𝓥𝓥𝔃𝔂𝓴

Introduction

In June 2024 U started revisiting Preston, where I was born, to see my sister and just see how things were. I still support Preston North End (that will never change) and was so impressed by much of what I saw.

You do see buskers often and some are good and some maybe not so good, and they also say never just a book by the cover, but a striking cover catches your attention. The cover might be better than the content but it has done it's job.

VVzyk was performing, and impressed my enough to leave a tip, but the other thing was the amazing artwork on her guitar case whijh prompted me to investigate her further, and I was mightily impressed, and I used it for this piece on tipping (so you can see it too)

I contacted her and last month I offered to get her a coffee but she said she preferred hot chocolate. We chatted and I asked if she would be interested in doing an interview, which she said yes to, and so you have her words below.

I have included links, and her art will likely be used as inspiration for some of my Vocal stories and poetry.

So here is VVzyk

Ecstatic Singing - Live in Rydal Cave, UK

Ecstatic Singing is an all improvised, unique and divinely inspired way of singing. It's about connecting with your body, how you feel, and expressing any sound that needs to come out. It's about confidence, and letting go of all judgements.

Get in touch if you wish to witness a sound bath, or be part of an ecstatic singing group session or one to one.

VVzyk has just done a cover for this album. "Beyond" by Myths and Monsters. It's a massive accomplishment. I'm really happy with it. I'm always looking for ways to make music and art work together, and I was really honoured to be involved in this project

The Interview

What Is Your Preferred Artistic Medium and Why?

Watercolour and singing.

I like the fluidity. It's flowing, and gentle. People say I sing the way I draw. And I love the colours of the watercolour. The white paper shines through the pigment, giving a lot of colourful light to my artwork.

What Inspired You To Do What You Do Initially And Who Or What Inspires You Now?

I always wanted to be an artist for as long as I can remember.

I'm inspired by how I feel. When singing I don't judge the quality of my voice, but mainly tune into how singing makes me feel.

Music and creativity in general have been a way for me to give myself permission to feel things deeply.

Art (drawing) has been my best friend as a teenager, always at reach of hand, here for me whenever I needed to express and process some emotions.

Now: still My feelings, especially the freedom I experience when improvising and sketching. I just love the creative journey, the expérimentations, it's always new, surprising, opportunity. The process of creating is actually very inspiring, because I come up with different ideas, which then will create more ideas. I'll start wondering what would happen if I were to try this or that.

And of course I'm inspired by a lot of artists.

In music : twenty one pilots, dire straits, KO KO MO, the blue stones, nothing but thieves, Olivia fern, peia, Sam Garrett, beautiful chorus, sjaella, a lot of pop singers belters, it's freeing to be belting out songs!!

And friends too The Dove and the Dragon, the Bhakti Brothers (which are no longer, and I've actually joined the band, with a different name and feel: Brigantis)

As artists I love are Ernest pignon Ernest, Michel Houssin, Matthew G William both artist and musician Matthew one man, peyson Jones beautiful paintings with sacred geometry, Morgan Manley mandala. Autumn Sky Art, Ryan Gajda, Blake foster, Alex grey...

I'm Inspired by nature a lot, sacred geometry, mandalas, colours, spiritual themes, myths,

My art is very much illustrative and colourful.

In music I sing a lot of mantras, and sacred songs. I play sound baths too with crystal singing bowls, and I improvise vocally with them. I am very playful when singing, it doesn't mean I'm trying sounds, rhythms... All the time, but I connect with my body and travel with my voice in my body using the different resonance chambers of my body. I'm just on a big exploration of myself and my body through singing, exploring all my range, and feeling the vibrations within my body, while being guided by how I feel.

Art inspires art, once you start creating and get in the flow it's like nothing can stop you, I'm out of time and space, just fully dedicated to the art of creating. I find the more I create the more I feel like creating and the more I get ideas, and be inspired. Inspiration comes from anywhere, in a word someone said, in a feeling. I get inspired a lot by songs, it's not always the song that inspires le, but the feeling I get from that song, and I'm like I want to create something that makes me feel that way. And I start coming up with words and chords that match this feeling.

What Was The First Piece Of Art That You Made? (At School of After)

I can't remember the first piece of art I made, but I have kept a drawing I made when I was 4, I see it's a weird creature, maybe a turtle. I've got absolutely no idea what head space and intentions were behind that drawing, but I like it.

it's hard to answer my first piece as I've always been creating. But there are pieces that have shaped new directions in my life. Like the first time I painted on a guitar, for a friend, on his birthday. It took me on more adventures with people commissioning to decorate their wooden music instruments, and then I came up with engraving instruments.

Or like the first time I used mandalas in an artwork. I was really happy as it was part of the sky and someone's tattoo on his arm. So I managed to include the mandalas as part of a story.

What Are You Most Proud Of?

I am proud of my journey, my commitment to the creative path. It's not always easy, no stability, but it's very rewarding it's a journey of faith, and belief in my own abilities. I love everything I do, and I'm so grateful for all the support and love I receive from so many people.

How Do You Feel About Performing Or Showing Your Work In Public?

I feel like my art is just a reflection of my journey. As I deal with my traumas and my past, and I become my joyful and happier, so does my art. It evolves mirroring my state of mind. I can't choose a piece or song I'm the most proud of. But I'm looking forward to the day I will release a full album of my original music, it's an accomplishment I am very much looking forward to and probably the thing I will be the most proud of as I have dealt with so much negative beliefs and resistance and fears around composing and sharing my songs

I used to be terrified about performance and showing my art. I had no confidence. Now I'm quite looking forward the next times I'll get to share with others my art. I think it's part of the creative journey. And I definitely want to build more and more confidence, so I see it as a way to be more confident being an artist.

Are You Influenced By Anyone?

Artists that influenced me come from a background listening to rock, indie, and opera. It's what made me fall in love with guitar, especially Mark Knopfler's guitar.

It's also the time of music that gets me dancing, and be in my most authentic energy. Some of my favourite bands include Twenty One Pilots, The Blue Stones, Dire Straits, Nothing But Thieves, KO kO mo, Sam Fender, Kaleo...

Then more folk singers, spiritual music, Celtic, alternative folk, with texts that really move me. Singing becomes more important. Singing words that speak to me, is so more meaningful. Spiritual songs. Olivia Fern, Peia, Sam Garrett, Beautiful Chorus, Sjaella, Ayla Nereo, Rose Betts...

Pop singers who belt notes: Demi Lovato, Jessie J... Even though I don't always resonate with the music or the texts, it's no nice to be belting notes, singing at the top of my lungs, it's freeing.

My creative friends inspire me by their commitment to their craft, and their talents. I love seeing them creating their own universe that reflect their personality. The Dove and The Dragon, Archie XN Trick, Tom Dibbs... There are so many of them!

Ernest Pignon-Ernest: was moved by the beauty of his piece called Extases, I saw back in 2016 I think. I've seen exhibitions of his work in Museum, but that particular one was in a church, with lights and a shallow pool reflecting the drawings of women receiving a divine experience. Among everything I felt I remember thinking success was being able to create something that would create in my audience an experience as profound as what I felt: being mesmerised by beauty.

Michel Houssin and his crowds

Matthew G William, also a musician, a very great guitarist, but I know him more through his drawings. I get that sense that he feels free when he's drawing.

Then mandalas, sacred geometry pattern, cymatics, nature, symbols, faces inspire me, and you can find these themes in my works. It's usually colourful, a bit trippy, sort of psychedelic, visionary, our connection with everything that is. Peyson Jones, Morgan Manley art, Autumn sky art, Ryan Gajda, Clake Foster, Alex Grey...

What Is Your Worst Artistic Experience?

I am very lucky that they rarely happen. I do get the occasional people making fun of my voice, and disliking everything I do, and sometimes being rude. The hardest thing is investing so much effort into a work and when sharing it, nothing happens, it's not getting seen, doesn't get any likes... I sometimes can feel like I'm not good enough. I remember once I was improvising some vocal melodies in Castlerigg Stone Circle with my crystal singing bowls, closing my eyes, fully in the moment, doing what I think i do best, really enjoying myself, not even playing fro money or likes but just for the pure joy of singing and connecting in my way with the space. And someone cut me off, saying how it wasn't harmonious at all, and how I was being disrespectful and ruining this sacred space, and that they couldn't enjoy the energy of the stones with my awful voice. It's not a big deal, but sometimes the very little things hurt the most.

With these types of comments my mind then gets in the way, it becomes harder to perform, and enjoy myself, my focus in being projected on the outside, with a little fear of people's reactions. Being in my head, creates a situation of me being thinking about other thing, as I sing. I'm losing the feelings, I sing in autopilot mode, disconnected from what I truly feel singing, it's blocking my creativity, my ability for doing new things, improvising... And I hate it, it's not my job to worry about people's approval. My job but also my joy is found in singing with as much conviction and love, and enjoyment for all of life. Being present, give out my best, no matter if I am busk, play originals, or jam or play covers, no matter if it's in a pub, at a wedding, in the streets, or in a studio. No matter if people stop to listen, if they appreciate my music, if there are five people in a room or 10000 of them dancing and singing along. My job is to give my voice and take care of how I feel, that's it.

What Has Been Your Most Fulfilling Moment?

The creative journey is fulfilling in itself, as like I explained my art is a reflection of myself. It grows and evolve with me. And I love the person i am becoming, and where my life is heading. One of them is how my gratitude and love for life, the universe, and people grows each day, to the point of making me cry sometimes as I am moved by all the appreciation and encouragements I receive daily. I've always been a very lonely person, it comes with its blessing and curses. You know how some people who have had difficult upbringing, they didn't their needs met, thus traumas, and then they are struggling receiving healthy love. Well I had to learn to accept people's generosity, help, and support. I am very honoured by everyone's love, and I am blessed to be able to do what I love everyday.

I think people got very touched/moved by my story. I came to England 4 years ago, for my art studies. So it was 2020, in the middle of the Covid madness. And I had my expectations tore apart. It didn't feel like being a student. I thought I'd be going out, going to gigs and stuff, and I had non of that, and I wasn't enjoying my time here. I couldn't do this anymore, do things I wasn't enjoying. So I left everything behind, quit my studies, my small flat I still had in France, with not much money. I had and still have no car, no family in this country... I had no plans but to do what was bringing me satisfaction, joy and pleasure.

Going on hikes, swimming, drawing, and all the creative stuff like dancing and playing music. Trying to figure out what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be, and how to get there. But while I was processing all of these emotions, People made it safe for me to find my voice, and my path. Just a little over a month after being in Preston, I met Kathy, who soon as she met me, told me ''You're not alone anymore, you'll spend christmas was us if you want". I'll always remember this, it was the first time receiving some support. And it's not stopped ever since. Sometimes it's overwhelming, cause I don't know if I'll ever be able to give back everything I was given. It's beautiful. It's been a beautiful life lesson. We can take care of each other as a collective.

Like when I busk, it's funny to think that most people give me a pound or even just 50p, it might not make any difference to their lives, and yet adding them all up, it's enough for me to live. It is very humbling and eye-opening. It's moving me and I feel like it's making me a more generous person too. It's beautiful to experience how through this generosity, I get to create space for me to recentre myself, find myself, and get back on what I love doing and what brings life to me. Very very very grateful for this. I get asked pretty much everyday how someone from Nice ended up in Preston, and staying for this long. The answer is because of you.

It aligns with my spiritual beliefs too, that all life is connected. But careful don't think that you should wait for someone to save you. My luck, love and joy of living, and "success" if i dare calling it that, are a reflection of my dedication to the creative path, and are proportionate to the work and the risk i am willing to take. It was tough to drop my studies and witness how my loved ones perceived me. For a long time, my mum's seen me as a just a beggar who gave up on her brilliant studies, seeing me as a victim of Covid too despite non having anything to do with my physical health. But the truth is, that choice I made, was the starting point of this beautiful journey. It was being ready to be an artist. It's the most important decision and powerful act i have ever made. It's what creates all my rewards today. It was me stating I am good enough to be who I want to be, and live of my art. Me feeling confident enough and trusting myself and life enough. Funny to see the different perceptions of things. I've learnt in people see and call Preston in two ways: Depreston or Sunny Preston. The choice is up to you. Can you see its Beauty?

Where Are You Going Next?

I am going to record my songs, talk about my voice how I have been not speaking for 4 years to being a bilingual and singer and inviting people to nurture their voices, and feel its power. Touring with Brigantis!! And recording with them.

Right now music is in the foreground, but it will come back stronger once my music is released. I'll still be doing some illustrations and mandalas.

I've recently joined a band Brigantis, (and also there's a collective of artists including the other members of Brigantis, called Samarpan), which is very exciting, we have recording dates planed, and gigs lined up until January. With Samarpan, we will be going to Germany in November. I feel just Beyond blessed. It's such a joy to be collaborating with other brilliant musicians. It's like we all have our gifts we are bringing, and by being together we're allowing each of us to stand out even more than if we were playing on our own. It's magical, and the other members are doing such a good job at making me feel welcomed and safe to enjoy myself and create.