Yeah it’s been almost 2 years since I posted last 🤷 I’ve but given up though! I’ve picked up some new skills and outlooks, and I’m ready to go at it again!
One of my new(ISH) hobbies is creative journaling and I think some of the pages would make great art prints – I’ve written a substack article about it if you’re interested in taking it up, I’ve also got a pilot podcast episode recorded. Trying this new thing called “radical self acceptance” where I stop expecting too much and enjoy what I can do. Wild, right?
Last year was pretty fucking rough, and amazing. While the year started with a violent encounter with a bigot, it then went on to acting for the first time, creating new art, and enjoying the smallest moments. Healing my body and mind held me back me from a lot of things, but I’m feeling ready to to tackle life again with a fresh perspective, Ngl the nature of my life means things get in the way nearly constantly so I can only do my best, but I’m happy with that.
The writing club I run (Friends of Penelope) ran a poetry competition in December and I sent it off to acclaimed author Molly Potter for judging – The results just in! I was not the winner, but I think we all did great work and I’m excited to release it as an anthology by printing some copies in house and selling them at markets or via local book shops. Title tbd. I’m feeling more able to write again following the traumatic incident of last year, and so I’m hoping to publish a few anthologies of my own this year – one poetry and one short story. I say hoping, that’s because of several influencing factors and I don’t want to put excess pressure on myself, that’s the death of motivation (and more importantly, enjoyment) for me. Those will be available on this website.
I’ve decided that I love working on games and will be pushing that as a large facet of my career from here on out – See creatures will have a second go at a kickstarter campaign early/mid 24, after I’ve managed to get some travel sized versions out to reviewers. (Travel sized because I’m on an extremely low income and have to do what I can manage). If you want more info on that amazing game (not that I’m biased!) go to seecreatures.co.uk. It’s part of my Deep Sky game series – the heading under which all my games will be published. There is talk about setting up a gaming co-operative under Queer City Gaymes, but only time will tell if that’s going to actually happen. I’d like it to. All info or links to my games can be found on this website.
I also plan to sell some of my art, I’ve done a series on Trans Masc bodies (18+) that I’d like to sell, and I’ve done another based on my experiences during the summer.
And that’s not even mentioning the choirs I’m in or run, nor the personal music I’ve been working on, combined with my work in the community and training workshops I’m hoping to see the results from my efforts really grow this year.
I Made this for the Trans Day Of Visibility event I ran recently, which was a creative exhibition of art and performances. I wanted to do a self portrait and was captivated by the idea that people are often curious about the scarring on my arm from my gender affirmation surgery, and I know people often want to touch it which can be crossing a boundary (that people always respect though) and wanted to offer people the opportunity to become more intimately familiar with the effects of transitioning without overstepping personal lines.
I wanted to use the nonbinary flag colours to represent that gender identity doesn’t determine physical expression – there was a way I needed to be and that makes me feel whole, and it doesn’t lock me into a gender binary. The background is purple ink, the arm and fist is water colour paper that I sewed down with a machine to echo the idea of stitches and surgery, and the keloid scaring is yellow candle wax that I painted on and then had to melt a little to give it a smooth surface. It isn’t a one-to-one comparison as my scarring pattern is pretty complex, and my skin and scars are much more supple, but it’s pretty close.
I measured the frame I made out of matchsticks carefully, but it still twisted somehow and it was difficult to get it to fit well. Nevermind, it’s not a deal breaker!
Ultimately, I have pride in my scars and don’t want to hide them away.
I painted this as a background for a Norwich Virtual Pride 2020 video, in which I narrated a short story, It depicts one of the bronze lions outside Norwich City Hall (acrylic).
