Anyone on here into Art?

Hello Noo-Poo

 I'm going to answer your posts (your art query and your Help? query) in one, as they are one and the same - the solution is present in the question.

 Re Art: i think you're already on the right track, by getting back into it. often we are, as artists, consumed or diverted in terms of energy by what life throws at us. this will feedback into our art. art is also about rejection - all artists, regardless of medium (writing, painting, photography, sculpture, performance etc) are subject to rejection on a daily basis. it is the nature of an artist to be 'insightful' and also therefore highly critical. any criticism will trigger personal questionning - we are pre-disposed as artists to question, as we are always on the outside looking in. equally, as autistics, we have that added extra layer of insightfulness and distance.

Regarding your art, your lego in particular, i can already see at a glance 'the signifiers' - detail driven. your eye - as artist, is also tuned up to your autistic eye, which is detail. i often find that autistic and artist sound very similar, perhaps that's just my own fancy.

Regarding your writing (also art) is just another way of getting things out. it's a good place to go in terms of flexing another muscle as it were, be that the artistic eye.

You will discover that all art forms can be reduced to the same principles, which are then interchangeable dependent on the medium. Think of it in terms of a basic toolbox: you have the tools for all the jobs, it just depends on what you're doing at the time.

 Now moving on to your anxiety and your walks - have you thought about making this art? often it is difficult with the added layer of autism to succeed in therapies which are generally designed for NTs. therefore, i would suggest as purpose (being autistic we need a 'why' to do something) why not make the 'why' for one of your daily walks - if you wish to continue them - a matter of art, ie. photography.

Did you know also that there is a branch of art particularly focusing on performance/durational performance? much of which involves the 'journey' and recording of it in real time? See also: interventionsits - these branches overlap the more 'conventional' or conventionally accepted interpretations of acting, stage performance, live art and also pyschogeography - psychogeography is something i think you will find very interesting, as it does have the autisic elements of 'why', 'purpose' and the 'journey'.

 A note here about art and the journey: art is a journey, it comes from the self and externalizes and then goes back into the self. imagine that there is a message, you don't understand it, but you know it's there, and it is only through the production of art that the message begins to reveal itself. it will most often not be understood, but that does not devalue it, nor does it devalue the process. art is also process. art is process led. the tool is the artist.

 Regarding things that you don't feel help you - i would say, try everything, but like the artist, experiment and then discard if not appropriate, because it is only through process that we can begin to understand what is right and what works, and what conveys, and what does not.

 I would suggest that you need some sounding board. Sounding boards can come in the form of: reading around interests, exploring other artists either practicing with the same tools (cameras) or practicing in the same themes (minature/detail driven work/self-referential if appropriate). this will help you also understand your own themes of interest. also, and you are already doing this as you have a blog, is that a 'sketchbook' or 'studio book' for recording ideas and keeping items of interest is invaluable, both as a referential tool and also to support any portfolio submissions should you embark on University applications in future. keep everything, don't throw anything away is the rule in general, except of course complete garbage. in terms then of the 'journey' the studio/sketch book is very useful as a record/map.

 As regards critical feedback, I will make one small comment: know your apples from your oranges. seek to understand and be accomplished in the technical aspects of your equipment and your medium - if digital, fine, but also i would say that analogue photography opens up amazing divergence in terms of 'looking' and 'seeing', so don't count it out. Ultimately, enjoy your chosen medium, because if you don't, then you'd just be struggling. Don't worry about standards and comparative critique - eg. someone coming along and saying "oh x over there paints better than you" or "that's not 'up to the standard'" because often, standards are false benchmarks or measuring tools, and are arbitrary and do not detract from the art, merely the presentation of it. Just keep going if you get a 'not up to the standard' and also: ask WHY, and get it explained. Professional critique is discourse about art, it's not dismissal of it, but equally, be aware that it can get to feel personal because ultimately, it's art - that's the struggle, that's the nature of it.

 Finally, a word on what's weird - nothing is weird, if people think it's 'weird' for a girl to watch anime, they're wrong. So throw out any pre-conceived ideas about what is right and what is wrong, because as an artist, an artist must take in all things, it cannot discard until after the art is completed.

I think you already know what you're doing, you sound like you do.

 Good luck.

Hello Noo-Poo

 I'm going to answer your posts (your art query and your Help? query) in one, as they are one and the same - the solution is present in the question.

 Re Art: i think you're already on the right track, by getting back into it. often we are, as artists, consumed or diverted in terms of energy by what life throws at us. this will feedback into our art. art is also about rejection - all artists, regardless of medium (writing, painting, photography, sculpture, performance etc) are subject to rejection on a daily basis. it is the nature of an artist to be 'insightful' and also therefore highly critical. any criticism will trigger personal questionning - we are pre-disposed as artists to question, as we are always on the outside looking in. equally, as autistics, we have that added extra layer of insightfulness and distance.

Regarding your art, your lego in particular, i can already see at a glance 'the signifiers' - detail driven. your eye - as artist, is also tuned up to your autistic eye, which is detail. i often find that autistic and artist sound very similar, perhaps that's just my own fancy.

Regarding your writing (also art) is just another way of getting things out. it's a good place to go in terms of flexing another muscle as it were, be that the artistic eye.

You will discover that all art forms can be reduced to the same principles, which are then interchangeable dependent on the medium. Think of it in terms of a basic toolbox: you have the tools for all the jobs, it just depends on what you're doing at the time.

 Now moving on to your anxiety and your walks - have you thought about making this art? often it is difficult with the added layer of autism to succeed in therapies which are generally designed for NTs. therefore, i would suggest as purpose (being autistic we need a 'why' to do something) why not make the 'why' for one of your daily walks - if you wish to continue them - a matter of art, ie. photography.

Did you know also that there is a branch of art particularly focusing on performance/durational performance? much of which involves the 'journey' and recording of it in real time? See also: interventionsits - these branches overlap the more 'conventional' or conventionally accepted interpretations of acting, stage performance, live art and also pyschogeography - psychogeography is something i think you will find very interesting, as it does have the autisic elements of 'why', 'purpose' and the 'journey'.

 A note here about art and the journey: art is a journey, it comes from the self and externalizes and then goes back into the self. imagine that there is a message, you don't understand it, but you know it's there, and it is only through the production of art that the message begins to reveal itself. it will most often not be understood, but that does not devalue it, nor does it devalue the process. art is also process. art is process led. the tool is the artist.

 Regarding things that you don't feel help you - i would say, try everything, but like the artist, experiment and then discard if not appropriate, because it is only through process that we can begin to understand what is right and what works, and what conveys, and what does not.

 I would suggest that you need some sounding board. Sounding boards can come in the form of: reading around interests, exploring other artists either practicing with the same tools (cameras) or practicing in the same themes (minature/detail driven work/self-referential if appropriate). this will help you also understand your own themes of interest. also, and you are already doing this as you have a blog, is that a 'sketchbook' or 'studio book' for recording ideas and keeping items of interest is invaluable, both as a referential tool and also to support any portfolio submissions should you embark on University applications in future. keep everything, don't throw anything away is the rule in general, except of course complete garbage. in terms then of the 'journey' the studio/sketch book is very useful as a record/map.

 As regards critical feedback, I will make one small comment: know your apples from your oranges. seek to understand and be accomplished in the technical aspects of your equipment and your medium - if digital, fine, but also i would say that analogue photography opens up amazing divergence in terms of 'looking' and 'seeing', so don't count it out. Ultimately, enjoy your chosen medium, because if you don't, then you'd just be struggling. Don't worry about standards and comparative critique - eg. someone coming along and saying "oh x over there paints better than you" or "that's not 'up to the standard'" because often, standards are false benchmarks or measuring tools, and are arbitrary and do not detract from the art, merely the presentation of it. Just keep going if you get a 'not up to the standard' and also: ask WHY, and get it explained. Professional critique is discourse about art, it's not dismissal of it, but equally, be aware that it can get to feel personal because ultimately, it's art - that's the struggle, that's the nature of it.

 Finally, a word on what's weird - nothing is weird, if people think it's 'weird' for a girl to watch anime, they're wrong. So throw out any pre-conceived ideas about what is right and what is wrong, because as an artist, an artist must take in all things, it cannot discard until after the art is completed.

I think you already know what you're doing, you sound like you do.

 Good luck.