Tim Murray & Abandoned Teddies
A brilliant creative with over 50 years of experience; background in music, programming, psychology, and multimedia.
The images in this post were provided directly from Tim—a preview of what’s to come in the future. We hope you enjoy them as much as we have!
“[What brings me joy?] Simplicity. Honest conversations, being in nature, living in the moment. Creating,” he says.
Tim currently uses Midjourney for image generation; Topaz AI for upscaling; Adobe CC for cataloging, grading, animating, compositing, and retouching.
“I choose various versions of the MJ engine for different artistic effects,” Tim says.
“I'm a creative with over 50 years of experience. My background is in music, programming, psychology, multimedia,” Tim says.
“While most of my career has been in the corporate tech and marketing space (with a decade each in music teaching and exhibition design), I've recently returned to purely creative projects in film and visual arts,” he adds. “For relaxation, I hike and climb. It gives me a connection to reality and lets me tap the flow of the world around me.”
On generative art
“Generative art is a democratization of creativity,” Tim says. “Everyone has an urge to create, but life can get in the way: jobs, bills, and failing to meet your creative need is ultimately bad for the soul. To be able to follow through on a dream while still working within daily demands is freeing, rewarding, exciting, and empowering.”
“As I create pieces and share them with my community, I've been blessed with connections with people who have been brave enough, generous enough, sensitive enough to share their experiences and interpretation of the images with me,” he adds, of his generative art experience. “This is a gift that has been so wonderful to receive.
Prompting Strategy
We love the way Tim describes his prompting strategy for Abandoned Teddies and we know it’ll help us shape up our next project.
“What makes a good image? That's so subjective!” Tim says.
“It's all about the story (for me). I need to know what I am trying to communicate: subject, setting, theme, era, mood, emotion, props... all are equally important,” he adds.
“Once these elements are starting to come together, and I have basic prompts working, I start to play with camera, composition, lighting, atmosphere, aspect. But all the technical decisions are driven by the story,” Tim says. “Not all elements of the prompt come into play with all concepts.”
He adds, “the most important thing for this project is to not let MJ refine things too much: I never want things to look right... I want them to feel right. If I refine images a lot, I lose the roughness that makes the teddies what they are!”
We love what Tim has to say about learning:
“I'm always on the lookout for all tools that can help in my creative process. I never have a tool that I am interested in learning: I am already learning it. There is nothing filed away for later. I am constantly looking for new methods and try them out immediately,” he says. “Maybe the tools I am interested in learning are the ones that have not been thought of yet!”
I have learned that it's still about story. What story is the art trying to tell? Is it a mood, a feeling, a situation? What is essential? What can be left out? What is the essence? In discovering these answers, I learn more about myself. It's a process of introspection.
Abandoned Teddies
For the inspiration behind Abandoned Teddies, click here.
“The teddies are metaphors for how we all process life. We find strength, compassion, friendship from our experiences. We deal with a vast scope of feelings, emotions, needs, and reactions,” Tim says. “And the way that each teddy continues on after abandonment is fine. Light, dark, hope, and despair. We all find our way in our own time.”
To be in a forest, surrounded by ferns and trees and water and life... the sounds and smells. To really connect and be at peace.
This is me.
The future is bright
“I have a transmedia sci-fi idea I'm working on. The teddies are moving towards an animation project,” Tim says of his long-term plans. “And I'm looking for 3D and sculpture opportunities.”
“Generative art is not an end to itself: it's merely the most recent step in the evolution of tools,” he says. “Keep an open mind for new opportunities to express yourself, including the established traditions, and enjoy the journey!”
What a wonderful project. And the inspiration for this-- the teddies set out on children's birthdays during lockdown. Just, wow!