Hey, Mom! The Explanation.

Here's the permanent dedicated link to my first Hey, Mom! post and the explanation of the feature it contains.

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2569 - A Scottish Winter by Katie West



NOTE ON 2204.10 - I fixed two of the photos that died since I posted, but for the newsletter share, I am leaving the blocks with the captions for some small version of the original effect. - cbt


A Sense of Doubt blog post #2569 - A Scottish Winter by Katie West

I am pretty sure I learned of Katie West years ago via Warren Ellis. Though it may have been Kieron Gillen as they are all friends, including and especially Jamie McKelvie. Doesn't matter. I subscribe to her newsletter, and she's been silent for quite some time. She says two years, and yeah... wow. March Fifth, 2020 was the last from her. It also appears that I did learn of her from Gillen as no Ellis newsletters pop up in my search. I could have edited this text, but I left it in free form as I made the realization. Then again, in the interview shared below, West does mention Ellis as an inspiration and role model, so... Because I kind of remember that Katie West was on of those involved with SO MANY OF US, who called out Ellis for his abuse of power.
Yes, I am almost 100% positive that the Katie in this TESTIMONIAL page is Katie West.

https://www.somanyofus.com/testimonials

I feel for Katie West and all these women. I appreciate their efforts to change the culture and the abusive behavior of men with power. 

I really admire Katie West and her work.

This "Scottish Winter" poem jumped out at me from her newsletter. I included it, some Katie West basics, an interview, and the full newsletter in this post.


ENJOY.



Blog Vacation Two 2022 - Vacation II Post #06
I took a "Blog Vacation" in 2021 from August 31st to October 14th. I did not stop posting daily; I just put the blog in a low power rotation and mostly kept it off social media. Like that vacation, for this second blog vacation now in 2022, I am alternating between reprints, shares with little to no commentary, and THAT ONE THING, which is an image from the folder with a few thoughts scribbled along with it. I am alternating these three modes as long as the vacation lasts (not sure how long), pre-publishing the posts, and not always pushing them to social media.

Here's the collected Blog Vacation I from 2021:

Saturday, October 16, 2021





SCOTTISH WINTER

A Scottish winter is wet, which means a Scottish winter is green.

A Scottish woman is wet, which means a Scottish woman is green.

A Scottish woman is thoughtful, which means a Scottish woman is alone.

A relieved woman is thoughtful, which means a grateful woman is alone.

A relieved woman is wet, which means a grateful woman is green.

A watered woman is wet, which means a growing woman is green.

A watered winter is wet, which means a growing winter is green.

A Scottish winter is wet, which means a Scottish winter is green.



Katie West, a Canadian living in Scotland, Instagram:


https://www.anabelroro.com/blog/success-interview-18-katie-west

What Does Success in the Arts Look Like? - Interview XVIII with Katie West

Anabel Roque Rodríguez

KATIE WEST - ARTIST AND WRITER, EDINBURGH

Katie West is a writer, photographer, editor, director, and executive assistant. Katie West is the owner of Fiction & Feeling publishing company that published Becoming Dangerous [btw. one of my favorite books 2018-Ed.] that has been picked up by Weiser books for worldwide release in April 2019. She also edits and writes comics.

Find more about Katie on her website.

***

What are your thoughts on fame in the arts?

Fame in the arts seems like a subjective thing. What constitutes fame? Is it having a hundred thousand Instagram followers? Or is it having a gallery show in a big city? Is it the same as success? I don’t think it is. Fame seems to be a sliding scale of how well-known an artist is. When I think of contemporary famous artists, the first one who came to my mind was Banksy. He’s the sort of artist that my dad would know of, that idea of a ‘household name.’ But he’s also an interesting example because he doesn’t suffer from any of the pitfalls of fame, as no one knows who he is. Being famous would be nice because you’d be able to make a living from your art, and I think that’s an ideal situation for most artists. But fame is definitely not in my definition of success, and it doesn’t seem like an enjoyable thing.

 

What is your approach to rejection?

If you believe your work is good and has value, than rejection can just be a sign that you haven’t found the right place or person to show your art. And if that rejection comes with feedback that you find useful (because not all feedback is deserving of your time!) than you can take that and learn from it to hopefully lead to success in the future. Rejection is definitely not a sign to stop creating though, or even to change direction. Keep doing you despite rejection and I think any success will feel more sweet as you’ve stayed true to your self. Rejection also proves you tried. You created the thing and you took a chance and put it out into the world. Even if you failed, it’s better than not having ever put yourself and your art out there at all.

 


Any thoughts on income and financial stability and success?

I don’t necessarily think that income or financial stability define success, but they are definitely good things to have. It can feel like a sign of success when you can live off of your art--when you can quit your ‘day job’. But that thinking can be damaging as well, because financial stability is often fickle, and it shouldn’t be tied into our worth and whether or not we consider ourselves successful. One of the most difficult things in life I’ve ever had to deal with is being poor. There’s stress, and then there’s money stress, and it’s a whole other beast. Being able to escape those stresses is usually the goal, and however we’re able to do that feels good, whether it’s from our art efforts or not. I know some people don’t like to tie their financial stability to their art, and this makes sense too. If an artist creates to relieve stress or to express themselves, that intimate nature of the art can feel pressure to be compromised by having to create in order to pay bills and pay rent. So maybe it’s helpful for the definition of success to not be tied to financial stability for those artists.

 

How do you define success in the arts?

I definitely believe each artist needs to individually define success for themselves. The factors that affect this definition can range from their upbringing, to their surroundings, to their identity, to their education, to their family life, to their relationships, to the country and political systems they exist in.

For me personally, success in the arts is being able to create the work that really matters to me and that I see making a difference in others’ lives. If I can create a book that elevates underrepresented voices and ideas, and I didn’t have to compromise on my commitment to that, then I consider myself a success. I also see success as reaching a level where you can start giving back to creators just starting out in your industry, either financially, or with mentorships or internships, anything that gives opportunity to those who need and deserve them.

 


Do you have role models for success and who are they?

I think because the artistic industry I’m most familiar with is comics, I’m most inspired by Warren Ellis. He built a career on making smart, outrageous, thoughtful comics. And once he realised people were listening to what he had to say, he immediately started turning the spotlight on the emerging creators around him. I think a not insignificant amount of people owe their careers to him, and not just people in comics, but photographers, scientists, academics, novelists. This is such a simple, yet life-changing approach to success. I hope one day I have enough industry cred to launch the careers of others.

 

 

Which advice on success would you give your 18-year-old self?

I think like all young women, it would’ve helped to have someone tell me to trust myself. But I think part of figuring out who you are is to just kind of be messy for awhile? And figuring yourself out helps with success, or, I think it helps you recognise and appreciate it. And also I’d tell myself, there’s no rush. You don’t have to achieve everything by the time you’re 25. Or even 30. Oh, and please don’t measure your own success by comparing it to others’! That actually just makes you feel awful and results in you getting nothing done.

 

Your thoughts on success in the arts and race/ gender

Throughout much of modern history, the arts, like most other facets of society, have operated under systems institutionally designed to be unfair to everyone but white men. Having success in the arts as anyone other than a white man has historically proved difficult. Today systems of race, gender, and class inequality continue to function; so in order to provide equal access to success, we have to work at dismantling those systems. And that’s why it’s the responsibility of anyone with white or male privilege to elevate and amplify people without those privileges. Art is better when it’s expansive and inclusive and when the voices and ideas of everyone have the opportunity to be heard and seen. But the responsibility is not on people of colour, or women, or LGBTQ artists to break down barriers, it’s for those of us with privilege to take those barriers down.

 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/katiewest/better-than-irl







The Katie West newsletter:


It has been two years since we last spoke



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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2203.01 - 10:10

- Days ago = ## days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

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