Plotting and planning (again)

Back to working out my creative path after last month's goings on and a bit of time off in Devon. So, what next?

First, the proposed move back to Devon. Not a lot of options coming up. Maybe everyone's taking advantage of UK based holiday makers and renting out spare rooms to couch surfers or something. Maybe no one really knows what's going on with this (or any) country anymore and no one wants to move or make plans. So I continue to live surrounded with partially boxed up belongings and never being able to remember where anything is now, since I started the clearing/packing in May! But, meh, it's fine. A time of pausing and contemplating, that's all.

Rethinking prior work

Art-wise, I've had a few part done pieces put to one side and now being re-done to the different style I've been trying. Here's a couple below. The girl dancer is (probably) going to be clothed in skinny jeans and jacket and the bigger heavier looking one...well, I have this idea of him being a geological type!

I've hacked off and added some bits and the base needs fixing too - can't remember why I had it like that! He'll be painted like the stratified rocks you see showing all the layers of the millennia and if I can find which crate my jewellery stuff is in, he'll be holding a crystal in one hand and maybe some tiny crystals to dangle from the other. The idea being, this is the guy who creates 'diamonds'.

I have a ton of ideas for these elemental types. All the seasons for starters - the autumn base and armature is now made. Design...not certain yet. Add in birds, flowers, weather and who knows what and I can have a good old time with my imagination.

I'm still working on stripping down the shape of the pieces to make something that's pure shape and form but I don't want something looking like these stick figure Giacometti style sculptures you see. And I still have a ton of line drawings that have potential for...something. I want to paint but it's that whole thing of how much is enough when it comes to figurative work. Go full abstract? Keep some detail? Acrylic or inks? Pfffhhhh. I dunno.

Writing the right stuff

I'm back on the writing thing as well. Had a chat with a lad in the Sunday group hang out and learned he has a blog on Substack. I thought mainly journalists used it (many of whom have been tossed off social media for refusing to toe the line on ah, world events) and not for amateurs but no, it's open to anyone so I've been looking into how that works.

This is good since Medium has joined the ranks of sites cancelling accounts that make the mistake of linking to published and peer reviewed papers that - you guessed it - don't fit the official narrative. You may not even be aware this is going on. The amount of effort being put in to make sure no one gets an alternative opinion or you know, facts that for some reason (...) we're not allowed to know is deeply disconcerting.

Hasn't anyone wondered why there aren't any differing viewpoints given space in the media? When was there ever a subject that didn't have experts hotly debating the details? Low fat vs low carb, multiverse v string theory, consciousness from the brain vs consciousness outside the brain, regulate fast food or free choice? You name it, you can find a range of perspectives openly discussed. But Covid? Nope. Nada. There is only one true narrative.

Anyhoo, I ain't supporting any site that goes along with that censorship crap. We can make up our own minds but that's hard to do when the only ones allowed a voice are too chicken to have a public discussion with critics.

My stuff

It took ages to sort all my files. I seem to have duplicated one folder and been dumping updates in different places so that had to be fixed, then all the info and drafts for a range of subjects were moved into new sub sections that made sense and renamed so I'd remember what they were about. Now I have the option to do free newsletters/blogs and meatier stuff that in time will be subscription only. It's a good idea to have a chunk of topics to see you through the next few months while working on the in depth pieces. If I can get some readers, the book drafts I have may be turned into the subs work. I could go into even more depth than planned in the books or give a flavour of the topic but keep the full draft for the books. Whatever I do, I'm working towards being able to do a mix of work that allows me to live anywhere and not be tied to an employer. That's real freedom but it doesn't always come easy.