June 2009

Alice and Anthony Godwin

Where do you live?
Leichhardt, inner city suburb of Sydney, Australia, also known as Little Italy, the main street Norton St is renowned for all the Italian Restaurants & cafes hence the coffee is the best in Sydney.

What are you respective mediums?
Writing... and Music/Poetry

How did you meet?
In a South American Bar (in Sydney) called La Vina. Where we drank Sangria & danced Salsa all night. Afterwards discovering we lived a few streets away and worked just around the corner from each other.

You have two children - do you see signs of your children following in your artistic footsteps? And if so – would you encourage them or try and steer them towards a more conventional career path?

Our children have always enjoyed drawing and music, Deaglan plays the Double Bass & trumpet and Dylan has started Cello as well as dabbling in drums, singing and he’s a born comedian/actor. Both use various computer programs & compose music as well as write songs. Deaglan has already composed a CD - Classical Myths with music he wrote and he is possibly going to put it on his mythical beasts website he is building. Technology is so amazing these days that they can do things on their home computer that we could only dream about doing at University. I think it's important to expose children to all sorts of things, museums, galleries, gardens, and nature as much as possible and let them work out what it is that moves them. We are lucky that the local school is very open, they have an Artist in residence program, and as well as the Band program they also have a string group program that was set up by parents who play in orchestras. Anthony organized a Buddhist Scripture class that has become hugely popular as well. It all helps create in the children an awareness that all sorts of possibilities exist. I think both Anthony & I were steered to do more conventional careers and it has made following our creative impulses a lot harder.
Conventional career path? Absolutely NOT, I would never encourage that!

Most of my twenties! Probably about 12 years ago when I was shortlisted in a Literary competition and that story was published in an Anthology. And I got paid! Then life and children sort of intervened for a while. There was a story comp at the local library and I decided to write something while Dylan (a baby at that point) was asleep and it won which was such a jolt in the arm and really inspired me to start writing again. But any time a story is accepted for publication it’s a real buzz.

I was really struck by a passage in 'Gargoyles on the Edge' - Religion has no monopoly on evil. Evil is. Evil does. It's just out there, like the air, like the toxins. You can't see it but you feel the consequences. Do you think art can be used to combat evil?
I think the shared experience of art – listening to music or a song, connecting with a visual artwork or reading something /watching a play that allows empathy into a totally different way of thinking all unite people. When we have that connection we become united in that shared experience. Evil is always divisive, it feeds on hatred and perceived differences; it’s a way of thinking that is taught. People aren’t born evil they are created by the influences around them that perpetuate hatred and intolerance. Art is the only thing that can combat evil. Art inspires people to rise above the evil that surrounds them. Art was used to combat the evil of the Catholic Church during the Renaissance in various and insidious ways while the Church was trying to suppress learning and knowledge. Spanish artists such as Goya and Picasso both used their art as a response to the despotism their country was experiencing. Of course it was music that was used to combat the Vietnam War more effectively than any protest march. Music has always taken the message of peace to the trenches.

Anthony – what drew you to music? And Alice – what drew you to writing?
As soon as I could talk I was singing along to the radio. I started playing guitar at about 7 years old and haven't stopped since. As an only child, music was my only sibling.
I was always a Book Addict and my mind just naturally daydreams stories so it was an inevitable path. I actually envy songwriters who can say so much in three minutes (that’s why I married one I was hoping to absorb some of his technique). I tend to go the long road, the scenic route but I like the way writing can create a place and time that seems so real and characters that don’t exist in the real sense but while you’re reading them they become alive and real.

Have you had a moment where you’ve had an impact as an artist? When you felt like your art made a difference?
I've had wonderful moments busking where someone has been extremely affected by a song. Sometimes that's nicer than having thousands of people responding to you, to make a personal difference to at least one. Once, a girl was so happy that I had played Heroes while she was rushing to College for an exam. She had been in so much of a hurry that morning, she hadn’t had time to play the song at home, which was her usual preparation for a test, and when she heard me playing, she was overjoyed and believed she was going to pass the exam because I had played her lucky song. Knowing that someone has been moved by a story is amazing. I had a story published in a magazine for Mental Health Week, about a mother of an Autistic child and her thoughts as she dealt with the differences between this child and her others, and to hear really positive feedback from mothers dealing with this situation in real life was so rewarding.

What are the pros/cons of being married to a fellow artist?
Pros: Never having to apologize for disappearing for hours to work. Cons: Access to the computer. Sharing the ups and downs and knowing they get it without any need for explanation.

With two artists and two young children in the house – how and where do you set up your work areas?
Wherever we can and whoever gets there first! Our entire house is one big construction zone. I convinced Alice that we needed another computer recently so we’re not fighting over trying to both work at the same time. I also work Saturdays every second month, which gives me a day off during the week when no one’s around, and Alice takes one day off a week from her work as well. It saved my sanity having that one day a week, its made a huge difference and means I usually have something on the go and can spend twenty minutes when I get home even adding to it as well. I don’t need much space (my library does though) and it’s very much a case as well of what housework can I leave for another day, week and write instead.

What drives you as an artist?

There’s a little voice inside my head that impels me to play. If I don’t, I’m very morose. So it’s a bit like therapy and a bit like exorcising demons. It’s also the most perfect way I can express myself. I heard someone say recently that music is a wonderful way to express yourself because you can argue with an idea, but you can’t argue with a song. Although I’m sure I know people who could argue against that! I’ve never really imagined doing anything else with my life because an inner craving has led me inexorably down a path towards art. I can be waylaid sometimes, but never for too long.

I’m so much happier since I’ve been able to write regularly. It probably keeps me sane and it’s this outlet for all the stories and dreams that accumulate in my head. Its also very playful and experimental as you think about situations, places, and eras even and then create them so you get to live in them for a little while and be someone outside yourself. I read somewhere that all the characters that a writer creates are really parts of themselves and it’s a strange feeling when you realize that as you are writing away and its often the least obvious one that you most identify with, some dark or shadowy part of yourself that finally sees the light of day. My ultimate dream is to write full time so bit by bit I’m working to get there.