|
I've had a very busy and stressful week, which included a car crash and doing a painting. Painting was actually some time out but I don't have an art studio, so paints everywhere in my bedroom become more stress, so they have to go away until I'm ready to do another painting. In the middle of this, I was notified that I was awarded a Red Ribbon for my memoir, Bipolar Courage: Are You Sure You're Not Autistic? 
0 Comments
 Fantail Rose by Xanthe Wyse Good news. I have decided to go semi-professional and part-time, self-employed with my art. Art has been a passionate hobby for years and I want to take the next step offering original paintings and fine prints for sale. Aiming for quality, unique art at reasonable prices (no AI generated stuff).
After doing some research, I will focus on a New Zealand market at this stage (to avoid shipping and taxation nightmares; and to have high assurance of quality). I have started a New Zealand-themed collection. A New Zealand website is coming soon. Will try keep this short as I have a pile of stuff out on my bedroom floor (sorting) and there is an open home tomorrow. After a three-year battle, I finally won against Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) for a lump sum payment for my mental injury of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I'm not going to go into detail in this post, as I haven't even read the doctor's report yet. Although it is satisfying that the doctor who assessed in my favour used to work for ACC. After seeing me on a 'good' day, at my 'best.' After years of therapy.  Going through journals to extract anything of use to my creative projects before burning the journals. Came across something I was amused at so sharing it here. Not many people know this story. I did the painting because I was upset about a situation and telling myself to blank it out (I'm the sunflower).  Hot Air: Rise Above It, acrylics on canvas by Xanthe Wyse Just revisting some journal entries from five years ago, when I had my first solo art exhibition (which I pitched as an art as therapy exhibition). I'd set a 'ridiculous goal' of an exhibition when I was severely unwell and struggling. My main diagnoses are bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I still have permanent disabililty after treatment. I did the painting below, More than Good Enough, during that exhibition. It expressed the mixed feelings of the exhibition process. I didn't put prices on the paintings, as I didn't want people to judge. One of the main reasons I did the exhibition is because I didn't feel good enough and that my art wasn't good enough (in fact, most of my art in the past ended up at the dump).  More Than Good Enough, acrylics on canvas by Xanthe Wyse. I've actually been a writer for many years, but most of it hasn't seen the light of day. I've even destroyed a lot of what I have written. The raw stuff (journals etc) can inspire books later. I spend years writing my books, as I am processing plus working with disabilties that affect my cognition and memory. I had some space last night to go through some of the extracts I'd torn from journals from 2017-2019. The rest of the 8 journals were burned recently.  Journal extract from 2017 A tradition in my family was to watch the old home movies Dad recorded, back in the days of film. We used to crowd around the tiny fridge to see the image projected onto it. Or in the lounge, with the old movies (without audio) were projected onto a rollup screen. Dad recorded home movies from over 15 to 50+ years ago, switching technology a few times. Dad died a few weeks ago but what he captured, lives on.  My nephew and I waiting for Dad to set up the home movies to watch. Nearly 30 years ago. Note: this is not legal advice. I was going to write these tips at the end of my previous blog post, You Need to Make Your Will. But as I tend to have a lot to say, I decided to make a fresh blog post. I am a very intuitive and visionary person and I had already thought about this recently, before my Dad died. Yes, I can be melancholic at times. Your writing may or may not endure, if you die. I'll tell you why, as I've learned this in my journey of blogging then writing books. I've set things up, so my heirs inherit my copyrighted works, whether they want to try to make money from them or not.  This antique item from my Dad is one of my precious possessions An online friend asked 'What now?' after he saw I'd published my book. By the way, he said he's not going to read it (even though he's is in it), or he might 'burst an artery or three.' (Not all your friends will be a fan of your books). I did send him the parts where he's mentioned and he thought it was a fair assessment, neither embellishing, nor demonising. I'm going to answer some of the 'What now?' in this blog post.  Recent meditative painting Finally, my memoir, is ready to publish (as print-on-demand) and e-book. A project taking two years. Last night, I tweaked the cover. I also converted to an EPUB for the ebook. The print book format stays as a PDF. I've noted down instructions as I did things (yet again), so that I can write a guide for those navigating this daunting process.  Final front cover design (actual file is larger) |
Xanthe Wyse('Zan-thee Wise'). 
Disclaimer: the author of this blog is not an expert by profession and her opinions should not be taken as expert advice.
Archives
August 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed