Work

Productivity

“I bear the wounds of all the battles I avoided.”
—Fernando Pessoa

In the WoodsWhy is it that pain can trigger creativity?

The past week I have been the perfect example of the tortured artist, spending my days in splendid isolation and spitting out art and sketches at an unprecedented rate. The past month I’ve done something like two dozen drawings and paintings, plus a bunch of sketches – half of them in the last week alone. Not everything is worth showing, of course, but all in all I’m quite pleased. Plus, the process has taught me things and sparked ideas that I will keep working on.

Isolation and hurt can lead to productivity, it seems.

Perhaps it is more the quiet than anything else – the shutting out of distractions and considerations. When we turn our gaze inward and look away from the world, we can finally see things with our mind instead of our eyes. Truths that otherwise would have been lost in the buzzing of everyday life.

Also – in spite of me keeping myself largely isolated – several queries have trickled in for the visual side of my art, and a whole lot of appreciation.

Which is nice.

I just hope I can keep this energy going and keep producing. Maybe not at the rate of several drawings per day, put hopefully several per week. And maybe I can finally get going on some of my stories as well – there are several things wanting my attention, from new stories to rewrites to last edits.

With a bit of effort, maybe I can even catch up to my goals for this year…

 

God Hates Us All

“A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them.”
—C. G. Jung

RedemptionDear Reader, what a week…

I’ve done no less than four drawings/sketches, partied twice, lost a tooth, started a new story and I managed to hurt a very dear friend of mine. I’ve spent a week in pain – first from a bad tooth ache, and now from having had said tooth pulled.

Things could’ve been smoother.

But, at least my creativity is back – even if I’ve only managed to produce pretty rough things so far. The story seed has potential, though – a tale of friendship, love, youth and life’s disappointments and pleasures. Or something to that effect, we’ll see when I get it all down.

My recommendations this week are all works of art that hold special meaning to me – things which highlight the complexity of life and do not hesitate to show both the beauty and the ugliness of life.

Life is never all bad or all good.

Even at our very best or our very worst, there’s still something present in our lives that tries to balance things out. Maybe not much, but there’s always something. All we can do is cling to he good while we tackle the bad, and hope that we come out on top.

circle

Reading, Writing and Arithmetic

“With every book you buy, you should buy the time to read it.”
—Karl Lagerfeld

Hello Dear Reader – the past week has been more about organizing things, catching up with myself and planning for the future than actually getting anything done. So naturally – as expected – I’m terribly behind on my promised word count. Although, I have started writing two new stories, so I guess that’s something.

Life keeps throwing me curve balls, keeping me on my toes and rearranging my social circles – but it keeps things interesting.

In addition to my previous pledge in regard to creating things, I have also taken on the Popsugar 2015 Reading Challenge (though heaven only knows how I will find the time for that on top of everything else!):

In short, I am setting myself up for failure in multiple areas of my life before year’s end! But hey, the more ambitious I am the more I’ll get done, right?

…right?

Absolutions and Resolutions

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want and all that is left is compromise.”
—Anaïs Nin

ChimaeralEyes2015

And so another year has come to greet us, Dear Reader.

Two years ago I made the decision to devote more time to my art – words as well as images – and try to make some form of living off of it. Then life happened. The struggle to live up to my own expectations and goals repeatedly took the back seat to balancing the rest of my life. Things have been rough and chaotic; my life has changed in ways I never expected and wasn’t prepared for, and as a result I have neglected my creative pursuits. But no more.

Things are about to change.

There’s little point in regretting the past or feeling bad about opportunities I did not take. The past is gone and it has made us who we are today, after all. But it is never too late to change. I’m not usually one for New Year’s resolutions – any day is a good day to start changing for the better. But considering that today is already the 7th of January I guess these aren’t really New Year’s resolutions anyway.

So, Dear Reader, my resolutions for this year are as follows:

– I will make it my goal to write a minimum of 300 words a day, on average.
– I will make it my goal to produce a minimum of one piece of art a week, on average.
– I will make it my goal to finish a minimum of one project a month, professionally.

On the chance that I can live up to this schedule, I should end the year with 12 professional projects, 52 new pieces of art, and nearly 100,000 words worth of story. I shall count this week as the starting point, counting from January 4th to January 4th 2016.

Now, let’s hope that this year is more cooperative than its predecessor!

 

Happy New Year

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
―Theodore Roosevelt

ClockSketchHappy last day of the year, Dear Reader! 2014 was a pretty good year for me.

Artistically, I have branched out, improved, and taken a few steps further toward something resembling an actual career. I haven’t been as productive as I would have liked because I kept myself busier with personal issues than I had expected, but we all struggle to manage the limited time we have each day.

Professionally, both my writing and my visual art has been well received, though it has not yet led to many paying gigs. I have made new contact, though, and my followers on her and twitter have grown from zero to over a thousand. As I ease toward 2015 I feel I have a stable platform to stand on and that I am on my way in the right direction, at least.

Personally, I’ve made a number of new acquaintances, a few new valuable friendships, and I have grown incredible close to an already very valuable friend – a friend who has been invaluable for my personal growth this year. I’ve done a lot of work on myself, dealing with life and personal issues, and I’ve slowly begun sculpting myself into a new and improved me. 2014 has also been the first year of this millenium that I’ve been completely single – something that has been good for me, I think.

Not everything has been all sunshine and roses, of course. It never is.

The year has seen me struggling with my sense of self worth, my self confidence, and my self image – there’s been a lot to deal with on many levels and many of my friends have suffered this year. It has been no small feat to avoid slipping into my old behaviours and patterns, but for the most part I’ve done well.

All in all, though, I can’t really complain.

The good outweighs the bad by a fair measure, which is pretty darn amazing when you think about the state of this world.

I’ll leave you with a little insignificance I penned recently, after an idea I had years ago: In Passing

Happy New Year, Dear Reader – thank you immensely for this year, and I hope to see you in 2015!

Commentary: Pirates and Copyright
“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.”
—Sigmund Freud

PirateMinion

Avast! The safe haven for pirates has been o’ertaken by the law!

As I’m sure you and everyone else with internet access knows by now, police have shut down The Pirate Bay and confiscated the servers. This has naturally created quite a stir in the wild frontier and bastion for free entertainment that is the internet.

The Pirate Bay – never meant to aid illegal file sharing, according to some; not responsible for the files shared by its users, according to others. Why then, pray tell, name it The Pirate Bay – using the well-known term for illegal copying and spreading of programs, movies and books, named after the age-old profession of high sea robbery.

Pirates of old were criminals, pure and simple.

They engaged in stealing, killing and robbing to make a living outside the law. Why pick that term if your intentions are pure? And if your intentions aren’t pure, why complain and try to hide? The current romanticizing of pirates as somehow free and noble fighters against an oppressive government have no doubt rubbed off on self-view of the modern file copying pirates.

File sharing began in the infancy of computers.

Costs for software was aimed at corporations and not home users – people would copy programs that cost a month’s salary or three and use them at home. Back then there was a need for such illegal file sharing, as the market did not yet exist for the individual consumer and the use of such software in the home advanced computer literacy and created a market that might otherwise have gone overlooked. This then spread to games and created a computer based culture of sharing. Over the years, this has morphed into the current mentality of ‘everything that can be copied should be free’. But we do not need free access to most (if any) of the files shared illegally online today – we need better ways of legal, suitably priced access.

Before, the need overcame the availability – now, the availability has overcome the need.

Today I heard someone defend the Pirate Bay by claiming that unregulated media is necessary for democracy, and I found myself wondering how a site providing the technology and intermediary to freely share large files became a Protector of Democracy. Sure, there’s a value in being able to share important information in ways that aren’t controlled by the powers that be – but that’s hardly the same as being able to download the latest blockbuster without paying for it and away from the prying eyes of the law.

What about you, you ask, up there on your high and mighty horse? Do I take part of copyrighted material for my own personal enjoyment? It happens, but it is much rarer than most people would think. Am I perfect and stay completely clear of illegal file sharing? No. As a rule, however, I will pay if I have the option – and often I will pay even if something is legally available for free, if there’s a way to donate or ‘pay what you like’. Or I will find some other way to contribute to the artist, by supporting a crowd funding project or donating on their site.

There will always be both a need and supply of free art and entertainment, but that doesn’t mean that all art and entertainment should be free.

Art is extremely important to any society. Music, stories, images – they have been around since before we became civilized and they are a vital part of what makes us human. I can understand the gut reaction that access to it should be free – a human right. But it’s not that simple, and it is not just about art – it is about anything that can be digitally copied (and these days, that is a lot!).

People say that we must separate between what’s legal and what is right.

They know that sharing copyrighted files is illegal, but they believe the law to be wrong and therefore they ignore it. “Information wants to be free” and they are simply engaging in civil disobedience to prove that fact. But they usually forget that a corner stone of civil disobedience is to break the law openly and be willing to suffer the consequences.

Personally – as a creator and consumer of culture – I welcome a thorough examination of copyright laws, the creation of some form of international standard, and a review of copying fees and artist compensation. All in the name of bringing our legislation and economy up to date with current technology and modern society – a society should be evolving and adapting, after all.

But…and this one is huge as far as buts go:

You cannot achieve a change in copyright law, artist compensation, or societal views by secretly engaging in illegal file sharing for your own personal benefit. As soon as you stop openly breaking those laws and instead try to hide behind others or mere technicalities to avoid punishment you cease being an altruistic rebel and turn into a selfish petty criminal.

Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should.