#arts writing

[samsketchbook]

https://lvl3official.com/sam-hensley/

My friend Jo is a writer and just published an interview they did with me today :)

[juliesmithschneider]

Art in Focus Spotlight: Hiba Schahbaz

“In My Heart,” a site-specific installation, unfurls throughout Rockefeller Center’s campus with imagery that’s lush with symbol-rich mythology, self-portraiture, and meditations on beauty.

Read the full profile in Rockefeller Center’s magazine.

Photo courtesy of Rockefeller Center.

[last-of-the-lot]

So I saw a gifset (click the ‘arts inspiration’ tag and follow it back. If it doesn't work please tell me ) and one line probably meant to be a joke but I saw it and then my guilt for being extremely behind on some fan fic for @iidigestive-readerii my brain was like this would make a good little drabble. So I wrote it.

The first time he noticed it, it was when Obi-wan had first taken his seat on the council. Mace believed that it was just the nerves and adjusting to the chair. Most masters on the council sat in one of two poses when they first joined the council, a sort of mimicry that they picked up from the others, to make themselves look like they belonged. The first being both legs on the ground and arms on the armrest, straight back with eyes focused. The second being with one leg on the ground and the other on their knee, shoulders on the armrests and fingers laced together. There were others, as some non-human masters didn’t have the proper appendages, but the poses of the council were something no one questioned. A good thing too, cause mace did not want the meeting to steer off course. but Kenobi was sitting on his knees as if meditating but his focus was clearly on the meeting at hand so none of the masters decided to question it.

********

The second time he had noticed it was a few weeks after the first time. Most masters had assumed poses of their own design.  ( It came with time, the ability to get comfortable with the masters around you, the type of emotion you wanted to convey at a certain point, and the weight of the discussions the meetings generally brought. ) But Kenobi was in a different pose from the last time mace had noticed. He had one leg on the ground and the other tucked behind it. Once again no one questioned it, as it might be rude to do so and they were at war so who truly cared how someone chose to sit?  The boot print left on the chair after the meeting was slightly muddy, and Mace sighed internally, making a note to have a droid clean it. 

********

The third time he noticed it, Mace was not even physically present in the council room. He was giving a report via hologram from the front lines. His eyes had shifted from down the masters as his way of making sure he had his attention. He saw Kenobi, not sitting properly, again. This time he lets out an audible sigh but continues with his report anyway. He could see the other council members shift there focus, to try to see what had mace lose a bit of the calm, stern mask that he was known by all to wear so well. After not being able to find the source, they shifted noticeably back into the poses each one of them had developed to hide certain body language that gave away any emotion. After the transmission ends, his commander turns to him. 

“ Sir, why does general Kenobi sit so... oddly?” 

Mace runs a hand over his face. It has been a long battle and he is in need of good hours sleep. “ I honestly could not tell you, commander.”

********

The time that finally drove mace over the edge was not the first or last time that Mace Windu would sit through a council meeting with a splitting headache. It had been at least two hours, the old debate of what men to send where, if a general would accompany the men, if so which one, and round and around in a circle. Only two masters were truly participating, and all was done in a calm manner of course, with backs straight and hands calmly pressed together. With the exception of one. Obi-wan Kenobi was sitting slouched, head resting on his hand, with his knees folded under him, just like he was on the first day he sat on a council meeting. A splitting headache, the around and around an argument between two masters, and the just not giving a damn finally won the argument. 

“Obi-Wan, Jesus Christ, just once can you sit in your Council seat normally?”

The conversation stilled and focus was shifted to Mace and the Jedi the comment was directed at. Obi-wan lifted his head and looked at Mace, a smile on his face and challenge dancing playfully in his eyes. 

“ No Mace I can not. Care to debate about it?” 

[sonic-spirit]

Arts and Stuff and Events

Man, it's so easy to freeze up. Or maybe, it's so hard to keep from freezing. But fuck. It's hard. I've been doing good about making art the past couple weeks, but I've been hesitant to post it, for some reason? IDK. Part of it is definitely me putting pressure on it again. Like, "If this is what I want to do with myself, I gotta make it work," and all that. Then just...not super loving what I'm making. Which could also just be from pressuring myself, because I could not point to what I'm not liking about the things.

I finally started painting again, for the first time since college, and for the first time for myself since probably middle school. It's nice. It's weird, familiar and really strange at once, nerve wracking and relaxing, giving me a really cool experience and feeling like I'm still falling short, but it's good. One of the things I really like about physical media is that it helps push me towards keeping moving...at least as long as I can get through my initial block of anxiety and start. And I've been good about not letting it get in my way, not letting myself tense up over "ruining" my supplies. The fact that I'm making sure to not spend a lot at a time, and that I'm also making sure to only get supplies I want to use is definitely helping. Springing for a small range of a higher reputation set of acrylic paints, instead of the Liquitex Basics I had the last couple times (and HATED) is def paying off. The fact that the set was both a more expansive palette than I wanted, and is missing some colors I consider essential (like a nice, dark purple. You gave me 3 dark blues, two of which that are nearly identical, and no dark purple...though I am getting WAAAY too much use out of that light violet!), is also nice for encouraging me to pick and choose what I replace and what I expand to and don't (ultramarine, my love, you are already nearly gone...!)

And then, like. I want to do events. I know I want to do events. Which events? Obviously furcons. And then I really like the picture in my head of vending at Ren Faires, and the like. And I really want to do the regular, local shows, especially as I get my legs under me for booth setup. All of those seem to have fairly broadly different, if intersecting enough, niches.

My current plan is to expand my Printify and Etsy, utilizing Printify's print on demand services for stickers, wearables, and any other kinds of merch that seems cool (I've been needing a new full zip sweatshirt, why not make a cool design for it myself?). I intend to continue making my Astral Deer series of paintings to keep working with the medium and getting myself comfortable, and to have a good place to experiment, and also branch into pet portraits and the like. I also want to make stall plaques for horses--their names and portraits painted on them, and also a slot to slide in a 3x5 index card for feeding instructions and such. And if that weren't enough I also want to start getting into leatherwork, making some kink items, like wrist and ankle cuffs, ponyplay things like bridles and halters, even harnesses and stuff, as I grow in skill and confidence. I want to make things.

I also still really love my job as horseback riding instructor, and I think my current mad plots synergize really well...well. Except for one thing: I'm down to working only weekends and Mondays...the same days of any events I'd want to plan to play in. So that sucks.

I'm pretty sure things will change with my schedule again soon enough. But also, it doesn't feel like something I have as much control over. It's frustrating.

Anyway. Current stage is to utilize the 4 days a week I'm not going out and busting my ass working with the horses and kids to make arts.

[art-after-dark]

hello everyone, I'm art! (any pronouns, 19)

I caved.

kind of just an archive for the more questionable stuff I wanna save

there will probably be a lot of piss here sorry. occasionally will be normal horny but a lot of the time I'm thinking about minecraft youtubers pissing their pants (sexual)

I will post about vomit and cnc as well on this blog. be warned and block tags as necessary

trying desperately not to get this blog found by my mutuals. if you think you know who I am, no you don't. also if you recognize my art or writing style, no you don't you saw nothing

stuff I prefer not to be brought up here!

gore, necro, sh, scat, feet or zoo of any kind (made up minecraft mobs included)

maybe more that I forgot! I have nothing against these, they're just squicks for me.

stuff is usually tagged as just #"thing" (without quotations) so block as necessary

writing is tagged #arts writing

text posts are #art speaks

[juliesmithschneider]

Basil Kincaid’s Quilt-Based Work at Rockefeller Center

The artist’s overlapping modes of making—fiber art, collage, drawing, photography, performance—are threaded through this new exhibit.

Read the feature in The Center Magazine.

[juliesmithschneider]

The Art of Home in Times of Isolation

In the wake of COVID-19’s house-bound isolation, art materials and motifs derived from the home seem charged with new meaning and a searching sense of reinvention.

Read my essay on Hyperallergic.

Photo by Jenny Gorman (cropped), courtesy of Bernie Kaminski and TURN Gallery.