Poem of the Week

Punk Rock John (Poetry Observed) - Neil Hilborn

Here's to the Future - Metal Work

Title: "Here's to the Future"

Project: Found, Upscaled, Recycled Objects

Medium: Metal

Time Frame: 2 weeks

This piece is probably my favorite this year. I had a lot of fun creating it and finding the pieces I needed. With a new medium comes with new skills - During this project, I learned welding and riveting. Super fun for me. The point was to take something and turn it into something else and to have a metaphor behind it. This piece is titled "Here's to the Future"- when I was younger a always kept random keys. I thought maybe they'd open doors I couldn't get in. Of course they didn't because each key is specific to one lock and that goes for life to. A lot of my work reflects me personally in ways most people won't understand, yet that's the beauty of my work because everyone views it differently than me.

Stacked Chairs

Project: Stacked Chairs
Time Frame: 2 Weeks
Medium: Chalk Pastel
Size: 30x44in (black paper)

Seven photos showing the development of this drawing. I say not bad for my first time. I had never touched chalk pastel before this drawing. It's kind of a nice medium yet also a pain in the butt because it gets EVERYWHERE...

Video of the Week

HollySiz - The Light

Today's video isn't a poem. It's actually a story about a boy who's father is against him, but in the end supports him because the father sees how much he's hurting his son. When parents support their kids like this - I think it's beautiful. Look, let kids be kids. Please. Don't force them into things they don't want to do. Encourage them to try it even though they don't like it, but don't force them to stick with it. Kids don't understand the concept of a gender barrier or whatever they call it now. Sometimes boys play with girl things and maybe they grow out of it. If not, then I think God has given you a special kid who could grow up to do great things. Who cares if a boy wears a dress. Who care if a little girl wears boy clothes. Let kids be kids. Sooner or later they'll learn and decide for themselves. But encourage your kids - guide them, love them. I get it - I may not understand because I'm only 19 and trust me I have no intention of ever having a kid (I'm more open to adoption really); so I get that my perspective may not matter because I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm cool with that. This is just what I've seen in real life on a day to day basis. Here's my two-cents. Take it or leave it, it's your choice.

I'll Hold the Hope - TWLOHA

I'll Hold the Hope - TWLOHA

"I would tell you I needed to matter; I needed to feel as though I was worth something, anything. 

Our society would tell you I was looking for attention. 

I would try to explain my struggles with depression and anxiety. 

Our society would invalidate it with a few simple words: “Someone else has it worse.”  

I would tell you that sometimes it was easier to deal with self-inflicted pain than to acknowledge the hurt that runs marathons in my brain. 

Our society would say, “Get out of your own head. Get over it!” 

I've followed TWLOHA now for a solid 4 years now. I always get really excited when a new blog is posted because I'm so interested in what the interns (or whoever is writing the blog) has to say. Everyone has their own perspective of what their experience with mental illness is like. And for me, it's always encouraging to see that people can make it out of the dark. It gives me hope that maybe one day I'll be there too, smiling on the other side of this never-ending darkness. But until that time, I guess I'll just keep fighting it off a little bit more each day.