My blog is a safe space for burnouts, flakes, layabouts, ne'er-do-wells, underachievers, and anyone who can't be arsed
So basically anybody who is slandered by capitalism for wanting to maintain their mental health
You. You get it.
baby me, sorting m&ms by color and then into a gradient: now this is how you have fun!
baby me, observing other children eating fistfulls of randomly colored gummy bears all at once: when do i get to go back to my home planet
"Stop saying 15 year olds with weird interests are cringe, they're 15" this is true however you should also stop saying adults with weird interests are cringe because who gives a shit
To wit:
I want to share some wisdom from my high school art teacher.
In my AP Art class, there was a girl who was just starting to experiment with mixed media. At this point she was still playing around, trying to decide what direction she wanted to go with her portfolio. So one critique day, she brought in an abstract canvas with some rhinestone highlights and painted and real peacock feathers. She loved sparkles and peacock feathers so she thought she’d try introducing them a *little*. And after everyone had given some input, the teacher gave her his advice, VERY roughly paraphrased here:
“So here’s the thing… I do not like this style. These are just elements that do not speak to me personally, but I see that you like them, and you’re doing interesting things with them.
“My biggest critique is, I only merely *dislike* this piece. I want you to make me HATE it. Go crazy with the things that you like. Don’t hold back trying to make it palatable to people like me. Because I am NEVER going to like it. And if the audience does not like it, it should drive them crazy seeing how much YOU love it.”
Her portfolio was chock full of neon colors and glitter and rhinestones and splashes of peacock feathers and it was a delight. Our teacher despised every piece lol, but she got great marks and I think even won some awards. And more importantly, she was happy and proud of the results. Because she didn’t limit herself by trying to appeal to people who were never going to enjoy what she enjoyed.
Takeaway here: be as cringe as you want. Don’t limit yourself based on other ppl’s tastes. They’re not you, and you are incredible 💕
This is such good advice from a great teacher.
Like it seems obvious to say it but things like that, little moments where someone says a thing about a student's honest work, is SO important to them .
My high school art teacher just kind of shit on my stuff, I was full of ideas but I didn't really have the knowledge or skillset to make my ideas into what I wanted them to be and she just said things like 'this is rubbish, you aren't even trying are you?'
So I just ended up stopping, I checked out of art class at that exact moment and it's taken me years to feel like I want to draw again, I used to draw almost every day at school before that and I've always loved the idea of art and looking at the things that people create.
I'm taking a night class now and the teachers I've worked with are amazing, they encourage us to try new things and their critiques of our work are always constructive, like they can see what we're trying to do or what we struggled with and they lead us to the techniques or strategies that would likely help us improve.
And I know it's not helpful or wise to do so but there's sometimes that tiny thought of 'where might I be now if that had gone differently' that bounces in the back of my head when I'm doing my art now.
Please never give up on that thing you love doing because of other people people, you deserve to fill your life with your love.