In October 2013 internationally renowned artist Misery a.k.a. Tanja Jade spoke at CreativeMornings/Auckland, entertaining the audience with her stories of exorcism, travel and turnips.Â
Part of a series on Play, you can watch her talk above or at creativemornings.com
Start thinking like a creative rebel with these CreativeMornings quotes from some of our most rebellious talks illustrated using Shutterstock assets by the talented Zach Higgins.
In September, rockstar farmer and head of The Big Idea Trust and The ART Venture Initiative Elisabeth Vaneveld tackled the theme of Connect at the September installment of CreativeMornings Auckland.
Describing herself as an âartist of the invisibleâ Elisabeth mused on the need to connect your passion to your ideas, and challenge the conventional.
You can watch the talk here or over at our global library creativemornings.com.
CreativeMornings/Auckland with Richie Hardcore
Friday 28 February, 8:00am - 9:30am
The Basement Theatre
The path of the rebel is never a smooth one. To challenge the status quo, butt heads with mainstream opinion, and reshape society you have to be willing expose yourself and take a few hits. You have to be ready to become an outcast.
But when you look back in time, the rebels are the ones history remembers, for better or worse. They push the boundaries, catalyse change, question the things others blindly accept. They forge new ways of thinking and change the world.
We couldnât think of anyone who fits that description better then Richie Hardcore. A former Muay Thai Boxing Champion, turned personal trainer, coach and manager, his day job has him working for the Ministry of Heath on a national project aimed at reducing drug and alcohol harm in at risk communities, with his particular focus being on University students and the GLBTI community.
On the side he hosts his own show on independent Auckland radio station 95bfm (repping punk and hardcore), makes frequent appearances on NewstalkZBâs mental health focused talkback show, âThe Nuttersâ Club,â and was a regular contributor on TVNZâs sadly disbanded youth channel ULive, promoting âPMA(Positive Mental Attitude) All dayâ. He even squeezes in a spot of modeling every now and then.
A prominent presence across mainstream and social media, heâs never been one to shy away from strong opinions or difficult topics. Rebelling against the local drinking culture, he became apart of the straight edge movement as a teenager, choosing to live a life free from intoxicants.
In his words, âBeing a rebel isnât smoking and drinking and dying your hair, itâs being brave, meaningfully rejecting what society tells us is normal, challenging it and living our better, higher values, because the personal is political.â
Join us for a stimulating look at what it means to rebel in a modern context from one of Aucklandâs local legends.
In August 2013 Photographer, Activist, and Urbanist Patrick Reynolds treated our earlybirds to a passionate talk about âUnf**king Aucklandâ, and the transport revolution the city is currently experiencing.
Part of a global series on the topic of âUrbanismâ, you can check it out above or head over to the video library housed at creativemornings.com
We are excited to present the second theme for 2014, âRebel" brought to you by Shutterstock. The theme was chosen by our Portland organizer Tsilli Pines and her team, and we were thrilled to have Adam Garcia as the monthâs illustrator.
CMâs Official Partner for Visual Inspiration, Shutterstock, is a creative marketplace with over 30 million images, enabling photographers, illustrators and videographers to earn money by licensing their work to customers (over $150 million in royalties to artists to date!).
As a company that thrives on art, Shutterstock celebrates rebels who push the status quo, who support creative communities, and who raise the levels of beauty and happiness in the world. Speakers this month will look at what it means to be a rebel at the front of the line or even in your own day to day life.
In Shutterstockâs words: âRebels think creatively. Rebels are fearless. Rebels force art and tech to advance forward. Rebels make the world a better place.â
As always, free tickets are available starting the Monday before the talk.
Dressed in some spiffy Kermit the frog trousers Illustrator and Graphic Designer Richard Kuoch a.k.a. Podgy Panda with us his learnings from his career, his travels and his love of cartoons, speaking on the theme of Childhood.Â
The morning was hosted by the team at Movers & Shakers, in their colour-changing inflatable braincell, and proudly brought to you by Curative and Little Lot, with coffee and water generously provided by Coffee Supreme and Antipodes. Thanks peeps!!â¨â¨ Our love for you is bigger then a really big tree that would be perfect for climbing.
And thanks to Aria Taylor and Kaan Hiini for taking the photos - Check out the full set here: CreativeMornings /AKL with Podgy Panda 
CreativeMornings/Auckland with Richard Kuoch a.k.a Podgy Panda
Friday 31 January, 8:00am - 9:30am
Movers & Shakers
Donât you love summer holidays? Fish and chips on the beach, ice creams melting faster then you can eat them, long days filled with nothing but blue skies and the potential for adventure. For many of us its a bit like revisiting our childhood, away from the routine and duties of our daily lives and quite often spending exorbitant amounts of time with family. So we think Januaryâs global theme of childhood fits perfectly.
And to speak to that theme weâre stoked to have Podgy Panda onboard. PodgyPanda (Richard Kuoch) is an artist, illustrator, animator and graphic designer based in Auckland. His characters exude that playful innocence we so often associate with childhood.
Utilising his background in animation and graphic design, he follows his motto âBlink, Smile, Shareâ by creating characters and illustrations that show his fun and unique take on life through art.
Over the past seven years, he has been busy creating and working on a diverse array of projects. His projects range from commercial design such as logos and character creations, through to apparel and mural designs, with up and coming apparel and vinyl toy projects in the pipeline.
Fresh from a stint in London, he is currently working on an upcoming solo exhibition and group shows around the world, where he hopes to expand the world his characters reside in.
Start the year off the bright and early way and come and join us for coffee and creative chats! Get your tickets from 11am Monday 27 January.
We are excited to kick off 2014 with the theme of âChildhoodâ brought to you by Squarespace. The theme was chosen by our Milan chapter and we were thrilled to have Ed Nacional create this monthâs theme illustration.
The theme is presented by Squarespace, one of our Official Partners, who supports us and helps us keep CreativeMornings free and accessible to creative professionals in over sixty cities around the world. Thanks, Squarespace!
As always, free tickets are available starting the Monday before the talk.Â
There’s something about a clear blue sky that really lifts your spirits. We’ve been soaking up this amazing weather as we make our way through what, for many of us, is the last working week of 2013. Summerâs here! So with the days heating up the CreativeMornings/Auckland team are taking a break, kicking back with a book and a beverage.Â
Thanks to our spectacular speakers from the past year;
Your stories have inspired and invigorated and we can not thank you enough for being a part of CreativeMornings this year.Check out the talks from 2013 here 
Of course CreativeMornings/Auckland wouldnât happen at all without the special group of individuals who volunteer their time to make sure everything runs so smoothly. So weâd like to say a GIGANTIC thank you (and give a big bear hug) to Reagan, Bree, Malika, Jane, Reza, Tom, Eddy, Jade, Edward, Aria, Kaan, Codie, Juanita, Laura, Courtney, G and all the others who have been a part of the stellar team of volunteers who work so hard to make it all run like clockwork. You guys rock!Weâre always grateful for an extra pair of helping hands, so if youâre keen to be a part of the CreativeMornings/Auckland family drop us an email at auckland@creativemornings.com.We love bringing you a little taste of creative inspiration every month, so we’ll be back again next year to do just that.  As ever, weâre committed to serving up stimulating talks and inspirational projects from the crème de la creme of our thriving creative community.We’ve got a whole new set of Global Themes for 2014, and we’d love to get some speaker suggestions from you! The themeâs for the first six months will be:
Who would you like to see at one of our upcoming events? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook, or just drop us an email at auckland@creativemornings.com 
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As is traditional around this time of year, we thought weâd take a reflective look back over the year.
Check out our photo highlights over on our facebook page, or head over to Flickr for our full sets.
So thatâs it for 2013. Have a brilliant holiday, look after yourselves and we look forward to seeing you back at the next CreativeMornings ÂťTil then, we’ll leave you with this lovely little thought from Albert Einstein:
âCreativity is contagious, pass it onâ â Albert EinsteinÂ
