Today we’re joined by Shelly. Shelly is a wonderful performance artist and writer. She is studying to be an arts educator, focusing on drama and filmmaking. When she has spare time, Shelly writes. She aspires to be published one day and writes LGBTQ YA fiction. It’s very obvious that she’s a dedicated and passionate artist, as you’ll soon read. My thanks to her for taking the time to participate in this interview.
WORK
Please, tell us about your art.
I’m finishing my studies as an arts educator, in the areas of Drama and Film making. In my spare time I also write YA fiction with LGBT voices as a primary focus. Hopefully I’ll get something published in the future. This is a space that’s getting more attention but our young LGBT people deserve stories that have romances, not just characters struggling with their sexuality and that’s what I hope to bring to the table. I’ve also started dancing recently and I really hope to incorporate this into my arts education practice in the future.
What inspires you?
The world around us. Truth is stranger than fiction.
What got you interested in your field? Have you always wanted to be an artist?
I’ve always loved telling stories, whether it be through writing or the stage. As a child I wanted to be an actor, then I studied producing at uni but I realized I could bring art to more young people through education.
Do you have any kind of special or unique signature, symbol, or feature you include in your work that you’d be willing to reveal?
In my writing definitely. My characters are artists even if they don’t realize it. Creativity is so important to me and that’s why my characters are always involved in dance or cheerleading as a sport. I know there’s been a recent push towards STEM subjects of late, but I think that’s made the arts even more undervalued than they already were. That’s why I’m trying to push back. I want young people to see the value in their art.
What advice would you give young aspiring artists?
Play and explore your art, mix styles. See other artists. Network with artists (this one is so important) you might meet a future collaborator. Learn entrepreneurial skills. In this industry you need to be able to create a job for yourself.
ASEXUALITY
Where on the spectrum do you identify?
I’m a Demisexual, Bisexual.
Have you encountered any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field? If so, how do you handle it?
Not in my field no.
What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?
People think you’re not just there maturity wise or you just haven’t met the ‘one’ who’ll change how you feel about sex, which I really don’t like because it suggests that we need rescuing and that reinforces the patriarchy’s status.
What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?
Find a support group. You are not alone. We’re not expected to go through life isolated, so don’t isolate yourself while you figure things out.
Finally, where can people find out more about your work?
Today we’re joined by M. Rubio. M. is a wonderful student filmmaker who specializes in short films. His films fall into a variety of genres: comedy, horror, drama, and even surrealism. When he’s not working on films, M. is writing, mostly nonfiction essays. It’s clear he’s a passionate artist with an incredibly bright future ahead of him. My thanks him for taking the time to participate in this interview.
WORK
Please, tell us about your art.
Well, I make short films and I write a lot. I guess category wise, I would be considered a student filmmaker. The stuff I publish are usually nonfiction essays about my life or thoughts. In terms of short films, I post occasionally, sometime random stuff, on my YouTube Channel. I intend to release a four-episode miniseries sometimes this summer though.
In terms of the art itself, the stuff leans towards awkward, dry, and self-aware comedy. Occasionally I lean to some drama or just pure surrealist comedy, it mostly depends on my mood or if I am assigned to make something that requires that tone.
Depends on what you mean specifically. In terms of the stuff I make, I am inspired by the things around me. I have a very Seinfeld mindset in that I write and film what I know.
In terms of inspiration in general. I admire people that have a strong moral ground or are amazingly creative. Bonus points if you are both. Examples include Jim Henson, Fred Rogers, Hayao Miyazaki, Fumito Ueda, and Lemony Snicket.
What got you interested in your field? Have you always wanted to be an artist?
The turning point was watching Roger Ebert’s commentary on Citizen Kane. Citizen Kane is great, but the commentary adds a whole new layer for me. It opened my eyes to a whole new world of storytelling. I watched it when I was a junior in high school, and I thought film was simply pointing a camera at something. The Roger Ebert commentary completely changed that.
I always wanted to be a story teller of some kind (I always had an active imagination), and that commentary convinced me that the film medium is the one I should pursue is film.
Do you have any kind of special or unique signature, symbol, or feature you include in your work that you’d be willing to reveal?
Not really. I guess there was always a layer of self-awareness, awkwardness, or dryness to my work, but there was never a unique signature of some kind.
What advice would you give young aspiring artists?
It is okay if you don’t know everything or aren’t good at everything. No artist is an expert on their craft. You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to be good and strive to be better. That was a hurdle that I wished I learned early in my life. Art can be an intimidating field to get into.
ASEXUALITY
Where on the spectrum do you identify?
I identify as hetero demisexual.
Have you encountered any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field? If so, how do you handle it?
No prejudice, but tons of ignorance. Thankfully, it wasn’t the toxic ignorance. But almost everyone I talked to about my sexuality, I had to explain to them what asexuality/demisexuality was. This is not a problem for me, since I love explaining my asexuality. It never gets tedious. Mainly because, I love seeing the light bulbs light up when I do explain it.
That said, I am particular with who I come out to out of fear of prejudice. I live in the South, so certain people have a more hostile ignorance. You can usually tell which ones are which just by having a five minute conversation with them.
What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?
That asexuals are all frigid. One of common things I have to clear up are the fact that asexuals can be sex positive. I have to explain that there are a variety of spectrums with asexuality, and with sexuality in general. Not only is allosexual/asexual a spectrum, but how we view sex is also a spectrum.
What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?
Sexuality is an identity and identity is very fluid. That said, there are a lot of people, some of those people aggressive and toxic, that don’t know it or don’t believe it. There will be times where YOU have to clear up misconceptions. With that, you have to be an expert on sexuality.
Finally, where can people find out more about your work?
Today we’re joined by Evelyn Lloyd. Evelyn is a young aspiring writer who is working on a number of interesting sounding stories. She plans to post her work on Wattpad. When she’s not writing, Evelyn enjoys participating in dramatic acting. She has a wonderful enthusiasm, as you’ll soon read. My thanks to her for taking the time to participate in this interview.
WORK
Tell us about your art
I don’t have anything published yet, but I plan to soon. My main project is a story called The Wishing Well. It’s about Simon, a small town Canadian teenager who moves to LA with his new step father. As he gets used to his new life, Simon is haunted by dreams of a strange yellow haired girl. When exploring his backyard, he investigates a sound coming from a shed which whisks him away to a world of demons, a complex society where a silent war rages. As a conspiracy unfolds right under his nose, Simon realizes this yellow haired girl is the key to winning the war, and he wonders about the voice that spoke to him the moment he left his own world “welcome to the wishing well, you asked for heaven we give you hell.”
I have two other side projects that are slowly making progress. The Hanging Tree and American Idiot
The Hanging Tree: Thirteen years ago, they were born into a sweat shop, into a place where they are doomed to work until their inevitable early death. With rumours circling about a way out, Kate, Alex and Mark begin to conspire about searching for the hanging tree–a supposed long dead oak–with miles of forest between the children and its location. After a narrow escape, Kate, Mark and Alex soon discover the many horrors lurking in that forest, and the reason no one has ever made it to the hanging tree alive.
I don’t have much for American Idiot, but it’ll be about four young adults living in America, and the way they were treated because of their sexual orientations, gender identities and race drives them to form a rebellion against the government.
The first chapter of The Wishing Well will most likely be published on Wattpad by (Canadian) Thanksgiving hopefully.
I also enjoy drama, but mainly for fun and competitions. I don’t plan to take it anywhere past high school.
What inspires you?
Music mostly. I got the original idea for The Wishing Well from the music video of Dead Bite by Hollywood Undead. I don’t have much that inspires my writing, usually I just give myself a basis, like that song, and I run with it. That’s what I like about writing fantasy and paranormal stories, there are no limits. Sometimes I get ideas for random stories I end up making a chapter or two for and get bored of it.
What got you into your field? Have you always wanted to be an artist?
I always loved to write. As a kid, I liked to describe different things I’ve seen and experienced in vivid detail before I slept that night. I loved competing in oratory competitions they had at school and I got complimented a lot by my teachers whenever we wrote stories in French and English class. Then social anxiety stopped me from sharing any writing with people, and a few years later, I found out about Wattpad, where I can show my writing to people under a pen name, so here I am.
As for acting, I performed in the musical our school had in grade 6, found out I was good at it and kept doing plays n’ musicals in school. My high school has a great drama program (we’re known as the beast from the east at festivals) and I really enjoy acting, so I do.
Do you have any special or unique signature, symbol, or feature you include in your work that you’d be willing to reveal?
I don’t think so. A lot of the creatures in The Hanging Tree come from nightmares and sleep paralysis I’ve had, but other than that I wouldn’t say I have anything specifically me.
What advice would you give young aspiring artists?
This question makes me sound like a professional writer when I’m just a high school student haha. I’d say don’t procrastinate. Sit yourself down for about an hour and work on whatever you’re working on, even if you only write one sentence in that hour. Also you will not remember that plotline you thoughts of in math class. Write it down. Somewhere you won’t lose it. I don’t care how good your memory is you will not remember. You’ll mentally slap yourself for not writing it down when you draw a blank trying to remember it.
ASEXUALITY
Where on the spectrum to you identify?
Asexual and aromatic
Have you encountered any ace prejudice or ignorance in your field? If so, how do you handle it?
Not so much in my field, but I do experience a bit in my daily life. My mother straight up laughed in my face when I asked her what she thought on asexuality, and most of my family says it isn’t a thing and the person will grow out of it, so I’m not out to them yet. The one thing that stung the most (and still sometimes gets to me) was a close friend told me he can “fix me.” He told me “its so good when its done right” and “I can make you want sex.” He crossed lots of lines when he started trying to touch me, though luckily it didn’t go any further. Needless to say, he’s not my friend anymore.
Another one is when someone I talked to on Tumblr they told me I was lucky for being ace because they thought their attraction to people was a curse. I don’t know why it hit as hard as it did, but I didn’t like the way the said I was lucky.
What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?
That aces can’t be in relationships and can’t enjoy sex. People don’t seem to get that asexuality is simply the lack of sexual attraction, not the lack of libido or romantic attraction. Another big one is that asexuality is the same as celibacy. Celibacy is like going on a diet; asexuality is like just not liking cake. Yet another is asexuality is a mental illness/hormone imbalance. A hormone imbalance would affect someone’s sex drive and libido, not their sexual preference/attraction. As for mental illness, the biggest thing is a mental illness impairs your life in some way. I can say with certainty my asexuality has not once impaired my life the way depression or anxiety does.
What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?
No matter what, you’re valid. You’re valid if your asexuality stems from trauma. You’re valid if your asexuality does stem from a mental illness. You’re valid if your asexuality stems from dysphoria. You’re valid if you enjoy sex, you’re valid if you’re in a relationship, you’re valid if you have a dirty sense of humour, you’re valid if you find people aesthetically pleasing, and you’re valid no matter your race, religion or gender identity. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You’re ace enough.
Where can people find out more about your work?
My Tumblr is https://h1tlerthestr1pper.tumblr.com/ where I don’t post much about my work (although I will once drama festival rolls around.) I do post a lot of ace positivity though!
My Wattpad is https://www.wattpad.com/user/LowBudgetCIA where I don’t have anything published yet, but I plan to in the near future. If you’re interested in The Wishing Well or random short stories I might publish make sure to keep an eye out.
Thank you, Evelyn, for participating in this interview and this project. It’s very much appreciated.
Today we’re joined by Katherine. Katherine is a wonderfully talented artist who does both writing and visual art. She specializes in comics and is currently making a supernatural drama webcomic entitled Soul to Call. She is an incredible storyteller and her work is brimming with an extraordinary amount of detail, as you’ll soon see. My thanks to her for taking the time to participate in this interview.
Self Portrait
WORK
Please, tell us about your art.
Comics are my specialty, and these days I’m applying those skills to Soul to Call, a supernatural drama webcomic about found family and demons, both inner and outer.
I love writing and drawing equally, so comics are a happy union of those things for me, but I also enjoy just writing or drawing on their own. I write all kinds of fiction, though none of it is currently public beyond my comics, and I enjoy illustrating standalone pieces too! Anything that tells a story, subtle or overt, is my bread and butter.
What inspires you?
Music is a major inspiration for me. It motivates and inspires me every step of the way, from planning, to writing, to drawing. It’s even there for me during artistic blocks. Exercising with some good tunes really gets my brain moving, so if I ever feel stuck or unenthusiastic, walking to music will usually fill my head with new ideas. When I sit back down, I’m rejuvenated and excited to work on my project again.
My friends are also a big source of inspiration to me. I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by some wonderful and creative minds. Chats with them leave me inspired to improve myself, and create great work!
What got you interested in your field? Have you always wanted to be an artist?
I’ve wanted to be an artist as long as I can remember, and a comic artist just as long. I’m pretty sure I was drawing and stapling together my own comics since I could hold a pencil. A cliché phrase I know, but I remember drawing comics before I even knew how to spell. I’d give my comics to my mum, then tell her what to write in the speech bubbles I’d left blank. I always made her write more dialogue than could possibly fit in the tiny speech bubble I’d drawn. I’ve gotten a little better at judging the text-to-bubble ratio since then.
I can’t say there was ever a pivotal point in which I got interested in art or comics, it always felt natural to me, and I can’t imagine my life without it. But I guess if I had to credit something for my introduction to comics, it would be my brother reading The Adventures of Tintin, Asterix, and Calvin and Hobbes to me.
Do you have any kind of special or unique signature, symbol, or feature you include in your work that you’d be willing to reveal?
Does texture vomit and tons of purple count? Heheh. I use a lot of textures to give my art a rougher look, and I incorporate my favourite colour purple in anything I can get away with, but otherwise I haven’t committed to a “signature” for my work at this point.
What advice would you give young aspiring artists?
Just go for it! If you have a story or certain kind of art you want to create, don’t wait to be ‘good enough.’ That moment will never come, especially if you just wait around for it. The only way you can gain the skills necessary to make something great is to be making things and honing your craft in the first place! Start creating! You’re gonna make some crap, maybe a lot of crap, but don’t be discouraged, and don’t be afraid to fail! I made two failed webcomics before Soul to Call, but both those failures taught me extremely valuable lessons that lead to Soul to Call’s success.
Make what you want! Create without fear! Don’t be swayed by what you think people want to see. You have a unique vision, and your work will be that much more powerful if you stay faithful to it. And last, but not least, have fun with it. If you’re having fun, eventually people will see it and come have fun with you.
ASEXUALITY
Where on the spectrum do you identify?
Aroace.
Have you encountered any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field? If so, how do you handle it?
I’ve been very lucky to find myself among fellow creative aces, and some wonderfully accepting people in the webcomic community.
Sometimes readers of my comic can be a different story. So far, I haven’t encountered malice, but ignorance over the fact that two of my main characters are on the ace spectrum. Despite some heavy hints in comic, and some blunt statements outside of the comic regarding their orientation, it just doesn’t seem to click for some readers. In most of these cases, I just ignore it, and hope that my writing will speak for itself as I carry on.
What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?
I usually encounter the misconception that asexuality is a fancy word for abstinence or celibacy.
I also find a lot of people have trouble wrapping their head around the idea that I can appreciate another person’s appearance, and think they’re exceptionally good looking, without finding them attractive in a sexual way at all. I can appreciate a pretty person the same way someone can appreciate pretty art, folks!
What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?
You’re not weird, or broken, or sick, and anyone who tells you differently doesn’t deserve your time. Don’t let anyone try to convince you that sex is a be all end all to anything in life. There are so many awesome experiences in the world, and so many ways to be close to other people.
And remember that asexuality is simply a lack of sexual attraction. Is sex something you’re indifferent about? Ace. Is sex is something that repulses you? Still ace. If sex still appeals to you, you just don’t look at people like ‘I wanna bang that,’ that doesn’t invalidate you! Still ace. Don’t let people police you one way or the other. Lack of interest in sexual things doesn’t make you a childish prude, and interest in sexual things doesn’t make you less ace.
Also keep in mind that sexuality is fluid. If you feel ace now, but didn’t before, or don’t in the future, that doesn’t invalidate how you feel now. All our journeys are different. Be kind to yourself, and know there are tons of people out there just like you. You’re not alone.
Finally, where can people find out more about your work?
Today we’re joined by Caren Rose. Caren is an awesome versatile artist and I believe she’s a first for Asexual Artists: Caren does a lot of programming, including mobile apps. Aside from programming, she does a lot of writing and is currently working on a graphic novel. It’s very obvious that she has a lot of passion and drive. We’ll probably be seeing a lot of her in the future. My thanks to her for taking the time to participate in this interview.
Character Design
WORK
Please, tell us about your art.
I’m a writer, primarily. I write realistic fiction and sci-fi, mostly, and both short stories and multi-chapter things (which I suppose could be called novels if I ever finished them). Most of the things I write would fit in the broad genre of “drama” with some angst and sometimes suspense thrown in for good measure. I write both original fiction and fanfiction, but with the exception of one story, I write my fanfics as they come – no outline, no thought to where the story may go, just writing whatever I feel like.
I have one series of “short” stories that I’ve been working on for nearly 12 years – I started with one story when I was in high school, and wrote a story 24 pages long (single-spaced!), before discovering that it had several glaring inaccuracies. By the time I finished the first story, I had an idea for a second – but as I delved into rewriting the first and got to know the main character better, the idea grew to a whole series of stories. Unfortunately, real life began to happen and inspiration struck elsewhere, and I never really finished that rewrite, so I have a grand idea but very few words. I also have another long-running project, this one fanfiction. In 2009 I began writing a story set in the future of the Star Trek universe. It is a “Sim story,” a story accompanied by pictures taken from The Sims 2. I updated slowly for a couple years, until I started school and moved. Once again, real life began to happen, and I didn’t have the time to dedicate to working on it regularly.
That all sounds like a big apology for not writing as much as I should. I suppose it is. But, while those are my two main but inactive projects, I’ve been recently working on a graphic novel. I hadn’t done much drawing since art class in high school, but when I started again I really got into it. From there it simply combined with my writing and out came an idea for a graphic novel. In fact, I have two ideas – one original and one fanfic. As usual, the fanfiction has no real direction, but the characters are fun to draw in all kinds of different situations.
Though not “typically” thought of as art, I’ve also been programming for just over 2 years. I do a lot of work with websites, but prefer writing desktop and mobile apps. My most recent projects are an ambient sound mixer program and an Android (hopefully eventually iOS) app for writers like myself, to help them organize their ideas. I’m still in the early stages of both.
What inspires you?
I have what I call a very strong creative drive. I liken it to sexual attraction, actually – where some people see a person and have a strong desire to be with them, I see a subject or a method of creating, and have a strong desire to see what I can create through it. It may not be good, if I have no background with that style or medium, but most of the time I’ll try and have fun anyway.
Gallifrey
What got you interested in your field? Have you always wanted to be an artist?
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. My mother was very creative, too. She and my dad would come up with “Princess Lily” stories whenever I asked for one, and every night at bedtime. One year for Christmas, they created a scavenger hunt for each day leading up to Christmas, and each day I would find one Alphabet stamper marker. Each day, I would stamp in one more letter in a book until I had all the blanks filled in on Christmas. It was a Princess Lily story that gave hints to one of my Christmas presents.
I started learning how to code just over two years ago, and found I really loved it. I knew I wanted to go into the IT field, but wasn’t sure what area. At my school, everyone in the IT program has to take an introductory programming class, whether or not they are planning to go into programming. When I took that class, even though it covered only the very basics, I knew it was what I wanted to do. My first program I created for myself was a simple aspect ratio calculator. Now I write mobile apps in my spare time J
Do you have any kind of special or unique signature, symbol, or feature you include in your work that you’d be willing to reveal?
It’s not really a signature, just a recurring thing – nearly every story I write ends up with a character with a neurological disorder. It’s simply because I’m very interested in neurology that it keeps happening!
What advice would you give young aspiring artists?
I’m not sure I’m the best to give advice, considering my track record of unfinished projects 🙂
I’d say, two things:
Don’t worry about turning your art into a career – whether you want an artistic career or not, don’t worry about it. If you want to, definitely go for it! It can be rewarding and fulfilling. Don’t concern yourself with the people who tell you that you’ll never make a living on it. There are plenty of people willing to pay and to pay well for creative work. On the other hand, you don’t have to find an artistic career if you don’t want to. Don’t feel like no career will possibly live up to your passion of creating. Find a career doing something you enjoy (important, because you don’t want a day job draining all your energy!) and devote your free time to your art. Depending on your personality, you may find it more fulfilling than having to create in order to support yourself.
Second, don’t censor yourself. This is advice I still need to learn, myself. You don’t have to create perfection on your first try. Have fun with your art, be messy and be free. It’s all too easy to critique yourself as you go, and critique turns to second-guessing, and you run yourself into a creative block because you can’t find just the right word, or whatever. It’s okay for things not to be 100% on the first try! It’s unlikely others will notice what you see as errors, and you can always do a “second draft.” Similarly, don’t beat yourself up over the quality of old work. They say practice makes perfect, and it’s true. No matter how good you were for your experience level years ago, if you have more experience now you’ll find things to hate in your old work. Don’t do that to yourself. You were good then, and you’re good now. Your mistakes/whatever you hate were never because you were a “terrible artist,” it was just because you didn’t have as much experience as now. If you let yourself hate your old work, you invite yourself to hate your current work because “someday it could be better.” No. Of course you’ll always be improving, but you’re a good artist RIGHT NOW!
President of the Supreme Council of Gallifrey
ASEXUALITY
Where on the spectrum do you identify?
Asexual, specifically autochorissexual (a disconnection between oneself and a sexual target/object of arousal), probably grey-heteroromantic, but not really sure about that.
Have you encountered any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field? If so, how do you handle it?
I haven’t. Some of it is that I’m still in school, not really “in my field” for programming. Many programmers are middle-aged married guys with children – but the stereotype is still that we have no love life. As for writing … I’m not published (except for posting things for public consumption on fanfic sites) so I’m not “in my field” there either. I do know that romance, especially sex and romance, gets readers just for being what it is. Sometimes I feel like stories where romance is either a secondary subplot or absent, you have to work harder to get people just to read it. It may not be true, but I feel like that sometimes.
What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?
From inside the ace community, that “true” asexuals never have sex. Every time the topic comes up, multiple people show up saying “how can you be asexual if you have sex all the time?” “I’m asexual because I choose not to have sex.” And so on.
There are certainly many sex-repulsed aces, non-sex-repulsed aces who just don’t have sex for any number of reasons (me), but there are also aces who do have sex.
Superhero Story Concept Character Design
What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?
You’re not broken, you’re not just a late bloomer. There’s lots of people like you in the world. Meeting those people can be a great step to accepting yourself.
I’m sorry I don’t have much to say to romantic asexuals struggling to find a relationship with someone who accepts them for who they are. The best I can say is surround yourself with good friends, and don’t let things get you down.
Finally, where can people find out more about your work?
Asexual Artists 