#my new sketchbook has just become a journal of sorts at this point

[sheriffshots]

12/6/24 mandatory break

[the-book-reaper]

my @thewitchersecretsanta gift for @saltytransidiot!! I’m no IndigoDream, inexplicifics, round--robin, or any of the other amazing authors in this fandom, but I hope this makes you smile 💕💕

Jaskier absolutely loves wintering at Kaer Morhen. Geralt had finally worked up the nerve to invite him  to meet his family two years ago. They’d been together for thirteen years and together for a little over five.

Jaskier loves the winter because it’s really the only time Geralt gets to completely relax. With his father-figure (though none of them would ever admit it) and brothers there, isolated from a world that seems to wish them every harm.

read on ao3 here

Even after just two winters with them, Jaskier loves Lambert and Eskel. Not in the same way as he loves Geralt, of course, but as some mix of friend and brother. Eskel showed him around the library and Jaskier is teaching him how to craft his own lute, since every lute made for a human would be much too small. Lambert, while he loves his pranks, is quite clever and they can spend hours trading riddles and jokes.

He’d been expecting at least some animosity from Vesemir, considering he is the first “human” to enter Kaer Morhen since the raids. Geralt had blushed so adorably when Vesemir casually mentioned how often he talks about his bard. Jaskier likes doing food prep with him, though he’ll leave the actually cooking to the old wolf. The few times he tried… well, let’s just say those scorch marks in the stone of the kitchen weren’t completely intentional.

He loves cuddling up to Geralt in the evenings, all five of them around the crackling fireplace. He’d tried one sip of Lambert’s moonshine and started tearing up from the sheer amount of alcohol in it. The wolves would need a lot of human drinks to get drunk, so they usually only can during the winter. Every coin they make on the Path goes to food, shelter, supplies, and the occasional prostitute. Anyway, they don’t feel safe enough around humans to allow themselves to be in such a vulnerable state even if they did have the money.

Vesemir never gets terribly drunk. Actually, Jaskier has never seen him act even just the littlest bit intoxicated, even though the witchers drink from the same barrel and roughly the same amount. Eskel either stops after he feels tipsy or drinks until he falls asleep. Lambert usually has to be cut off once he starts suggesting things like going outside—during a blizzard—to spar. Naked.

And Geralt. Oh, how Jaskier loves his witcher. Completely sober, Geralt always maintains at least one point of contact with him if they’re in the same room. After one drink, he purrs easily and will grumble at Jaskier if he stops playing with his hair. At two, Geralt either pulls him into his lap, or is nearly in Jaskier's lap.

Somewhere between three and four is the adorable sweet-spot. When he hits this point, Geralt gets sad if Jaskier's attention strays from him too long. He demands many kisses, pouts if he only gets a peck, and whines adorably if Jaskier refuses him outright. Jaskier will herd him to their room at this point, where he cuddles his darling witcher until he falls asleep, secure in his arms.

This year, he is very much looking forward to exchanging their gifts. Geralt has been extremely secretive about his present, and the anticipation is killing him. This year, Jaskier’s gotten his love a couple new journals with some pencils, colored chalks, and a few paints.

Geralt recently shared that he initially had a lot of trouble with memorizing the bestiary. After the first couple beatings when he couldn’t answer the Masters’ questions, he learned that if he drew each monster, labeling as he went, he was able to retain the information much easier. Soon, he had a sketchbook completely filled with drawings and his only bruises were from training or roughhousing.

But once he’d memorized the bestiary completely, he didn’t want to stop drawing. So he started filling up notebooks with sketches of herbs and flowers, whether or not they had a use. Then he turned to anything he could think of, really.

Nothing is secret in Kaer Morhen though, and the other trainees mocked him mercilessly about it. Eventually he just stopped drawing altogether. Once he was on the Path, he didn’t exactly have much coin to spare on such frivolous things.

When the bard started improving his image, however… Geralt found his coin-purse to be not nearly as empty as it was before. Still, he worried that Jaskier would make fun of him about this hidden interest as well.

He honestly can’t even remember how, but Jaskier did find out and actually supported it, surprisingly. Jaskier had even been the one to buy his first notebook along with a few different pencils.

He never made fun of him, instead praising his art to a near ridiculous extent. Ridiculous to Geralt, that is. Jaskier insisted he was merely being honest.

Now Yule is coming up, and Jaskier has his gifts prepared. The art supplies for Geralt. A good set of strings for Eskel’s lute and some more sheet music. For Lambert he’s brought a book of 500 names since the idiot never calls his horses anything but “Horse” as well as more of that fancy soap he pretends to hate.

Vesemir is always the toughest. The old wolf doesn’t want for much, and it’s pretty bad form—in Jaskier's opinion—to give a person a gift they’ve already received in the past. Last year, Jaskier gave him an extremely old book of poetry written in Elder Speech he’d gotten for a steal at the market. The poor merchant had absolutely no idea about the true value of it!

That find had just been a fluke however, but he somehow got lucky again this year.

--

Now, four Wolves and one bard lounge by an open fire, safe and content. Jaskier takes another sip of his hot tea, the warmth spreading through his body. He can’t help but snuggle in closer to Geralt, who squeezes him gently with the arm around his waist. Finally, it’s time to open presents.

Jaskier insists they open their gifts from him first. He simply can’t take any more anticipation; he needs to know what they think. They’ll probably like them, but there’s always that little niggling voice telling him they’ll only say they like it to be polite.

“Oh, fuck you.” It seems Lambert has opened his gift the fastest. “And why do you keep getting me this fancy-pantsy soap?”

“Why do you keep using it?” Jaskier teases. Geralt chuckles at Lambert’s petulant grumble. Warmth completely unrelated to his tea blooms in Jaskier's chest. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being nice to yourself every once in a while, my little wolf.”

Lambert growls at him, but can’t protest because he is several decades younger than Jaskier.

Eskel and Vesemir love their gifts, which is good because Jaskier had no doubt whatsoever that they would. Absolutely none.

He turns to Geralt, who had been able to open his gift with only the one hand, and is staring down at the art supplies in his lap. Jaskier doesn’t think he’s breathing. His heart drops. “Darling? It’s okay if you don’t like-”

Geralt quickly sets the gift aside, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. His shoulders are shaking suspiciously. “Oh! Oh, my dear. I take it you do like your present, then?” Jaskier tries to add a teasing tone to his words, but he really was not expecting this kind of reaction.

“Thank you,” Geralt whispers emphatically into his neck.

Jaskier adjusts his grip on his—thankfully unsplit—tea and hugs him back just as fiercely. After a moment, Geralt releases him, kissing him softly.

There’s a gagging sound to their right and Jaskier has to pull away to laugh. Eskel cuffs Lambert on the back of the head—almost starting a spat—but Vesemir growls at them before it can go much further.

They move on to opening Vesemir’s gifts, no one mentioning the water in Geralt's eyes. Despite being crass and rough with each other, the Wolves know when not to make fun of something.

They open their gifts from Geralt last. Jaskier unties the meticulously wrapped string and unfolds the paper. Inside is something made from yarn, a light lavender that’s ever-so-slightly reflective. He runs a finger over the indescribably soft yarn, breathing in sharply. The fabric unfolds as he picks it up, revealing it to be a long scarf. Holding it closer, he can see the beautiful design woven along its entire length. There are a few breaks in the pattern, but they only make it more perfect.

Geralt spent gods know how long making this, either late at night or early in the morning, most likely frustratedly undoing his work half the time. That he spent so much time and effort, remembering how Jaskier is sensitive to the cold, and deciding to do something about it… His eyes prickle with an emotion he cannot name, he only knows that the word “love” is not strong enough.

He looks up at Geralt, who seems nervous. “Darling… You made this?” he whispers, just to be sure. Geralt nods and Jaskier mimics his love’s actions from earlier, throwing his arms around him—mindful of his drink, of course—and holding him close. “I love it so much. I can’t even imagine how difficult it must have been!” Jaskier releases him and holds the scarf up. “Will you put it on me?”

With reverent hands, Geralt wraps it loosely around his neck. Jaskier rubs a cheek against the yarn, breathing in Geralt's scent, etched into every fiber.

What happened after that, Jaskier honestly couldn’t tell you. The rest of the night passes in a sort of happy daze. Geralt gets all gooey with him and Vesemir herds them all off to bed.

He would have slept with the scarf on, but his dear witcher is much too fond of falling asleep with his nose buried in Jaskier's neck. They both relish in the little touches. Being able to hear the other’s heartbeat, feel their chest move as they breathe.

The undeniable truth of it gets to Jaskier sometimes. That scarf is just one more testament to their love. He really had been loathe to part with it so soon, but it would have just become tangled or stifling in the night. Besides, no item of clothing—even one made by Geralt—could ever amount to the man himself.

[ladyinthebluebox]

🍵 and 🎨 for each of your OC. ^^

🍵 Are there any rumours about your OC hanging around? Nasty ones or just good-humoured? Got any gossip to share about them?

There are quite a few rumours flying around Heleus Cluster concerning mostly the company Sybil Ryder keeps while the Tempest docs in the Kadara Port. People are whispering about her relationship with the certain smuggler, his shady associations as well as how much influence he has over the young human pathfinder. Not all rumours about her are like this, however. Around the Nexus you can hear the stories about her roasting members of the Nexus’ leadership.

When it comes to Scorpius Ryder, for quite a while not much was known to the wider population of Andromeda about him, except for the fact he’s kept in the Hyperion’s medical bay. Later, when he was finally awake from his coma, people began to talk about how there are crates of tech delivered to his private room in the hospital wing and what the pathfinder and her twin might be up to, When the Initiative’s personnel has finally been allowed to set an embassy on Aya, the rumours started spreading around the angara about there supposedly being not one Ryder, but TWO of them. 

There are many, and I mean MANY rumours flying around the famous or infamous Commander Shepard, especially that so many of the missions she was a part of both as an N7 operative as well as the first human Spectre, are surrounded with layers, upon layers of red tape. Some rumours are good, some are bad, and others, like the ones concerning what exactly took place on Torfan, are just disturbing. Very popular one suggests that Andromeda faked her death, though the reasons for it are unclear, ranging from infiltrating Cerberus to being a part of some sort of dodgy Council businesses. Meanwhile, some people believe it was the Council itself who planned the attack on the Normandy to get rid of the human Spectre and her ship. Then ofc, once it becomes clear that somehow, she was back, there are all sorts of rumours about the ragtag group making up her new crew and their association with Cerberus. Then, for a while, there were rumours spreading around the Citadel about Commander being seen in various parts of the station in the company of her turian crewmember.

There are quite a few rumours travelling around Thedas about the dalish elf, who became the Herald of Andraste and later took over as the Inquisitor. Most of them, however, are surprisingly positive. Smallfolk are often talking about Lady Lavellan being unusually kind, spending much time in places like the refugee camps and infirmaries. There’s one story about how she supposedly gave away a pair of her own boots to a girl who was close to getting frostbite during one of the long, cold fereldan nights, her family spent in Hinterlands’ refugee camp. Ofc there are some nobles gossiping bout her relationship with a reclusive elven scholar from her inner circle as well that together they are trying to push some sort of elf agenda but those are a minority. Later on, some whispers can be heard here and there about Deirdre’s strange connection to dragons, of how supposedly she was able to call one during the last stand in the Temple of Sacred Ashes but barely anyone believes it.

There aren’t many rumours about Falon Lavellan. One would be that supposedly the Inquisitor has a sibling somewhere, but he’s never mentioned anywhere in it. The other, spreading out between his clanmates concerns the reason why, at the age of 33, Falon still hasn’t invited a woman to his aravel and started a family. As clan Thelen isn’t upholding the traditions related to the Emerald Knights, the big wolf following him everywhere is also met with some suspicion.

Nobles living in High Town can’t stop talking about Keres ever since she and her mother moved into the old Amell’s residence. The rumours are wild, talking about how it’s not possible that her mother is actually who she claims to be. There’s also a matter of a rather suspicious company coming and going to the manor and how the strange, tall young woman is actually a mage. 

Most rumours about Renan Mahariel concern either her influence over what happened during the Landsmeet and the coronation of king Alistair that followed it. Other is related to her relationship with the assassin from the guild of the Antivan Crows and how they have been working as mercenaries in Antiva for a while. Later on there are many rumours about people who saw the Warden and her companion in the western parts of Thedas, while some other rumours suggest that she’s sucumbed to the taint.

🎨 Is your OC artistic? Can they draw or paint or do they prefer another medium? Are they a writer or musician or do they do something else? Give us a quick rundown of what they can get creative with!

Sybil isn’t artistic or any sort of creative kind of gal. She’s always been more into sports and other physical activities. I guess that the only exception for the rule fitting under this question, could be when, back in the primary school she used to be a part of a drama club. One thing she’s got left from this experience is a secret soft spot for theatre, mostly watching plays though. 

While his sister joined the drama club, Scorpius, began learning to play the piano. After two or so years, however, he’s exchanged it for violin, which he plays still. He doesn’t write music, never have been, but he can transcribe melodies to notes. Scorp is most creative in the field of computer science. He’s writing programs, scripts and constantly coming up with new upgrades for his beloved drone.

Andromeda is probably the most talented of all my OCs. In fact, her mother wanted her to go to an art school to study art history and further develop her painting and drawing skills. Andy, however, chose the Alliance instead. It’s not a very well known fact, but during long, sleepless nights, Commander often takes out her sketchbook and draws everything from the environments of the recently visited planets, faces of her crewmates to the snippets of her twisted dreams. While working on the Lazarus Project Miranda (ofc) got wind of this, and allowed herself to leave a leatherbound sketchbook with a bunch of pencils in the Commander’s private quarters right before Andromeda took command over the new Normandy. After the Reaper War was finally over, Andromeda went back to painting and for quite a while she was trying to get rid of the atrocities of the war stuck in her system by creating paintings similar to some of the surrealist works of Zdzislaw Beksinski [1] [2] [3].

As a lore keeper and earlier, a disciple of Sylaise, Deirdre was taught at least the basics of various arts and crafts practised by the dalish elves. She’s no master of any of them, though. For instance, she’s decent at singing but she’s especially worthless at embroidery. However, at some point during her travels between clans living in Free Marches, Antiva and Rivain, Derry began writing some notes, which developed into full-on journaling during the time of the Inquisition. Her journals are made of notes, dried flowers, picked up in the places they visited as well as for doodles of some things of interest.

In his spare time between hunts and learning young hunters the ways of Vir Tanadhal, Falon can be found sitting by the fire with his wolf companion lying at his feet, either carving little figurines out of wood, bones or antlers. Over the years he’s become quite skilled especially at carving out animals and many of clan Thelhen‘s kids are playing with the figurines made by him. Sometimes he’s also making necklaces and bracelets either using craved out pendants or animal teeth.

Keres has never been especially creative, except for finding out new ways to get into trouble. However, when got bach from the Deep Roads with buckets full of treasure, she discovered a taste for fashion and finery and she began bothering seamstresses around Kirkwall with her ideas for new garments. None of her ideas has ever been in line with the current fashion trends coming to Kirkwall from Orlais and other places, but Keres never cared much about it and continued to order new doublets for her, and later on for Fenris as well.

Before she became THE Warden, Renan used to be an apprentice to the clan’s Sabrae Mastercraftsman. As such, she’s learned the art of carving out wood and working with metals as well as decorating weapons and armours with traditional ornaments. She’s never mastered the art, but when she went into Vigil’s Keep forge, she‘s made a lot of weapons decorated with intricate hilts and handles and when she was about to leave, to join Zevran in Antiva, she made a pair of beautiful, decorated daggers especially for him.

Ask me maybe?

[friendlyneighborhoodborg]

Marc Appreciation Week 2019| Day 2: Hero/Villain| ”Coping Mechanism”

Okay, so I know the prompt is basically supposed to mean “this character but with a miraculous.”  The backslash (/) in the prompt is meant to be taken as “or.”

But...

That’s one ambiguous backslash.

Let me know what I’m doing right/wrong.  Disclaimers were in the Day 1 submission.

~1700 words, for those who care.

Chapters:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

           Monday was a lot smoother than Sunday.  On Monday, Marc had stuff to do, including, but not limited to, school, meetings, and feeling depressed.

           Few strangers would be surprised to hear that he was depressed today.  After all, it had been two days since his little episode, and akuma victims generally had some sort of depressed attitude for a few days after.  Anyone who knew him would be even less surprised; Marc was anything but the ray of sunshine some of his schoolmates were.

           Getting akumatized was exactly the trauma he didn’t need.

           It was a little bit of the dissociation he had heard other people feel.  Having no memories of the event, watching the news and seeing himself as that stranger was jarring for a multitude of reasons.  He saw him as someone with his thoughts and personality, basically everything that made him himself, only twisted into someone with a killing rage and the means to destroy.  There was a lot of himself in Reverser, and that’s one of the things he tried to ignore from his viewing experience.

           The other thing he ignored was how familiar that experience was, seeing someone with his face and emotions do things only a complete stranger would.  He did often feel like he was projecting himself to the people around him,  with an overwhelming need to stifle his passions to stay normal.  He only felt allowed to act like himself when he was alone with his journal.  Being someone else wasn’t too far off from his normal, everyday life, which is why Reverser’s power-set in particular kinda sucked.

           Then the last thing he tried to brush off was the increasing number of stares he got from people who had never been corrupted. He just hated people looking at him in general.  Including himself, sometimes, and the extra attention was not welcome at all.

           But he was begrudgingly used to getting judged. Judging himself had even become a habit. Every morning, he’d look at himself in the mirror.  He’d feel some sort of emotion, something he hadn’t quite found the right words for yet. It would fall somewhere between “Ugh, not him again” and “Well, it could be worse.”  He had found that hiding his face was a good way of combating the more extreme end of the scale of loathing, so he had starting wearing makeup.  And he’d do his own face in the mirror until he felt more like “Well, it could be worse.”

           Point is, he didn’t like people noticing him, but he could usually brush it off.

           He didn’t usually take this approach to his writing.  He generally thought the writing was pretty good, especially if no one but him was going to see it.  No matter what, he rarely ever wrote down his own thoughts, or if he did, they were unintended, or buried and disguised as something else.

           His thoughts wandered to the journal in his backpack. The tale of a forbidden love between a hero and a former villain, the kind of workplace romance that scores a high budget and has audiences flocking to the cinema.  A de-evilization gone wonderfully wrong, making the butterfly’s effects on its victim permanent, a blossoming emotions between him the heroine who saved him.

           Starring the dubious alter-ego of one Nathaniel Kurtzberg, and written as the heroine from a first-person perspective.

           God, he wondered what Freud would say if he was living today.

           Thankfully, only one student seemed to have cottoned on that his artistic admiration went a little deeper than conventional, but even then he wasn’t sure if Marinette actually knew the full-blown extent of his crush.

           ‘Nope,’ he reminded himself.  ‘Not thinking about that today.  He’s your project partner, and that’s it, and he very obviously has a thing for strong, female superheroes.’

           ‘Well, that’s why you wrote from Ladybug’s POV, isn’t it?’ he argued.  ‘Why don’t you admit what the problem is?’

           ‘That’s not the problem.’  He straightened his back.  ‘I know that’s not what the problem is.  And I don’t have time for this right now.’

           Today, despite his constant state of internal darkness, he was early to school.  And so was a certain redhead artist whose attention he duly attempted to avoid.

           Poorly.

           As per his double-standards.

           Marc shrank as Nathan’s eyes met his and he was waved over against his will.

           He didn’t appreciate being called out like this, especially not in public. But since it was him... he inched up to him.

           “Morning,” Nath said, smiling.

           ‘Gosh dangit.’

           Nevertheless, Marc was determined to keep a level head. It may have been true at one point that the wordsmith had maybe possibly harbored some potentially… problematic emotions for this boy, it was abundantly clear nothing good would come of them.  It was a morose conclusion, as it usually was, but one that had to be reached for both of their goods.  So, he was determined to end his crush on this artist by any means necessary.

           Even if his eyes were clear blue gemstones, teeming with some unseen energy that made him want to keep looking—

           ‘No!’ he chastised.  ‘Bad Marc!’

           “You okay?” Nathaniel asked, and Marc realize he hadn’t answered him.

           “Yeah,” he admitted.  “I’m not a morning person,” Marc admitted.  Internally, he mused, ‘Or an evening person.  Or an afternoon person.  Really, I’m barely a person.’

           Unable to see into Marc’s soul, Nathaniel continued.  “Well, I hope it gets better.”

           ‘It rarely does.’  “You seem to be in a good mood, at least.”

           “Yeah.”  He scratched his head absently.  “Probably not what you expected, huh?  How am I supposed to be emo when I like sunshine?”

           “You seem to be managing yourself just fine.”

           “Thanks, I guess.”  He shrugged off his bag.  “So, we didn’t really do any work yesterday.  Got any ideas for a story?”

           “Oh.”  Marc relaxed, knowing this must be all Nathan wanted from him.  “I hadn’t really given it much thought.  Probably the usual heroes’ dynamic at play.  Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Mighty-Illustrator.”

           Nath looked confused for a second.  “But what about…”

           “What?”

           “Well,” he opened his satchel and pulled out his sketchbook, then he started flipping through it.  “Look, see here.”  He pointed at one page in particular.

           He saw what Nathaniel had drawn.

           He was suddenly aware of everyone looking at him.

           When he came to his senses, he found he was hiding in a bathroom stall.  Someone was banging on the stall door, trying to get his attention.

           “Marc!”  Nathan’s voice carried a deep concern.  “I’m sorry, I should have—I mean, of course, I’m an idiot!  I just…” He groaned loudly at himself, and his voice softened.  “I’m sorry. I should have realized, it’s too new for you.  It only happened a couple days ago…… Look, you can feel free to hate me, I didn’t think about what you’d…”  He just trailed off and left them both in silence.

           Marc heard him start to leave.

           “How do you do it?” he asked, suddenly.

           “Wh-what?”

           “You turned your akuma into the hero?  Why did you do that?” he demanded.  “How could you do that?”

           Nathaniel didn’t answer verbally.  Of course he didn’t, why would he?  He didn’t like expressing himself verbally.

           There was a rustling of papers and something was slid under the door.

           Marc picked it up.  “Are you crazy?  You put your sketchbook on the bathroom floor?”

           “Just look, Marc.”

           He did.  “This is… Mighty-Illustrator and Marinette.”

            There was a pause, and then, “That’s Super-Nathan.”

           “Huh?”

           Nathaniel explained.  “Super-Nathan.  I told you, I’m not good with words or names. He was… well, it was me as a superhero. That’s how he was created, and that’s what I drew him to be.  I wanted to be strong and empowered and witty and do all the things superheroes get to do. I don’t know if you noticed this about me, but I don’t… I’m not strong and I’m not witty.”

           “You’re pretty witty.  I mean, you made this.”  He realized something was off with the picture, however.  “Um, I thought he was supposed to like Ladybug, though.”

           “That was only after I was akumatized.”

           “Oh… Wait, so then… oh.”

           “Yep.  Super-Nathan came first.  Then Hawk Moth turned Super-Nathan into a villain.  Super-Nathan became Evillustrator.  Then I turned him back into Mighty-Illustrator.”  He took a deep breath, and continued forward, his words blazing with a strength Marc hadn’t heard him use before.  “Super-Nathan is mine.  Not his.  I figured this is the one way I can get back at him.  Taking him back, using him to fight Hawk Moth.  Fictionally, anyway.”

           Marc was somewhat grateful for the door in between them.  Nathaniel couldn’t see his completely floored reaction.

           Marc looked down at the sketchbook in his hands. He flipped to the most recently-used page, careful not to look at any of the others.

           The face of evil stared back up at him, striking a heroic pose.

           “We don’t have to use him,” assured the cartoonist. “If you don’t want to.”

           Marc stared back down at himself.  He was only startled out of it when Nathaniel’s steps started walking away.

           “No,” Marc said, stopping him.  “We can use Reverser.”  He hesitated.  “Only… can we change his name?  Like you did?”

           “Well,” his collaborator mused.  “You’re the writer.  And it is you, after all.  You think of something.”

           Making sure his face was back to its normal pale, Marc opened the door.  And there was Nathaniel.  Marc passed him back his sketchbook.  It was taken with gratitude.  “We don’t have to work today if you’re not up to it still.”

           Marc considered this before slowly nodding.

           “Okay.”  He turned to leave.  “Whenever you’re ready, then, you’ve got my number.”  He stopped at the door, still with his back turned.  “Hey, Marc?”

           A noise of acknowledgement was made.

           “I don’t usually do art for anyone but myself. But…” he searched for his words, which seemed to have left him.   “It-it’s nice to work with someone.”  He turned back and regarded Marc, smiling.  “Especially you.”  Then, looking unsure of himself, he awkwardly made his exit.

           Marc was now all by himself in the washroom, and he was suddenly very aware of the heat in his cheeks.

           He sighed.  Not out of any particular emotion, except maybe frustration.

          ‘Gosh dangit.’

I’m taking the mostly positive comments as a sign that I’m on the right track, so I’m just gonna keep going with this.  If the other chapters aren’t as good... well, there’s worse things than this on this site.  And I only finished this today, barely on the deadline, so I’ll try not to stress much over it.

[houseofvans]

SKETCHY BEHAVIORS | KATY ANN GILMORE

Inspired by mathematics, architecture, perspective, and illusion of space, Los Angeles based artist Katy Ann Gilmore combines her love of art and math in the amazing work she creates–from sculptures to drawings to a recent mural at Vans HQ! Find out more about Katy Ann Gilmore, what artists inspire her, and her process for creating her insane optical art below! 

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself? My name is Katy Ann Gilmore, and I live in Los Angeles. I’m originally from Indiana / Illinois, and I moved out here 7 years ago and fell in love with the area. I’m a big fan of being outside and hiking, so I make sure to take breaks and free my brain from the studio often. Although, I sometimes think of my best ideas on a hike. :)

I grew up making things, but in the mural Midwest, I didn’t really have an idea of what it meant to make art professionally. I’ve been keeping journals since I was 8, so it’s fun to look back and see how many times I wrote that I just want to “make things” for my job. I feel so incredibly lucky that I get to wake up and do that each day!

You recently did a really cool mural at Vans HQ. Can you tell us a little about how that came about, the process, and the idea behind the design? I had so much fun with that mural! Jamie from HQ reached out with an idea to have me interpret the “Off the Wall” slogan in a way that was inline with how I’d been using perspective and illusion of space. Another feature was incorporating the Vans checkerboard pattern, which I think combined pretty seamlessly as everything I do is based upon some sort of grid system. The idea was the grab elements of work and concepts in the past, and design something for this specific wall at HQ. As with all murals, I had everything detailed and planned out before painting on the wall.

In your works, you’ve been influenced by topography and distortions of space. First, how did you first get into drawing, and second, when did your art form evolve into what you’re doing now visually?  Also at what point, did this relationship with mathematics are art intertwine? I first started drawing heavily about 7 years ago. I had just moved to LA from the midwest for grad school, and I didn’t have a car, money, or a large space to work. That really limited me in materials and flexibility. I found that I had to make my studio wherever I was, so drawing was a perfect medium to explore. I took projects with me and worked when I could. I was working full-time at the same time, so I’d also use my lunch break to draw. Then, as life began to stabilize, I started working in more 3D/installation terms.

The same cycle happened again when I quit my full-time job in late 2014. I started focusing on drawing again as I didn’t have a dedicated space to make art, and started to use Instagram as a tool to push small drawings for purchase. I really credit those times focusing on drawing for providing the foundation for my mural work today. My work and drawing eventually began to mature as I started bringing in ideas and interests from the past about perception and the ways we engage with the environments around us.

Art and math have always been big parts of my life. I was always making something growing up, and also had a pretty heavy interest in buildings and architecture along with mathematics. The higher up in mathematics you go, the more abstract it becomes. You’re not so much dealing with numbers as concepts and problems. I really loved that, and particularly fell in love with non-Euclidean geometry. It’s been fun to see them naturally intertwine as I pursue ideas that seem interesting to me. I like that about art. Any interests that you have, no matter how seemingly disparate, can come together in what you make.

You’ve worked in various mediums from sculpture, installation to drawing and painting. Is there a new medium you’ve been meaning to explore but haven’t had the chance yet? Although it’s still sculpture, I’d love to create outdoor sculptural works at some point. I did my first outdoor mural last summer, and it was fun to think about how it interacted with the surrounding space. A big part of my process is spending time outside, so it seems natural to me to create work that will permanently live in an outdoor space.  I have a few ideas rattling around that I’m sure I’ll have the chance to make someday! :)

What’s the process when you’re creating your topographical visual artwork? Do you work from sketches to laying it out on a computer? What do you find to be the most satisfying part of the process? I usually start with pretty messy and initial ideas in my sketchbook. I take a sketchbook with me wherever I go, so when these ideas come (I tend to get a lot while driving, on a walk or hike, basically during any monotonous activity where my mind wanders), I draw them out. From there, I pick the winners to develop into nicer sketches. From there, I pick a smaller pool of winners to be made into shapes cut out of paper that are basically miniatures of finished work. Then, I’d sort and order those to see which ones I think will be most effective on a larger scale.

 I do my recent work on dibond (aluminum sheet with a plastic core), and create a file in Illustrator to have the shape cutout. Then the fun part starts! I get to actually make the work. This is the most satisfying and meditative part for me, seeing it all come together after so many steps. It’s a big planning process, so I’m simultaneously in the stages of sketching on piece, working on a finished piece, or drawing in Illustrator to keep work flowing.

Who are some artists out there that you find inspiring? I’ve been a fan of Daniel Arsham for awhile, and I’m also keen on Phillip K. Smith’s work. I really love how they both deal with spaces/environments as a whole to create an experience.

What’s a common misconception about artists? What has been your greatest obstacles and how have you overcome it? I think each career has a stigma attached to it, and unfortunately a common one about art is the brooding, emotional, starving artist. I don’t fit that mold, and I know tons of artists don’t as well. I’m sure you could find a brooding, emotional, starving accountant out there. When I talk about what I make, I reference how others in different careers approach their work. I treat it like I have any other job in the past. The hours are crazier, but more flexible, but it’s still a job. I love what I do, but obviously everyone has days where they really don’t want to work.

I intrinsically self-motivated, so it’s not too hard to push past that, but it does get frustrating when that assumption is associated with your personality. It took me a bit of time to realize that it was ok to just do my work as it fits my temperament and schedule.

What are you jamming to when you’re in the studio? What would folks find if they were to check out your most recent music playlist? I’m usually listening to James Blake, Nicolas Jaar, Darkside, or Bonobo...and most recently Loyle Carner.

We always like to know what artists would be doing if they weren’t artists? What career or profession do you think you’d be in? I’ve had this list of three careers that I would do instead for awhile now. These are half joking, half not. I’d be a paleontologist, astronaut, or some sort of engineer.

What are your favorite Vans? I really love the white Sk8-Hi’s. They’re usually my first go-to as they work with pretty much anything I wear.

What do you tell folks who want to do what you do as a career? The first thing would be to make things all the time. Make sure you have a stable avenue to provide an arena to make things, whether that’s keeping a full-time or part-time job (as long as it’s not too all-consuming and stressful...if that’s the case, find another job that facilitates you making work), living more frugally, or whatever else you can do to have the financial means to create work.

I think there’s something to be said about catering your life to have art at the center. I’m all for risks and jumping in (I quit a full-time job in late 2014, and while looking for another job, kicked art into full-time, made tons of financial sacrifices, and eventually that took off), but I think it is good to make sure your life is set up as a foundation for success in your artwork. Maybe financials aren’t a concern for someone else - it might be other life obligations. I think it’s just good to be aware of whatever those constraints might be, and don’t just work around them, but with them.

What do you have coming up that you’re super excited about? I have a solo show in May at DENK in Los Angeles, so I’m excited about that! I’m looking forward to sharing the new work I’ve been making!

FOLLOW KATY  Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr

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Exhibition Plan

Previous Semester

Although this has been explored in my post in the ‘inspiration’ section of the blog. I wanted to get started with my exhibition plan by talking about my previous experience where I used In Design to design my space for the exhibition using the correct dimensions and the requirements of the gallery space.

It was a quite a process in selecting work that worked well together to create a strong narrative for the project. I used a grid of small A5 prints of suitable selection of images that worked well through a consistent aesthetic. The use of small size worked well. I also used a participatory element (postcards) adds a fun and engaging spin as the question about one's favourite holiday destination is at odds with the presented images of Hatfield. I also placed my photograph on a plinth to add further interest in the project. This wasn’t just done over night, through various research and edits (see post in the ‘inspiration’ section of the blog) to get the final look of the project ready for the exhibition.

Key Elements for an Exhibition

In this section, I want to talk about the key elements for an effective show. You should have a body of work with a consistent theme rather than being a collection of random images that don't fit together. I have a project with a theme ready, although the project has black and white images as well as polaroids and various other aesthetics images, they all have a running theme that ties the work together.

Curating the images

It’s very important how much you space you have to exhibit, then you can plan your work around the dimensions. Now, it’s the challenging part, selecting images. 

For the project above, I had a collection of 100+ images, I had 1.4m of space to work. I didn’t want to clutter the work as I thought it would detract the work hence I opted for a grid layout which informs the viewer the standard and the uniformal sense of the project which it self is a deadpan view. I exhibited 16 images of 100+ images. I had the A5 size in mind which helped to design for the show.

Promoting it online and offline

Although as a class we promoted our online (our social media) and offline (fliers / zine). Looking back, I don’t think it was enough. The exhibition was at a quiet place despite being in London. We spent a lot of time in planning for the exhibition that we didn’t take the time to promote and market the exhibition as effectively we should have which would’ve helped with the turnout. We didn’t use the local shops / community centre to promote, neither did we look for options online.

We also didn’t enter any competitions or open calls, we missed out in this key opportunity as there are plenty of organisations that help promote University student’s work. I didn’t do this previously hence I missed out on getting exposure to my work. However, in this semester, I have made this my goal.

Previous Ideas

Through out the previous semester, I had a theme running in terms of exhibiting my work. 

-’Random’ placements of images on the wall= Mimicking the appearance of a workspace or a personal wall, the scarcity of the images suggests variety of themes and subject matter

-Varied in size and scale of the prints= This gives importance to various subject matter in images.

The idea was to have my images disperse on the wall which hints at my identity which is so scarce itself with no clear beginning or ending. “I’m a queer mixture of east and the west, out of place everywhere, at home nowhere.”

For the print options, I always had this idea of having various prints from darkroom, inkjet, C-type, polaroids as well as texts. It’s this rough look that still entices me as that’s what the project is about. This raw, introspective exploration of identity and scarcity of it.

Influence

Wolfgang Tillmans has an influential figure to me in terms of exhibiting work. His method of using prints without usage of frames or any other materials that ‘inform’ you that it’s a special image. He simply uses his images using minimal technique, whilst he experiments with scale as well texture of the prints.

Tillmans's images in exhibitions are casual seeming in both their subject matter and their dispensation around the walls: some small, some large, some close together in linear runs, some mounted high up, low down and, occasionally, printed large and given solitary prominence.

It’s compatible to that of magazine layouts; some people made reference to teenage bedroom walls, which, in the seemingly ad hoc positioning, the shifts between genres and the inclusion of portraits of friends and the occasional music or fashion celebrity, also seemed pertinent. 

The spatial relationship is key in his work as he uses negative space to surround his large / small images, sometimes they are cluttered, others are not suggesting the relationship. The method replicates our working space where each print stand out against the spacious white wall. The subject matter is also dispersed amongst the wall as Tillmans makes connection between the detail of his lives to give them an aesthetic and often emotional presence which is something Tillmans intends to share.

My room

I have experimented with a more tighter approach than a spacious take. Although it appears and feels ‘ amateurish’, I think it adds to the narrative to the project, it seems unfinished and still under working process which is exactly what my identity is, it’s a working process. The ‘raw’ images on the wall becomes something else, it’s almost journal like, maybe more perhaps a working sketchbook.

Inspiration II

Nina Manandhar has been a big influence in my project which I explored in the previous semester. The exhibition show depicts an editorial like photo story where it conveys a narrative about the Nepalese identity.  The dispersed images on the wall with a row of images work well as a documentary editorial project where the layout is informative and cohesive. The work highlights themes of kinship, fraternity, belonging, collective cultural expression and masculinity. With Manandhar being Nepalese as her father is from Nepal, she uses her camera not only as a tool to explore her environment but also to develop projects which depict dual heritage identity as informed by her own. The resulting body work, functions as part anthropological enquiry and part personal story from her point of view of a mixed-race British Nepali women who has grown up as an insider/outsider to the Nepali community in the UK. Her particular interest in the young males nods to the imagined setting of her father in the UK- a hint at his life as a young man and his journey settling in London, but also her own identity as British Nepali. 

Experimentation

Prior to Covid 19, the above was a rough plan for the exhibition. The layout is a result of lots of experiments in the past. I wanted to have two huge prints instead of one to highlight certain subject matter in the layout as I thought having just one huge print will have lots of influence on the other small prints. By having two huge prints, I can base the small, supplementary images to the project. It has a playful appeal to it, which works well to place importance on each print. I wanted to experiment with the spatial relationship between the prints as they have various subject matter from landscapes, still life to portraits. With care and thought behind it, it can mix well together to create a sense of cohesiveness to the project.

Core Idea

Similar to the photo book idea, I want the exhibition to have a feel of “family photo” type of images but with a fine art approach, where the layout or having “rough” prints suggest otherwise with experiments on the scale and the spatial relationship between the prints. I think having this "look” work for the project as it seems to take in lots of ideas and explores them lightly. As a result, the work appears to pull in to the work but with distance, and with distance, instil a connection.

Jim Joe

As a result, the photographs looks at the present world with distance, and with this distance, instil a sense of amazement. The camera is an eye and is utilised as an instrument of perception which examines the self and the external world and in doing so, provides visual expression to concepts of reality. The landscapes, still life and portraits become a container for this memory. Creating this work, interacting and reflecting upon my identity is a reminder that at some point I was in that moment, it now acts as a portal.  

At the core of it, it’s much about me and my life, what has been and what is. I think the viewers can somewhat understand the themes of the project and hopefully understand where I’m coming from. The work informs and shares the perspective of someone who’s unknown and the identity is also somewhat underrepresented in society. Although the work is filtered through own experiences of growing up in Nepal and Nepal. These photographs express my personal nostalgia for a long past period of my life and the places of my childhood. I believe that they also inspire feelings of nostalgia in many of the people who view them who might have grown up in a similar way. Perhaps it may stimulate embodied memories of some who might have shared some  experiences of place and people that I have experienced in this project. 

Essentially, the prints takes photography literally. “We are all frightened by time and the way it moves on, and the way things disappear. That’s why we are photographers. We are preservationists by nature. We take pictures to stop time, to commit moments to eternity. Human nature made tangible.” 

Reference

Jobey, L. (2010). Wolfgang Tillmans: the lightness of being. The Guardian. [online] 25 Jun. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/jun/26/wolfgang-tillmans-serpentine-photographs-exhibition [Accessed 21 Apr. 2020]

artnet News. (2020). “Record-Keeping Is Never Neutral”: Wolfgang Tillmans on How Photography Can Be Used as a Potent Political Tool for Change. [online] Available at: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/wolfgang-tillmans-interview-brussels-1798353 [Accessed 21 Apr. 2020].

[ghostchild90]

Get to know me part 2

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk?

More milk, I like to drink it after.

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?

Yes, I do.

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books?

Mostly postcards, receipts, toilet paper…

4: how do you take your coffee/tea?

Black/ unsweetened or REALLY REALLY sweet with lots of milk, there is no in between.

5: are you self-conscious of your smile?

No! I have great teeth and I like my lips

6: do you keep plants?

I keep a cat. Ha. Ha. No seriously I keep herbs and I like sunflowers and yellow or pink roses, sometimes a cactus will survive.

7: do you name your plants?

No, they won’t live long enough.

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings?

I sing a lot, I scribble, sometimes I’ll write but I’ll mostly blog about my feelings.

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself?

I sing like all the time. Music is my favourite thing in the world and I would die for real singing lessons, to improve my voice.

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?

All above :) mostly on my side. Hey girlfriend, how do I sleep?

11: what’s an inner joke you have with your friends?

Some ridiculous mean names mostly, the plantkin or “remembers me of my first time”

12: what’s your favorite planet?

It’s Jupiter! Such an interesting planet and I really like the mythical side too.

13: what’s something that made you smile today?

Skyping with my girlfriend (aww It’s so cheesy, it’s terrible. I love it)

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

I like cosy rooms, lots of wood and knick knacks, books, pillows, big colourful windows and a really nice kitchen with fresh herbs!

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is!

If it was 80 times more massive, Jupiter would have become a star instead of a planet.

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish?

I really like everything with mushrooms, spinach and broccoli, but the best Pasta dish I ate was a vegan Putanesca one in Amsterdam, maybe because I was high, but that’s not important here.

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair?

I like my ginger hair as it is, but I would choose pastel colours.

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up.

There is really too much to tell. Maybe the shopping card race with Chris or the burnt kitchen? But something I did? I nearly killed Felix and myself accidentally but playing cards in an epic traffic was more fun.

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?

I have roughly 400 sketchbooks and notebooks. I don’t use them daily, but I love to write or draw things down.

20: what’s your favorite eye color?

Green or darker colours.

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces.

I do love my current backpack! It slowly falls apart but I love it. I patched it by myself.

22: are you a morning person?

I can hear you snorting girlfriend. But no, I am not.

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?

I don’t like to do nothing when I’m by myself. If I had my lovelies with me, I would stay in bed and maybe read out loud, but while I’m alone, I like to wander around and play Pokemon… Or I’ll bingwatch some stuff.

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

Yes I’m lucky enough to have someone, well there are about 3 people who truly know me, but I’m not sure if a single person knows everything about me.

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into?

A fury convention in Magdeburg, it was surreal.

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit?

My black platform boots I LOVE them to pieces.

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor?

Spearmint or apples

28: sunrise or sunset?

I see the sunset way more often than the rise, it’s both pretty but the morning is more beautiful. (If I’m still awake of course)

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?

Sometimes my friends surprise me with really nice things they say about me.

For example, Felix told me once I’m so curious about life, It’s inspirational and I still think about this. Otherwise, Jessi gives the best hugs, it’s cute. Oh and my gf has this adorable look on her face when she is confused ;)

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

Yes, I have a deep fear of dying and I’m terrible scared of maggots.

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks.

Okay take a seat, this will take a while.

Socks tell a lot about your personality, are you playful? Are you all business? I personally love weird socks. I’ve got some with hotdogs on them and I’m a vegetarian. My most favourite ones are spooky socks I bought Halloween, or the Ravenclaw ones. I hate to wear mismatched socks and I can’t even tell you why. Even when they are all black, to KNOW that they have a different high drives me nuts. And I loathe to wear socks in bed! I cannot sleep with them and I HATE them in combination with sex. BUT! That’s not fully true. Kneehigh socks or stockings are a huge turn on, while wearing them or on others. I have this weird clothing kink, but that’s a different story. Normal socks are fine as they are, white ones are boring and I find it very relaxing to sort them after washing them. So, that’s a lot on socks.

 32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.

Well. Only 4am knows all my secrets but 3am sees me in weird states of really deep conversations on a kitchen counter or stargazing in a shopping cart.

33: what’s your fave pastry?

I could die for lemon rolls or everything with apples in it.

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?

My oldest one is a cat named Leodor. He is white with black patches and maybe he is a leopard. My most favourite one is a big cream coloured teddy bear my Grandpa gave me. Her name is Rosi and of course I still have both. I have a lot of stuffed animals and I still remember every name.

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often?

I have a really nice pen but I don’t write with it too often. I can’t tell you why, I really don’t know. I also have a bad handwriting.

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now?

Subway to Sally – Seemanslied or ASP& Chamber – Ride on. Maybe even When the day met the night from Panic! At the Disco because I thought a lot about the moon tonight.

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean?

My bedroom seems to be always messy, the rest is okay. Not sterile but I do my best.

38: tell us about your pet peeves!

It drives me nuts when the hem of a shirt is turned inside out and I really hate rude people.

39: what color do you wear the most?

Black and green

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you?

Oh that’s easy, I would say my Triskele! I wear it on a chain since 2014 and I only put it off when I shower, because it’s iron and I want to avoid rust. It’s kind of my lucky charm.

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

The last one I read not so much but I greatly enjoyed Hermann Hesses – der Steppenwolf.

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it!

I had one! And I’m in a dire need for a new one! I want to become a regular in a coffee shop again.

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?

I do a lot of lonely stargazing, but I guess it was with Chris, very drunk of course and somehow funny. But I have someone else in mind. (Yes, you)

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything?

The week in Vienna, talking about feelings, having the courage for kissing and touching.

45: do you trust your instincts a lot?

Yes, I do! I have fantastic instincts.

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of.

My last hairdresser appointment is long hair. (it makes more sense in German, trust me)

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe?

The desire for power and pineapples on pizza.

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?

The fear of dying. It’s still the same. And the fear of being alone, this is different now.

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought?

Yes, I do! The last one was A fever you can’t sweat out by Panic! At the Disco.

50: what’s an odd thing you collect?

For me? I collect soda cans and sharks

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them?

Well for today it’s still the Seemanslied and it’s about my feelings for my girlfriend (It’s about longing and finding home)

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far?

I FUCKING LOVE MEMES! The best meme 2017 was the one with the guy and the two girls. ( He looks after her and she looks offended, I saw really funny things about this)

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them?

Yes – love it,

nope,

yes – it’s my fucking aesthetic and

yes of course! It’s so good.

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?

It was my mum, for reasons.

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point?

Oh I don’t know. Am I a dramatic person? Yes of course but do I have to prove my points? Well, who knows.

56: what are some things you find endearing in people?

Smiles, serious wonder for the world and kindness in general.

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?

You never saw me ROCKING THIS SONG. Haha. You will someday, be very afraid.

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why?

Sometimes I’m both, but no seriously I’m totally the momfriend but more with vodka than wine.

59: what’s your favorite myth?

Ginger will turn into vampires after they die (Thanks Greece)

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

Yes I do! The life that I have is my current favourite.

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received?

I don’t give stupid gifts :P And the most strange but cool one I received was a rainbow projector!

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind?

Nope, only coffee. Black. But I do love orange and apple juice.

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be?

I have lists of lists for other lists about my books and to reads, and music I like and quotes and favourite things and statistics and I change the order weekly.

64: what color is the sky where you are right now?

Pitch black with stars out there.

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with?

Yeah, but that’s no longer possible.

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like?

A lot of light coloured flowers, some smaller sunflowers and berries!

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?

At ease. I really enjoy the silent days.

68: what’s winter like where you live?

Strange. It’s mostly cold but not too cold. We never have snow or it snows for four weeks straight.

69: what are your favorite board games?

Siedler, Monopoly, any kind of game honestly

70: have you ever used a ouija board?

No

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea?

I enjoy green tea or Turkish apple tea but I’m not picky.

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it?

I like to write everything down but I have a sharp memory.

73: what are some of your worst habits?

Overthinking, eating with my fingers, I never vacuum

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

Smart, an honest to God asshole but I learned so much from them. We are like siblings and I’m very proud of their changing  

75: tell us about your pets!

This is my cat Momo. He has black fur, is way too smart and a giant asshole. I love him to pieces but I do want to strangle him. He is very cuddly, like all the time. Yes, even when you try to sleep.

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?

Sleeping, I guess.

77: pink or yellow lemonade?

I really don’t care. Pink if it’s more bitter.

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?

I used to like them a lot but it’s just too much. I still adore despicable me 1!

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

Fighting for me when I didn’t expect it.

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?

Dark grey and one wall has black and white stripes. I did choose them because of the Tim Burton aesthetic, and because I like it. Duh.

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.

The sky after a storm, no, shortly before a thunderstorm. The minutes when you can’t see the sun but it’s not too dark, it’s murky and full of tension but calm and in colours you usually won’t see in the sky. A kind of dark green, but not emerald, more jade or really good olives from Italy. The feeling when you find a hidden cave under tree roots in the forest, it smells like old wood and long forgotten tales and the kind of adventure you’ll have as a child and you swear it was real and the biggest mystery you ever faced. Even when it was just a trick of lightning and no one believed you.

82: are/were you good in school?

Yes, I was/am a nerd but lazy as hell.

83: what’s some of your favorite album art?

Welcome to the sound of pretty odd from Panic! At the Disco

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

I have one already, but I like to have the sun and the moon on my forearms and some more.

85: do you read comics? what are your faves?

I do! I greatly enjoyed the Sandman comics from Neil Gaiman

86: do you like concept albums? which ones?

Yes! I love the Danger Days concept from my Chemical romance or the tales of ASP

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives?

Shortbus, Prayers for Bobby, Pride, Die Kindes des Monsieur Matthieu

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

I love street art! Banksy is one of my favourites.

89: are you close to your parents?

Yes, but in a weird way

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities.

Oh okay, I totally adore Berlin, the energy in it and the endless possibilities. I’m looking forward to live there! And I like Amsterdam very much, beautiful architecture and the people are really laid back. Oh, and Krakau…. Okay I like a lot of cities

91: where do you plan on traveling this year?

Well in 2018 I’ll travel to the Netherlands by bike and hopefully to Paris with my girlfriend. I hope to visit Vienna again too!

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch?

Depends on my mood and the sauce!

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most?

A low ponytail or a messy halfbun

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday?

Uh, a workmate of mine had birthday yesterday?

95: what are your plans for this weekend?

Sleeping, cleaning and working. Hopefully chat a lot with my loved ones.

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot?

Shhh… Quickly of course ;)

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house?

INTJ, Sagittarius, Ravenclaw

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?

It was a while ago and I love hiking

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

I’m always a sucker for good old Vivaldi or Smetana, but songs, fine.

“The green Gentleman” – Panic! At the Disco

“Big houses” – Squalloscope

“Evelyn” – Kim Tillman

“Ertrinken” – Die Toten Hosen

“Spiegel” or “Stille der Nacht” – ASP

“Seemannslied” or “Krähenkönig” - Subway to Sally

THERE ARE TOO MANY

@herzpraline

[goingtosee-theworld]

CHARACTER SHEET: JANE CATHY PORTER

“I wanna see the whole world / I dunno how I’m gonna pay rent / I wanna see the whole world ... / I should tell them I’m not afraid to die” -- My Body’s Made of Crushed Little Stars, Mitski

STATS:

Birthday: 13 December 1992 (Sagittarius)

Myers-Briggs: INFP

Hogwarts House (Primary): Ravenclaw

Hogwarts House (Secondary): Gryffindor

Enneagram: Type 7

Height: 5’3

BACKGROUND OVERVIEW:

Mother: Dr. Eleanor Lily Day Porter (deceased)

Father: Dr. Archimedes Quentin Porter

Mother’s Occupation: Professor in anthropology—concentrated in biological anthropology, specifically primatology—also photographer

Father’s Occupation: Professor of zoology—specifically in large African mammals and conservation efforts

Family Finances: Upper middle class; her daddy’s family has quite a bit of money which they allocate to further the education of their family

Birth Order: only child

Other Close Family: Cousins—Ruby and Bobby, Aunt Rose, Uncle Richard, Grandmum (mum’s side), Gran (dad’s side), Grandfather (dad’s side)

Best Friend: does Jane have a best friend, tbh I guess Simba is the closest thing not that he considers her his best friend lol—although ok actually, she probably does consider Milo her best friend and partner.

Other Friends: wow does Jane not have friends lmao jk—Brad, some work colleagues, Ellie, Amelia, Mel…?

Enemies: none, really. She thinks Belle hates her bc they haven’t really talked since HP, where Belle probably did hate her.

Pets: Will-o-Wisp named Daisy, step-mum of Fluffy (Fluffy is not too fond of her)

Home Life During Childhood: Mostly happy, her parents encouraged learning and exploration. It was just tinged with the fact that her mum was sick and when her mum died, Jane fell into a bit of a depression that she never did quite recover from.

Town or City Name(s): London, England—specifically Bloomsbury

What Did Her Bedroom Look Like: yellow walls, had a day bed with black iron wrought frame and a canopy decorate with fairy lights, one wall was all postcards/National Geographic cut outs/travel magazine pictures, another wall had a big map with little pins in it, lots of stuff from her mum and dad’s travels, a shaggy purple rug

Any Sports or Clubs: Theatre in secondary, art as well, also did like school band for a bit (played flute)

Favorite Toy or Game: she had a ton of stuffed animals, but like those realistic looking ones from WWF or whatever

Schooling: went to some good public schools for primary and secondary, University College of London for her undergrad, BS in zoology, now she’s getting her masters’ in Magizoology

Favorite Subject: Biology/science, but also fond of art/history/literature. She wasn’t the best in physics or math.

Popular or Loner: Loner, she always was like adopted by friend groups but was never really close with all of them one-on-one, just like one or two people

Important Experiences or Events: Mom died when she was 16

Health Problems: Huntington’s Chorea, depression (side effect of dying lmao)

Culture: English

Religion and beliefs: Mum’s family is Anglican, but dad’s family was never religious so she’s not religious really, just does Christmas and Easter

PERSONALITY:

Bad Habits: peels her skin on her thumb when she’s nervous, can be a bit of a nervous talker, on the naturally flirty side, avoids problems and tries not to acknowledge them, but also wallows in her feelings when she’s feeling particularly down

Good Habits: kind-hearted, very good artist, humble for the most part, when she loves you, she loves you fully and deeply, daring, passionate

Best Characteristic: brave—she will look a tiger in the eye and walk towards it

Worst Characteristic: impulsive—she makes rash decisions sometimes

Worst Memory: her mother’s death, but also the day she told Tom she loved him and then he said he was dating someone else, and also the day she rejected Milo

Best Memory: tbh that moment like RIGHT before they woke up the mummy in Egypt, when they were all really happy and passionate and just acted on a whim

Proud of: she has one painting from school that some member of Parliament brought, she got A’s on all but one of her A-levels

Embarrassed by: sometimes she can kinda remember some of the people she slept with and she’s like welp that was embarrassing

Driving Style: she does not have her license

Strong Points: brave, passionate, daring, intelligent

Temperament: melancholic

Attitude: may seem a little far-off or not really there, but get her talking about something and she’s very grounded and passionate

Weakness: threaten Milo or her dad or her close friends and she will crack

Fears: not living a full life

Phobias: uh idk man how is this different

Secrets: only a few people know about her Huntington’s, also lol she doesn’t know that Milo doesn’t know she remembered who they were in the time jump

Regrets: probably turning Milo down the first time

Feels Vulnerable When: confronting her inner problems directly

Pet Peeves: CULTURAL APPROPIATION, people who are mean to animals :C

Conflicts: the constant fear of death around the corner

Motivation: a desire to live fully

Short Term Goals and Hopes: get her master’s, get a good and fulfilling job!

Long Term Goals and Hopes: live a life she is proud to lead

Sexuality: like 89% straight

Exercise Routine: she walks everywhere and rides her bike a lot and rock climbs/cave excavates, she doesn’t like set out to exercise, her lifestyle is just pretty active when she’s not in a bad depression spell

Day or Night Person — Night.

Introvert or Extrovert — Introvert.

Optimist or Pessimist — Optimist, believe it or not.

LIKES AND STYLES:

Music: twangy indie, usually favors female singers; big Carpenters fan too; also the Smiths; also Fleetwood Mac

Books: likes classics, generally, but also weird off-beat novels she finds in sales sections and used bookstores

Magazines: National Geographic, primarily; probably some art and lit magazines too

Foods: she likes a good curry; makes a great orange-glazed salmon; she’s one of those people who liked avocado before it was cool. She’s a pesceterian at home, but she will eat meat when she’s traveling.

Drinks: Earl Grey tea! Lightly sweetened, honey not sugar, and a pinch of milk. As for alcohol—rum. Spiced rum specifically. She likes mojitos, that’s her cocktail of choice.

Animals: oh gosh where to even begin! She’s fond of large Arican mammals (her dad’s speciality), but she really cares for all creatures and believes that it should be her duty to help them all. She knows she kinda gave domestic farm animals (cough, sheep) some shit for being “boring” because she didn’t really wanna be working with sheep for the rest of her life, but she’s had a new outlook on life and her passion for animals has been found again.

Sports: she probably watches football (soccer) casually; likes watching cricket though

Social Issues: big environmental activist, since dating Milo has been more aware of Magick-rights and that stuff

Favorite Saying: she knows its cliché at this point, but she liked it before it was cool: “Not all who wander are lost.”

Color: she likes purples and yellows and also reds

Clothing: she has a more boho look, wears a lot of flowing skirts and loose tops. Doesn’t really like to wear pants on the day to day, but will when she’s out adventuring. She likes wearing sunhats a lot.

Jewelry: she has a lot of traditionally made jewelry that she bought from local vendors in the places she’s traveled, lots of beaded necklaces and bracelets

Games: was a big Zoo Tycoon fan in her youth, doesn’t really play much now, except for like the occasional game with friends; likes board games though

Websites: casual insta user, has a tumblr that she scrolls through but rarely posts on

TV Shows: huge huge huge Doctor Who fan (Tennant was her doctor and also her first celebrity crush)

Movies: she likes classics—her favorite is Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Her mum was a huge fan of Audrey Hepburn so Jane has seen a lot of Hepburn movies. She’s also fond of The Mummy movies (though lately a bit less lol) and Indiana Jones and that sort of genre of adventure stories

Greatest Want: to travel as much as she can, to see all of the world, to experience it all

Greatest Need: to be happy

CURRENTLY:

Home: you know she and Milo haven’t officially moved in together yet but, like, they basically are over at each other’s places all the time—anyway, she has a single bedroom in one of the places by the uni

Household furnishings: she’s messy, but not in like a gross hoarder way, but she has a lot of casual clutter, her place looks like an antique store. There’s lots of trinkets around, the coffee table is covered in candles. She has a lot of pillows on the couch, lots of throw blankets. Her bedroom is pretty much the same way. There’s a lot of books, everything has its place but in its place it may be a bit of a mess lol. In her living room is a telescope by the window and an easel. There’s also a record player on a side table.

Favorite Possession: her record player (passed down from her mum) and her telescope (a  gift from her dad)

Most Cherished Possession: her journal—it’s like a sketchbook/diary/memento book, she writes down everything

Married Before: Nope.

Significant Other Before: Tom Crawford

Children: n/a--though she was pregnant, briefly, last August

Relationship with Family: very close with her father, pretty close with her extended family too as they are a small bunch

Car: n/a

Career: on track to becoming a magizoologist

Dream Career: tbh being part of the Rescue Aid Society would be perfect for her

Dream Life: traveling around the world as part of her job—be it helping Magicks, helping magical creatures, rescuing lost relics, searching for Atlantis, with Milo at her side

Love Life: very in love with Dr. Milo James Thatch

Hobbies : drawing, riding her bike, spelunking, exploring, reading, going to antiques shops and flea markets

Guilty Pleasure: those Harlequin romance books (shh don’t tell anyone)

Sports or Clubs: n/a

Talents or Skills : good artist (not super professionally trained, but very solid)

Intelligence Level : very intelligent—curious and passionate when it is a subject she is interested in, quick learner

Finances: solidly middle class, her father helped her out with rent till she was back on a steady job, but she makes enough to provide for herself—she spent most of her savings after uni on her travels

[wbtylerbooks]

Children’s Book Author Stories T.L. McBeth - Robot In Love

T. L. McBeth was born in Findlay, Ohio. As a child, he grew up reading Dr. Seuss and H. A. & Margret Rey (although he mainly looked at the pictures). He studied illustration in college where he developed a love for expressive and minimal characters. In 2015, he moved to New York City to pursue an illustration career and he is currently lucky enough to illustrate picture books full time. T. L. works from his small apartment in Manhattan, where he spends most of his time. When he does leave the house, he likes to watch the dogs in the neighborhood dog park and visit bookstores for inspiration. He is the illustrator of Stegothesaurus and the Big Words Small Stories series, and the author/illustrator of Robot in Love. His work has been featured on Threadless, TODAY, The Wall Street Journal and displayed at the Society of Illustrators. He is currently an artist-in-residence at Wetherby-Pembridge School New York.

Making Robot in Love

By T. L. McBeth

When I was in fifth grade, I made a robot out of plastic containers and pipes with my dad and grandpa for my science fair that dispensed candy. From that point onward, I started to draw a lot of robots, mostly because I was much better at drawing them than I was at actually building them. In high school, I started doing a lot more drawing and painting. Guess what I painted – robots! I really liked how they looked and I just couldn’t stop drawing them. I filled up boxes of sketchbooks. Robot felt sort of like an extension of myself. Although I stopped drawing my Robot character in college, he was always in the back of my mind.

Flash-forward 8 years or so, and I was meeting with my editor to finish up some changes to the first book I was both writing and illustrating. She asked me if I had any other story ideas and my mind immediately went to my old pal Robot. I decided that it was time to bring him back, and that he needed his very own book. I went straight home after that meeting with my editor and immediately got to work. I sent over some rough robot sketches a day later. Then I got the green light and got to work.

Back in high school, I had come up with a general story idea for Robot, so I already had an idea of what I wanted the book to be about. So with that in mind, I started with a rough outline with major plot points and important details. From there, I started editing and arranging the story out so all the pieces made sense together and created a cohesive story once sketches were added to the words. Because I’m the author and the illustrator, after all the writing was in place I had to go through my standard illustration process, which includes research, thumbnails, and roughs, and then incorporating changes… and more changes…and then final art. I wrote around 8 different drafts of the manuscript and then made at least 7 different book dummies before I finally got it right to the point where I could start the final art. And after two solid months of doing nothing but this for 8-10 hours every day, the book was done. And one year later it was out in the world!­­

Robot in Love being a real book has been a dream come true. I would have never thought that an idea I developed in high school would become something a publisher would want to make into a book. Don't discount any idea – you never know where your next story could come from!

Robot in Love is available for purchase online here or wherever books are sold.

Thank you!

T. L. McBeth

Website - www.TLMcBeth.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/t.l.mcbeth (@t.l.mcbeth)

Twitter - https://twitter.com/T_L_Mcbeth (@T_L_Mcbeth)

[rinapiccolo]

Musings On Keeping A Sketchbook Journal

  A sketchbook journal is a type of time machine. In place of dials, there are pages. This time machine has boundaries, though: you can only go backward, and not forward in time.  The future—your future—is yet to be composed. On any given day, you might open a sketchbook from, say, six years ago, and see something of what your life was at the moment in which you were living it. (Or should I say, in the moment in which you were documenting it.) Setting fresh eyes on an old entry is something like seeing a shadow of your self, as it was six years ago. It's you without the details. You ask yourself what sorts of benefits can be gained by working in a little booklet that can transport you from one day in your life to another.

You may be embarrassed by what you write, and draw, in your sketchbook. You might say that you’d rather die than have someone read it. Most likely, you're someone who looks at old work that you've created, and see it in the same way that you would see an old photo of yourself with bad 80s hair, or bad 70s hair… or bad hair from whatever decade you choose, because no matter the decade, bad hair seems to occur in every era throughout history. What’s up with that?

One day you buy a sketchbook. It costs about the same price as a good medium sized pizza. It’s a nice-looking little book. Its got pristine virgin pages that smell like freshly folded linen. Your new sketchbook may have one of those colourful little ribbons that hang down the inner spine of the book to mark your place in it. It might come with a cover that is durable, or soft and pliant. Precious, right? Yeah, it's precious. So precious that you are afraid of blemishing its pages! So, you sit at your table, or on your couch, and stare at the bare, blank first page, and you decide that it is a job and a half just to stare at the page, let alone make that first mark on it. More staring. If you were a robot, there would be an attempt to try to reboot you.  And to carry the robot-thing further, the idea of making a mark on the page makes you feel like a robot unable to fix a target for its much-anticipated first step. What do I write? What should I draw? You say to yourself. Jesus, why can’t I make a mark? I’ve made so many marks in my life, and now it seems I’ve forgotten how. What the f***? Then you take your brush-pen, or pen-pen, or whatever, and you begin to make a mark. It turns into a line, but it's really nothing yet, of course. Everything you do starts as nothing. At best, what you've made so far is an unsure, wandering line. And you take that unsure line and plough ahead. Moments pass. You're not feeling it. You're just not feeling it. You've made a lot of lines, but somehow they misbehave. The thing that you made is not exactly what you had in mind to create. It's a mess.  At this stage you begin to think that maybe you would’ve preferred to spend your money on a good medium sized pizza.

If you think about it, manufactures of blank books are in the business of selling an intangible product. What they’re selling runs up a spectrum of possibilities (you might say they’re actually selling mere possibilities). You are an artist, or a writer, or someone who wants to fill up blank pages. You’re someone who is chasing something, exploring something, or searching for -- what? Self-expression? Self-esteem, maybe. A goal? An improved self? Maybe it's an Identity you're after, or an elusive project that will lend you an identity. Who knows, there may be an idea in your head that the sketchbook is a time capsule of your own self. Then you wonder about all these things, and ask: is the desire to keep a journal self-indulgent—or even egotistical? You ask yourself, do I have the arrogance to think that my musings are so important that they need documenting? No, you say; it’s not like that. It’s not like that at all; it’s just for pleasure, you say—something I do to entertain myself. And, you might add, what’s wrong with that?

One afternoon, you decide you are going to become a sketchbook person. You are going to be that person that writes and draws every day.  So, you go to the art supply store and buy a commitment. This commitment rides with you on the subway home, it sits in your bag like a light switch waiting to be rummaged for in the dark, and turned on. You even feel an itch between the creases of your palms. At home you take out the little book, and off you go with it, scribbling, drawing, whatever. Where have you been all my life, you say to it. Where? Where? Where? But then something else happens. In one week the sketchbook sits closed up, forlorn, and without you; and you are doing something else with your time, and you suddenly remember what a teacher once told you about how you should never buy someone a puppy for Christmas. The little terrier is so cute, he’s soft and warm, and you love the feeling of him falling asleep in your lap. But then, ah, there’s the feeding, the housebreaking, the taking out, the vet visits, etc. At this point the analogy tapers off, and you stare at your seldom-used sketchbook, and wonder if there's a good place for it on your shelf. You find a spot, closest to the ceiling, and you park it there. Thank goodness it’s not a puppy, you think.

It's dusk. You look at all the un-filled sketchbooks on your shelf and wonder if maybe you just haven't found the right sketchbook. That must be the reason why you can't make a drawing you're proud of. Surprisingly, you discover that the only way to get over the stacks of empty pages on your shelf is to go to the store and buy more stacks of empty pages. So, the following day, you go and buy a new sketchbook. You know it's a bit crazy, because you have so many un-filled ones, but that's what you do. You look at the price. It costs about the same amount of money as a Teflon coated wok in Chinatown. Not bad. You leave the store with a light step, and a lighter wallet. It’s not like I’m buying puppies, you tell yourself, as you hop on the saddle and peddle home with the new sketchbook tucked smartly inside the basket of your bike, which you are now riding like a super heroine through the streets of a mega metropolis. And besides, you think, this will be a different sketchbook. Something worthwhile will happen inside it. This is the sketchbook that I will complete cover-to-cover. Back in your apartment, or house, or room, you unwrap the sketchbook; mm…smell that linen scent. And you begin scribbling, drawing, writing, whatever-- and zero thoughts come into your mind. Except maybe one thought: I love this! I love what I'm making right here, right now. And I know that although I'm loving this thing I'm making today, when tomorrow arrives I'll look at it and think it's a piece of shit. But that's ok, because right now, I am a Goddess of lines and shapes and letters, and all things sketchy and new. And so, yes, let tomorrow's feelings come when they may, because right now, I don't give a damn.

On a spring day, you take your sketchbook to a parkette in the middle of a busy intersection. You have it in mind to sketch people; take notes, maybe. The exhaust from cars is a reminder of where you are, but soon you are lost in your scribbling. A woman with bad 80s hair is carrying way too many babies, and you jot something down about her. And now she’s walked half way to Bay Street, but you are still sketching her, even though she is gone, out of sight. That’s something you are capable of doing: you know how to pin down a person’s individuality seconds before they disappear into the wash of masses. It's a skill of urban sketching. You look at your drawing. This is pretty good, you say to yourself—not the best, but I’m just getting warmed up. At two o’clock, at the time when the postman is unlocking his postal box, you are laying down crosshatches on a drawing of a sparrow. More minutes pass. There are now three representations of sparrows in your book, and several of people. Five minutes later, your friend shows up. Hey, you say. Hey, she says. She takes out her sketchbook and begins to scribble. You look over at her. She’s way better than I am, you think. I’m a total hack-job compared to her. After several minutes of drawing, she asks to see your sketchbook. This is a multiple choice. Do you a) nonchalantly show her your sketchbook, b) show her your work while wildly exclaiming how terrible it is, or c) flash her what you consider an okay drawing in the same way that you would flash your boobs: really fast. It also occurs to you that you can just say no. Like, No, you cannot look at my sketchbook. What would she say to that? Hm. She’s waiting and so you hand over your sketchbook. I’m just warming up, you tell her. And then, as she turns and gives you her sketchbook, she implores you not to look at it. Don’t even, she says, Don’t Freaking Even. So of course you look. You turn the page of this other person’s sketchbook, and you suddenly feel like you’re in a foreign country, where dots and lines are invoke the symbols of a different culture. Another side of the world is what you see, and over here, even the pages of sketchbooks smell different. Like wheat, or wheat crackers, maybe. But you don't mind that your friend's sketchbook is unusual, and that the texture of its pages are like the surface of a fuzzy unfamiliar fruit, because, you consider, maybe she feels the same way about yours. And that's when it comes to you: maybe you are—at least in the eyes of others—an exotic sketchbook artist. Yes. Maybe. Cars honk, people move past, and the traffic lights make that chirping noise that help the blind find their way across the intersection.

[fitnesshealthyoga-blog]

New Post has been published on https://fitnesshealthyoga.com/8-minimalist-vacation-packing-tips-i-absolutely-swear-by/

8 Minimalist Vacation Packing Tips I Absolutely Swear By

I’m an under-packer by nature. I try to travel with one carry-on only (usually a backpack)—even when I’m leaving the country for a while and even when I’m traveling with my 3-year-old son. Sounds crazy, I know. And while it’s true this method has occasionally led me to seriously questionable hiking footwear (and definitely led me to 10 days in Scandinavia with only one pair of pants), for the most part, it is a truly liberating way to travel. Doing a one-backpack trip forces me to sit down and think about what I—and my son—truly need and what we can live with out. It almost turns last-minute packing an hour before the airport drive into a moving meditation on materialism and our existence as a human society… almost.

But even with the most minimalist of packing, I usually end up on a vacation with a decidedly un-minimalist schedule—and an overburdened frame of mind. There are hotels to book and tours to take and sights to see and reservations to make, not to mention inevitable souvenir shopping that completely undoes the whole one-backpack logic in the first place.

And after a week or so of that plus who knows how many flights/hours on the road? Well, I end up back home needing a vacation from my vacation. Sound familiar?

That’s why I decided it was time for me, the minimalist packer, to become and actual minimalist traveler—to plan a vacation that involved bringing, using, planning and doing as little as possible. Enter the plastic tiny house, a 170-square-foot energy-efficient home chilling (or rather, heating up) in the desert outside Phoenix, Arizona. (It was designed by Tiny House Nation host Zack Giffin, NBD). Just by the nature of choosing this as my temporary home, I was already hopping on the minimalist bandwagon. This particular 170-square-foot and super-energy-efficient tiny house made of plastic is a testimony to how little we can use if we just think creatively (and a sink that feeds gray water directly into the toilet system doesn’t hurt).

Image: Courtesy of Tony Marinella.

That’s right. I headed to the Arizona desert in August to spend my vacation in 170 square feet with the bare necessities, no other humans and certainly no restaurant reservations. And just to make my minimalist vacation extra-official, I brought: one pair of shoes, six items of clothing (including underwear) and a toothbrush/toothpaste. And that’s it. And it was the best vacation I’ve taken in a long time.

Image: apedelman/Instagram.

So if you’re the type who thinks travel has to involve endless planning, scheduling, packing multiple suitcases, booking hotels, tours and dining options, think again. This is how deciding to take that minimalist vacation to a tiny house in the desert, packing essentially nothing, changed the game for this traveling mom.

Image: Courtesy of Jennifer Verrier.

Why you should take a minimalist vacation

It’s cheaper

That part’s a given. If you’re doing less, you’re spending less. Aim to spend on the bare-bones.

Lodging: No hotels! Aim for an affordable Airbnb, or better yet, arrange a free home exchange through a site like Kid & Coe.

Transportation: Bonus if you drive or take public transport to your destination rather than flying.

Food: Groceries, not restaurant bills.

Leave the entertainment part of the budget at $0—and see where it takes you.

It requires less planning beforehand

With an entertainment budget and schedule set at zero, you can save your at-home hours before the trip and those frantic last-minute Google searches for places to stay/eat/see. Instead, let your vacation “plans” involve walking out your door in the morning and seeing where your stroll takes you.

The getting-there part is way easier

Embarking on a six-hour (or 16-hour) flight is exhausting enough already. Do you really need to add multiple pieces of luggage and a trip to baggage claim to your already (literally) burdened shoulders? No. Pack only the essentials—and then remove five things from your bag before you go. You’ll be surprised what you can do without.

It forces you to be resourceful

I stand by the statement, “You’ll be surprised what you can do without.” That said, for my tiny house trip, I wildly under-packed—on purpose, of course—and in my minimization discovered two things I hadn’t packed it turned out I sorely missed, especially in the dry Arizona summer: a hair tie and lip balm. But you’d better believe I scavenged through that house to find an old elastic tag that I used to tie my hair up for the whole trip. Oh, and I absolutely put kitchen olive oil on my lips every night. #NoRegrets

It forces you to focus on yourself (for better or worse)

Guess what. When you’re alone in a tiny house in the desert (or a cabin in the woods or a yurt on the mountain or whatever your preferred solo-minimalist vacation locale may be), you cannot just keep busy and la-la-la your way through life and ignore whatever it is you really need/need to work on/need to give up. Your shit will rise up to the surface, and you will have to confront it. But hey, the only way out is through, baby.

I do want to note here that I don’t equate a minimalist vacation to “roughing it.” Any sort of camping/backpacking/what-have-you trip that involves trekking through the woods, setting up a tent, conjuring up a fire and all your meals and hauling ass to some dark bug-infested corner of the forest in order to “go to the bathroom” is all very admirable—but it’s not quite what I mean by minimalist. Because that shit involves work. Camping/backpacking, strangely like taking a fancy multi-hotel tour of Europe, does involve a lot of planning and preparing (isn’t that literally the Boy Scout motto?) and pretty much constant effort to keep that whole staying-alive-in-the-wilderness thing afloat.

For me, in this moment, I wanted a trip that still landed solidly in the vacation category of travel: somewhere warm and habitable with pre-appointed (indoor) lodgings and an actual toilet. You know, the basics that roughing it doesn’t quite provide. And I lucked out in that my tiny house was pre-stocked with some basic food as well: milk, coffee, eggs, butter. All of this is to say that this precise midpoint between roughing it and your typical vacation got me exactly where I wanted to get: the middle of the desert with absolutely nothing to do.

Image: Courtesy of Jennifer Verrier.

So, how do you take a minimalist vacation?

Book early

This is key both for planning-stress levels as well as pricing.

Pack light (duh)

See above re: items of clothing, toothbrush, sunscreen. I promise you can do it.

Don’t pack shoes—I mean it

This is my No. 1 packing tip for all forms of travel, but especially if you’re aiming for minimalism. You’re not going to a wedding here, nor are you climbing Everest. Whatever isolated locale you choose, plan to wear—not pack—one pair of sturdy, oh-so-comfortable footwear that will actually last you the whole week or however long you’re gone. If you’re heading to the hills, hiking boots. If you’re beaching it, Birkenstocks. As long as they’re comfy, who cares what they look like? Nobody will be looking at your feet anyway.

Get outside your comfort zone with food

Yes, sure, you have favorite meals and favorite recipes and favorite restaurants. But what’s something super-simple you can cook just for yourself literally every day for a week? Make yourself one big epic pot of soup and see how long it lasts or dive into the wondrous world of kitchari. It won’t be fancy, but you will be full. And just see how much brain space you end up with when you’re not thinking about meal planning every single day.

Move your body in new ways

This whole thing goes out the window if you sit in your tiny house like a rock for a week. You will not feel good if your minimalist vacation involves being horizontal the entire time. But no, you will not have access to SoulCycle or a hotel gym. So get creative. Take a walk, a hike, a run, a jump-around-the-lake-five-times. Try your hand at a solo at-home yoga practice even if you’ve only ever taken two classes before. Get in your body and see what feels good. Bonus points if you really see what feels good. You are on a solo vacation, after all.

Expect to go without

So, you’ve never gone a week without makeup? Or shampoo? What about deodorant? I see you cringing. But remember, this is your minimalist vacation. You are likely all alone—or as is so often my case, “alone” with a child in tow—and nobody cares about how your hair looks. Of course, this is not to say you should go a week without key prescription medication or brushing your teeth. But that hairdryer/concealer/five-step facial-moisturizing system? Leave it behind. And while you’re at it, see if you can leave your social media accounts behind too. I dare you.

Do pack one (tech-free) thing to “do”

Whether it’s that poetry book you’re reading (or writing!), a journal, a sketchbook or even your knitting, there will be times your mind needs a break from all that quiet time with itself. Give it one that will also fuel it.

For me, in my borrowed tiny house, the sheer lack of stuff to do—no tent-setting, fire-building, bear-repelling, or shit hole-scouting, but also no sightseeing, navigating, appointment-setting or museum-hopping—left me no choice but to face what I had come to face: myself. I wrote. I meditated. I walked. I cooked some eggs. I took the longest shower possible because, as opposed to my showers at home that are hastily sandwiched between dishes, laundry, lunch-packing, school drop-off and the workday (it’s a wonder working single moms shower at all, honestly), I had no schedule to rush off to, nothing to be inevitably late to and no reason to feel guilty or ashamed for happily standing under hot water for half an hour. Other than, you know, water waste and the environment. Damn it.

On my minimalist vacation, I had zero plans. I had to—I got to—face many small, strange situations and feelings that are entirely alien in my regular life: silence, solitude, boredom, ease, freedom, peace.

And guess what (this is the sixth and possibly most important reason to take a minimalist vacation)…

The effects extend way beyond the trip itself

All that solo soul-searching? You will definitely carry the aftereffects home with you. There’s nothing quite like a trip that’s based on packing/planning/paying/doing/using less to inspire you to take stock in your life and think about what you actually need going forward—you know, out of the tiny house and back into real life.

One thing’s for certain: You’ll never again forget to appreciate the value of a hair tie.

  Originally posted on SheKnows.

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Quarter-Annual Favorites: July, August & September 2017

A Richer Take on "The Favorites"

You probably know the term "favorites" from the plethora YouTubers and beauty bloggers of past and present plastering their half-formulated opinions on a monthly basis. Those dodeca-doses of diluted opinions more often than not have about as much substance as an unfilled cream puff; decadently appealing on the outside, but wholly disappointing in their entirety. 

I believe those sorts of monthly reviews are too time and money consuming to be sustainable. A month just isn't enough time for me to purchase, use and adequately evaluate things I want to use regularly. For me to be thorough, I need more time. Plus, I don't want to scour retailers and internets just for the sake of producing "monthly favorites" content. That's a fuck-ton of cash and I don't want to gain readership based on displaying exorbitant consumerism. That just doesn't feel genuine.

Altogether, those factors considered, I'm going to do Quarter-Annual Favorites! Every quarter or three months of the year, I'll publish a collection my favorite things. A year will be divided into quote-on-quote "seasonal" quarters with the first being January, February & March, followed by April, May & June, then July, August & September, finishing with October, November & December. Since I didn't launch this site until August, I missed the first two quarters, so I'm just jumping right in with the summer one.

Style

Tom Ford Grace Cat-Eye Sunglasses in Brown & Tan: 

If there's an accessory that I love most, that would be sunglasses. I'd been on a hunt for these Tom Ford's when I stumbled upon a pair for sale on my favorite website ever: The Real Real. These sunnies retail for $480 but I copped them for $95. They have been sitting on my face or top of head ever since. 

Printed Scarf: 

While we're also on the topic of the head, I have to mention this lil' cherry & pear print hair scarf that I snatched from my mom's closet (I honestly couldn't find an equivalent for the life of me, so here's a lovely Hermès scarf). This is a perfectly sized small scarf that I either wrap a French-girl-esque manner snugly around my neck with a lil' knot or tie it around my hair to frame a ponytail.

Dr. Martens Valentine Arcadia Shoes:

While I've had these shoes for many months now, I've only been wearing them regularly as of the past couple months. They're leather and have a English school-boy feel, which gives them quality yet quirky character.

Riveted Leather Bracelets: 

I love consignment (and if my love for The Real Real doesn't show that then I don't know what would) and a while back I purchased these genuine black leather studded bracelets (a not-quite-so-similar similar) at a local consignment shop for $12. Adorned with denim rivets, these bracelets are a chic and spunky wrist accessory.

"Tomorrow Will Be Better" Strap iPhone Case: 

I'm a sucker for phone cases, and this one has been horribly useful. The strap on the back has a velcro strip on that allows you to strap the case (and your phone) to almost anything. Because I like to use my phone as an activity tracker, being able to attach my phone to my belts is ingenius.

Miscellaneous

Tod the Succulent: 

In one of my many farmer's market excursions, I purchased a succulent for $1. His name is Tod and he's great. If you want a Tod, please go to your local nursery.

Bonsai Care Set: 

Speaking of plants, I began a grand plant-care experiment by purchasing three bonsai trees. I am determined to keep these high maintenance shrubs thriving and this  has aided in my quest with tools to move soil and trim. 

J. Herbin Roller-ball Fountain Pen & J. Herbin Éclat de Saphir Ink Cartridges: 

The allure of fountain pens is real, but I could never get used to their somewhat scratchy writing. Then I found this J. Herbin roller-ball one that I use with cobalt blue ink. The roller-ball nib makes writing graceful, smooth and scratch free. It's honestly the only pen I've used all summer.

Duck Silver Duct Tape Regular and Mini: 

This is silver duct tape, and not the regular-duct-tape-silver, it's chrome. I've been using it to tape photo prints and paper into my sketchbook and journal to add a dash of reflective dimension to pages.

IMG Fashion Camp: 

I attended this camp at IMG Academy campus in Bradenton, FL and boy was it fan-freaking-tastic. I talked bunches of amazing people in the industry, my favorites of which were Bon Duke, Jimmy Moffat, Ivan Bart, and Brooke Wall as well as IMG WME peeps Rachel Fleitell, Jibran Siddiqui and Peter Knell. I also made some great buddies, Alexandra, Shawn and Ian, at the tennis courts. I'm going to make an entire post or two about this camp and my experience, so keep a look out for it.

Now for the Actual Favorites

I now present to you the first Quarter-Annual Favorites for July, August & September 2017. There are five categories for this first post. If I ever have the time or desire to expand for more than five areas per edition then I will, but for now five non-exclusive categories are the way to go. This quarter's categories are:

Style: which encompasses clothing, shoes, accessories, jewelry, etc.

Photography & Tech: which is exactly what it seems.

Beauty: which is very self-explanatory for today's day and age.

Media: which includes books, magazines, films, TV shows, podcasts, YouTube, other blogs, websites, you get the gist.

Miscellaneous: which is a complete mishmash of things that don't fall under one of the other categories.

For each thing I mention, I've written lil' tidbits that I recommend you read because information is important and all that snazzy-jazz. Plus, I imagine you want to know why I like these things above others, right?

IMPORTANT:

item links are attached to their names, so to go to that thing's page, just click on the name in this black typeface.

Beauty

Fresh Vitamin Nectar Moisture Glow Face Cream: 

Brightening, whitening, radiant, glow are the four adjectives plastered all over my top shelf. So, when I laid eyes on this moisturizer I knew it was love at first glance. It smells of citrus-y creamy candy and evened my complexion in a couple weeks. I swear I will never use another moisturizer. Ever. Go buy it.

Glossier Balm Dot Com in Cherry: 

My lips are about as dry as a prune buried for multiple millennia under 50 feet of Sahara Desert sand. So, in short I need some heavy duty moisture for them, even during summer. This Glossier one hydrates without seeping into the face flesh surrounding the lips (which is a real and legitimate problem people) and gives a lil' pop of cherry red tint. It does smell of cherry medicine or Icee, but I can ignore that.

Burt's Bees Lipstick in 502 Suede Splash: 

For as long as I can remember, I have been an advocate for very light or "no-makeup makeup." Luckily, there lip colors that aren't matte and are formulated to look like your lip color. This one is my lip color but better, and elegantly fades with time. And it's cheap. Perfecto.

Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in 55 In Love: 

I love blush. A nice flush of a peachy beige nude suits my skin best and this Chanel blush has been my go-to this summer. It possesses a barely detectable smidge of in-pan shimmer that brings just a tad of definition to the cheeks. The only issues are it's price and it smells of old fancy lady. But then again... It's Chanel.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer in Nude Bronze Light:

My issue with bronzing and contour is it makes people look like they've smeared sparkly dirt on themselves and have been burnt to a crisp. And for those reasons I've disliked bronzer. That is, until I discovered this Hourglass one. It produces a light sun-kissed shade that hardly looks like a contour. It looks ultra natural; a criteria that makeup must meet for my approval.

Photography & Tech

Olympus 35 RC Point & Shoot Camera:

Out of my two metal-body point & shoot cameras this one works best. It has a nifty-ass manual rangefinder focus which allows you to focus (albeit limitedly) on the subject in frame.

Kodak Professional Ektar Color Negative 100:

 Typically I reach for AgfaPhoto Vista Plus 200 but that has recently become difficult to acquire, so I've branched out a bit. This Kodak is slightly more saturated and the temperature is minutely warmer than the cool-prone Agfa.

Nintendo 3DS XL & Pokémon Moon:

I've been a Pokémon fanatic since I was seven and only recently have I had time to get back into the games. The 3DS I bought two years ago and Pokémon Moon have been a wonderful get-to-know-you-again experience this summer.

Aukey USB-C to USB 3.0 Adapters:

For graduating high school I received a new laptop from my Paw-Paw (grandmother). However, it only has USB-C ports so these adapters have been lifesavers to connect anything to my laptop.

Media

Vivi Magazine October 2017 Issue:

I know that October isn't a month in this quarter of the year, but because this is fashion, this issue was available in August and plus it featured one of my three role models Kiko Mizuhara (who funny enough is a professional model). This is a very vibrant and stylish magazine that I pretty much buy every month. I purchased my copy from Magazine Café and requested in the comment box the October 2017 issue, but you can also order it here.

her. magazine v. 04 spring/summer 2017:

Another favorite magazine!  This mag was created by The New Order founder James Oliver, a native New Zealander. It features Asian women in creative and artistic fields. I love reading about how these ladies started out, made it to where they are now and what they currently do in their craft. Terribly inspirational for a lil' hapa like myself.

Ready Player One by Earnest Cline:

I brought this book with me to IMG Fashion Camp in August. Some good ole science fiction was the perfect escape from the social-media obsessed teenage girl demographic surrounding mefor the week I was down in Florida, and I believe this book lives up to the hype. While it had a fairly predictable plot, it was a very interesting and detailed read. And the protagonist, Wade Watts is the ultimate lovable nerd-geek.

Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew:

If you didn't know, Pokémon is the best thing ever. And accompanying my game-playing revival has been a resurrection of watching Pokémon the series and especially the movies. Getting to sit back and rewatch one of my favorite films (no joke this is one of my Top Ten Favorite Films) has been exceptional, especially since it features Lucario, one of my favorite Pokemon.

The Grand Tour Season 1 (Not Pictured):

Top Gear was one of my all-time favorite TV shows. That is, until the departure of the best and most nincompoop-ish hosts in the world. And now it has become terrible. Fortunately, the three British Stooges have made a deal with Amazon to produce The Grand Tour. It's not quite as good as Top Gear used to be, particularly regarding the weird-ass Celebrity Brain Crash segments. But regardless of it's oddities, it is still hilarious. Go watch it. Now.

Hope that this Quarter-Annual Favorites: July, August & September lives up to some already sky-high standards.

Tell me your quarterly favorites in the comments! I really would love some recommendations and feedback!

And as always,

Thanks for popping by.

Toodles.

Abe

[houseofvans]

ART SCHOOL | Q&A with SARA M. LYONS 

Influenced by the works by the likes of designer Lisa Frank and Saturday morning cartoons, artist Sara M. Lyons’s illustrations are colorfully eye-catching, vibrant, and filled with fun! Not only ONE thing, Sara also runs an online shop filled with her awesome creations from patches, pins to an upcoming Tarot card deck she’s creating. We’re stoked to chat with Sara and learn about her process, her favorite artists to follow, and about her local art scene in this week’s Art School w/ Sara M. Lyons.  Make the leap! 

Photographs courtesy of the artist

Hi Sara!, Could you tell us a little about yourself ? For sure! I’m Sara M. Lyons, and I’m an artist, illustrator, muralist and product designer living and working in Orange County, CA!

When did you first get into drawing?  Was it a hobby turned career or something you knew from the start that you’d eventually wanna do for a living? I’ve been drawing since before I can remember, and it’s always been something I did for fun, but I never really considered that it could be a career until I suddenly found myself in the middle of it. I didn’t start leaning into this as a living until I was in my late twenties (I’m 32 now), so I feel like I’m still learning the best ways to navigate everything.

Who were some of your early artistic influences? Art mentors? I was born in ’85, so I was surrounded by Lisa Frank and Saturday morning cartoons, and I think a lot of that spirit is present in my work. I also grew up reading Betty & Veronica obsessively, so Archie comics and the drawing style of Dan DeCarlo in particular was what I started emulating as a kid when I was teaching myself to draw. In high school that developed into an interest in indie comics, and I was really inspired by Los Bros Hernandez. I think you can really still see the influences of both of those comics in my character drawings. 

You make some much fun and colorful things, for a lack of a better word, from pins to patches to just about everything? What’s some of the stuff that’s in the works now? I love making small pieces of art that are accessible and affordable, and that’s always been my thought process when designing products like pins and patches. I think I’ll always be doing stuff like that, but this year I hope to try some new things too. I’m working on a deck of Tarot cards right now (I released a Lenormand fortune telling deck in 2016), and it’s really exciting to create a bunch of highly detailed illustrations in that context - knowing that when I’m done with these 78 drawings, they won’t be just one-offs going on a wall somewhere, but that they’ll be accessible to anyone who is interested.

Do you keep a sketchbook or work your ideas as you go along?  Organized, Sort of, or Complete Chaos? What’s your process for new ideas like? I’d say I exist in a constant state of Organized Chaos. My ideas, sketches, and concepts are spread all over the place - I’m usually bouncing between my planner, my journal, my phone, my sketchbook, my iPad Pro, and my desktop computer, and that’s probably the approximate order of where ideas get parsed out as well. When I’m working for a client, I move really quick, but with my personal stuff I’m a slow starter - I’m both heavy on self doubt and a perfectionist, so there’s often a LOOOOOOONG stretch of time between conception and completion of any given concept. I’m not one of those artists who can sit down and knock out two or three completed drawings in a day. Sometimes I’ll have a sketch on a Post-It in my office or an idea in a note on my phone for over a year before I even start to develop it. But once I really get going on something that I believe in, I get laser-focused.

What mediums do you love to work with? What are your essential art tools? My favorite medium right now is a huge wall - I’ve been working on murals since late 2016 and it’s so much fun and such a complete departure from my usual artistic process! 

But my most comfortable, well-loved mediums are digital and plain old pen and paper. Drawing digitally, I used to work mostly in Photoshop on my desktop using an ancient Wacom tablet, but these days I spend a lot more time drawing in Procreate on my 10.5” iPad Pro (rose gold, obvi!). I know they’re not for everyone, but the iPad and Pencil have been a game changer for me creatively - I love being able to sit on the couch watching trashy reality TV while I work on fully layered digital pieces. 

But still, sometimes nothing beats the classics. I pretty much exclusively use Canson Mixed Media XL sketchbooks, any size, because I like the heavy paper, spiral binding, and turquoise blue covers. I’ll draw with any old pencil - I mostly hoard and use ones I take from hotels when I’m in on trips - and Microns are my favorite drawing pens.  

Who are some rad artists you think folks should definitely check out and follow? I love Jenee Larson’s super distinct style and sassy digital illustrations of petulant ladies - @bobbypinss Bianca Xunise makes the most poignant, funny, personal, emotional diary comics - @biancaxunise Ayaka Sakuranbo is a Tokyo-based artist and I’m obsessed with her whimsical paintings and incredible color palette - @ayakasakuranbo Ashley Lukashevsy makes powerful illustrations with a focus on intersectional feminism and anti-racism - @ashlukadraws Ms. Wearer based in the UK does amazing rainbow-drenched pop art - @ms_wearer Lilly Friedeberg in Dusseldorf is one of my favorite graphic designers; I love her clean, fun sensibility - @elfriede_s Yoko Honda’s work makes me want to transport myself INSIDE the beautiful world she’s created and live there forever - @yokopium

What’s a common misconception about what you do? There’s a lot more “boring office stuff” to my job than most people think. I wish I was drawing and painting and creating all day every day, but in truth I spend like half my time answering emails, fulfilling orders, taking inventory, going to the post office, keeping the online shop up to date, managing all manner of legal nonsense, staying on top of social media, hustling for new work, and so on.

What do you do to take a break from art life and just the day-to-day hustle of running a shop? Drawing is still a release for me, and my husband (@therealjoshr) is an artist too, so it’s not uncommon for us both to still want to be making stuff in our “off” time. When we’re not doing that, we like to do a lot of really grown up stuff like going to theme parks, arcades, swapmeets, and toy stores. We also like taking weekend trips, and I really love being in the desert, so we try to get out to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree as much as we can too.

What can you tell us about the art community around where you are? What’s the art scene and culture like? Orange County sometimes gets a bad rap, but I think it’s a really cool and diverse place to be a creative person. A lot of iconic art and punk rock and culture has come out of this area (just look at Vans!!)! 

As an artist today in OC, I feel like there’s breathing room here - the contemporary and alternative art scenes are still growing and finding themselves here, so it doesn’t feel as high pressure as the larger LA art scene - but you’re close enough to LA to get involved in that scene, and you still have easy access to so many amazing shows and museums and events. There’s just something distinctive about Orange County that is hard to put your finger on unless you’ve kinda grown up here. I went to high school in Newport Beach; I’ve lived in Anaheim now for years - of course there are pockets everywhere where those Real Housewives stereotypes are painfully true, but that hasn’t been my overall experience in OC. I love it here and I really hope I can help the creative community here continue to develop.  

What’s something you liked to see more of in art? More women in the spotlight.

What do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t an artist? Oh my god, probably working on a cruise ship or something. I didn’t go to school and I don’t really have any other marketable skills, so hopefully this works out!! 

What are your FAVORITE Vans? It’s a toss up between two SK8 Hi’s - blush pink suede or baby blue faux fur. Don’t make me choose!!

What advice would you give someone thinking about art as a career? This is a super nebulous job choice, and “art as a career” in general is really subjective. Know yourself well, but don’t pinhole yourself. The scope of this creative industry is constantly shifting and changing, and things come in and out of fashion quickly. Something that’s your livelihood one year might become a nonstarter the next. If you can identify and remain true to the things that make you unique as an artist and the things people respond to in your work, the knowledge of that point of view will carry you from phase to phase. 

What’s on the horizon for 2018? I’m still trying to figure that out myself! After some major plans I had for this year fell through at the last minute, I’m at kind of a blank slate phase in my career. I have a ton of different ideas and I’m trying to nurture them all to see what blossoms first! I’d really like to paint more murals this year, travel more for events, and continue to develop my more personal illustration work. Something I’m trying to keep in mind this year is that it’s OK to be small - not chasing the giant clients or the big money projects, and just doing work that fulfills me creatively and resonates with the people who care about what I do.

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