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 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.
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.
TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/katiewest?lang=en
interview with Katie West:
What Does Success in the Arts Look Like? - Interview
XVIII with Katie West
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.
The Katie West newsletter:
It has been two years since we last spoke
It's been two years since I last sent out a letter to you. I don't think it's necessary to catch you up on everything that's happened. Think therapy, grief, therapy and you get the idea. But I'd rather to tell you about now. I don't know about you but SAD is hitting me HARD this year. I haven't been able to do anything but cry and watch very bad tv for the past week. However, I also had lots of ideas for my weekly photo, but, I didn't feel I could do any of them justice with the amount of energy I have to give to anything right now. So I wrote them down and instead opted for the most accurate and honest portrait of what I've been doing this week. Tryna get that D even though it's been cloudy. I have no energy or patience or space to care for others right now. I'm just tryna live, my dudes. But stay tuned because I live in the UK for a reason and that reason is primarily how early spring comes. Some good news for this week though: fka twigs released a mixtape today and it is very different but still very her and I love it. I’w gwr am ei churo By Gwerful Mechain (1460–1502) Dager drwy goler dy galon—ar osgo I asgwrn dy ddwyfron; Dy lina dyr, dy law’n don, A’th gleddau i’th goluddion. Gwerful Curses a Man for Beating a Woman Translated by Zoe Brigley (2020) Into your chest, a sharp stone slides – slanted down to split your sternum wide: kneecaps shatter as hands try to hold the spurting heart inside. 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. "Queer utopias are not fantasies – queer utopias are necessities!" — Black Lodge Press "After reading Jose Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia, I’m always thinking about utopia. Not as a destination that we eventually end up in but rather as something in everyday habits… the minor ways that we care for one another, perform our politics, relate to loved ones, friends and co-conspirators that suggest the present isn’t all there is." — Billy Ray Belcourt in conversation with Joshua Badge in Meanjin Quarterly, November 2021 "Remember you are water. Of course you leave salt trails. Of course you are crying. Flow." — from Spell for Grief or Letting Go by Adrienne Maree Brown
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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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