Hey pals,
The first thing I ever wanted to be when I grew up was an artist. I let the dream go a long time ago. maybe it’s more that I felt like the kind of art I liked to create wouldn’t sell. No one would want my work. Clearly I’ve been proven wrong! I’ve sold 6 pieces this year, which is very crazy to me. The thought of my art being on display in people’s houses is… I don’t know it’s hard to explain how I feel. I never thought this would be a thing! Thank you everyone who has shared my work!!
I never thought it would be possible to make stuff that would help support me financially. I know I haven’t sold many pieces, but this and when I was making dog toys briefly, has shown that maybe I can and do create things people would like to buy, use and display.
A lot of what I have been creating is made of supplies I already own. I’ve had a million and one hobbies over the years and enjoyed doing different forms of art. I have a bag full of old material which I would like to continue to make dog toys with later on. My film photo poetry is made up of old magazines and old film photos from my great grandparents. The art that goes up for sale are old pieces I updated or finished. I just hope to bring new life to these old objects, I hope they find a new home with someone who loves it rather than all these things going to landfill.
I’m looking into mobility aids I may find beneficial, I’m testing out a ring splint but they are pretty expensive each and might need several adjustments (which costs money to post back and forth etc.) I’ve ordered some ear bud versions of ear defenders to try out and I should be receiving funding for an over the bed desk so I can work better and longer at my actual computer rather than my old laptop (that does struggle with editing videos quite a bit, especially longer ones) and I’m still trying to cover therapy and the chiropractor, along with personal bills like my phone cost and car.
I’m waiting up to 10 more weeks for a response for my benefits (which could be leaving me without support for 4 months total…) so I appreciate everyone’s help and support! My Art shop is open, I have a lot of pieces up and available on my Kofi shop at the moment, also on Depop if you prefer that. You can also leave a tip on my Kofi. I make a lot of educational pieces like these videos in my Disability and Chronic Illness YouTube Playlist or my Takayasu’s Arteritis post.
I have started the process of getting an ADHD diagnosis, I dropped in a letter with support etc. into my GP on Sunday so hopefully I’ll be referred to Psychiatry UK for a free diagnosis assessment on the NHS. They don’t yet have a process for Autism but are working on it, so I think I’ll be applying the same way down the line. Private diagnosis was far too expensive at nearly £1,000 for both ASD and ADHD.
I made some writing progress for the first time since January, I feel like that and my life not really changing a lot are why writing blogs has been difficult. I wrote 1500 words the other day of my WIP and am very close to breaking 15,000 words total. That’s roughly 1/4 of a novel if I aim for 60,000 words. I tend to over-write so I’ll probably end up with a ridiculous amount of words really that I’ll have to cut down. I prefer to do that though over being way under word goal.
I’m always trying to keep an eye out for paid writing gigs, acting auditions, paid art submissions, etc. I strongly believe in supporting each other online rather than seeing each other as competition. We won’t all match the same skill set requirements so if I see anything that would suit a friend of mine more than me, I send it on. So if anyone sees anything that may be suitable for me when it comes to the above, please feel free to let me know via any social media channel or my contact form on this site. I do highly appreciate it and want to put myself out there as much as possible. I also appreciate interactions on my content here and on YouTube and sharing my content with new people.
I think that this year, for a lot of people including myself, has been rediscovering things we liked before we thought of it as a job or a waste of money. I’ve always enjoyed being artistic in any way imaginable. I loved going to art classes and being taught new things, but the things I loved most were things I taught myself. I’ve always enjoyed being innovative, I’ve always looked at things slightly differently though we may come to find that’s because I’m Neuro Divergent. This year has been a lot of re-learning for myself and who I am and what I love to do. Art has helped me mentally a lot, it’s been very cathartic. I can’t believe I’ve been inside my house for a year… in some ways I don’t want the world to return to normal, because I feel like all the accessible ways of functioning will disappear… That’s a talk for another day. I like to hope that Art can change the world.
~ Artie
They/them
ArtieCarden 
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