Today, I have a special interview, Britney Patrick. Her creative hands were in many pots as a young intelligent lady. She was an artist, a cosplayer, and a young scribe. This special young lady gave life her best. Her parents and family will surely miss her, as well as her close DeivantArt friends and her school friends. So here, in the words of two of her Deviantart friends, is a small portrait of a young woman’s life extinguished way too soon.
If you want to leave your thoughts and prayers for her in your comments below. Also you can she her art on at: ms-catastrophie.deviantart.com
Andy: When and Why did she start cosplaying?
Friend: If I remember correctly, she first start cosplaying in 2008 where she cosplayed as Yuna from Final Fantasy X. Her first cosplay was at her first Con, Saboten in 2008. I can’t exactly say I know why she started it, but as I got to know her, I saw she had found much passion in cosplaying the characters. It helped her pass quite a bit of time too as I know she was usually stuck at home.
Andy: How did she feel about cosplaying?
F: She absolutely loved cosplaying. I remember all the time that there’d always be someone new she’d tell me she’d want to cosplay. There was always someone new she found amazing or someone she kept in the back of her mind, someone that she wanted to do later on. I did my very, very best to help her get quite a few of her cosplays. Her last cosplay, she ever got was Inori from Guilty Crown. That turned out to be a great success. She loved and enjoyed cosplaying. She told me here [DeviantArt] and there that cosplaying was a very big part of her life.
Andy: Did she have a group of friends that helped her out in her costuming?
F: She had friends she cosplayed with, of course, and even participated in a few groups. From what she told me, she was never in a set group like a Kingdom Hearts group or Inyuyasha group, etc, etc. I can’t say I know for certain that her friends helped her out, because the last 2 cosplays she made I know she made herself. She learned quite a bit of stitching from her Grandmother.
She actually made her Asuna cosplay from Sword Art Online. This is what most people remember her as, Rydia. I remember we stayed up many nights. I just watched her working on her Rydia when she first started on it through Skype. I was very honored, being able to be the first to see one of her works in progress, and giving my opinion whenever she asked. She often told me how proud she was of her Rydia cosplay and how well it came out.
Andy: How did you see her grow as a costumer?
F: Oh gosh, I saw grow quite a bit over the years I had known her. She started off as a Yuna, then did a Miku Hatsune, and later on Yoko from Gurren Lagen. She started mixing it up quite a bit over the years, she also did a few male characters here and there. To me, no matter what she put on, she always pulled off that cosplay look. My favorite however will always be her Yuna cosplay. Seeing her in it is what actually partially started our friendship.
Andy: What did she tell you about her art and why she drew?
F: Drawing helped her a lot with quite a bit of stress she was going through in her life. Drawing helped her clear her mind in many ways. She drew very often though, always having something new to work on. I remember her sending me her works in progress. I still have some of those WIP’s saved to my phone. I think and this is just me, but her greatest accomplishment as far as her art was a Miku Hatsune Append that she made for a contest. The Miku Hatsune art was during a badge art phase. Not only did she turn work out on the very last con she went to in January, but also there was her art displayed at the most recent con last month [February].
Andy: How did she feel about her art?
F: She really had amazing works of art, but she always felt that she could improve. I always thought her works were great. She wanted to go to an art school one day, but due to a great deal of complications, she wasn’t able.
My favorite art she created was her original Paint My World with Colors, and her Purple Butterfly. I didn’t realize it at first, but her Purple Butterfly turned was one of her very first art works I ever saw, back when she and I used to be on Myspace together. She shared most of her initial works with me, when we were using Myspace. She’d laugh right now for me saying, “but when Myspace used to be cool”, as we both did whenever we brought it up.
Andy: What do you remember most about Britney’s personality ?
F: What I honestly remember most of her is these 4 things. She was kind, caring, very forgiving, and extremely loving. She was always kind to those around her, even people she didn’t know. She cared for each and every one of her family and friends to a degree I can’t even begin to understand, nor know why she cared as much as she did. Often times, instead of worrying about herself, she chose to care for those around her. She forgave those that had hurt her, because she felt holding onto grudges was just a waste of time. She believed that a person meant more to her then holding painful feelings. She was terrific at loving those around her.
Even if you felt like the worst person in the world sometimes, Britney, could find something good about you. She make you see what she saw in herself. I felt like an ugly creature due to my past. For whatever reason, she loved me regardless of my past and often told me she did. I still have those text messages from her saying that to me. I feel privileged knowing I was lucky enough to be one of the people she loved in her life. I know to the very end that she loved her family and friends with all her heart.
So this is to her family and friends, I know in my heart that she’d want everyone to be happy for her and to let things go. She would want you to let go of anything you feel that your holding against yourself. She would want you to move on, to do things that you enjoy. Possibly, to do things that could hurt because of how much that thing reminds you of Britney. She would want you to feel happy knowing you got to know someone as amazing as her. She’d want you to take the greatest memory of you and her together. She want you to be able to let her live on through you in that sense. I know she’s still with me in some way, I feel that much in my heart. Because of that, things have gotten a little bit easier day by day. I know that if she wanted me to give a message to her family and friends, it would just be four simple words: I love you all.
Now, I leave you with a great quote for reflection on this young artist, as the shock waves subside from her passing, we all will move on to new ventures, but Britney will forever be a passionate Cosplayer and outstanding artist.
“A Good artists has less time than ideas.”
–Martin Kippenberger
To put a final closing, I would like to add my farewell, in form a small poem from Maria Frye
Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.