about blogging

I've been tagged by the lovely Melanie from Kimono Reincarnate.

1. Why did you start your blog?


That’s simple; to participate in Illustration Friday of course. I think I participated in IF for 18 months straight at the beginning, and in that time only missed 3 or 4.

I was a chronic lurker, addicted to many many blogs for a long time before I mustered enough courage to start one of my own. I was really unhappy with work/life at the time, it was all consuming. Starting a blog was a way for me to start re-connecting with my creative side, which I had previously banished for years. I was terrified about starting art again, and knew I’d be very rusty and not very good at all, but I had to start somewhere. I created a space where no-one knew what I was doing, I was just another face in the crowd, and I could allow myself the time/space to be bad at painting for a while without worrying about people I knew judging me (which I knew would cripple any progress I hoped to make).


2. How did you come up with your blog name?
Because I wanted to hide my identity I needed a name that was personal to me without using my own name at all. I thought back through nick-names I’d been given, and this one is one I never really ever mentioned to anybody, but one I never forgot. If you want I have more of an explanation here.


3. Do your friends and family know about your blog? What do they think about it?

No. Not at all. Sensitive topic this one… As I mentioned I needed a place of healing to rebuild, and hiding away has always been my best defense mechanism. I didn’t tell anyone, I didn’t even tell Mr You for the first couple of days. I loved it! I loved having a place of my own to escape to.
Nowadays it’s a different story. I’m in an awkward position where I’ve been doing it so long it almost feels like I’m betraying my friends and family by not telling them. Every now and then I consider outing myself because I’d love them to share it now that I’ve moved away from them all, but I worry that I would sensor my posts, or become self conscious of my illustrations.
I did tell one of my closest friends about a year ago (test case), at first she thought I was mad having a blog, but now I think she’s gotten used to the idea, and I know she visits from time to time, although I forget that she does. She thinks it’s no big deal and I’ve no need to hide it so much.
I’ll have to out myself eventually. I just don’t know how to go about it. I absolutely dread the day, but know I’ll feel great relief once it’s done and out, and the dust has settled.


4. How do you write posts?

Early on, when I had to make up for the bad illustrations I used to write a lot more. Everything in my “real life” day was liable to be snatched and snuck back to my secret blog life. I remember seeing things and immediately starting to write an introduction in my head. My daily commute on the train was a treasure-trove of inspiration. It was more humourous back then too. Since leaving work and working from home I don’t get out as much, and I’ve noticed my blog reflecting that, now it’s all about my creative obsession.
Although “I’m going to blog that” is still an invaluable weapon to threaten Mr You with. Hehehe.


5. Have you ever had a troll or had to delete unkind comments?

Yes, early on I got some comments disputing some of my opinions and facts. One even called me a fool if I remember correctly. Mind you I researched their point and I'm still sure I was right. I never deleted their comments.


6. Do you check your stats? Do you care how many people read your blog? If you do care, how to you increase traffic?
Are you kidding? I check my stats every week. I love stats! I love seeing where people are visiting from, and I can even see when people have “borrowed” my whole page code and are looking at the code from their desktops.
I was able to see that a forum of Turkish folk were discussing my illustrations at one point (not that I knew what they were saying). And I LOVE seeing what search phrases people have used to stumbled on my sites: “oh won't you be our house guest flossie unicorn” Why, sure!

I don’t really mind about how many people visit, it goes up and down. Comments always mean more to me than hits.


7. What kind of blogs/posts interest you?

Obviously I love beautiful art/illustration blogs. I love finding like minded people. And creative types. I love people who write beautifully, or are funny. Now… does that leave any untouched? I’m not big on nerdy techy ones, that’s too much like work to me.


8. What do you like and dislike about blogging?
The best thing about blogging is of course the people/friends you find. I treasure the strong sense of community, I think it’s changing our world.
I dislike… um, how much time I spend doing it; either posting, or reading others. I love it, but it eats up my time in volumes that shame me.


I tag:
I'm not sure how many people I'm suppose to tag for this one. I'll choose 3.
3 relatively new visitors to this blog, who all seem mighty nice, and who I'd like to get to know better...
- Jacinta of One Little Acorn
- Bec of The Small Stuff
- Michelle of Leni & Rose

favourite book

This is: my unconditional, passionately loved and favourite BOOK!"

How could I choose just one? C'mon. You'll notice there aren't a whole stack of fiction novels in there. I enjoy reading, but I always seem to choose dud books, the ones I've loved have been loaned to me, so I don't own many novels. Pretty hardcovers on the other hand, well we have shelves and shelves of those.

So my shortlist includes:
- Taking Things Seriously; a collection of short writings by various people explaining why odd inanimate objects they own have special meaning to them. Actually this book deserves a post of it's own... I'll do that soon.
- A Slice of Snow; short verses with tiny illustrations. This is very dear to me as was my Grandma's copy, she saw how much I loved it when I was younger and gave it to me. It is delightfully vintage and smells that way too (yum).
- The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy by Tim Burton; Illustrations and ditties in the style and mood only Tim Burton can do.
- The Alchemist; the only novel in my bunch, actually this is a fable really. I've loaned it to so many people, and I try to re-read it every few years.
- The Artists Way; I don't think I need to even explain this one. I really should read/do this once a year.
- The Arrival by Shaun Tan; It's an illustrated novel, with not a single word. It's breathtaking, and I've already done a post about it here.

But, (and this is where I got stuck) "unconditional, passionately loved and favourite" is a BIG call, so... if my house was on fire and I could only grab one book, it would be the photo album my sister put together for me as a gift for my 30th birthday. It's filled entirely with photo's of her and I from close to the moment we became sisters, up to very recently.
To me it is priceless.

(Thank-you to Daisy in Lala Land, for selecting this weeks topic)

nasty business

I was half way through my fine art course at university when a new government was elected in, the arts funding was cut and quite literally over a month we lost enormous amounts of staff and resources (while still paying the same fees). We were left with not much more than our own devises to make art. And although artists are excellent at adapting, we were left unsupported and somewhat quashed.

When I heard about Orphan Works legislation that is before US Congress, it really caught my attention, and in a flash I was signing a petition to oppose it. Up till now even if everything else has been taken from our grasp, the one thing we do still have is our art.
In a nutshell, as an artist you currently own a copyright as soon as you create something. International law also supports this. But the Orphan work legislation means that you will have to register and pay fees for every work you create with a registry to keep your rights to it. It’s apparently being considered in the US and Europe.

So if you’re interested you can read more here or here, and sign the petition here.

Honestly, who comes up with this stuff?

It makes me wonder, as gallery fees and access to funding has become unreasonably expensive and difficult, more and more art has taken to the streets. Made in back alleys and on public walls, under the cover of darkness with hidden identities, street art has surged ahead. So much so that works by Banksy (for example) are now auctioned at Christies and owned by the Angelina Jollies of the world.

It shows me that you can’t kill art, art making is an essential part of humanity, but it makes me wonder what would happen if it was supported.


Meanwhile last weekend 1000 of Australia's "best and brightest brains" were invited to gather for the 2020 Summit. Basically a huge democratic workshop for the new government to listen to the ideas of “the people” for their ideal society in the year 2020. The people invited represented different streams of society.

Most of it was telecast, and I watched with bated breath as Cate Blanchett addressed the arts group during the introduction. Here are some of my favourite parts of her speech:

… not as an adjunct to, but as a fundamental aspect of society. Now we’re not wrong in claiming this fundamentality, what the human race does is create, and what makes our species unique is its ingenuity…

...They cause trouble without doing damage. They fix broken things where glue just won’t do. They spring from the very thing that binds us, and they goad us on to being so much more than we ever thought.

Now there’s this ridiculous notion out there, and has been there for a long time, that you’re either a science person or an arts person, and I hope that this summit refuses to countenance such inane and counterproductive social divisions… Science and art are siblings. Science and art are different outcomes of the same primal urge in us all to engage with, to detail, and to affect narratives and patterns.

Now a few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting President Clinton… he liked talking to artists… he said because they existed just a fraction ahead of culture… he said he always read the latest airport novels, spy thrillers, unpublished manuscripts, unpublished screenplays because writers were often right on the money where the technology and ideology, a lethal combination, were heading. He listened assiduously to music coming up from the streets, because he knew that those people knew their audience’s needs and wants.

…We’re here today to think beyond our current practices, and beyond our current needs. We’re here to imagine the best possible society in 2020, and then reverse engineer our way back from there to some broad sustainable policy recommendations that can help those visions be realized. Now I believe much can simply be done by imagining the arts where they rightly belong, at the very heart of our society... we will all believe something today, we will all want something out of today, but it’s important to remember the bigger picture, the future…

Her full speech is well worth watching (it’s only 6 mins). It’s a feel-good one.

tribesmen

Red Faces; including members of the Kims tribe.

Still on the theme of the "beautiful primitive", I've been completely inspired by the amazing photographs of the Mount Hagen festival in Papua New Guinea by Eric Lafforgue.


Yellow faces; including Huli wigman from Tari in the Southern Highlands.

I was focusing on the vibrancy of the face painting and didn't even attempt the incredible headdresses, some of which include whole bird wings! Those are paintings in themselves.


Old tribesmen; including Chimbu tribe.

I'm inspired just by the photo's (as excellent as they are), imagine what it would be like to actually be there.

primitive

My Illustration Friday attempt for primitive.

There's something I find incredibly reassuring about the fact there are tribes of communities still living traditional primitive lives, in this fast, modern, complex world. Whenever you see photo's or footage of them, they always seem joyful.

This is a woman from a tribe in Papua New Guinea.

getting on with it

Mr You has pointed out that I should stop moping on about myself... I didn't realise I was, but after reviewing my last few posts I think he's right. I apologise for being such a sook. I think I "de-railed" after the exhibition opening (where my Rosa painting was), and have had trouble getting back on since then.

...but that happens from time to time.

Thank-you all for your kind words. It's amazing to have such great support from distant friends.

Now I shall shut-up and get on with it.

Much love,
flossy-p .xx.

latest discovery

This is: "my latest discovery"

Each week I discover new artists that make me weep, both with the beauty of their art, and also with envy and feelings of my own inadequacy that comes with it. Every now and then I'll discover one that blows me away! My latest of these discoveries is Bailey Saliwanchik from NY.

I ADORE all of her work. All of it! I wish I was her.