blogging outside the box

****I had written the core of this post last week and had yet to finish collecting resources and pressing ‘Publish’ but after reading a few very very very insightful posts yesterday I realized how important it was to me that I finish it, as well as to post things like this more often.****

i like boxes. big fan of them. i like fitting inside one sometimes and sometimes i need to kick their walls down.

it hits home every once in a while that though who i am authentically right here right now is the person i try and share through my blog, but there are bits of me that just don't fit in the box of this artful blogger kinda community. not that i feel like they wouldn't be welcomed by folks who may read my words....cause isn't this whole thing about being authentic and our messy true selves? a big part of how i spend my time is taking pictures, processing them, making art with paint and paper and reading artful books. but another part of my world is of vibrant radical, political yet down to earth movers-and-shakers and folks that live their life outside of the box of what the societal norm is.

so i was thinking about how i craved writing a post in which those parts of myself merged. and i've concluded that i want to share a list of creative inspirations that you probably won't read on many other blog and that you may not come across otherwise. perhaps its because they are queer, or fat, or very political, or very small and grassroots. perhaps its because they don't have the backing of a major label or they haven't been published. then again maybe they have but just don't fit into the norm. or maybe they are just outside the box of this creative blog community.

i want to try and fit outside the box more, color outside the artful lines, as that is really and truly me. And by not sharing the complexities of my world doesn’t serve me or anyone else. Although sometimes I feel quite different than most folks in this artful/creative corner of the blog world, those 3 post have given me the courage to post because things mean a lot to me, not because they might be well received.

The Collective Tarot:
~I just got my lil' hands on this deck recently and I've gotta tell you, they are so wonderful. I'd heard about them, about a group of artists on the west coast that were creating a tarot deck with symbols and archetypes that they felt represented them more, that had ethnic diversity, diverse bodies and better represented the way they walk in this world. I had wondered how this would turn out...would it look like a regular tarot deck? would working with it feel grounding and flow like other decks? yes yes and yes. its wonderful, beautiful and most importantly, magical.

graphic novels and comics:
this is a genre that i hadn't expected myself being drawn to. but lately i keep coming across comics and graphic novels that seriously take my breath away. Fun Home, Everyday Things, Persepholis, Rent Girl and i very much await the day when artist suzy malik (do check out the comic section of her website) and writer zoe whitall bring their graphic novel to the world.

art (i love art):
jennifer mercede. i became deeply smitten with jennifer's art when exploring alberta street in portland. i came home from that trip with my very own painting by her. and there is a gigantic one that i yearn to have on my wall one day. i love her playful, colourful, organic style.
jordan bent. jordan is definitely my favourite local artist. his work is so intense and emotive and quite prolific. plus (and surprisingly) his work is also still somewhat affordable. i'm very excited for the east side culture crawl and getting to visit his studio again. he sells his sketches (there are piles and piles of them) at the crawl and even a simple pen sketch of his is likely to move you.
christy road. i've seen christy's work for years in some anthologies and through sister spit and i can't get over how much i love her black and white images. she doesn't shy away from anything. its all there in her images. total admiration for her.
caroline barrientos. my friend caroline's art takes my breath away. she made me the most beautiful journal and sent it in a hand painted canvas envelope. i can't wait to see what else she will bring to the world.

i've realized as i'm putting this together that this is only just a beginning and i really can't put writing, poetry, fine art, graphic art, photography and music in one post. so i think this is officially part one of my 'resources outside the box' posts!