#ScribesAndMakers June 12. How can we, as adults, get excited about art/creativity again? (credit @SJHoodlet and @Emmacox )

I'm not entirely sure but I think it starts with giving people a space to enjoy it without viewing it as a competition. Too much of how people enjoy art is as a show and a way to compare against others. But if people could enjoy it without worrying about how someone will judge them, it would help.

#ScribesAndMakers 10
What role do you think social media plays in shaping photography trends today and impacting emerging photographers?

How do we separate the role of social media from that of camera technology? In my 20's, I lugged around an SLR and burning through lots of film/developing. My photos were nice at best, nowhere near as good as those I take for almost no cost from my cheap phone today.

SM-wise, since I find peace in #bloomscrolling , I also contribute to that hashtag.

#ScribesAndMakers What role do you think social media plays in shaping photography trends today and impacting emerging photographers?

Long thread incoming!

Social media is all about going viral. Camera phones have made it even easier for non-photographers to capture good shots.

Social media has made photographic locations go viral. I live near many and I give up visiting them in season because so many people visit JUST to take a shot for their socials. Few stay to experience the place.

(1/?)

#ScribesAndMakers Tell us about the book which received the fewest votes.

The Sirens - Emilia Hart

Two pairs of sisters, ancestrally related, but in different timelines, navigate a world filled with dickish men.

But the four woman have a common ancestor who wasn’t human, but a mermaid with a voice with the power to beguile dickish men to their deaths.

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-sirens-emilia-hart/7642794

#ScribesAndMakers: Which of these have you read?

I’ll pick my most recent reads.

Edit: doh, I didn’t make it multiple choice.

#ScribesAndMakers 8 - Books I have read:

Select ALL the books you have read from this list. Tomorrow my task is to sell the one that the fewest people have read. I hope I don't need to sell them all.

#ScribesAndMakers 7. Do you plant a garden each year?

i mostly grow things in containers. this year i grew tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers, and morning glories from seed; i also have a flower planter on the go, and a whole bunch of bonsai and pre-bonsai trees.

the bonsai trees are definitely the most challenging. they're tougher than they look (most of my trees are winter hardy, and they take some hard pruning) but they need to be watered at least once a day, sometimes twice. they're like pets.

#ScribesAndMakers 7
Do you plant a garden each year?

It's more like, I *modify* the garden each year. Vegetable growing is not my greatest talent, but I seem to have cultivated a love for flowers. Here's a current sampling:

#ScribesAndMakers Do you plant a garden each year?

I tend to let nature dictate what wants to grow in the garden. I encourage and manage the majority of the wildflowers so they don’t get too out of hand, but as most are edible what I pick ends up in the kitchen.

Being Cornwall, spring is the best time for colour. But I do enjoy cut flowers and herbs so I also make space for those. Otherwise, the garden is left to Mr Cox and his bonsai collection.

https://m.youtube.com/@BonsaiGuidetoLife-op7dw

#ScribesAndMakers What’s your best dish?

Currently: Pasta con Sarde

Get choice of pasta on the boil. While it’s cooking, sauté a chopped onion and a tin of anchovies until the latter melt. Add pine nuts, sultanas, fennel seeds, a pinch of saffron and a splash of white wine or vermouth. Add a can of sardines and a dollop of tomato purée. Take a few spoons of cooking water from the pasta and add to loosen the purée into a sauce. Drain the cooked pasta, zest a lemon into it and add to the sauce.

#ScribesAndMakers June 5: Have you tried sculpture or pottery? Tell us about your experience.

I did a fair amount of poly clay back in the day. Over November / December, I built puppet pieces with air dry clay for a project that didn't come together. Might still do something with the puppet pieces. I suspect doing more figure drawing will help with that kind fo thing but, for now, I'm a dilatant.

#ScribesAndMakers Have you tried sculpture or pottery? Tell us about your experience.

I enjoy making natural sculptures using clay and vegetation. Colour palette and materials are limited to the seasons, and I like how they are not permanent structures. Time and weather dictate how long it takes for them to decay and disappear.

Here are two versions of the Green Man I made. Same tree, different times of the year.

#ScribesAndMakers What's the most challenging creative activity you've started? How did it work out?

They're all challenging in their own ways. Wedding photography was the most challenging as I did it for family and I shoot landscapes, not indoor portraits. I had to learn on the hoof.

I try to stay curious and try new things in and out of my usual creative activities. It's surprising how a technique from photography can also work in my writing.

#ScribesAndMakers 6/4. What's the most challenging creative activity you've started? How did it work out?

I built a tiny game studio and shipped https://store.steampowered.com/app/443250/Legacy_of_the_Elder_Star/

It was the hardest creative thing I've ever done. It worked out insofar as I'm proud of the game we shipped and all the skills I learned, but it was a commercial failure and didn't get anywhere close to sustaining the studio.

#ScribesAndMakers Did you ever try Kintsugi?

Yes. But I’m not accident prone so there are few opportunities to practice it.

#ScribesAndMakers 1, What do you want to work on this month?

I want to work on spreading worker solidarity and bringing discomfort to the people in power.

I'm poor, so I intend to do that by working on some #Solarpunk/#Hopepunk stories, trying to get some local marginalized voices into publication, and getting some pro-union messaging out there.