Two Cowboys: Its About Our People. Who Are Yours?

Who Touched Your Life Today?

It is sad that we know more about people we are unlikely to ever meet than we do about the people that served us our morning coffee.

The tone for our days are set by television, newspapers and social media, by immoral and corrupt politicians, celebrities with paid-for-opinions, leaked emails, the next big tech gadget, the online meme, a cat video, the price of the US Dollar and Aunty Bessie's next inspirational Bible verse.

Apparently, if we follow conventional wisdom, we should be concerned about people who know zip about us and is unlikely to ever care who we are. The monkey is amused.


We suffer from a media-induced "connectedness fallacy" that is perpetuated by our constant fascination with "important" yet worthless content. Why should we be bothered with the politician's email server? How can it matter what Kardashian had for lunch or who is buying DiCaprio's dinner? Cousin Johnny just bought a new motorcycle. Big deal. The Government just introduced a new tax. Boohoo. Putin just took off his shirt. Really?!

We live in an artificially connected algorithmically personalized informational content box driven by classifications, polls, likes and comments from someone somewhere, everywhere. Our real lives are passing us by. Every day, many real people touch our lives. We go through our rituals, work and habits and interactions with human beings not knowing anything about them. Do we know who they are? What are their names? How did it happen that they crossed our path? How do they feel and what do they think about us?

Should we care?

Yes, we should. The real people we touch and those that touch us define who we are, where we are, how we act, feel and who we eventually become. It is easy to ignore a message, email or ping. No connection, right? It is not easy to ignore a person that steps through your door, shakes your hand and asks: "How are you doing today, my friend?"

These are the people that really matter. Let's go out and meet them. Let's introduce ourselves.

Life Stories

Every life is made up of many, many stories. A person begins as part of a parent’s story. It is soon eclipsed by stories of discovery, finding an identity, forming relations, dealing with disappointment, and ultimately discovering or losing their purpose. We are the sum of our stories.

Stories unfold from perspectives, intentionally or otherwise. Stories become the distorted shadows in Plato's reality cave, outlining the elusive and enigmatic, while perpetually weaving itself into our identity. This discovery alone distinguishes the few from the many. Knowing that a story is just that. A perspective. The reality is something much more elusive and a lot less interesting. This is the first step to higher understanding.

Others become part of our stories as we become part of theirs. Some are positive and others less so. A positive story may be the result of a smile from the person that passes. A negative story the upset because of a smiling passing stranger. While we are part of other’s stories, discovering that we can only influence our own, is considered by many as the second step to higher understanding.

No amount of positive intent can account for someone else’s perceived tragedy. We are held accountable only by what we choose to include in our own experience and thought. Because it is what we include that we will perceive and ultimately receive. It is what makes us, us. Intentionally writing one’s own life’s story is the third step to higher understanding.

The question that remains is: If we can only write our own story, why then do we default to doing so for others? What more have we to give one another than our limited version of the truth? It is our story about our human adventure as honestly and as openly as we know how, that we share. In sharing, we hope to be recognised to become part of the stories of others. In sharing our stories and that of others, we become intertwined. They become part of us, and we become part of them. This is the fourth and final step to higher understanding. We are connected.

Let it then be good stories we tell.

On the Road

The Two Cowboys' mission is to learn, inspire and showcase small Producers all over the world - the people that make things. We do it with videos, blog posts, photos and through social media.

While undertaking our journey we travel a lot and interact with many people in local communities. When we interact with someone or reach out to a person, they become part of our story. We influence each others' lives. The people we feature serve us our coffee, brew us our beer, sew our shirts, mould our hats, service our trucks, grill our steaks and much more. They are cashiers, servers, assistants, workers, donors, sponsors and entrepreneurs. These are people in who we are vested. We are connecting with them.

We believe that we have a duty to introduce them to you, our audience. We want the world to know who they are. We want you to know them, meet them, and support them.

We will post photos of them on our Facebook Page and Instagram Feed.
Follow our travels on Patreon: http://www.travelingcowboys.com
Join us for an experience: http://www.twocowboysexperiences.com

See you on the road.

Hendrik van Wyk
Connected Cowboy

Two Cowboys: Telling Stories With Friends at the Animation College in Auckland, New Zealand

Creating Value

(Learn: ** Inspire: *** Amaze: *** Live: **)
(The Two Cowboys - Subjective Rate-o-Meter.)

We checked in with Animation College in Auckland, New Zealand, courtesy of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. The Animation College was a finalist in 2016's Westpac Business Awards' Central Region.

Animation College began as part of Freelance Animators Ltd, founded in 1989 by American, John Ewing – a former Disney animator, and design studio owner, Barry Pearce.

This is a short promotional clip...

See the Complete Video on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

John Ewing trained as an animator at Disney Studios in the '50s and '60s, the golden years of the studio, where he helped craft classic features including Sleeping Beauty, Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book. In 1967 he moved to NZ where he turned his skills to classic commercials including Ches'n'Dale for Chesdale Cheese, Jungle Juice, the Marley Duck and the TV Kiwi.

In the ‘80s, Freelance Animators were the first dedicated New Zealand animation studio to carry out contract work for Disney and Warner Bros, including the animated series Tiny Toons for none other than Steven Spielberg. The next step for John and Barry was to begin teaching others as there was no formal animation training in New Zealand at this time.

In the decade that followed, John trained dozens of animators, many of whom went on to work at Weta in NZ, Blue Sky Studios in New York, Passion Pictures in London and ILM in San Francisco. Ultimately, the training scheme grew into Freelance Animation School and branched out into modern animation techniques such as 3D animation. In 2012, the school was renamed Animation College.

Observations

The reason for our visit was to find out what motivates people to become animators and tell stories with cartoons. We wanted to know why students were at the College, and what they hoped to learn from attending a traditional learning institution to be educated in the not so traditional art of digital storytelling.

We discovered that it is a great deal more complicated than we ever imagined. This isn't just about drawing funny characters for children's entertainment. We found a group of talented young people at the forefront of technology, yet still rooted in the classic art of philosophy. They are people pooling their collective talents to create amazing things, tell fascinating stories and most importantly, architect futuristic interactive digital experiences.

At the College, they use words such as "Value Creation", "Wisdom", "Collective Experiences" and "Interactivity" as standard terms to define their pursuits. These are big words for young people that are naturally attracted to the shine of the latest and greatest gadgets. It demonstrates that a significant amount of thought goes into the work they do with what may appear to the outsider as a simple digital playground of sorts. However, it is this easy access to technology, software, gadgets, mobile media, virtual reality and interactive gaming platforms that allow them to push the boundaries of content creation.

An enormous amount of thought and creativity goes into telling stories through non-traditional mediums. No matter what medium is used, we discovered that ultimately it is still about the stories. We cannot get away from the fact that human life is narratively rooted. It is one of the ways we make sense of our world. It is how we bridge reality with perception to form understanding. In every culture, stories are a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and ultimately the for the instilling of moral virtue.

At Animation College, they focus on these age-old principles, coupled with amazing technology and buckets full of creativity to equip tomorrow's geniuses with the means to evolve the experience of the human condition.

You will have to work hard to keep up if you are over 35.

Hendrik van Wyk
Digital Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. If you Sponsor us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/twocowboys or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/twocowboys we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

Not Me!

Mickey's Fault

Watching You...

Nightmares

Mini Vader

Two Cowboys on a Journey: Atelier Helping Artists to Tell Their Stories in Canada and The World

"Atelier"

(Learn: * Inspire: ** Amaze: * Live: ****)
(The Two Cowboys Subjective Rate-o-Meter.   )

...a workshop or studio, especially one used by an artist or designer.

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

In conversations with Artisans, they admit that the one hurdle they all identify is the need to take their work to market. They invest emotionally in their creations. They spend every living, breathing waking moment in making and fabricating. It takes hours, days, weeks and sometimes a lifetime for an artist or craftsman to produce their best work. This happens while there is always the delicate balance between creating something remarkable or just good enough to get it out the door for the week's rent of their workshop. 

Online shopping and creator websites such as Etsy are making it easier to sell their wares. However, wouldn't it be great if creators only needed to make, while customers line up at the door?

These Artists are remarkable people. They each have a unique and often inspiring story. Their stories have the potential to exalt their creation from the mundane and routine to the exquisite and inspirational. No one will know these stories unless someone tells them. Many don't know how inspirational they are until someone discovers it.

This is where Carolyne Kauser-Abbott and Atelier Boutiques (https://atelierboutiques.com) come in. Carolyne's passion for unique, one-of-a-kind creations from outstanding artisans inspired her to create a service where she helps these makers to take their products to market and to tell their stories.

It is a marketplace with a difference.

Atelier recognizes the creative effort required by dedicated artists to learn a skill, practice a technique and experiment with materials. It creates a virtual space that opens the doors to those workshops near and far, by giving you a glimpse into the artists’ studios, a chance to read or see their stories and the ability to buy their products.

Carolyne searches for exclusive, handcrafted, high-quality, wardrobe accessories for women including jewellery, scarves, hats and sweaters. The home décor collection is carefully selected to bring artisanal showpieces and unique household gifts to market. 

She invites us to meet the creators and understand their stories of how and why they are pursuing their craft. This is where our journey meets. Two quirky Cowboys & A Camera is about telling stories of people that make things. Producers. Inspirational people and beautiful things. 

Please be introduced to Carolyne and her creators. Stay tuned as we jointly undertake a journey to showcase the many Artisans working away in their Ateliers across Canada. Who knows, you may just meet your neighbour.

Hendrik van Wyk

In My Atelier

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship. All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

Photos

Unique

Simple

My Space

Focus