ARMOUR DE L’AMORE / the armour of love

2016 

Armour De L’Amore

‘The breakthrough clip’, the one that turned my work into a viral phenomenon. And the one that got me into America.

Armour De L’Amore Translates to The Armour Of Love, from French To English. Truth be told the only reason I changed the wording is because I loved how the words rolled together versus the plain English version, plus, I always like to take something and make it slightly different. Turn it from plain and the expected , to the unexpected. And giving it the French name ‘Armour De L’Amore’ did exactly that for me. This clip came at a time when i was heavily invested in watching ‘Game Of Thrones’ and I was struck by the quote of Tyrion Lannister played by Peter Dinklage;

‘Never forget who you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength . Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it and it can never be used to hurt you’ – Tyrion Lannister

 So when I was doing this clip, I wanted to honour the ‘love thyself’ aspect and wrap it up in Armour! It seemed to work because it was so exceptionally well received. The ironic thing is, despite producing the work, and connecting with the meaning of the quote, I didn’t wholeheartedly embrace it or even feel strong within myself at all. I was always searching for ‘happy’ and always felt so sad and ‘not enough’. I lived like this for a very long time but thankfully broke through it in years to come. (I would say the most recent Astrology Clip is the product of that transformation so if you want to know more, please head over there for further reading). The following year I was at a bar in Dublin, Ireland with some friends, and low and behold Ser Davos Seaworth , The Onion Knight (played by Liam Cunningham) was drinking in there. We spoke & The clipping came into conversation and when I showed him the photo & explained the meaning of the clip, he asked was it drawn from inspiration from Peter Dinklage (Tyrion) and I said yes! I’m hoping that message got back to Peter at some point after that encounter , I loved his performance in Game Of Thrones, so exceptionally inspiring and it would be awesome to think that he had seen my work.

Art seems to follow that form, it derives from inspiration. We all have the ability to affect each other in that way. But alas, back to the clip..

This clip was the start of a long standing partnership with photographer Katie Amos! She took the iconic photos that have been used globally. Truth be told I don’t think either of us anticipated the success of the images taken that day, or in the clips to come. But what I really liked was I knew I could trust Katie and that meant more to me than anything. We still work together now & each clip shoot, Katie captures what we need so beautifully. The portrait photo of Romeo looking back over his hind quarter (see below) has been featured heavily all over the world!  This happened in 2017 prior to paid ads on social media, so we reached the World Wide Web, all organically, all on the back of our creativity. 

The Armour Of Love was the very first time my creative clipping and online content went global and hit ‘viral’ status, with my work being featured across the world! It was such an exciting time! I was being tagged in articles constantly, receiving emails asking for interviews, shown on FOX news in America, published in The Mail Online, featured in countless newspapers as far as Croatia and Greece. I remember when a fan of my work send me a photo from her local newspaper in Croatia, I realised in that moment that my work was really admired on another level, and I began to receive messages from people everywhere saying how much the loved the work, and how it inspired them to get into horses and to consider creating a clipping business of their own! For me, this was such an accomplishment , to inspire others, truth be told it wasn’t a conscious thing I tried to do, but it happened in its own way. I learned that this happens most, when I am not trying, or when I am letting my creativity ‘flow’. Further down the line I would come to realise that not everyone would be so supportive and welcoming, you can read more about this in my write up of ‘The Healing Horse’, the clip that came next.

When I look back at this clip, I know this is the one that gave me the ticket across the world, into America where I would have some fantastic fun times in 2017 & 2018, meeting some amazing people and horses all whilst doing exactly what I love to do, and that is teaching people how to clip horses! (See my ‘America’ Page to see what I got up to during the following trips to America )