared at The Austin Museum of Art (12 March) and the 29th St Ballroom at Spider House (13 March). The following place at the end of the month will be (30 March - 2 April) in Portland ME at the Space Gallery.

So, if you happen to be in The States...why not go along and take a look? If you  would like to see my submission, themed - 'Face in the Crowd' - look out for sketchbook #19274 (Yes, I know, needles and haystacks come to mind, but they are all well cataloged!).  Full details of the tour can be found here

For a sneek peek of more of the pages of my sketchbook take a look here
As a taste of what's to come the '9 Women' series is included in my sketchbook. To see the  ladies in reality come and see them face to face in the exhibition from 1 May - 31 July, in The Netherlands. Details to follow here (papiermaché - 9 Women).

London Fashion Week - Lako Bukia

I enjoyed illustrating the clothes from the Lako Bukia show at London Fashion Week and for this experimenting with two different digital styles.
For the article on the show, written by Amelia Gregory - visit Amelia's Magazine

First published in Amelia's Magazine, March 2011

© Alison Day
Alison Day Design 

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London Fashion Week - Estethica

An illustration for jewellery designed by Kumvana Gomani from the ethical fashion showroom Estethica, during London Fashion Week.
Featuring Little Glass Clementine, Goodone, Joanna Cave, North Circular, Ciel, MaxJenny, Lu Flux, Tara St James, and Kumvana Gomani.

First published March 2011 in Amelia's Magazine

© Alison Day
Alison Day Design 

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London Fashion Week - Florian Jayet

Illustrations of a couple of the designs at the Florian Jayet show. London Fashion Week (LFW) A/W 2011. They accompany Helen Martin's article about the collection, which you can read here: Amelia's Magazine.

© Alison Day Feb 2011
Alison Day Design 

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London Fashion Week - Ziad Ghanem

This shows one of the creations from the Ziad Ghanem collection at LFW 2011. 

For the article by Florence Massey on the show in Amelia's Magazine

© Alison Day Feb 2011
Alison Day Design 

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London Fashion Week - Paul Costelloe

Here's my take, on one of the designs created by Paul Costelloe that appeared in his 2011 show at London Fashion Week. For more about the show and see more of his fabulous designs - visit Amelia's Magazine

© Alison Day
Alison Day Design 

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Women of Clay - Hilda van Popta

Flying through the streets on my Vespa, destination Paddepoel, for my next artist interview in Northwest Groningen. I arrive outside an ex-office building from the 1970’s, which whilst waiting for new tenants and in the care of anti-squat company named AdHoc, it is filled with a number of small businesses. Number eight on the eighth floor are my directions, as I gingerly step into a rather antiquated and scary looking lift, which reluctantly shudders and shakes me up to the eighth floor.

Each level of the building is built around a central lift house, the rooms of which are large and spacious. Hilde van Popta, favourite colour pink, greets me; she loves bright colours, and has a smile to match. She shows me around the different rooms: one where she conducts regular workshops, (filled with partially finished female figures on tables and ledges), another that exhibits examples of her finished works, followed by a large room, which is the photographic studio of her sister, (a photographer and visagist). The rooms are filled with images and trinkets, masks, beads, clothes and scarves; a feast for the eyes, but what makes me smile is a bright pink, feather-covered Barbie-esque 1960’s telephone, pontifically placed on what must have been the reception desk in days gone by, and, it actually works!

Over a cup of coffee, I find out that Hilde is a trained nurse and presently still works in the health sector (in an administrative capacity). With no formal art training she dabbled in acrylic painting as a hobby, but it was a six month clay-modeling course that became the turning point, and her women in clay figures emerged. Her figures then developed further as although she found them interesting in shape they lacked something. Out came the acrylic paints, and she proceeded to paint them in bright colours to “pimp up the images” as well as decorating them with fabrics and other miscellaneous objects.

 

I ask her about her colour use, to which she says that she loves bright colours; the colours pink, red, black and white feature regularly in her work. Also, she uses acrylics because one knows what the outcome will be, unlike glazes, which are generally a surprise until they leave the kiln. However, she would be interested in experimenting with the latter in the future, as she believes that it is important to continue to develop oneself as an artist.

Subject-wise she chooses women, due to the fact that women in their diversity are a great source of inspiration, and also her clientele often recognize themselves in her work. There is no deep and meaningful message behind her figures, with a lot of them coming into existence quite intuitively, often making her laugh.

I ask her if finance was no object, whether there is an artistic project she would like to realize in the future. Quick as a flash she tells me of an old empty factory she drives past every day, by the side of the motorway. She would like to buy something similar, do it up, and convert it into an enormous artists’ market. With her as the owner, it would be a hive of artistic creation: with artists at work, little individual shops, workshops and music would pervade the air. 

If you would like to become the proud owner of one of Hilde’s ‘Women of Clay,’ why not take this opportunity and use the 10% discount voucher on this page? The offer runs from 01 January 2011–30 June 2011.

Alternatively, if you would like to take part in one of Hilde’s workshops you can contact her via: hilde@vrouwenvanklei.nl / 06-21955117

To view her work: Vrouwen van Klei

© Alison Day
First published in the Connections magazine #30 Winter 2011

Read & download issue here

Valentine's Illustrations

 Here are a couple more of my illustrations that were recently featured in an article entitled: 'Valentines Oh Valentines...' by Hannah Bullivant.

  

© Alison Day
Alison Day Design 

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Published: February  2011 in Amelia's Magazine

Illustration: LCF, Amelia's Magazine

An illustration I did over the weekend for a review of the London College of Fashion MA Exhibition, which was published in Amelia’s Magazine. Illustrating a design by Ivan Dauriz.

So far, I have worked on a variety of illustrations for the magazine, but this was my first fashion illustration. For more illustrative work visit my website: Alison Day Design 

© Alison Day
Alison Day Design 

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Zorre Mexican Restaurant Review

Quickly locking our bikes, Sam and I ran full pelt under heavy fire from a heaven-flung load of hailstones, through the doors of Zorre and into the cosy, calm warmth of the restaurant. We had been invited to come and try their Mexican food and give our opinions about it.

Zorre may be familiar to you under the old name of Tacos and was set up in 2004, in the Westerhaven, by the brother and sister team of Petroeska and Rogier Lankhorst.

Since then, with the advent of a new name it has undergone a makeover, which is a success and pleasing to the eye. The orange interior has a feature wall, decorated by an enlarged Mexican street scene, in varying hues of orange and a complement to the chocolate coloured walls. Dependant on your mood or party, you can choose between various seating arrangements. There is the family arrangement, of a large round wooden table and chairs (including baby seat), the café style with metal table and chairs opposite a wide wooden wall bench, or high wooden bar tables with aluminium bar stools to perch upon. With tiny flickering tea light candles and atmospheric background music, one feels welcome.

The name Zorre comes from the local dialect (Gronings) for a graspol, literally ‘a clump of grass’ and sounds Spanish at the same time; a little bit of Mexico in Groningen. The grass also reflects their ethos in only producing food that is freshly made. They use only the best ingredients and wherever possible, organic.

Petroeska greeted us with a bright friendly smile, and our table was quickly covered with a starter of fresh crispy tortillas and guacamole dip, a cola and Mexican, Corona beer. From the menu we could choose between Taco’s, Tostada’s and Torta’s either separately or in combination with each other and side dishes. Every Taco on the menu comes from a different region in Mexico and its toppings are decided by what is prevalent in that area. Not knowing the sizes of the dishes we asked Petroeska’s advice and came up with a selection that we could share.

Sam’s choice was a Quesadilla taco filled with cheese and paprika and a portion of Galletas de papas, fried croquettes filled with potato, cheese, egg, jalapeno peppers and coriander. When asking his opinion about the food I got a general thumbs up. The cheese on his tortilla was ‘holy,’ and of the Galletas de papas he said, ‘it’s real, not like the McDonalds,’ a big compliment coming from an 11-year-old boy!

I chose a Tostada Fajitas, a fried corn tortilla, filled with frijoles (refried beans), strips of marinated chicken and paprika with fresh coriander hidden under a hat of melted cheese. Absolutely delicious! Tostada’s are easier to eat with the hands due to their crispiness. I also chose a Taco, Papas y chorizo, filled with potato, chorizo cheese, and green peppers, also a very tasty combination. The dishes are well thought out so that you are able to taste the ingredients independently and as a whole. All dishes are colourfully and beautifully presented and come accompanied by little side dishes of sour cream, guacamole and a chopped tomatoes and onion combination. To share, Sam and I had a Caesar salad (invented by Caesar Cardini, an Italian-born Mexican who, when a 4th of July 1924 rush depleted the kitchen's supplies, made do with what he had left, resulting in the birth of the Caesar Salad).

In Zorre you can eat as much or as little as your appetite demands. Every week there is a Quesadilla (tortilla) of the week on offer; when we visited the special was salmon and cream cheese. When trying to decide how hungry you are, their guide is:

1 Taco = a snack, 2 Taco’s = Lunch and 3 Taco’s = a meal.

They have a kid’s menu and if you are short of time, they also do take away. Zorre provides a catering service as well as workshops, for if you’d like to learn more about making your own Mexican food. For more information their website is: www.zorre.nl.

After the first courses, being curious and still having enough room for a dessert, I decided to try a typical Mexican pudding, Pay de Quesos, literally ‘tart of cheese,’ which was light and tasty.

Whether Zorre is new to you or not, why not cut out the voucher on this page and take it along to Zorre (before 31st March 2011), to sample one of their freshly made Quesadilla’s absolutely free!

© Alison Day
Alison Day Design 

First published in the Connections magazine #30 Winter 2011 

What's Hot, What's Not - 'Home Keeps Moving' by Heidi Sand-Hart.

She has spent the greater part of her young life traveling all over the world, living in countries such as India, where school trips were by no means ordinary, and involved visiting jungles inhabited by tigers and elephants and crystal clear lakes. It is here too that her mother set up two orphanages, to help the unwanted baby girls rejected by their families, who would be unable to meet the demands of the customary dowry expected of them when the girl reached marrying age. So, from an early age Heidi learnt to interact with people from other cultures and had the added bonus of young Indian sisters to play with. 

Heidi perceives herself as a global nomad, as during her informative years (due to her parent’s missionary work), they generally spent no more than four years in any one place, often moving after only one or two years; as a result she attended over 9 different schools. Her life, although challenging has been unique, and although friends have been hard to make along the way, those that remain, are worth their weight in gold. Adaptation becomes the name of the game, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. One point she does make, however, is that she sees all the variety and excitement she has experienced as a gift. ‘Real life’ is rather more mundane and to try to re-create this lifestyle now as an adult would cause her to be alienated from her peers.

Often feeling mature beyond her years, and grappling with unresolved grief within, as well as the delayed adolescent rebellion (due to a highly organized and pressured nomadic existence) has meant that compiling Home Keeps Moving has been a long time in the making. It wasn’t until she came across the “Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds”, by Ruth van Reken and Dave Pollock that she was able begin to rationalize her thoughts enough to make headway and to express precisely what she thinks makes her feel different as a TCK, in comparison to others.

A cultural chameleon she certainly is, and it is interesting to hear that she has managed to build a relationship (on her own terms) with each of the three main cultures she is involved with. Of her birth country England she says: 

“Whenever I arrive in London, the familiarity makes me feel at home...like I almost belong there”. Of Norway: “It was never more than a summer holiday destination to me, until we moved there in 1996, and it highlighted a lot of TCK tendencies to me, so for that I am grateful”. And finally, of her mother’s country, Finland: “Finland is called “the Land of a Thousand Lakes,” and I have pleasant memories of steaming hot saunas, night swims, roasting sausages on open fires, moonlit boat trips with our cousins, adventure, and beauty”.

But as to where she considers home to be: “The truthful answer is that home is wherever my family members are”.

Heidi’s book, ‘Home Keeps Moving’, provides the reader with an honest and interesting account of the life of a TCK and MK. As well as including her own experiences, for extra dimension, she has included accounts from other multi-cultural global nomads and TCKs, including her brother, Ben. Her story touches on the advantages and disadvantages of being a third culture kid in today’s world. It is a lifestyle, which can be said to provide, on the one hand, a rich education about the real world and its issues, as well as how to interact with people of many cultures, and on the other, how to deal with culture shock, continual packing and unpacking, and the inevitable restlessness caused by the lifestyle of a global nomad.

© Alison Day
Alison Day Design 

First published in the Connections magazine #30 Winter 2011