Devious Minds: Rushy

Sep 4, 200912 min read

Deviation Actions

PurpelBlur

Published: Sep 4, 2009

2K Views

Discovering what makes us devious.

Rushy

How did you first discover deviantART?

My daughter introduced me to DA. She already had an account here so I had a friend on site already.

"From Father to Daughter"
I am your father.
I am proud to BE your father.
I am proud of your achievments, and proud of you.
And when you say I am "a damm fine dad", I am so alive. ...

What was it about dA that made you want to stay?

I was using DA as a brain dump to get stuff out of my head to begin with. Lots of people, though a few specifically, wrote encouraging things about my writing and that kept me posting things. Then a little while after joining in 2004 the dAmn system launched and I was hooked on being a part of our community for the long haul! I even dedicated a computer to The original DA version of the IdleRPG chat room game (I won too ).

What is the story behind your username?

I got the nickname at an early age and I've been using the name 'Rushy' ever since through online games and for my web domain. I even get mail and packages delivered to my house that are addressed to Rushy!

What do you remember of your childhood in regards to art?

I discovered early on that the easiest way to get something out of my head was to write it down. Writing is an incredibly good cathartic for me. I've written prose, poetry, and songs all of my life. One of my favourite poems "Night Mail" by 'W. H. Auden' was spoken over a documentary about the old steam service that ran the travelling postal service between London and Scotland and it really got into my head. I still have a copy of that film on AVI, VHS, and DVD!

Was there anything or anyone in particular that prompted your choice of art form?

Music was something that I'd always been into so writing song lyrics and poetic structures always felt right for me.

"Taking the plunge"
This is it.
Time to decide.
Should I follow my heart this time?
I just don't know, ...

Who or what motivates you to continue creating?

Some of my pieces pretty much write themselves. As I've already said, it's just a matter of putting it down somewhere in order to prize it out of my mind. I think if I stopped I'd go mad.

Of your own work, which has the most meaning to you and why?

That would have to be Everything changes forever. Something I wrote for my daughter as she was starting a big new chapter of her life. She's in her twenties now and is currently teaching English at our local secondary school. It's probably the first thing I posted here and has been my featured work ever since.

Do you have any personal goals in relation to deviantART?

Not really. I'm happy to keep posting my work here and join in with the DevMeets and chat rooms as much as I can. I'm not the 'I want to be in charge' type so I'm not pushing in that direction. I also don't really feel trained well enough to be able to stand in judgement over other peoples work, so Gallery director isn't something I'd ever really push myself to do. I'm just happy to be here.

"Choices"
When I look ahead,
I see so little with any clarity.
Who can say what is to come?
The fog of the future keeps things from us. ...

Are you working on any projects or wish to promote some projects?

Inside of D.A:
I posted my entry to the "DA Number 9 contest" recently so I'd quite like to pimp that and all the other Ninth birthday events and competitions that are still going on. I'm also thinking of joining in on the The dA Post-It Project by ChewedKandi but I need to get in quick as all the entry spaces are almost taken!
Outside of D.A:
I'm a fundraiser for the <a href="www.vulcantothesky.org/>Vulcan to the sky project, but don't get me started on that or we could be here all day! I post photographs and poems about it all the time. Let's just say that The Vulcan is a very large bomber from the cold war era that has been restored to flight after almost being scrapped. She's the only one of her kind on planet earth that is still capable of flying. An awesome thing to behold.

What theatrical movies did you enjoy most?

Hmmm toughie this one. I have a HUGE DVD movie collection and I watch and re-watch stuff all the time. I guess my all time number one would have to be either "Silent running" with 'Bruce Dern' (it's an amazing piece of work and the voice of 'Joan Baez' in the soundtrack enhances it all the more) or The Coen brothers film "The Big Lebowski" with 'Jeff Bridges'. I'm a big fan of the pioneering Disney classic TRON too.

"Superhero"
The Free Thinker, Superhero!
so what if I can fly
does it make life easy?
it won't get the bills paid ...

What type of music do you listen to? (Specific groups/artists?)

Oh my! That's even harder to answer. I'll listen to almost anything and my compilations span all sorts of genres from classical to punk (Even classical orchestras doing punk!). I do an Internet radio show on Tuesday evenings from 7-9 UK time and even the music on that jumps from one genre to another though my shows are always on a theme. (I little while back I was doing songs featuring or about London that had to span two shows as I had too many) . I listen to whatever is appropriate to what I'm doing but there's always a good deal of Old Skool Punk and new wave stuff in my regular listening habits for sure. As I type I'm sat at my desk early in the morning listening to a promo from a Russian "symphonic metal" band called 'Uncreated Light'.

Which books could you just not put down?

I'm a massive fan of the late 'Douglas Adams' and the best read I ever had was not being able to put down his two 'Dirk Gently' books. Hitch Hikers was great but it pales next to "Dirk Gently's Holistic detective agency" and "The Long Dark Tea Time of The Soul". It's sad to think he was taken from us so early in his life. I'm currently re-reading a series factual stuff I bought a while back "50 physics ideas you should know" is what I'm currently on but the series does 50 Philosophy ideas and 50 Mathematics principles and all that good stuff too.

What foods can you just never seem to resist? Drinks?

I'm much fussier about food than I used to be since being diagnosed as a Diabetic but I'm a cheese fiend! I adore cheeses of all kinds even though I know I shouldn't be eating some of them. I like a drop of wine too though I'm not quite as fussy about that. I like a Claret for Red and a Riesling for white wine. Nothing expensive though.

"Sunday afternoon verse"
The house is quiet and the day is fine
I'm spending the afternoon just wasting time.
Relaxing in delusions that are simply all mine.
Having bread and cheese and drinking red wine.

What are your pet peeves on dA and in general?

On DA:
BORED PEOPLE! How on earth can you be bored when you belong to a community like this? Someone coming into one of the chat rooms I hang out in and whining about how bored they are in a place where there are MILLIONS of people posting art is likely to get short shrift from me. If you can't find something interesting to see or read on DA what does it say about you?
In general:
Probably the same thing!

One fact about yourself that few know about?

I'm a petrol head! I'm on my 11th or 12th SAAB right now. I LOVE THEM! I'm a member of the SAAB owners club.

What tips can you offer to better oneself in his or her art?

'Keep at it and don't let people get you down' There's a big difference between criticizing someone's work and just running it down. Few people seem to know the difference I'm afraid. By the same token, don't treat everything you create as sacred or perfect in every way, don't have a go at someone who suggests changing something. If someone is trying to help you out by posting constructive criticism on your work the least you can do is take it on board. I'd also say check out other people's work that you admire and talk to them about it. The more you get involved, the better things get.

What does Art mean to you?

It's a means of expression to me I suppose.
Poetry in its purest, oral, form is a great way to get an idea or a feeling over to someone else. With a piece of art you capture a feeling or a moment and preserve it for others to experience. One of the best things is not knowing exactly how it will work for them. Some people take away something entirely different to what you may have been trying to put into the piece in the first place but it's all good!

Is there anything else you wish to say?