September 24, 2019

It’s not you, it’s me

It’s easy to blame ‘the other’. Them. They don’t understand me. They don’t see what I see. They missed the point I was making. It might be a publisher, after a rejection. Or an editor, on a submission. It might be a reader in a review.

But what if it was me, and not them? What if, instead of blaming the other, I looked at how I could change for them? Maybe they had a point? Maybe it wasn’t right for the age group? Or maybe it does need more clarity? If I made the work for them and not me, maybe, just maybe, this once, they could be right. Don’t we owe it ourselves to see what would happen if they were?

Other observations
October 1, 2024

Surrounding the idea

Might the act of mark-making be a pathway to the subconscious where we get to meet a version of ourselves we’ve never met before?

September 24, 2024

Feeling useful

Why are there so many people wanting to be published in children’s literature?

September 17, 2024

Abstraction and invitation

What benefits come from leaving room for another human or two to intepret and find meaning in the work we make?

September 10, 2024

The amateur artist

Why do so many kids stop drawing at the age of about 10. And what if they didn’t?

September 3, 2024

Who decides?

Who decides what gets to embed and live continuously in our culture for hundreds of years? And if it does, does it mean it’s good?

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