Who are you and where do you come from?
I’m Stephen Yeates, one of a small minority of inhabitants of Toronto, Canada who were actually born here!
Share your twitter account with us and tell us what you are twittering about:
@Velociguy. I am new to the twitterverse; I started tweeting for this project and am still discovering its many uses, following and tweeting about the crazy antics of our city politicians, tweeting observations of nature (yes, the natural world coexists with this dense urban structure!), sometimes about work or the oddities and surprises of life.
Tell us about your creative side:
One of my first memories is lying on my grandparents‘ living room floor drawing a man. I wasn’t quite three years old. It was clearly a man to me but abstract to my family! I have always sketched, fabricated, designed, even in my first career as a High School Geography teacher, where I worked with stage sets, yearbook and was the go-to person on staff for graphic duties. A mid-career switch: back to University to study design, finding film and television work to finally freelance as an illustrator/graphic designer in 1997.
What inspires you?
I think inspiration comes from an inclination to see multiple sides and variations of… anything. New ideas and visions can be triggered by people, music, nature, others‘ inspirations, my partner’s creative work, the cat, a disasterously expensive meal (that triggered the idea for our Christmas dinner menu!). So what inspires me is whatever I bump into after I wake up – and sometimes before I wake! I think that is true for everyone.
Time travel: Where would you go to?
1967. THAT was an inspiring time; what a cultural explosion! Music, art, design, culture. Hippies! So wise/naive and peaceful. And challenging. My sleepy Toronto was being shaken awake; everything was exciting.
Name your favorite present book:
I’m reading Straphanger by Taras Grescoe. Its an entertaining story of urban transit systems around the world and how they relate to urban planning, development and culture. I just finished reading The Life of Pi. I wanted to read it before seeing the film. I waited ten years – what could be interesting about a boy and a tiger in a boat? One of my favourite books now. And the film lived up to the quality of the book, including the inspired (there’s that word, again!) use of 3D.
Which tweeter would you recommend for @createandrotate and why?
@annalena, who shares so much good information!
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