[Salinger]

9 hours ago, Harriet said:

Did stretching last night. Meditation today. Will do stretching now. Feeling very low.

 

Hey Harriet. Sending a lot of love to you.

 

Just read through your challenge and offering a big cuddle.

 

You're a wonderful person and I'm so so so glad to be your friend ?

 

I'm sorry you are feeling low. I hope you have been able to rest.

 

Print making is really gorgeous and relaxing. My favourite is mono printing and lino printing.

 

I think you would be amazing at both!!! If you want me to go into detail with tips just let me know

 

On the subject of children I'm definitely with you on how to react to others.

 

People showing you kid pics is because they adore them and yes it's an extention of them! They want to share their love and pride with you...

 

I get lots of photos of my friends two kids and I love it. Seeing them develop a personality even a few months old....it's crazy and mind blowing really.

 

Yes sometimes they look like shriveled prunes but it's my friends shriveled prune and my love extends to them now!!!!!

 

Xx

[Mad Hatter]

Hope you feel better this morning!

 

15 hours ago, Harriet said:

I want to be here:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

On my pinterest page I have about a million pictures that are heartbreakingly beautiful in different ways.

 

Ok, so what I'm seeing here are lovely muted colors, very graphical work with big simple shapes, embellished with patterns and textures within those shapes, and exaggerated geometric forms mixed with organic imagery. To me they look like posters and book/magazine covers with their flat, simple compositions and color palettes. I already see all of this in your work! Of course feel free to entirely ignore me as I've only seen more scribbly illustrations, but I *think* that to reach the next level the thing to do is honestly just to spend more time on each illustration and make it a bit more polished and deliberate. And maybe practice picking one element and go really bold with it, like the huge geometric antlers, or the big/small contrast in the first image. But I feel like all the components are already there in your art, and I don't think more exercises would necessarily help right now compared to a project. Studying graphic design could be helpful too if you haven't done so already. But I really believe you're capable of creating art like this and maybe the thing that's needed is simply more... confidence.

 

15 hours ago, Harriet said:

How does one do yoga spiritually, and what the flip is juicy pandiculation?

I'm not into yoga so can't help you sorry. All I know is that the asanas are only a small portion of yoga which is a whole philosophical/religious system. Or systems even, it's so old it's been through many permutations.

 

Pandiculation is an awesome movement category, it's what cats do when they stretch when getting up from a nap, or what we do when we yawn! It's stretching your entire body with a lot of tension and quickly releasing and feels really good. We're just trained to not do it because it's "impolite" to yawn or take up space. Basically be a cat.

[Harriet]

On 10/20/2024 at 6:47 PM, Rookie said:

Yes and no. The anxiety of the money issues are gone now that I have a job. However the dissatisfaction with myself, the lack of connections and the being comfortable although displeased with doing nothing are still there. I feel I'm on the verge of a breakthrough yet I've been here for awhile. I'm considering therapy. I keep thinking about who I want to be and the life I want but it feels like that person or that life is out of my reach. What if I get it but it's actually not for me which is silly because then you just try something else but it's knowing the amount of effort and work it will all take. I find it overwhelming. 

 

Edit to add: that art you shared is beautiful. The 3rd really spoke to me

 

I'm glad you've at least got the financial security. I know that's a big part of me feeling safe. I think I feel what you mean about the person you want to be being out of reach. For me it's the energy and motivation that are unreliable. I don't like who I am when I'm crashed--lazy and unmotivated, uninterested and uninteresting. But I have tried and tried to force it, train it, discipline it, and it won't come. Gotta try something else.

 

On 10/20/2024 at 11:54 PM, Ranger Hal said:

This is what I've been discovering about myself over the last year. For me, I think the problem is that even though most things have gone back to normal (which makes it feel like I should be normal as well), a couple of my in-person communities either disappeared or are very different from what they used to be and I haven't found new communities that fill the holes yet.

 

That sounds hard. Also different from my situation, though, because I never had much in the way of in-person communities due to being semi house bound. I've been fairly solitary since I was a teenager, though I do have my brother and husband, who are quite important to me not becoming a total hermit.

Are you feeling down due to the loss of in-person stuff?

 

On 10/20/2024 at 11:59 PM, sarakingdom said:

Whether directly covid-related or the various life changes that occurred incorrectly because of it, I'm noticing the loss of community as well.

 

Things changed for you, too, eh? I know things changed for me at the start of covid, but I don't think it was only the social aspect. I'd been pushing hard on the exercise for two years with pure fanaticism. And then I kind of collapsed and have never been able to work out as consistently since then. I thought there would be a break through, that I would get to a higher level of fitness that I could build on. But in retrospect it seems I was just taking out a high interest loan. Not a foundation to build on.

 

On 10/21/2024 at 6:11 AM, Salinger said:

 

Hey Harriet. Sending a lot of love to you.

 

Just read through your challenge and offering a big cuddle.

 

You're a wonderful person and I'm so so so glad to be your friend ?

 

I'm sorry you are feeling low. I hope you have been able to rest.

 

Thank you, possum. It's lovely to have you here.

 

On 10/21/2024 at 6:11 AM, Salinger said:

Print making is really gorgeous and relaxing. My favourite is mono printing and lino printing.

 

I think you would be amazing at both!!! If you want me to go into detail with tips just let me know

 

Yesssss I had to look up mono printing, it sounds like it's unique prints where you use a variety of things. But I want to know more about lino! Do you use water or oil based inks? Is it super messy? Does it smell? I'm just wondering where I could do it, since I can't really go out to a workshop or studio.

 

On 10/21/2024 at 6:11 AM, Salinger said:

On the subject of children I'm definitely with you on how to react to others.

 

People showing you kid pics is because they adore them and yes it's an extention of them! They want to share their love and pride with you...

 

I get lots of photos of my friends two kids and I love it. Seeing them develop a personality even a few months old....it's crazy and mind blowing really.

 

Yes sometimes they look like shriveled prunes but it's my friends shriveled prune and my love extends to them now!!!!!

 

Xx

 

Ah, you understand how I think about it ❤️ 

 

On 10/21/2024 at 10:55 AM, Mad Hatter said:

Hope you feel better this morning!

 

Ok, so what I'm seeing here are lovely muted colors, very graphical work with big simple shapes, embellished with patterns and textures within those shapes, and exaggerated geometric forms mixed with organic imagery. To me they look like posters and book/magazine covers with their flat, simple compositions and color palettes. I already see all of this in your work! Of course feel free to entirely ignore me as I've only seen more scribbly illustrations, but I *think* that to reach the next level the thing to do is honestly just to spend more time on each illustration and make it a bit more polished and deliberate. And maybe practice picking one element and go really bold with it, like the huge geometric antlers, or the big/small contrast in the first image. But I feel like all the components are already there in your art, and I don't think more exercises would necessarily help right now compared to a project. Studying graphic design could be helpful too if you haven't done so already. But I really believe you're capable of creating art like this and maybe the thing that's needed is simply more... confidence.

 

Thank you ❤️ So, I just picked out a few pictures randomly. I don't need to go in exactly those directions. There are hundreds of pictures on my pinterest art inspiration page, and they're all amazing in different ways. Some are far better painters than me, some have amazing use of colour, others have mastered design and line and pattern... I don't know which way to go. But I've been feeling vaguely for a while that I don't necessarily want to improve my painting and drawing. I am drawn (at the moment) to pictures where relatively simple shapes are elevated by texture and pattern, such as in the morimura prints. So maybe I could pick that direction and work on it for a while. Design would help. Not sure where to study it. Every time I try to find classes for learning to make patterns I find sewing pattern making classes, which is not what I want.

 

On 10/21/2024 at 10:55 AM, Mad Hatter said:

Pandiculation is an awesome movement category, it's what cats do when they stretch when getting up from a nap, or what we do when we yawn! It's stretching your entire body with a lot of tension and quickly releasing and feels really good. We're just trained to not do it because it's "impolite" to yawn or take up space. Basically be a cat.

 

Okay, so juicy was a description, not a subcategory. Like juicy deadlifting is not a variation of deadlifting, it's just deadlifting that happens to be juicy. Whatever that means.

[Harriet]

I meditated yesterday but did little else except read. I started the mistborn trilogy some days ago, and am unfortunately nearly finished. It is very compelling, the way he reveals secrets about the world one by one.

I am still sick--headaches every day--and cancelled a therapy session. In fact, I told the therapist I don't want to make any more appointments for now--that I feel burned out and am sick of trying so hard to get better. I thought somatic experiencing would be different but we just ended up talking, same as other talk therapy. I liked her a lot. But I didn't start therapy for nice chats, I started it to cure my fucking anxiety. Which I knew it would be incapable of doing, but the fatigue doctor and Mr Harriet persuaded me to try.

[TimovieMan]

On 10/19/2024 at 9:24 AM, Harriet said:

Yes I cannot imagine having children and all I feel is relief when I see other people with theirs. I try to show adequate amounts of "awww how adorable" though.

Sounds a bit like my brother-in-law's MO. He adores our kids, but they're just as much reminders to him on exactly why he doesn't want any of his own... 😅

[Mad Hatter]

52 minutes ago, Harriet said:

There are hundreds of pictures on my pinterest art inspiration page, and they're all amazing in different ways. Some are far better painters than me, some have amazing use of colour, others have mastered design and line and pattern... I don't know which way to go.

Completely get it! When I tried to sort through what I like I ended up with styles that are literally the completely opposites. Useless! 😄 

 

One way to deal with it could be to simply try each style and apply it to your own work. Steal the color palettes that you like. See what you enjoy doing. Some art might be beautiful but less fun to do for you. For example there's some oil painters that I loooove, but let's be real - there's no way I'd ever be patient enough for that level of mastery, probably not even the medium, or in general spending weeks/months on a painting.

 

If you're currently obsessed with Morimura, go for it! You can try and copy the work entirely to get a feel for what it's like, or you can use elements of his style that you enjoy in entirely unrelated images. He seems to mostly do landscapes, but if you don't fancy that you could try a bird pattern or adding a stag to make it your own and still be somewhat in your comfort zone. Or take his style but use someone else's color palette or entirely B&W if it's in colour or vv.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Design would help. Not sure where to study it. Every time I try to find classes for learning to make patterns I find sewing pattern making classes, which is not what I want.

I don't know exactly what you're looking for ( technical tips on how to make textures and/or patterns, or more the principles of pattern making like for textiles/packaging, general graphic design principles....?) but I found some stuff by adding in graphic design/illustration in the search term. Or perhaps search for Japanese art/illustration/design to get a different aesthetic.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Okay, so juicy was a description, not a subcategory. Like juicy deadlifting is not a variation of deadlifting, it's just deadlifting that happens to be juicy. Whatever that means.

Guess a closer description would be like pulling taffy. 🤔 Either way yes, it's a descriptor. Sometimes it can really help changing the sensations in the body despite doing the same movement. E.g. lie on the floor like it's a spike mat vs melt into the floor.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

I thought somatic experiencing would be different but we just ended up talking, same as other talk therapy. I liked her a lot. But I didn't start therapy for nice chats, I started it to cure my fucking anxiety.

Shame, but if it's not working then it's the right call. Did you pick up any useful tools from her at least?

[Rookie]

2 hours ago, Harriet said:

For me it's the energy and motivation that are unreliable. I don't like who I am when I'm crashed--lazy and unmotivated, uninterested and uninteresting.

Yup I've definitely dabbled in those feelings. I don't know what the solution is. I figure I have to keep trying but I can't seem to get any traction. For me, it's that I have to force myself and I've never been good at making myself do something I don't feel like doing.  

[Mad Hatter]

16 minutes ago, Rookie said:

Yup I've definitely dabbled in those feelings. I don't know what the solution is. I figure I have to keep trying but I can't seem to get any traction. For me, it's that I have to force myself and I've never been good at making myself do something I don't feel like doing.  

Very relatable.

[Ranger Hal]

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

That sounds hard. Also different from my situation, though, because I never had much in the way of in-person communities due to being semi house bound. I've been fairly solitary since I was a teenager, though I do have my brother and husband, who are quite important to me not becoming a total hermit.

Are you feeling down due to the loss of in-person stuff?

Oh, for sure. Lots of tears, especially when I'm driving to and from work and am not actively distracting myself. I'm doing lots of distracting these days. Exercise seems to help, but it's probably not fixing the root of the problem.

 

2 hours ago, Harriet said:

I started the mistborn trilogy some days ago, and am unfortunately nearly finished. It is very compelling, the way he reveals secrets about the world one by one.

There's always another secret!