#choosing to paint myself in feminine colours that day and in masculine the next or wtv

[mllepomme]

the afab nb who enjoys femininity experience can really suck balls from time to time because god knows many of us would’ve paid good fucking money to have been born in a male body, to get to be feminine in the way a man can lean into femininity to attain the weird liminal space of gender fuckery.

that clear use of the feminine as a costume, as embellishment and not as an expression of affiliation to womanhood… i yearn for it.

[compassion-in-perspective]

Achievement Unlocked: Self Love

Self- love. What an elusive thing to all of us. And no, women aren’t the only ones with this issue. If you relate to being a human, good chance you have this problem too. The question of “how can I love myself?” or “will I ever love myself?” are questions a lot of people spend most of their lives chasing. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not sitting here behind this screen pretending that I fully love myself, because I don’t yet. But after my journey through the pandemic and these last 6 months, I’ve finally been able to start on a sustainable path that’s right for me. Today let’s see if I can frame a perspective, that you could start to feel like maybe someday you could put yourself on that highway too! And today we ain’t following no TDSC format! You’re going to have to read and follow along to find out how I got myself on this journey!

To start off, I’ve put a lot of work into letting go and detaching from most societal expectation that I let affect me on way too deep of a level. Do I think everyone needs to do that? No. However, I’m willing to bet there’s lots of people out there that should consider looking into expectations from anything or anyone that could be holding them back. In my experience, letting go of certain fundamental external pressures such as parental biases, gender norms, and compulsory heterosexuality has helped me on my way to finally seeing my true self shine through. As appose to the identity of dressing a way I hated, originally choosing a career path I thought I had to choose, and saying I liked Kevin out of the 3 Jonas Brothers. And we all know that’s weird because no one would say they liked Kevin back in 2008. And all because I thought had to like boys and not girls. Obviously, those are just personal examples to me. However, in my viewpoint, a lot of us don’t realize those expectations show up in the things we ask ourselves about on the daily like: “Why am I so lazy because I keep procrastinating that thing I need to do?” or “Should I dress a certain way, so people won’t judge me?” Those are the secret examples of suffering under those thought to be set standards that are holding most us back from living authentic, healthy, and fulfilling lives. And you might be thinking, “I’ve never asked myself anything like that before.” Well, those questions can hide in emotions like shame, guilt, or anger. Or maybe it’s behaviour like never saying no to our mom’s. Or suffering from excessive amounts of toxic masculinity and being extremely homophobic, because underneath is more feminine traits that you don’t want to expose. Bottom line taking the time to examine the extrinsic things that feel like a devil and angel sitting on your shoulders are totally worth the time if you can pinpoint which ones effect you. Something my therapist told was “name it to tame it.”

Next, were at the midway point of this journey to potential self-love, and that is digging deep into your past experiences. And to tell you the truth, this was the hardest part. I got so deep in the hurt at one point I actually realised why some people choose to not face their pasts at all. For me this part of my story started this past winter. I personally got to a point where I needed to seek therapy. My anxiety was through the roof, and my thoughts assumed they were Lighting McQueen racing to see how fast they could make me upset. And honestly, I could barely function in day-to-day life. After 5 months of speaking to a therapist I finally started to make break throughs in my psyche. When I had my biggest realization, I was slightly unwell for almost 2 weeks trying to process my trauma’s. But as hard as those 2 weeks were, it was totally worth it because I had 2 weeks that followed of pure peace. 14 days of my first encounter with serenity in 24 years. I did so many things those 2 weeks. I started reading again, I spent almost every day sitting by the ocean, I painted, and built LEGO’s! That’s when I knew I finally discovered what life could really feel like. Overall, I would be so bold in saying that this part of the way to potential self-love is like a weight loss journey. It’s not for the faint of heart. You will be taking 1 step forward to take 2 steps back again. You need to be ready to put that work in if you so choose to better yourself. And when you find you are ready it’s totally worth moving in this direction, because you the reader, are valid. Your experiences are valid. And if you do choose to reach this milestone of digging into yourself, it will be worth it in the long run.

My final point of perspective on moving in a direction of loving yourself, is that there is room for healing when you can get to a head space to accept yourself. Getting to the point where you can accept yourself is nothing but empowering. It’s hopeful. And it’s freeing. When reaching this part of your story you’ll finally be able to breathe fresher air, colours will start to feel bright like when you were 12, and maybe you’ll catch yourself singing in the car again. When those feelings are felt and processed in a way that works for you, you’ll have the ability to love and help others better. And the best part is, you’ll finally feel like you can move your life in a direction that you want. Not what anybody else wants. Just you. This was my favorite part because for me I have felt lighter mentally and emotionally than I have in a long time. Am I saying that these conclusions have solved all of my problems? No way. But it’s been a freeing process to finally unwrap a lot of the layers that I was living under and afraid to come out of. And I do wish others will get to feel the relief I experienced someday no matter how they reach that inner peace!

To sum up my short telling’s and views on how you can maybe start on a path to self-love there’s three things that you as the reader had to navigate through theses paragraphs. One, letting go of external expectations that you think could be holding you back. Two, digging deep into your past experiences that you think made up the person you are at this very moment. And three, contrary to the popular belief there is room for healing in accepting yourself when you feel like you finally can.

Are the three topics of discussion going to help you reader? Maybe. Maybe not. That’s up to you! But the mysterious idea of self-love, it’s always going to be something most people will struggle with. And I’d love to help in changing the conversation on this topic in a direction of believing that loving yourself is not linear. Like I said, 1 step forward to take 2 steps back. I encourage you reader to try and choose ways to love yourself that are sustainable and forever changing and molding with you! As apposed to treating self-love like it’s a giant X marked on a map that you’re seeking. And I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again! I would like to imagine this has helped you guys as the readers in provoking thoughts that are new and inspiring because I was able to put a topic that needs more compassion, into a simpler perspective.

[homedesign9]

Interior Decorating, Home Design, Room Ideas: October 2012

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Check out these collection of bathroom ideas by Italian company Cerasa. With in-floor bathtubs and deluxe furniture the circumstances they carry about is akin to those gotten in spas. Clearly most of the ideas do need many room and we expect any of these would get room in a special apartment setting. Delpha brings a collection of ultra stylish bathroom interiors for you. The designs are inspired by nature, pop culture, baroque and urban interiors.

Each bath area runs on a central theme where the fixtures and accessories are thoughtfully arranged. Most of the designs sport brightly coloured walls with rich use of textures. Some walls have mosaic tiles which are like jewels studded in a luxurious haven of purity. Going by the images, it looks as though this Delpha collection is targeting the luxury end of the market meant for people willing to pay the extra dollar.

Browse through for more inspiration.

I have a huge style crush on Hans Blomquist, stylist, art director, and author.Whether he’s being moody or lighthearted, masculine or feminine, I get him. Right down to the soles of my feet.  I discovered him slowly, as I found myself drawn to images from various sources, all connected by one name – his. Infatuation. Then I ordered his book, The Natural Home, and…love. Admittedly, his book will not be for everyone. If it’s color and contemporary design that move you, his is not the book for you. But if you love the moody, patinaed, textured, quirky and eclectic, with a distinctly European style, this book is most definitely for you.  What can I say? He’s everything I hope for in a stylist. Personalize your little ones play and sleeping areas with their favorite theme, without the need for time consuming painting or costly wallpaper. In a shared room situation, emblazoning your children’s names above, or on, toy chests and beds provides individuality, and establishing clear zones may help to avoid sibling squabbles. Using stickers to add color and fun to key pieces of furniture could even make an old wardrobe, or plain crafting table, into a child friendly piece. Fill a plain wall with a special nursery rhyme, or highlight a cherished item with a sweet spray of flowers.

Get creative by allowing sticky characters to interact with elements of the room, make a headboard into a perch under a line of cute birds, or balance creatures above door fames, skirting boards and light switches. Try making your own artwork by applying them to card stock and framing, and let matching elements loose on the surrounding wall for a ‘picture come to life’ effect. Wipe clean stickers that emulate note pads are perfect for a teen’s room, they can jot down homework notes, or doodle love notes, and simply wipe clean for next week!

Designing a child’s bedroom can be very challenging considering the fast pace in which kids are growing up these days. It’s hard enough keeping up with endless influx of technological gadgets before finding ways to store all of these “next best things”. But alas, there are fun innovative storage solutions disguised by splashes of color that would make any room look like a three dimensional Picasso! In these beautifully designed rooms below, the perfect balance of practicality and creativity has been achieved and will easily appeals to parents and children alike.

There are many good furniture designs, a lot of different materials that compose a beautiful desk. Some of them save space in the room because a designer created a functional design that would not only deal with your problem of having too little room for a desk but also look incredible in that small space. Some of the desks are suited only for large rooms that accentuate their gorgeous shape. And then there are those desks that can transform from a small, one-man workstation to a large, conferential table. It all depends on your taste and needs.

White is a Royal color – it’s the color of purity and beauty. This amazing color combines with almost any other, with it you can create any interior – from minimalist to a vintage romantic one. A white bedroom looks relaxing, inviting and calm, it’s like sleeping on a cloud. You may use not only pure white, add some colorful accents to make the space more dramatic. Don’t hesitate to use beige – that’s a one more classical color, or dark furniture to highlight that everything is white. Vintage furniture, shabby nightstands and crocheted bedspreads will give a romantic shabby chic touch to the interior. Floor tiles, impressive futuristic furniture and modern accessories give your bedroom a minimalist look. Choose your style, fill the room according to your dreams and enjoy your white paradise!

Chocolate appears to be dripping down the walls at this cafe in Opole, Poland, by interior designers Bro.Kat. With its stunning pool and impeccable style, The Sotogrande House is fit for a celebrity. The credit for its design goes to Spanish architectural firm A-cero. The design is fresh and exciting and you can’t stop but admire how serene the whole home looks. White dominates throughout and except for this minor(?) challenge of keeping it that way we really can’t find anything else to crib about this fabulous home.

This is a gray and white apartment interior designed by Lanciano Design. This apartment has modern design with dark gray and white as the main color theme. The white color used for the walls, ceilings and some furniture, give a clean and modern expression for the interior. The dark gray color is used for floors and some other furnitures. This color give an elegant expression on this apartment. This apartment designed with great views through the big windows, allowing the occupants to enjoy the surrounding view and also let natural light to go inside the apartment. White and Gray Apartment Interior Design In India ink, acrylic, pencil and plywood Jennie Ekström creates a fantasy world of her own where children, strange birds and middle aged women reside in an overgrown fairytale garden. Jennie lives in Enskede where she is working as an Illustrator and artist. The exhibition takes place at Linnman Gallery. Don’t miss it if you’re in the neighbourhood.

I really like the decent color scheme used in this lovely apartment decorated by Mood House. There is a nice combination of old and new decor all over the place and also some very clever styling ideas. Highlight here is for sure the living room with the very cool pendant lights and variable shelving unit but also the work area is very nicely decorated with all the small details like artwork or work tools on wall. Lovely apartment decorated by Mood House

I am very excited and impressed with DaVinci project House of tayone. Delve into the detail unique designs, each decorated in industrial style chic. Look closely to find an array of ideas to add character and whimsy to a blank canvas of space.

I love the brown in these types of rooms! I think it’s like the little bit of yummy sugar in the tea. If you want to minimize brown in your home, what about using rustic woods (woods that are so worn they are almost bluish-gray) as a compromise? That would get you closer to graphite, I had a very hard time picking out just a few of the photos, but I hope you enjoy the massive picture bomb! It sure adds a lot of warmth to the interiors, and that is always nice in the colder months.

Louise Poulsen, the company making lights designed by such a great names as Arne Jacobsen or Poul Henningsen recently presented a new promo shots that were taken in a house of artist Tenka Gammelgaard. And as you can imagine, it looked great! These lamps really fits her style, and as Tenka said herself, she wouldn’t have said no to keeping them all. You can see a behind the scenes story on Tenka’s blog here. If you are in Copenhagen in the coming month, make sure to pop over to Louis Poulsen’s showroom to check out Tenka’s exhibition there, together with more photos of her home.

Today we are featuring Modern stylish kitchen design – An Excellent collection of modern Kitchen design ideas from Italian company Dada. This model is elegant without being affected, and is truly designer-oriented right down to the smallest details of everyday objects.The bedroom is one of those places that takes time to decorate. You can always improve it because you always get bedroom ideas. This time it’s Hulsta to get our inspiration from. We are immensely impressed with their bedroom concepts. Clean shapes, amazing eye-friendly colors and designed for those who need their room to be either beautiful and able to store all their stuff. Would you put something like this in your bedroom? Which one do you like the most?

Your work environment directly influences your mood and ability to generate inspiration and creativity. Creative workplaces usually have interesting and visually stimulating elements throughout the space. Featured here are 10 creative workplaces that would succeed at inspiring any designer.

This 130 square meters large  apartment in Helsinki have a really  nice and cozy atmosphere –  almost country like.  All the wood and natural materials are providing warmth in the otherwise mostly white minimalistic space. Big dining table,  fireplace  and stacked wood piles – what a great place!

Another example of how cool can the small place be, this little beach house belonging to Belgian/South African couple is very  sweet! It certainly have the scandinavian feel – white floors, white walls, very clean and full of light, this combined with nicely selected furniture (those wooden chairs are great) creates wonderful atmosphere as made for summer relaxing.

Today HomeDesign9.com introduce to you are some very sweet pics from the stylist Aaron Hom.I love all the decors and furniture he uses, Eames, Jacobsen, Nelson, Saarinen… there is everything. My fave is the first one – white room with wooden wall unit, but all other places are gorgeous as well!

Happy Monday lovelies I hope you had a fulfilling weekend!. One of the last projects of the wonderful photographer Petra Bindel are these fantastic photos from the new catalogue of the Dutch company Muuto. I really like the nice pastel pink, yellow & turquoise colors that they are using for the line and the styling is so beautiful!  Let’s come with me to Barcelona, Spain, today and take a peek into this beautiful home. The neutral toned color scheme and the high ceilings and windows give this apartment an airy and spacious look. The clean lined place is decorated with modern furniture but the wooden accessories and several rugs give warmth to the various rooms. Can you believe that this lovely apartment in Malmö, Sweden, measures less than 50 square meters? The white walls, high ceilings and white washed gives this apartment (which is for sale by the way) a spacious feel.

This beautiful Mas (a country house or farm in the South of France, usually made of stone) is located in Uzès, right in the heart of the Provence. The house is beautifully renovated and decorated with materials such as wood, stone and metal. I think this is a perfect combination of modern elements and traditional features.

Moroccan riads are always a great source of inspiration. Ryad Sharai is one of the biggest riads in Marrakech. It is hidden behind a weather-beaten door in a narrow street in the Bab Tharzout quarter. A riad is a house with a patio and this gorgeous riad has quite a large patio. It has seven bedrooms, all situated around the patio and the pool. Behind the labyrinth of rooms there is a staircase leading to the terraces. From there you have a magnificent view of the city and the Atlas mountains. The cosy cushions make this place very inviting! Grey can be a bit boring but this color will warm up with a touch of soft pink. These beautiful images are shot by photographer Line Klein. The lovely pink lamps in the image above are from Studio Snowpuppe.

Today some dark colored interiors. I think the dark hues fit the wet and gloomy weather here in The Netherlands. I like these images but I do prefer a bit of color here and there. How do you feel about using darker colors in your home?

I love a beautiful exposed wall. These brick walls give an industrial character to a space. Here some example of an exposed wall in a kitchen, living room and even a bathroom.

Today Japan is known for its minimalism and simplicity because of their Zen culture. But how to make a Zen-home in a girlish style? How to combine calmness and little sweet details? Here is a nice example how to do it. The interior is done in a truly Japanese way: with cherry blossoms, traditional colors, natural wood and simple shapes, nothing bizarre. Despite of it, there are many nice girlish details like pastel colors, beautiful accessories and lots of flowers everywhere. I love the decoration of the wall with hooks. It looks natural and is very functional – you can place shelves or hang some things on them. This interior is an amazing example of exquisite and functional combination of styles.

Teenagers are hard to please, but this gallery of goodies is bound to put a smile on their face; gorgeous spaces for girls, and cool lad pads full of fresh ideas and new colorways.  The attention grabbing storage shelves flank every available space, keeping teenage clutter off the floor and schoolbooks at hand when studying.Unfortunately, teenage life can’t always be about going out with friends and having fun, these crucial years are also a time to shape future careers and hone a craft; so here is a wealth of teen workspaces to inspire those developing minds!  Via Alex GoreThis laid-back attic space utilizes space up to the rafters to house an extensive selection of literature and reference books, with the desk situated to take full advantage of the largest source of natural light. Ideas for teen rooms are something young people looking to refurbish their rooms seek. We had a request at home-designing and we hope this post would help such people out. This cheerful home design, rendered by Denis Khramov, is littered with colorful hits throughout its pure white decor. Carefully placed base notes of black ground the airy scheme whilst still keeping the overall look refreshing and youthful.  Large edgy artwork adorns the gallery white walls, picking up on the homes colorful accessories, such as an extensive book collection and a rainbow of scatter cushions on the sofa. ‘Island Views‘ is an inviting Caribbean villa overlooking a calm ocean scene, and filled with fresh and simple décor, African sapele wood ceilings and artistic lighting.

Add wow factor to your plain walls with these set of tips on creating unusual wall art ideas and altogether unconventional ways to fill up your blank spaces.  Via Cream Bikes and ThingsA huge frame makes a masterpiece out of your old bicycle, or a very arty storage space for your current one!  Looking as though a half crazed artist has just stormed out of this building in a creative frenzy, this hipster loft from B&B Italia is brimming with colorful imagination and eccentric flair. This clever example of interior layout, by the team at Fertility Design, experiments with the introduction of retractable glass doors within the heart of a home, to divide off rooms for quiet and privacy at certain times of the day, whilst still providing the opportunity of creating a free flowing open plan space when desired. The sliding doors in this example provide a barrier around the home office area for times when total concentration is needed away from the hubbub of the rest of the family home. Born in France and raised in London, stylist Marietta Beasley’s current loft in Atlanta, Georgia blends European style with New York ’70s art colony cool — when she acquired her space 15 years ago she was the first person to get a certificate of occupancy in the downtown area. Now it’s both home and studio, with an every changing collection of inspirating pieces from all over the world.

Designed by architectural trio Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune, Widlund House, located on the Swedish island of Öland in the Baltic sea, looks out onto a mesmerizing vista of everchanging blue sky and water. Built to withstand the often fierce weather — fogs and storms are common here — the house takes full advantage of the view while being a snug retreat when it clouds over. Inside, decor is minimal, keeping the focus firmly on the atmospheric surroundings. A Finnish graphic design couple show that having great taste doesn’t preclude having a mischievous sense of humour as well — their stylish home has a playful touches everywhere. So fun — that plaster hippo head is especially awesome.

Love this gorgeous Stockholm home on the Swedish Fantastic Frankproperty site — unsurprisingly it’s sold, but happily we can still admire these lovely photos.

Built in 1862 in the village of Vedbaek, a port located about 20 kilometres from Copenhagen, this former fishing shack is now a peaceful home for a couple who have opted to raise their children away from the city where they work, so they can enjoy a quieter home life. They commissioned Danish architect Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen, founder of the agency Norms Architect Copenhagen, to expand and modernize their tiny home, with an emphasis on light as a major component of the redesign. The extensive use of white, clever storage, minimal furniture and open spaces makes their house feel far larger than it actually is — even on the greyest days it feels light and airy. Lovely.

With its striking design and easy flow between indoor and outdoor spaces, the Bali, Indonesia home of Valentina Audrito and Abhishake Kumbhat and their two children showcases their work perfectly — in 2005 Valentina and Abhishake founded the Word of Mouth design group, where they create objects, clothes and accessories as well as designing commercial spaces (Valentina is an architect too). Fascinating mix of glam, traditional and modern.

I’m loving Sylvie Rochon’s cheerful Montreal apartment, furnished with great vintage finds — particularly mid century modern pieces (something Sylvie has a real eye for, as the owner of Spoutnik, a vintage furniture shop there). With its crisp white background and fantastic use of colour accessories, her space has a fresh and contemporary feel — it all feels very modern, even when you know almost everything in it is vintage. Lovely. 

Artist Carouschka Streijiffert is a Stockholm-based artist who works in a variety of media — painting, sculpture, collage and carpets. When it came to finding a space where she could both work and live, she chose what was originally a series of attic lofts at the top of an early 20th century building — one where the pigeons had taken up residence. After having her application to create roof openings approved, a skylight for the studio and small round windows were installed, while (due to the aging structure of the building) steel beams and poles were put for support and a birch and concrete floor added. When it came to decorating her home, Carouschka chose to play up the industrial style of her space and highlight its interesting architecture. The entire renovation was a lot of work and headaches, but the final result, a lovely, light-filled home that looks out over the rooftops of old Stockholm on the Baltic Sea and Lake Mälaren, is more than worth it. 

Love the fantastic use of colour in this bright Victorian end-of-terrace villa in north London — just amazing. 

Love this pretty cottage in Mousehole, Cornwall — a converted net loft built in the 1800s on 17th-century foundations. Beautiful soft tones and textures, all with details that reflect the home’s seaside location.

I admire the long term view of Dutch felt artist Paula Leen and her partner Kees Middendorp in the province of Friesland, 80 miles north of Amsterdam — they lived in their home for 16 years before they finally purchased and renovated it. The results are poetic and beautiful.Swedish cinematographer Bengan Widell’s rustic cabin on Gotland is a peaceful retreat from his fast paced career in film — days here are spent either in happy solitude watching nesting eagles and spectacular thunderstorms over the bay, or more socially with visits from his five daughters. His cabin is an old fisherman’s shack, over 100 years old and — after some necessary renovations to replace dilapidated wood walls and ceilings — kept in a simple state. There’s no electricity, as Bengan prefers the soft glow of kerosene lamps at night, and a gas fridge and an old wood burner are the only appliances. Surrounding by stunning scenery, Bengan finds it to be the perfect antidote to a busy life filled with travel and people.

The post Interior Decorating, Home Design, Room Ideas: October 2012 appeared first on Home Design.

from Home Design https://homedesign9.com/interior-design/2012_10_01_archive/

[brush-haus-blog]

Essay planning - reflective report

Within this reflective report, I will be discussing the research that I have conducted so far for the essay assigned within this module. The assignment is to write an essay in which we have chosen two of the methodologies talked about in our lectures and apply readings to two different art works to add context to the pieces. Moreover, this reflective report is also to allow me to reflect upon my previous work and how I can use my knowledge of writing them to aid me in writing my future assignments. If I am not able to look back at previous work and the feedback I received from it, then I am unable to improve my work much further.

In the first semester of my second year, I found it somewhat hard to adapt to the Art and Representation module, as the contents of the lecture was not just information about artists or about art movements. The content was largely to do with theories behind art history and historians that had thought that way, which I felt challenging to comprehend. I have never really done much research into philosophy and similar areas, therefore the concepts were foreign to me. However, with help from our lecturer and the discussions that we had with my course mates helped greatly, and allowed me to begin to understand how methodologies have a place in art history. Yet, whilst writing the essay for that module, which was a 2500 word essay on a contemporary artist, I still found it difficult to add deeper criticism to my work. This could be seen in my feedback, where my lecturer described my work as good, but it lacked deeper thought, and I included too much description of the artist and his work. I still got a high 2:1 for this essay, and believe that with some extra thought and planning, that I can get a 1st for this next essay. Because of this, for my next essay in this module, I am going to try to keep my descriptions of the artists and their work to a small minimum, and only include the necessary details. I am aiming to focus on describing the methodologies to ensure that I am understand them, before applying them to the work of the artists that I will be discussing.

My aim for this module is to continue having good attendance to the lectures, so I can fully understand all of the topics that we are covering. By doing this, I can then choose which methods and topics I want to use within my essay without worrying about not understanding them. I appreciate that our lectures have been quite in depth so far, and haven’t just covered a basic understanding of the topics. For example, I didn’t truly understand the overall concept of post-colonialism and the importance of the methodology, yet through the lecture I began to grasp the theory better than I had before. Furthermore, by reading the articles and books set for the lectures, this has helped me to understand the origins of the methodologies and how they have been applied in the context of art history. One example of this is the reading that we had for the biographical lecture, being the book Legend, myth, and magic in the image of the artist: a historical experiment by Ernst Kris and Otto Kurz. By reading the chapter The heroization of the artist in biography (chapter 2), this helped me to understand why this method was so important to art historians. That looking back at an artist’s history and life could gain insight into why they created the works that they did. This reading helped me to begin thinking of all the different artists and works of art that I could use for my essay; however, I had not begun to realise a solid idea at this time. My plan was to think of as many ideas as possible, to brainstorm them until I found the right one for me. Through the lectures on Thursday mornings, my knowledge of artists, old and new, expanded thoroughly. Artists such as Gillian Wearing, Zanele Muholi, Pierre Molinier and Nan Goldin all interested me for different reasons, yet I couldn’t think of a good argument as to why pair two of these artists and then couple them with two different methodologies. I wanted to use two artists/artworks that were different from each other, yet still had enough similarities to compare from, so my essay didn’t seem as if I was just trying to grasp at straws for connections between them. If this were the case, the essay would end up being messy with little structure, whereas I would want it to flow easily and connect well. Being intrigued by Pierre Molinier’s work and thinking that I could link his work well to the feminist and LGBT+ methodologies, I began to research him and his work, however I couldn’t find much written about him academically. Whilst within my essay I would be largely discussing the methodologies, it would still be fruitful to have a plentiful knowledge on the artist and his works, and plenty of research to accompany it, such as journal articles and books. I decided against using Pierre Molinier’s work and continued looking at artists to make connections between. Initially, I wanted to use the methodology of psychoanalysis, as from completing an A level on the subject, I have been interested in psychology ever since. However, I have previously done essays and presentations using this methodology and thought not to use it again. Whilst I am able to do so, I wanted to push myself too, and not just do the same methodology or type of theory for every assignment. I see my university assignments as chances to explore different fields of work and research, and to prove that I can effectively write about many different topics. The only issue was, finding something I was interested in in different areas. During the lecture on feminism we received, a new field of work had been opened up to me. I typically tended to stay away from feminism as a subject to write about. Whilst in my day to day life, feminism and the happenings around it are very important to me, I feel as if the subject is already written about a lot. Whilst this doesn’t stop me from including my own opinions, I thought I would find it hard to find a subject to talk about that would still stand out and not be overshadowed by already published work, or the work of my peers. However, I was introduced to the work of Mickalene Thomas, who is a contemporary African-American artist. Her work, consisting of paintings and collages, typically examines the ideas surrounding feminism, race, sexuality and gender. After seeing her work, Sleep: Deux Femmes Noires, I felt the need to use this piece in my work. Not only, aesthetically, was the work different to most I have seen, that being that it is a collage and not a painting, but it also tackled the issues of black feminism, but also black lesbian women. I felt like this would be a perfect opportunity to talk about feminism and LGBT+ within my work and it still be relevant and fresh.

I began to think of many different artists, and how their work would be able to compare to Mickalene Thomas’s. Instead of only thinking about artists that had been discussed in the lecture PowerPoints thus far, I thought to any I knew previously to see if they could fit the feminist LGBT+ narrative I wanted to tell. I then remembered the artist David Hockney, an English artist who’s works often commented on homosexual relationships that reflected his own. Whilst he would easily fit the LGBT+ section of my essay, I didn’t initially know how any of his work would link into a feminist perspective. Personally, my favourite work of his is the painting titled

Peter Getting Out of Nick’s Pool

, largely due to the aesthetic nature of the work. However, I then realised I could use this as a gateway to talk about male feminism. My reasoning would be that throughout history, particularly in older paintings, that men are depicted as muscular and strong with little emotion showing. Yet in this painting, the figure of Peter has feminine curves and is posed in a somewhat flirtatious way, contrasting the typical stance of men in history. I feel like this is a good topic to discuss, as usually feminism is only about women, and sometimes about non-binary people. Whilst those topics are valid and still need to be discussed, encouraging men to be open and not typically masculine is just as important. Including feminism focused on men will also allow my essay to be different and more unique, which is what I like to keep consistent throughout my work.

With a solid idea in place, I began to research the artists and the methodologies to be used. In the past I have found it hard to locate academic sources, and therefore with this essay I am going to look for more substantial sources. I began my search using the university’s library, looking for books and articles on the artists and the methodologies. From this, I found a good few sources, such as

Mickalene Thomas

(D.Murray), an article about the artist and her work. By using sources about the artists and artworks I am using, I can write a more solid point about how they relate to the methodologies I have chosen.

I have also noticed that I work better when I print off a hard-copy and go through it, rather than just reading them online. This is because when I go through the hard-copy, I can use a highlighter to pick out important points to return to later, and even make notes on the paper next to certain areas. It also helps me to colour code the readings for the lectures, as well as the readings I am doing for my essay, as it helps to separate the points made in the papers.

For the rest of this essay, I am going to continue researching different areas for my essay, such as the feminist and LGBT+ methodologies I am going to use. This may also mean researching different methodologies like social history and biographical theories. This is because feminist and LGBT+ theories come under the umbrella term of social history and biographical. Therefore, I must have a good understanding of these methodologies before attempting to write an essay including them.

So far, I have been using the universities library, both using physical books and also articles and journals. I have also been using Jstor, which is a website database that holds many journal articles that, with a little more time spent on, I could locate many sources that I could use within my essay.

Within this report, I have identified the goal for my essay and the plan I have for it, such as the methodologies to be used and which artists/artworks I have chosen to incorporate. I have also picked out the areas in which I have to improve on in my essay in comparison to my previous essays. Therefore, I believe I have a good plan for my essay and should be successful in writing it

[natasha--mitchell]

Research Report

Major Project Title

BLOOM

 As I was researching similar projects, I became inspired to name my project similarly. For example I found a project, of portraits and plant still life, entitled “photosynthesis”. I wanted my title to be related to the natural aspect of the project and as the natural aspect revolves around flowers, I felt ‘BLOOM’ very appropriate.

Research Methods

Beginning my research, I started with looking at contemporary fashion magazines (such as Dazed and i-D) to search for contemporary fashion photographers, styling ideas and editing ideas. I also found social media, specifically instagram, to be an extremely good source of inspiration and a great way of finding new photographers. I also found creating mood boards out of my initial thoughts and ideas to be extremely helpful and me cancel out or keep certain ideas.Forming a concept for the project was a little challenging until I came across an ideology in my dissertation research which states that ‘women are closer to nature, whilst men are closer to culture’. From here, I decided to research more about gender norms, stereotypes and masculine vs feminine, which really helped me to round out my concept for the project. I found online articles the best source for this kind of information. The best visual research I found was looking at photographer’s websites who were inspiring the project. Looking at the work of artists such as Steph Wilson, Samuel Bradley and Nadine Ijewere inspired my editing techniques throughout the creation of the pilot project, as well as location choices and posing. Artists such as Katie Burdon really influenced my use of juxtaposition of images with project. The aesthetic of a fashion portrait next to a still life was something I chose to emulate with the project.

 Pilot Project

 Through the development of my pilot project, I have experimented with a lot of different things, such as photo techniques, shooting techniques, posing, locations, models and styling which has really helped me form a much clearer idea of what I’d like to create for the final project. Putting together a pilot project has pushed me to think of ideas and be creative with the project. I am really thinking about the aesthetics of the project- such as the colours I’m using and how the images look together and how they will eventually look displayed in a gallery space. Experimenting with photograms led me to then experiment with digital collage, to create more interesting images. Creating a pilot project also pushed me to shoot as much as I could (using all the ideas I had) so I would end up with a good selection of images to choose from.

 Audience and Context

 The main audience I have had in mind whilst creating this project is the audience who will be viewing in person at the degree show. Therefore, I am trying to make it the best project I have ever done and at a professional level. The project will be viewed by my peers and tutors, primarily and then by whoever else attends the degree show, which will be people like my peers’ family, other students and people with an interest of art and photography. As I have heard that this is an opportunity for you work to be seen by people who have influence and the work can possibly be bought or you can get commissioned opportunities, I am really putting a pressure on myself for my work to be of a high quality.

  Production and Presentation

As I was first experimenting with film photography and cameraless photography, I made some prints and photograms in the darkroom, which I thought I would possibly do for the final project. However, I have now decided on using digital as the primary medium due to convenience and control. I will still incorporate photograms into the project, as I’ve had the idea since the beginning. I have decided to make collages from them (almost like bouquets) and ascribe one to each model. I feel as though it really fills out the project and adds an interesting element to something that would otherwise be a fashion photography project similar to thousands of other contemporary editorials. When it came to experimenting with medium format film, I did mostly enjoy the outcome, however, waiting for the film to be developed and then having to scan (which would often end up flawed in some way) just didn’t seem feasible for an entire project and did not give me as good results that a DSLR camera was. Film is also something i’ve worked with a lot, whereas digital, especially full-frame, is quite new to me and I enjoyed the challenge and learning a new skill and especially improving my editing skills. Another ‘experiment’ was using the software Lightroom, as I have always used Photoshop in the past, I had to get comfortable with a new editing software, which I feel really helped the quality of my images thus far.

 Visual References / Bibliography

Fedorova, A. (2018). The female gaze: the new wave of image-makers putting women first in Russian photography and fashion. [online] The Calvert Journal. Available at: https://www.calvertjournal.com/features/show/3530/female-gaze-russian-photography-fashion#.WlOL0tVl_rd [Accessed 8 Jan. 2018].

 This is an online article that I used for research for the context of my project, which is on the topic of female gaze. As I am a female photographer, I found it interesting and relevant regarding the theme of project.

 C/O Berlin. (2018). Changing Perspectives . Gender in Fashion and Fashion Photography. [online] Available at: https://www.co-berlin.org/en/changing-perspectives-gender-fashion-and-fashion-photography [Accessed 9 Jan. 2018].

 As my project is fashion based, I wanted to get a grasp of the gender stereotypes being perpetuated or being challenged already in the industry, as most fashion photography doesn’t usually have a strong message behind it, I wanted to see work that did. This short introduction to a talk gives a little more understanding to the topic regarding fashion photography.

 Dastagir, A. (2018). Gender stereotypes are destroying girls, and they're killing boys. [online] USA TODAY. Available at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/21/gender-stereotypes-destroying-girls-and-theyre-killing-boys/688317001/ [Accessed 9 Jan. 2018].

 I found an online article written about some gender stereotypes in how society. For more research on gender norms and stereotypes, I wanted to get an idea of the impact they are having in day to day society, and how they can change human behaviour.

  Singh, M. (2018). Macho Man, Little Princess: How Gender Norms Can Harm Kids Everywhere. [online] NPR.org. Available at: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/09/21/552573637/macho-man-little-princess-how-gender-norms-can-harm-kids-everywhere [Accessed 8 Jan. 2018].

 I gained interest of this topic from the last article and similarly to the last article detailing the harm of gender norms to children, this article goes in depth on the harm that gender norms have on children and how their behaviour and mindsets are changed as a result.

 Rasmussen, T. and Allwood, E. (2018). Can we actually buy into fashion’s gender revolution?. [online] Dazed. Available at: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/30755/1/can-we-buy-into-fashions-gender-revolution [Accessed 8 Jan. 2018].

 This is an article by the magazine that I first reached for in my initial visual research for the project. It is based on the fashion industry’s plight to ‘stamp’ out gender norms and whether or not its genuine.

 Nytimes.com. (2018). Femininity and Nature - The New York Times > Art & Design > Slide Show > Slide 8 of 10. [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/03/26/arts/design/20100326-dulwich-slideshow_8.html [Accessed 8 Jan. 2018].

 I found an interesting slideshow by The New York Times relating to my project entitled “Femininity and Nature”- the ideology of their inherent connection which sparked my project’s idea. The images are paintings from various artistic eras.

 Kachel, S., Steffens, M. and Niedlich, C. (2018). Traditional Masculinity and Femininity: Validation of a New Scale Assessing Gender Roles.

 I found another online article relating to tradition gender stereotypes. This article discusses the traits and characteristics that makes a person ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’, however it also brings in the idea of something called the ���TMF scale’ a scale that you use to measure gender-role self-concept.

 Pawlik, A. (2018). The Roots of Gender: Defining Femininity and Masculinity. [online] Amberpawlik.com. Available at: http://www.amberpawlik.com/Gender.html [Accessed 8 Jan. 2018].

 This article is again based on masculinity and femininity and where they the ideas surrounding their meanings has come from.

 Remy, P. (2014). The art of fashion photography. Munich: Prestel.

 This book of fashion photography is great collection of images that I used for visual research for the scope of fashion photography, as this book features various photographers the work is very diverse.

 Rojas, J. (2016). Photographing women.

 This book describes a lot of photography techniques when it comes to photographing a model. Importantly, it details studio lighting and posing.

 Dazeddigital.com. (2018). Photography | Dazed. [online] Available at: http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography [Accessed 9 Jan. 2018].

 As I stated before, I used magazines such as Dazed as initial visual research for contemporary fashion photography and photographers. The online platform is just as useful as the physical magazine.