RE: FWD: see below

September 8, 2021 megananxiety, art, art therapy, artist, collage, collaging, creative process, creativity, drawing, experiment, free association, lynda barry, making, processing, ramblingLeave a comment

margaritas

May 21, 2020September 15, 2022 meganart, beauty, blog, blogging, covid, margaritas, meaning, meaninglessness, motivational, Quarantine, rambling, tipsyLeave a comment

I was going through my phone notes and found this entitled “Tipsy Rambling 04.10.20”:

There are things that I make that have a lot of hidden meaning and there are things that I make that you could just take for surface value and there are things that I make that could really go either way and because it’s art, it really is up to you and not up to me, to find meaning and value in it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? There are things that humans tend to find innately beautiful and things we tend to find innately disgusting. But it can also be said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. So is everything to some degree subjective? There are things that science agrees upon, as if science itself is a God and the maker and keeper of truth. And there are things that “science has agreed upon” that have been disproven. There are things that we thought we knew and believed, things we live by and fought for and died for. And some of those same things we now relegate to fairy tales and fiction books. So really who is to say what is true what is meaningful what is worthwhile what is right? Does it make you happy? Does it calm you down? Does it make you want to get out of the bed in the morning? Does it make life worth living? If yes, then does it matter if it is good or true based on the standards of the world? Everyone else can find something to be useless and ugly, but if you can see life and purpose, well then by god, perhaps that’s the reason that you’re here, the reason that you have been given life, the reason you are different than the person beside you. Every one of us has a different story, different things resonate with us. Different things repel us. Different things terrify us. And isn’t that fucking incredible?? We are all so unique, so different, so individual. Yet at the same time there are so many things that bind us, connect us. There are so many overlaps and similar stories. Nobody is ever alone, yet somehow we are all alone always. Being humans is crazy, it’s beautiful, it’s scary, it’s hard, and it’s better with margaritas. You still reading kiddo? Because this is just the ramblings of a 26 year old stuck in quarantine so you might as well give it up now, but thanks for playing! Love you all, here’s some art (if you can call it that.)

GOALS: update

February 9, 2018 megan2018, 2018 Goals, abstractrelationsvi, anxiety, art, artist, author, blacksburg, book, book review, character illustration, chasing dreams, children's book illustration, creative process, creativity, crowdfunding, depression, Dreams, etsy, goals, hokie, illustration, illustrator, kickstarter, making, marketing, meggoline, new year's resolution, process, scbwi, virginia, walking, watercolor, writingLeave a comment

WOW it has been a busy couple of weeks! Who knew that chasing my dreams and accomplishing goals would so all-consuming. But it has been such a blast so far and honestly really encouraging.

(If you are interested in following along on the day to day I provide a lot more frequent updates via Instagram (@the.megan.mill) and Facebook.

Goal: Author/Illustrator

If you want to know more about the book I am writing or get a copy of it, you can see the Kickstarter page here . There are also other rewards, like vinyl stickers, postcards, prints, or commissioned art. The campaign goes until the end of February and as of right now I am only $700 away from my goal! Which means 39 lovely backers out there have helped me to get 72% of the way!

kickstarter_19 days to go

The process itself has consisted of so many different pieces, from sketching, inking the final drawings, painting the illustrations, scanning, digitally editing, page layouts, text editing, marketing, researching publishing methods, connecting with nannies on social media, reaching out to organizations and companies to collaborate (that hasn’t been as successful as I would have hoped… thus far anyway… but if you want to collaborate please let me know!), filtering through unsolicited advice, thanking backers, prepping files for print… Gosh, the list goes on and on!

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In reality though, it really has been fun to have a goal to reach for and go after. And even more encouraging has been the chance to get to connect with so many awesome people! Lots of nannies have messaged me to say how excited they are for this book… how they have been looking for a resource like this or how they wish there were more children’s books on the market related to the topic of nannies. I never knew how big the nannying community actually was! So many others out there who also love kids and crafts, creativity and playgrounds. But also so many other who have gotten close to a little one, developed a bond, but then had to say goodbye. It really is a tough balance of holding on and letting go. And not just for nannies… in life in general. No matter who we love, nothing is permanent and we will all face changes, transitions, and goodbyes.

waving goodbye_web

Because of the excitement I have seen and how much I have enjoyed this process, I am feeling more and more confident that this will not be my only children’s book. I have one or two more in mind for now… But am trying to not get too far ahead of myself… Gotta finish one first!

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For those of you who don’t know me or really know my history, I have struggled with depression on and off for most of my life. There have been a lot of days where everything has felt so remarkably meaningless and it was hard to get excited about anything. So the fact that I have goals right now… and not goals that were part of a pre-determined plan (graduate high school, go to college, get a degree, get a job, etc.), goals that I am excited about and actually want to achieve… this feels big. My life feel full of passion and authenticity and dreams! (Man, I sound like a sappy commercial or something…) And to bring it back down to earth, ya, there have been hard days. Days of anxiety and self-doubt and frustration. Days where I have said “holy crap holy crap what am I doing, I’m not qualified for this, I’m going to fail, ahhhh”. But all-in-all it has been a good season.

Though, speaking of seasons, it has been remarkably cold here in Virginia recently. So one of my other goals to walk all of Blacksburg hasn’t gotten a whole lot of focus. In fact, I think I have only been on three outdoor walks since the new year. But as things warm up I am excited to get back into that as well. Today I went out on a trail I never knew existed and found a beautiful field, informational plant signs, and some deer poop…. So, that was a win, right?

Thanks for following along on this journey! I would love to connect with you, hear your goals and passions (or what you saw on a walk today!) so feel free to leave a comment below! :)

color & being

November 22, 2017November 21, 2017 meganart, art as existentialism, Awareness, blacksburg, collage, Color, Consciousness, cutandpaste, definitions, design, existence, Existential, language, life, Light, Light blue, meaning, scroll, Scrollable, scrolling, scrolling story, virginia tech, wordsLeave a comment

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miscommunication

November 21, 2017 meganabstractrelationsvi, analog collage, art, blogging, Blue, collage, collaging, Colors, conversation, cutandpaste, definitions, digital collage, english, language, Language barrier, Miscommunication, Rude, scroll, scrolling, scrolling story, wordsLeave a comment

miscommunication part 1

n!ghtmare

November 13, 2017November 13, 2017 meganabstract relations vi, analog collage, anxiety, art, book, children's book, collage, collaging, cutandpaste, Dark, Darkness, dinosaur, fear, guns, Nightmare, pain, Painting, rape, Running, terrified, terror, Torture3 Comments

A project that I have been working on here and there for a while. (one spread is still in the works and not shown here.) A repurposed children’s bedtime book that I got from a thrift store. No longer for children.

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the (edited) world we live in

November 5, 2017November 5, 2017 meganabstract relations vi, analog collage, Anger, art, art therapy, artist, books, childhood, collage, cutandpaste, Emotions, Stressed out, technology, The floor is lava, The world we live in, Twenty one pilots2 Comments

the world we live in A while ago I bought this book from a thrift store for two dollars. It looked promising, but I had no idea how much fun I would end up having with it! It has served as a place to get out emotions, to play around with song lyrics stuck in my head*, to make a mess, to be punny… Still so many pages to go (and so many dinosaurs!) but these are some of the ones I have collaged so far. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts!