By Kylie Conning (@wildheart71)
Actually, I was a bit late to the Fringe
party, and caught up just as Season 4 was ending in the States. When I fall for
something I fall for it hard, and that’s what happened about episode one of Season
2 for me. I think I binge watched three
seasons in about 2 weeks, devouring episode after episode, but finally catching
up with the fandom in time for S5. Don’t
even ask how I managed to keep up with that! New Zealand was way behind, so I
had to use other “resources”. I, like
the entire Fringe fandom, was left with a huge hole in my heart when it
finished. And in my heart, I believed the
Fringe story was definitely NOT finished. The one way I thought I could contribute to
the amazing story was through art.
As a kid and young teenager, I used to doodle all the time as well as sketch, but mainly horses, other animals, and of course a few singers. I do think I had a natural talent for it. But then life happened as it does for most young adults. In my late teens and early twenties, I spent a few years traveling the West Coast of the United States and then through Europe. Eventually I settled down in my hometown of Nelson, New Zealand and had children. So I hadn’t so much as picked up a pencil in almost 25 years.
I’m not sure why, but for my own
satisfaction I wanted to carry on the Fringe story in pictures. I didn’t even know if I could still draw
after so many years without doing so. New Zealand lacks variety in art supplies we get, and what we have is
really, really expensive. So the art
supply issue coupled with having two rambunctious and growing kids to feed, it
was easiest to play around with digital art in Photoshop. To go with the art, I also began writing short
Fringe story snippets that I’m sure many Fringe fans imagined or wrote in their
own minds.
As I began to share my art, the most
wonderful thing happened… I began to meet other Fringe fans and eventually made
friends from all over the world. These friends are like-minded people who also
cared about these characters and the show. For me that was the encouragement I needed to continue doing something I
didn’t even know I had in me. The feedback I got led me to begin to draw again. Drawing lead to painting, and to be honest,
I’ve really surprised myself. It’s my
own Fringe event. I love that I can share my art with everybody, and something
that we can all enjoy together. That’s the power of Fringe. I now count Fringies as amongst my best
friends. I wont have to buy another ballpoint pen for as long as I live!! You
are all amazing and I love you and being a part of this amazing fandom. Art is
now something I’d like to pursue outside of just a hobby, but maybe as something
I do for a living.
So in many ways, I have Fringe to thank for
igniting my creative spark, for introducing me to people I love, for opening up
a whole new world, and most of all for introducing me to Anna Torv. J
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