#either cos it's work related or cos i just hate my inability to make art that's aesthetically pleasing to Me

[qourmet]

i'll tell ya h'wat, it feels great finally being able to line things again without hating what i'm drawing

[edwardjamescoplin]

Plot Wishlist

This is an old list of plots I wanted to do but never got around to. I’ve described them in m/f, f/f pairings but am open to nonbinary characters as well! 

Disclaimer: I personally have never written a nonbinary character and don’t want to disrespect anyone without properly researching when doing so, but will be more than happy if you’d prefer to play one! 

If you’re up for playing one of them out, simply send me a message or like this and I’ll come to you! I’m more than excited to write with you!

Discord: edwardcoplin#7261

A plot with a woodworker -  maybe a lady was sent to look over this guy because he was running the business himself and he has a business deal with a company where he isn’t meeting deadlines. They send her in to push him to complete the agreed upon orders and she discovers he’s not doing too well mentally/emotionally. She has to straighten him out and in order to keep the deal going he has to obey her. This of course leads to silly arguments and they don’t get on well. He feels that she ruins all the fun because she walks in when he’s goofing off with friends and picks fights with him, so he blames her for his inability to finish the job. This could turn romantic or just be a petty partnership of showing each other up. 

Subject A started having seizures a month ago. Doctors have not given A any type of diagnosis and A is having to adjust to life rapidly changing. A can no longer attend school due to being a distraction as well as not being able to make it throughout a class without being in pain, feeling left out because he/she is not at the same place as the rest of his/her peers with classwork, and of course the seizures are ‘distracting’. Over the span of a month the entire school has blocked A out, slowly halting with newsletters to events and games, rallies, etc. Subject B has had seizures for over two years and has been out of school for a year. He/she was never given a diagnosis and still continues to go to doctors in hopes of finding out something new. A and B meet in the waiting room at one of their therapist appointments, not knowing the other shares a similar experience. They are just two normal people. They talk and bond over common interests but neither tells the other of the crippling effects of their seizures. A and B split and go to their sessions and then leave noting to swap numbers. Over the next six months they trade texts, emails, late night half asleep phone calls, and weekly meet ups at their therapy appointments. The can share their favorite books and movies, old games, etc.. They tell their parents about each other and their parents stay in contact with the belief this connection is healthy for the two of them. A and B have to plan ahead for anything they want to do outside of their appointments. They go to the mall, spend time at each others place, and of course they both find out about the others condition. They don’t use that to bond though. They focus on who they were before the seizure started and who they are now. They try to make the best of things through health scares. Both A and B spend endless amounts of time molding their friendship and doing the things they feel comfortable doing. They don’t push each other, but they kind of protect each other and offer an understanding.                                                     This is just a rough draft idea. I definitely want to develop this more and figure out the exact details of doing it. This is somewhat of a personal experience and I like the idea of normalizing different health conditions. 

Two girls that are best friends and they don’t necessarily click in the way that they wanna fuck and shove each other into doors trying to get the other out of their clothes, it’s more of a co-dependency relationship/friendship. They aren’t dating, but they both get jealous when the other is in a relationship with somebody else. They’re both popular in school/their own crowds (college based), and maybe one of them is head cheerleader for the college/university and the other is a huge science nerd. But they grew up together and they’d never let the differences between cliques come between their friendship. At least they try not to. I want there to be late nights where one is running over to the others house/dorm, even though they should be sleeping, because she needs somebody to hold her while she sleeps. And I want there to be fights and melodramatic little quips. Maybe the nerdy one has a bigger mouth than the cheerleader. I want there to be screwed up make out sessions and then they just pretend like it never happened. It’s nothing more than a friendship. They do everything together. One of them is focused on moral rights and the other is focused on just having a good time, but they have long talks and lose sleep trying to put the pieces together in life and they make dumb plans and just everything is focused on them and growing and learning and finding out who they are and what their friendship really is. I want the craziness of it all. {this plot would most likely include smut, so please 18+ only}

A girl is a serial killer and her parents put her into a mental institute, and the workers at said place are really violent/cruel. They torture her physically and use electric shock/other methods to try and fix her and stuff. Pretty much they do it so much that she’s mentally trapped in a coma state. So, while in this coma, she dreams and makes up this whole other world. She meets a boy/girl and they get on well and basically it can either go in the direction of him/her being a serial killer and they’re killing people or she creates this whole world where they’re just normal people and she imagines him/her up. Another turn it could take, twist here, the boy/girl is actually a serial killer and the people at the institute tortured him/her and killed him/her several years back and now he’s/she’s in her dreams and it’s just really fucked up ok.

Two kids who grew up together and were very close/or maybe not even friends but they’ve met up ten years later and one is like rich and famous and the other runs a library and somehow in business deals they get paired together and have to travel to a place neither is familiar with. They work together to navigate through the entire thing and kind of get to know each other. They could like each other or hate each other, doesn’t matter.

two people, both from different religious views. They’re pushed together for some reason. one of them is really big into Christianity but the other is atheist and the religious one falls for the other and the entire time that person is pushing them away because they don’t believe in love or anything and this related to the song angel with a shot gun, give up religion for em all that jazz.

“I was once told I like people because I enjoy trying to fix them. I’ve learned, now, that there is no way to fix people, and you should not try to fill yourself in between the cracks of their uprooted scars. Upon being told this, I began to see things differently. I watched myself from the outside, captivated by the way I would fall in love with the trivial flaws and misconceptions in a person’s everyday life. I watched as they would walk across the street, dressed for work and bound for disaster at the swallowing of a coffee all too hot, and I would fall into a transitional relation with them. I found home between the curves of their words. They were like silk in my mind. I would find companionship in the alternate spirals of their every step. Their thoughts were like ink to me. I could write down every single one of them. Their tears were like drops of rain filled with the temptations of curiosity in the form of stories. Every single detail became an art piece for me.”                                                                        I wrote this a while back and I really want to create something off of it. Maybe like a m/f goes to the same cafe every day with his/her journal and they write stories about the people they see and like fall in love with people all the time just by watching them.

"Fingertips leave the soft tinted stain of your body against mine. They wrap in rafting waves over the hills of my spine."                                          I would also love to make a plot off of this little bit I wrote a while back.

two angels are paired together by god to walk the earth and do jobs, but then they get in trouble and lose the powers/advantages they had. They get trapped on this universal plane and have to work among mundanes to figure out how to get back to safety. (honestly this is similar to the show Lucifer now that I look back on it)

a cynical lawyer works for a psychotic model

a hunting trip turns into a fight for life with no connection to anyone outside of the woods

"you’re not supposed to look back, you’re supposed to keep going." Maybe something that isn’t necessarily dealing with running away but overcoming some sort of obstacle. I don’t know.

{f} is a dancer, always has been. She’s been in love with it since she was little. She’s never taken a class, just taught herself the choreography to dances. She choreographs her own moves and teaches a hip hop class down in town. {m} has been to dance school, worked all of his life to do whatever his mother wished upon him. He’s dealt with riches and galore, promised to marry a girl from his class, but recently decided to go in other directions. He dreads dancing, however, he’s been sent to teach one class recently. Since joining said class he’s met {f}, who has undeniably brought out the joy in his dance. She pushes him to go after the things he actually wants in life, so long he promises to remain as head in the one class at the studio they both work at. He doesn’t know what to do apart from follow what she says. Something about her makes him see the beauty in the things he hates.

“I would anger angels for you.” — SIX WORDS (2/3/14)                               a plot based off of this, or to use it as a quote for a character

[houseofvans]

Art School | Jenna Blazevich (Chicago,IL)

Designer and founder of Vichcraft Design Studio, Jenna Blazevich took the road less travelled–by ditching an offer to work her dream job–to pursue her own passion and creative freedom. Jenna’s designs are bold, clean and smart as well as technically and aesthetically masterful. Vichcraft Design Studio has allowed her to bring feminist works to the forefront, creating a  platform for important issues and topics. We’re so excited to have her on board for another year of Babes Ride Out, where she has designed a custom skate deck to be raffled off at the Babes East Coast event. In our latest Q&A, Jenna talks about how Vichcraft came about, gives us insights into running a business, and shares with us what she’s most excited about for this year’s 2017 Babes Ride Out! 

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Could you introduce yourself? I’m Jenna Blazevich, the founder and designer behind Vichcraft Design Studio in Chicago, Illinois. With Vichcraft, I specialize in branding design for small businesses and nonprofits, design and produce a line of intersectional feminist products, and teach oblique calligraphy.

How did you hear about Babes Ride Out? What was your first ride out like? My introduction to Babes Ride Out was actually through a Chicago illustrator friend of mine Jourdon Gullett, who made a tee design for (I believe) BRO 2014. At the time, I didn’t ride a motorcycle yet, but immediately took an interest in what Babes Ride Out is about. I’d long wanted to learn to ride and get my m-class, since I’d grown up around motorcycles and had been dating my boyfriend who restores vintage bikes. My first B.R.O. wasn’t until a couple years later in Joshua Tree, and it was full of such great energy and camaraderie.

What’s your favorite thing about Babes Ride Out? What are you most excited about this year’s event? Babes Ride Out is such a great event because it’s born out of a real (and frustrating) need for more celebration and inclusivity around female motorcycle ridership. Plus, it’s a genuinely beautiful event in the way that the branding and merch and on-site installations are all thoughtfully crafted by people in their community. I won’t be able to attend the East Coast ride, but I’ll be sponsoring and participating in a ladies-only ride and campout in Chicago called Babes in Motoland this fall.

Your top five things to bring to Babes Ride Out? Water bottle for water Aluminum water bottle for extra gas reserve Sunscreen Basic tools + zip ties + first aid Girls to the front pins for new friends!

Tells us a little about Vichcraft.  How did you come up with Vichcraft? What was the inspiration behind it? Vichcraft, as a concept, was born in late 2015 when I had just turned 25 and received an offer to work full-time at my dream job. At the time, I had built up five years of experience freelancing on the side of jobs and school, and instead of taking on the dream job, I made a major shift into full-time self-employment. It was important to me that I come up with an ownable and memorable name for my new curated portfolio (I had previously been working under my first and last name, and published so many different projects that I had no identifiable specialty). I came up with the name “Vichcraft” because it’s a play on my last name (Blazevich), my love of hand craft, and of witchcraft and feminism.  

What’s it like to run Vichcraft? What are some of the most rewarding things and what things do you think folks might not realize about running a business? Running Vichcraft is a never-ending test of how much I can multi-task, remember things, plan ahead, and do my best to still be present. Since most of what I share on my website and on my social media accounts are finished projects, I’m not sure very many people realize how much time I spend on unglamorous, super boring and frustrating administrative stuff per day. I think it’s a common thing to fantasize about the freedom self-employment, but it’s so stressful to be the one person that every issue falls on 24 hours a day. Since I have this quality of hating to feel pigeon-holed into a specific thing, I created my line of product as a consistent outlet for myself to act as my own creative director and make work that I love and that pushes me to try out lettering styles that my clients don’t ask for.  It’s been really rewarding to have such an outstanding amount of positive responses to my products, and all of that has directly affected how much I’ve been able to grow my shop in it’s first year.

What’s your creative process like? How long does it take for the idea to reach fruition? My process is sort of all over the place, but I generally work very fast. I generally say that I work half on paper and half in the computer, and I like it best that way. Whether I’m working on a logo for a client, or I’m sketching a mural for an installation or designing a new patch for my shop, I always start with a bunch of thumbnail sketches in pencil. If the client is in charge of deciding which to concept finalize, I move on to vectorizing their logo in Illustrator either with my iPad and Apple Pencil, or with the pen tool and a mouse. If the project is something for my shop and I’m acting as Creative Director to myself, I can start with sketches for an initial idea in the morning, and be at the screen printing co-op I belong to working on printing the final product that night.

What are some of the important issues you address in your art? When was the first time you decided to combine that with your brand? Vichcraft has (understandably) always been very tied to me personally, and the causes, social issues, pieces of writing, and aesthetic styles that interest me as a person. The election year of 2016 was my second year of running Vichcraft, and I was (and am) still developing the most effective ways to use my skills, voice and platform to speak on topics that I’m passionate about. Post-election, it is still one of my main goals with Vichcraft to do whatever I can to contribute to organizations and projects that are working to resist and counter the moves being made by the current administration. Furthermore, it is extremely important to me that I create feminist work that is as inclusive and intersectional as possible, because feminism is currently being diluted in meaning by companies monetizing the movement, and by self-proclaimed feminists focusing on issues that only relate to women who look and live like themselves. Failing to consider other classes, identities, races, bodies, and religions when doing feminist work results in an inability to progress and unite in a collective fight, and the opposition gains more leverage as a result.

If you had to choose one of your designs as your favorite, which would it be and why? “The City Beautiful” piece that I made for Typeforce in January of 2015 was the first piece that I made under the name “Vichcraft,” and it’s still what I’m most proud of. It marked a significant and intentional shift into creating lettering work that more closely relates to the issues and topics that I personally care about. It also really challenged my ability to create sculpture work within a very tight timeline, as well as my writing skills for the initial proposal. It’s still the project that I’ve worked on under the name “Vichcraft” that I’m probably the most proud of.

Who are some of your favorite past and contemporary artists? Some of the artists who inspire me most are: Alphonse Mucha, Teagan White, Kathleen Hanna, Marian Bantjes, Laura Jane Grace, Doyald Young, Cat Coven, Hellcats, Louise Fili, Hydro74, Jourdon Gullett, & so many more.

You run some really cool calligraphy workshops in Chicago!   How did you get interested in calligraphy and typography?   What are some of your favorite things about calligraphy? I taught my first public calligraphy workshops in the fall of 2014, just before launching Vichcraft, and I’ve taught at least one beginner workshop per month since then. The format of the class has generally remained the same: introduce the tools, talk about the craft, work through exercises, then graduate to lowercase letterforms. I do, however, think the workshop has evolved into something that people value attending because they gain the ability to utilize me as a resource both during and after the class. I get almost an equal amount of questions about how I started freelancing, what was required to start selling product, etc., as I do about the actual craft of calligraphy, and I enjoy offering myself as a real person who can help answer these questions (versus whatever answers would otherwise come up in a Google search). This is a big reason why I want to continue teaching calligraphy workshops, and possibly other types of workshops, in the future.

Is there a new medium you haven’t tried yet but want to start learning about? There are always so many! I had my first solo art show a few months ago, and I commissioned a custom neon sign from a Chicago artist. I’d love to learn to make my own neon one day, but I know it’s extremely tedious. For that same show, my boyfriend and I took apart, stripped, painted and restored a 1972 Honda CL350 to be a “Handmaid’s Tale” inspired piece in the show. We had to work very quickly on the project (we only had nine days to do all of the work), but I’d love to keep working on designing, customizing and restoring some project bikes.

Favorite Vans? and how would you describe your style? I wear black or grey low-tops everyday, and they’re my favorite shoes. My style is pretty androgynous, and my outfits almost always include an oversized black band tee, bike commuter pants, and my black trucker jacket with “Girls to the Front” screen printed on the back, and pockets full of stickers to give out to anyone who asks where I got my jacket! Also, my helmet and a bolo tie are go-to accessories.

What’s on the horizon after Babes Ride out and what exciting projects do you have coming up for 2017? Along with some of my best friends, I’m a partner on a game called TumbleSeed that is being released on May 2nd. It’s 2.5 years in the making, and I’m so thankful to have been involved. I’ll also be bringing Vichcraft on the road to a bunch of craft fairs and conferences around the country this summer, and I’ll be doing so with my very first employee! My friend Ellen will be joining my studio in the role of studio manager, and I’m extremely excited to see how much Vichcraft can grow with her on board, and freeing up a huge amount of my time to focus more on creative work.

What would you say to folks who wanted to follow in your footsteps and start their own business? Don’t. JK but I’d say to definitely be very critical of whether or not you possess the qualities that would make a great candidate for self-employment like extreme attention to detail, self-motivation, obsessiveness, time and money management skills, the ability to compartmentalize, etc. Also, I’d encourage you to seek advice from people who know both the work that you’re making, and also how you are as a person and to encourage those people to give you their honest opinion on whether you might be ready for self-employment. During my time in school, I freelanced and also worked at six internships, and stayed in touch with many past co-workers as I continued through school. Those people became my mentors, and I was able to learn things from them that I didn’t in school, and also develop relationships with them that encouraged honesty when it came time to decide if I was ready to launch a business. I’d also suggest starting out by freelancing on the side of a consistent job. When I launched Vichcraft, I already had five years of freelance experience under my belt, which meant that I had already given myself the chance to work out a lot of the kinks with handling client relationships, managing money and time, etc. Giving yourself the chance to figure a few of those things out while still having a consistent paycheck from a full-time job is much less scary then jumping in head first.

Follow Jenna Blazevich: Website: www.vichcraft.com Instagram: instagram.com/vichcraft Tumblr: vichcraft-design-studio.tumblr.com Twitter: twitter.com/Vichcraft

[02343]

Today’s card: Queen of Cups, Reversed

The Queen of Cups reversed suggests that you may be feeling out of touch with your emotions or that you are forced to restrict how you are really feeling deep inside. You may be struggling to express yourself effectively, instead bottling up your feelings internally. If you do not address these emotional issues, they will eventually reach boiling point. Your stress levels may increase and your ability to cope with everyday issues could suffer.

The Queen of Cups reversed suggests some dissatisfaction or feeling of disconnection from your spirituality that has arisen in your life. This may be as simple as a growing realisation that you need to find your path and get more involved on a meaningful level with others in your faith. The reversed Queen of Cups may also suggest that you are allowing your imagination to run away with you. You mean well but unfortunately you cannot be relied on. You are letting your emotions take hold and you are not thinking clearly with your head. At its worst, the precious qualities of imagination and flowing fantasy might turn out to be weakness and thoughtlessness, turning in any direction that any wind may blow, getting lost in a dream world of unreal fantasies. You are becoming easily overwhelmed by emotion, and you are becoming moody, unstable, brooding, suspicious, and overly secretive. The Queen of Cups reversed represents an overemotional wreck who can be driven to manipulative and vindictive behaviour. Your mood swings are making life difficult for others and you are emotionally draining on those around you. You tend to play the emotional heartstrings to your advantage. Within you, you may also harbor angst and self-loathing for your inability to do more with yourself and your talents. In relationships, this card heralds a time when separating the emotions from any sense of sensibility may be difficult. Strong emotions may seem to take all parties on a roller coaster ride. Within projects, jobs, or workplaces, all members may feel their emotions are a little frayed from stress. With this in mind, the reversed Queen of Cups also warns against entering into any agreements with those who seem to play on your sense of guilt or pull on your emotional heartstrings, for they may not be what they seem. The reversed Queen of Cups can indicate an over-reliance on other people’s emotional responses, which may result in a co-dependency type relationship. You may want to examine your current relationships. Is there co-dependency? Are you giving too much of yourself and not getting anything in return? This Queen nurtures for the sake of inducing dependency, and places undue importance on being in a relationship, no matter what its quality. There could also be a tendency towards having too many expectations from your partner. A reversed Queen of Cups can also indicate the abuse of alcohol and substances, particularly if this abuse is driven by your emotional state (i.e. you drink more when you are feeling upset). There’s a lot to unpack here and while I feel more comfortable relating to the upright Queen of Cups at this moment in my life, I’ll listen to the reversed.

- I am having a hard time expressing myself. There’s a lot going on with my family right now and it’s taking a toll on me but I’ve been kinda pushing it back down which definitely isn’t the best. I’m looking forward to seeing my therapist this week.  - It’s been a few days since I’ve done any yoga, or worked on my French and I feel that itching disappointment in myself that I used to feel when I didn’t work on my art for a hot minute. I tried to meditate in the shower the other day. I was feeling particularly comfortable and was alone and knew the moment I left the shower I wouldn’t be alone for a while so I sat down and closed my eyes and immediately started panicking. I need to get better at meditation but I hate closing my eyes. I’m scared to close my eyes. My obsessions manifest hard when I close my eyes. Showering hasn’t been fun. I panic a lot in the shower.  - My obsessions have become a little tough lately and I’m sure that the imagination bit is about that. I’m just constantly lost in panic and a black cloud. I’m either sinking into my own hell or I’m focusing on my family or how lost my poor great aunt must feel. I wish I could be lost for them. I hate watching this. -”Within you, you may also harbor angst and self-loathing for your inability to do more with yourself and your talents.” uh ding ding ding - The overemotional wreck bit is kinda right on the money but that’s usually when I’m PMSing. I become vengeful and manipulative because I feel so fucking awful inside.  -I’ve been drinking a lot more? Like I said, I feel like there’s a lot going on here but all I can fucking think about is how uncomfortable this shirt is today. I have been having the hardest time wearing bras and I fucking never want to wear one again holy shit. It’s so uncomfortable I hate being me I hate sitting here right now ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT IS MY DISCOMFORT I FEEL large and it sucks. I’m uncomfortable with my arms and my back and my dumb ass face. I hate my damn ass bras that cut into me. I hate the comfy ones that my boobs flop down and I have to readjust every five fucking minutes.  I’m gonna put my headphones on and try and get lost in a project before I start to cRY