Since I started my job as a full-time graphic designer, I feel I've neglected my illustration and fine art practice. Now is the time to challenge myself, to loosen those elbows and really work at some new techniques.
I'm going in this with three main goals:
1) To make art-making a daily practice, moreso than it already is.
2) To broaden my colour pallette.
3) To improve my composition by not neglecting background elements.
I will try to post my results every day. Can I do it? Will I manage? I suppose we'll see!
If you care to join this challenge, do the same, and post a link to your progress in the comments.
What happens when you stop believing in the possibility of forward motion? What becomes of you when you look around and begin to truly believe that those who "make it" have something in them that you don't possess? The "you" that is you begins to dissolve. Like the fairies in Peter Pan, you are killing something magical and true within yourself when you stop believing that you can achieve things.
One thing that I've learned when talking to "successful" people, and when hearing my heroes talk about their struggles on the podcasts I listen to, is that even the most fabled of superstars is a normal, anxious mess, who wears pyjamas and gets overworked, and frets and cries and loves like the rest of us. There will always be someone more talented than you.
So just get over it. Do what you do, and love every minute of it. Don't be afraid of the fear, stare it in the face, give it a nod, and continue on your way.
The proof days felt successful enough, though I have to wait until tomorrow to hear the results. What an awesome atmosphere that place has, though. High ceilings, big windows, a cappuccino maker, cool colleagues... I'm tied up in knots from the suspense of it all. If I don't get the job, I worry that I will crumble into a pile of sad-looking dust.
Something like this guy:
Yes, that's my poor, sick husband, curled up on the couch in front of an episode of "Arrow". Not only is the show bad, the temperature never feels right, the tea is too hot, and every part of his body is aching. The biggest downside of spring is the inevitable bout of bronchitis. Thankfully, it does mean that he stays still long enough for me to do some studies.
There is something cooking. There is something in the works. I just finished up the first of two "proof" days at a potential new workplace, working as lead graphic designer of a magazine. While I only hear this Friday whether I've got the position, I'm enjoying the excitement while it lasts. Of course, eager beaver that I am, I've been doing research at home on magazine designs, spreads, typography tips and tricks... pretty much any extra bit of information that might secure me the position.
In the process, I have come across some awesome tutorials and great sources of inspiration! Internet, you are fabulous. There are so many different ways to put together a dynamic spread. I managed to come across some awesome composition thumbnail sketches online, which I'm certain will be useful in my attempts to impress:
Out in the world of print publishing, there are many great ideas and great ways to bring those ideas across. I'm excited to try my hand at it! That is, of course, if I get the job.
The little island of Terschelling is gorgeous. I had heard about the famous "wadden" (mudflats) up here in the north but had never visited them before. Technically, I still haven't - I only saw the northern side of the little island in the weekend I spent there with my husband and his mother. I saw, instead, the north sea. The island itself is covered in these dunes, with colourful grasses, heathers, and pine trees contrasting with the otherwise subtle tones of the sands. Almost more remarkable was the sky. I have noticed that the Dutch landscape is often a skyscape; being such a flat land, one often has a particularly grandiose view of the Netherlands' cloudy, stormy skies. I managed to get a few nice shots when I was there, and hope to go again soon.
First you dig the dirt out, deep deep deep. Get rid of that dirt somehow.
Then you order sand.
Get that sand into that hole! (Later you can put the bricks down. Be patient.)
Today we experienced one of the heaviest wind storms in Groningen since 1990. It also happened to be the day that we had 3 cubes of sand delivered. Not to worry! I was able to get a good amount of it from the end of our long winding path to our driveway-in-progress. Using a wheelbarrow. And elbow grease. And gumption.
At some point, when the wheelbarrow was lifted and tumbled down the aforementioned pathway, I did call it a day. I managed to empty two half-cubes. Let's try again tomorrow, shall we?
Some things are intrinsically motivating, while others have the pressures of earning, of buying and selling, hung on them like a heavy yoke. Would that I could work with the same vigor that I procrastinate. If I could spend all of my time making silly household crafts and puttering around my garden, without worrying about bills or making a contribution to the world, I think I would be quite satisfied. Retirement in my 20's. Would be great. In the meantime, I will have to satisfy myself with occasional crafting and the associated guilt.
Book # 1 of my attempt to read more Dutch language books and get my head out of the sand. Momo is a little wild-haired girl living in the ruin of an ancient amphitheatre, next to a village of poor folks who collectively care for her. She ran from an orphanage (yeah, it's an orphan story) where she had been beaten and locked up, and is now living happily on her own. Everybody loves to visit her, because she's a good listener.
That is the premise, up to this point (page 16). I think it will be a good one! My friend and colleague Marit recommended it (along with two books by Herman Hesse, with a little post-it declaring that the stack hailed "from Marit's Library"). I will keep you all updated! Hopefully this is a good way to begin improving my less-than-stellar language use.
The internet has a new place in daily life. Or perhaps it is more
accurate to say that the internet is a new place. A non-place
cyberspace. What used to be a collection of links to simple pages has grown to
what feels like an infinite web of content. Images, video, text, communication
systems are interconnected and searchable, reposted endlessly and commented
upon ad infinitum. We have even uploaded ourselves. Hell, I'm doing that now in the own way.
I'm letting myself be tracked, but also letting myself be known, seen, and heard. Maybe in the long term this could have a negative impact on my life, on the development of myself, on my creativity. I consume so much input that I feel that I must fulfill the transaction and post my own output, even out the table. Give and take, look and make.
On every other platform available to me, I keep it professional. In my mind, that means leaving out the personal, letting only buttoned-up, bright-eyed side show. I intend for this little blog to be more of a free-for-all as far as my thoughts and feelings are concerned. I'm just going to sit down, stretch out my legs, and relax a bit. I have no illusions about gathering readership. I just want to share, really. I like sharing. In kindergarten, that was actually written on my report card "shares well with others". With this little blog, I hope to share well with you all.
As the title of the blog clearly indicates, I am a Canadian living in the Netherlands. I don't wear clogs here and I didn't wear snowshoes there, but as far as titles go, I puff up my chest a little proudly at this one. In any case, it was the best of the small list I managed to put together while sipping my cappuccino and siphoning wifi from the café gods. So in the old worlds of yesteryear, Hello World.
