thoughts&
observations

Camille del Rosario

More changes coming your way

01.30.2012 by admin | No Comments

Wow! So many things has happened since my last blog entry – that I’m completely stoked to be writing again.
I’ve been very busy with various stuff – most of it is work, but in general, most of it also comprise the resolve to keep ‘interesting’ and keep doing things that I’m passionate about.

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Quite recently, I have had the opportunity to see Factory Girl (2006) – a movie about the famous Edie Sedgwick and her freewheeling life in the 1960’s: Her alleged love affair with Bob Dylan, her fascination with Andy Warhol and various other socialites.

I know she’s a precursor to the modern day socialite figures like Paris Hilton, admittedly famous for “famous’s sake”. But somehow, there’s something really intriguing about her raw ‘brokenness’, which inevitably led to her untimely demise. It felt like she had so much charisma, a certain je nais se quoi – I guess her brokenness was exactly what drew people to her. And it seems like the drama was forgivable, because she didn’t strike me as someone who was insincere or overtly bratty – she was exactly like that because of her aspirations, because of circumstances that surrounded her, until it came to a time when it spiraled out of control.

Another essential part that the movie left out – was the fact that Andy was struggling with his own inner demons at that time as well. He became fascinated and obsessed by living vicariously through other people, that he seemed to ignore other people’s feelings. But i know that it wasn’t sheer ignorance or insensitivity: It was probably because he himself didn’t know how to deal with it. Andy had a murky past too, a past that he absolutely wanted to douse in all these interesting things he called art.

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Last night we also watched the musical “Wicked”.

All I can say about Wicked can be summed up into a short list:

1) Musicals make me want to sing through life. All the time ( no fail).
2) It was a beautiful production with a stellar cast.
3) You know that it’s a pretty epic story when you’re still thinking about it till you go to sleep.
4) It’s extra special when you enjoy it with people you love.

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You may also realise that I have updated my website! * Double hooray! Headstands! Cheer! *

After a few months of planning, changing art directions several times, correspondence with my developer friend through Christmas vacations, I have finished updating my portfolio.

By any means, of course, the work is still constantly changing and evolving.
Updating a portfolio is always an exercise in patience and strategy – It took me a while to figure out what exactly it was I was looking for.

Some new changes that I’ve done with the new work are as follows:

  • A more streamlined template that enables me to easily update work by uploading jpegs on any FTP, and updating code.
  • New javascript + html functionalities enables ease of viewing through various devices without usage of Flash (yeah, sworn off Flash. That’s so 2010.)
  • As seen on the link previously mentioned, I’ve archived my old directories to see my design transitions per year. And the work evolution, as well, I guess.
  • I’ve turned white – The template features a really subtle texture from open sources, and a robust SERIF font (Goudy Book letter has never been so sexy). I guess it’s reminiscent of old text books with type glorified, and kerning is tighter for giving emphasis. If you’ve noticed – In the past, i do have a certain fondness for pinks and purple hues, but I realised that they can easily feel dated and aged, if you look at them long enough.
    Also, most of my work is colourful in nature – so this could detract the eye from a focal point.
  • Simplicity & Elegance – Should I feel an inkling to change the png on the front, I can easily do this by swapping a bg png.
  • No more aspirations on opening an online art store – I’ve thought about this long and hard, that if I was to go through a pet project or weekend moonlighting, I am better off meeting other people and collaborating on art pieces, instead of selling stuff on ETSY.  I could barely have time to create art, what more ship and send stuff and manage PayPal accounts? – Let’s channel energies on advertising, creatives, and writing instead.  ( I have found the Wilhemein project very interesting though – however, I think she has moved to another locale – I’m not too sure if she still lives in this lovely New York space. )
  • Anyway, that’s about all for now, folks! I’ll be writing more posts that suit my fancy soon.

    Notes on SOPA & the Internet

    01.18.2012 by admin | No Comments

    While the rest of the world is busy raising awareness against the proposed SOPA – a bill that apparently limits the vastness of the internet and severely curtails civil liberties – I have been busy, well, with work..

    I’m no American, but in a time where we are defined by a globalised economy, it is hard to imagine such a bill being put into action. America has been the petri dish of internet evolution; More specifically, Silicon Valley – the place where my sister has been living for the past 10 years or so – has been the place where most of famed internet corporations thrive and exist. It will be a shame to have free speech stripped away; or as some people put it – “live the internet like cable tv, where content is digested and segregated into rations”.

    It’s hard to imagine living that way, when – the internet has intrinsically become an extension of my life that it has almost permeated to my deep core. The internet has been part of me , my craft, what we do, how we do things – and by the very definition of our sense of “self” can somehow be retraced back into this wonderful innovation. Without it, careers will change, people will change, and we’ll demote ourselves back into our own small fragmented realities.

    This reminds me of a small anecdote.

    I once knew this woman, who, by the scheme of things, moved to Singapore from Shanghai. Within the course of knowing this person, I have found out that she – my friend, the girl who reads Milan Kundera, who speaks impeccable English, and who has a strong, robust understanding of design concepts under her sleeve – has been so sheltered from fundamental world changing events.

    Ask her about mongollians and the long withstanding ethnic tensions shared by the Chinese – and all we’ve ever gotten were blank stares. Ask her about rich historical events that transpired in Auschwitz – and the same thing happens.
    This blank space seems to be a desolate one; her eyes seem to pry for answers that no memory could fully provide.

    And let’s not even begin with the concepts of democracy, or modernization – or concepts that have been so routinely shared by Western influences, that I have almost begun to think that everyone has been briefed with these things, through history lessons, through word of mouth – or the internet.

    Well, as it turns out, not everyone has received the memo.

    I guess I’ve always thought that we constantly evolve into something better, and keep ourselves informed at all times. Whereas for some people in the world, access to this type of information has been severely limited; not by choice, but by structures that were in place.

    The internet has bridged an important gap of information asymmetry accessed only by the affluent.

    Imagine being able to provide an opinion for topics that was previously unknown before.
    Access to information, language and updates – this is what the internet is about.
    This has democratized learning, for the better.

    And that, to me, is a life changing thing – a powerful thing. People should not be stripped of this right.

    This is your year. Own it.

    01.09.2012 by admin | No Comments

    I was just randomly googling about the word “Authenticity” today, and somehow I stumbled upon Jean Paul Sarte’s discourse on his version of an Authentic self.

    By any means, the “authenticity” that is discussed in the realm of philosophy shadows much of what we already know about the word. To live an authentic life was to follow your inner self, to celebrate your uniqueness and remain loyal to the guiding principles that govern your own person.

    I like this concept. Throughout the article, the focal point shifts, and discusses how this translates to the concept of an authentic love. And how Sarte was essentially unconvinced that there was such a thing as “authentic love”, because whether we like it or not, being an outsider keeps you from living your authentic self (by implicitly trying to make the other person happy) or you’re constantly left impeding the freedom of others. Not quite the most convincing words from a philosopher who spent most of his life in a deep, loving relationship with his wife.

    However, I think that this still offers some relief: Though we can’t always expect our experiences to pan out the way we expect, though our perception of things will inevitably be different from that of your partner, living an authentic self means living it by your rules. It is up to us to define it. Whether this means, coupling, following tradition, or rewriting tradition.  Which I find, in itself – powerful. To rewrite tradition, means that we are free from the dogma that has kept us from evolving. To break away, is indeed a powerful thing.

    Which leads me to 2012. I write the words “Own it” because that is what I’m asking for in this universe: I want to own it. I want to live an authentic life and do things that I haven’t done before. And yes, that probably includes breaking free from self limiting beliefs of tradition ( God forbid, I’m not the only one.)

    To be honest, this post is inspired by someone asking me the question “So, what’s your new years resolution?” – Then I found myself dumbfounded with silence. Because I realised, I haven’t devoted any ounce of time thinking about things.  This thing is for sure, though: I want to be that authentic person that Sarte describes in the books.  I want to be an interesting person, someone I won’t mind hanging out with, and having a beer with.

    I have a set of resolutions, most of which involve letting go of things, bad habits, self limiting beliefs – and planting new ones. It also involves trying new things, saying YES more often (in a world full of NOs, it’s always nice to say YES more often), and reading / blogging more often.

    On another note, in writing my resolutions, I also thought about interesting concepts that Haruki Murakami presented in the book IQ84. Though I’m not yet finished with the book (around 18% to go, according to Kindle) – he has presented this idea of a maza and a dohta, two parts of yourself that manifest in reality, and one in a parallel world of dreams / possibilities. Upon further probing, I realised that this was a common place mistake of how Japanese people pronounce the word “mother” and “daughter” – meaning, that as we evolve, our perception of selves in reality and in the dreamworld are inextricably intertwined – one giving birth to another.

    This is an interesting thing to think about. I wonder what my dream self would tell my reality? Will it be oddly disappointed by my choices? Will my dream self delight in the way I spend my day? Are we both as ambitious as each other?

    This is my year. 2012 is a year to get those two selves acquainted with one another, and mix it up. We are, afterall, a cocktail of our reality and our dreams.

    PS. I leave you with this beautiful mix tape to start owning your own year. Happy 2012!

    http://8tracks.com/witanddelight/jumpstart-january

    [taken from wit+delight blog. source]

    I left my heart… in California.

    01.04.2012 by admin | No Comments

    Just when I’m almost turning Californian, my trip draws to an end.
    I’ll forever be tremendously grateful for  everyone who has made this trip possible – to friends, family, colleagues who have been covering for me, a big hug of thanks.

    I’m grateful for the quiet time for contemplation that this trip has afforded me. Though I’m not too happy about my massive overdose of modern american consumerism, I’m happy with the chance I’ve gotten to get to know my sisters better, to spend time with my quirky nieces and nephew, and to experience local commutes the American way.

    I was turning Californian because….

    -I’ve been to yoga class with my sister, then we hit the salad bar afterwards.

    - Seeing syringes on the LA sidewalks does not scare me anymore.

    - Took the caltrain alone from Dilidron (San Jose) straight up north to San Francisco. Spent the day touring the city with my friend Jozias, sipping posh coffee from the Embarkadero, giggling about silly things.  Bonus: I got the chance to see him before he lost his phone.

    - Seeing Venice beach on the last day, and getting to call this weather “rocking warm”. The sun literally melts on your skin, without the sticky feeling of humidity.

    - Touching Marilyn Monroe’s star on Hollywood felt a bit surreal; but then again, I sort of wondered what the big fuss was about. It literally is just a star on a pathway with a bunch of tourists.

    -  The poverty, if anything, is very real and depressing to the core. So, I’ve been thinking : The next time people complain about their jobs, they should reexamine themselves and stop whining, because lots of people are living in the streets seeking warmth.

    - It’s so easy to act like a spoiled brat if you live inside a bubble. Obesity & overeating are rampant because education is misdirected – I wish people would stop whining about not fitting in their skinny jeans if they eat arms length burritos and wash everything down with diet coke.

    Thank God it’s Friday. And I’m fatigued. But I’m also learning.

    12.16.2011 by admin | No Comments

    doodle

    I believe that as creatives, we actually get the chance to make a big difference in this world. We probably belong to a selected group of people who are virtually passionate about what we do – we live to see our work come alive. We live in a world of ideas – aspiring for ones which aim to delight Gods, almost in a level that hopefully, transcends that of the human ephemera. We’re designed to be optimists, trend setters, moody people who are never pragmatic. We’re people who constantly have a human crisis because it’s that tension of creation that keeps us going – it’s that tension of constantly “aspiring” to be something else, even though we all know, we are simply human.
    ( Alright, now enough of the philosophical humdrum)

    Creative. It is a tough word to live up to, by any standard. It connotes change. It connotes ‘thinking out of the box’. It connotes….Being more than just one thing, at any given point in time. It’s fun to consider yourself a “creative” – because it sounds so damn cool, even when you explain it to parents. It means that you were one of those kindergarten kids who were given a set of crayons – who didn’t simply think about them as crayons, but agents of possibility.

    But there also comes a time in most ‘creatives’ life, when you are aware of yourself, your impact, your designation to a bigger whole. You are aware that you constantly push yourself to boundaries, you consciously make people uncomfortable, you test new formulas. And I feel that this whole trial and error – or even the celebration of error – is an integral part of the creative process.

    Paula Scher made a great point about this. Famed for the creation of the Citibank logo (Yes, amongst other design milestones, and other things) she has written about the value of failure, about the process of creation and destruction (or even Disruption – but that’s a whole different post altogether) and how this conscious effort to derange from the status quo makes for better art. And not just art, but other realms as well – Art Direction, Advertising, Photography, Design…etc.

    What I’m trying to say here is that the structures in place should consciously accommodate for this pieces of experimentation. I believe that there should be a consensus that great ideas – Ones that withstand the tests of longetivity – or are intrinsically captivating – are grown, honed, bred with a sense of stimuli that is only acquired over years of experience.  Which is a completely different school of thought – from those who believe that this is a game you can navigate through silly politics, appearances or youthful arrogance.  I do believe, that advertising, though some people may contend that it’s not essentially an art form – it is still a craft that involves higher levels of thinking, observation, and a keen pulse on insights about human behaviour.

    So, alright. I’ve been very tired these past few days. I haven’t had decent sleep for days. I haven’t done my laundry. I haven’t dipped in the swimming pool of my condo, even if I have been living there close to a month now. I haven’t been eating properly, haven’t had time to go to the gym — etc. You would think that these are enough reasons to make someone give up, right?  Well, no, not really.

    I guess not all people are cut out for this life.  I believe in the work, the ideas, and that belief encompasses most of those other mundane things – they hold more weight than doing laundry, or doing errands, or even working out.  I know that I’ve been struggling to make a balance of this whole work-life- dynamics – but sometimes, 24 hours is just not enough in a day. I’m still working on compromises, working on ways to manage my time wisely so I don’t have to stare in the computer for more than 10 hours a day. We are, after all, only human.

    I guess instead of holing up in a wall somewhere, my personal experience teaches me a couple of things.  The value of failure – and how it’s a predecessor to great things; The value of hard work, at whichever creative outlet you’re involved with. There’s also the deep value of maintaining a good relationship with your personal self – whether it may be treating yourself to good wine, or painting nails, or going out for a run – that does wonder to the human psyche.  Which will be coming…. soon, in a couple of days time, when I’m flying over Taipei airspace, bound for the sunny side of Hollywood.

    Is good design made out of Helvetica?

    11.21.2011 by admin | No Comments

    Alright. I have to admit, this question has been burning in my head for quite some time now. It came into recent awakening again, when I found an email from my boss sharing a link of what he thought comprised of great design. A design studio that made abundant use of this classic serif.

    Let’s backtrack a little. Helvetica has always been used for it’s modern simplicity – an evolution of the primary Haans Grotesk, which became popular straight after World War 2. Interestingly enough, this paved the way for a sort of cultural demonstration of anxiety coping – People clung onto it’s modernity, it’s safe-ness, it’s tasteless Swiss flavour that simply delivered the message free from frills, free from prejudice and confusion. It’s probably the number one reason why it is so popular for usage in various street signs or subway stops.

    If this is great design because of it’s ubiquity and popularity – then what, then, makes it unique if everyone else is doing it?

    I guess it’s a highly subjective matter, given that what I feel defines “good design” may not match with others. I feel that usage of type faces alone do not constitute great design. True to his word, the site Berger & Fohr – the studio – fulfills not only an abundant use of Helvetica, but also other things that comprise fantastic design: a strict adherence to the rule of thirds, the grid, a very sleek flavour to delivering the message crisp and clear.

    However, conversely – within the realm of design,  just because a studio site seems “crisp” and “clear” doesn’t mean that they don’t occasionally fumble upon the chaotic trouble makers, the ones who lets loose with paint brushes, the ones who spend hours furnishing a button to make it look as sexy as satin. Its all of this experimentations, furnishings, embellishments – Those things make design in itself rewarding. And the process by which you tick the boxes, you revisit the work and say “YES” or “REJECTED – Let’s put it in the pile of Ideas that Will Never See the Light of Day” is also what keeps your work fresh.

    I guess the important note here is to avoid antiquity precisely because there’s always a constant splendour for things that are new and different.

    So next time you see something in Helvetica, please think again. I would like to think about it like Rice – as a metaphor – It’s typically very bland on it’s own, but amazing when you mix things up. It will forever be a classic, but should be tempered with the right purpose, the right objectives and design solutions.

    27ness

    11.04.2011 by admin | No Comments

    thoughts on 27ness
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  • it’s an age where you’re not young enough to be naive, yet not old enough to feel that it’s too late. it’s just right, and i guess that’s something to be grateful for. // Ma’am I would like to see your ID please.
    Ruffled hair and vans sneakers. Ghetto printed hats and a hoodie.
    I’m old enough to drink, thank you.
    Old enough to drink, but not too young to get wasted.

    //No, I don’t ‘boogie’ – I dance damn it.
    I’m not going home with you tonight. I’m not that type of girl.

    // You girls have a fantastic aura.
    Why thank you, we transcend time and space.
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  • everyone’s obsessed about evaluating things using various benchmarks. i realised that i don’t want those things that my friends want – i don’t want to be rich, i don’t want to be a home-maker, i don’t want all those silly things. i just want to be happy, and that is a worthy, grandiose goal in the modern world.

    //And here I quote Badly Drawn Boy : “You’re a jive guru and I want to sing along with you.”
    That’s exactly what I want to be like. I want to be like the person who is beaming with personality.

    Can I get close to ya
    If only for a while
    I don’t need to busy you
    You’re the jive guru and
    I want to sing along
    with you
    With you
    Your sweetness, would cause a rockslide…
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  • i still laugh, i still giggle like i’m a kid. and probably exceed my smile quotas for most days. that’s worth celebrating. // And for this thought, I remember my dad when I was about 4 years old. He would include me in his morning routine of putting on socks. And I remember, how, he always used to put on his socks on my feet instead of his’, and we would giggle ourselves silly “Daaaaad those are MY feet, not yours!” He always pretended not to notice. He would do the same thing the following morning…

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  • as you grow, you start to fuss less about your weight or food choices, but ensure that you devote time and effort to burn off the fat. //How far are you willing to hold on? Or better yet, how far are you willing to let go?? – Yoga class.

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  • work hard and be nice to people. and keep on loving what you do. keep on loving those people who gave you confidence, and believed in you… because you owe them a lot.//To my favourite professor, Elvert, and to all those people –  Darius, Rupert, Jonathan, Danny, Oz, and everyone who has contributed to my personal / professional growth. I don’t think I say it very often, but thank you.

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  • you’ll only have one set of parents. rents could be insane sometimes, but they’re the only ones you’ve got, no matter what.//On spoiled sensibilities:
    What? We need to walk across the street to go to the restaurant? Let’s go take a cab! Aren’t they paying you enough to be able to afford a taxi ride???! – Mom

    //On her diva ness:
    What’s this fascination with black? If I was as skinny as you, I’d wear glitter. – Mom

    //On heart ache:
    Me: Dad, I’m so tired, you know – this thing, it’s exhausting, I really tried to make it work, and then you wake up, it’s not the same, and I feel like I’m just hopscotching from one heartbreak to the next, where am I going wrong??
    Dad: Nobody said it was going to be easy, anak.
    Me: I wish these things come with a manual.

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  • sometimes you need time and space to heal to find out if you’re still hurting. //Johnny: If you didn’t have some time and space to heal, how will you know if you’re still hurting?

    //I guess you have to have a certain degree of OKayness to survive in this world.

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  • there’s always one book that changes your perspective, specifically for your own career.// That book for me is Milton Glaser’s Drawing is Thinking (which I bought in SF MoMa a couple of years back)

    //Drawing is how I think. Accuracy is the least important part of drawing.

    // Art schools have abandoned drawing in order to make time for all the software they have to teach. We get what we need for our professional life but don’t have an instrument for understanding the reality of life.

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  • I will probably always believe in the importance of museums and thrift bookshops.
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  • I think Murakami books should be required reading for everyone.“Here’s what I think, Mr. Wind-Up Bird,” said May Kasahara. “Everybody’s born with some different thing at the core of their existence. And that thing, whatever it is, becomes like a heat source that runs each person from the inside. I have one too, of course. Like everybody else. But sometimes it gets out of hand. It swells or shrinks inside me, and it shakes me up. What I’d really like to do is find a way to communicate that feeling to another person. But I can’t seem to do it. They just don’t get it. Of course, the problem could be that I’m not explaining it very well, but I think it’s because they’re not listening very well. They pretend to be listening, but they’re not, really. So I get worked up sometimes, and I do some crazy things.”
  • Take you with me

    11.04.2011 by admin | No Comments

    Even though I can’t get out

    In my mind I’m leaving this town

    And I can’t stay no more

    Am I ever gonna be sane again

    Everybody says they’ve seen it all

    Everybody knows everything

    But all the time won’t change you in my eyes

    All the drugs don’t do anything, no

    And I can’t take you with me

    Oh I can’t take you with me, no

    And I can’t take you with me

    How I wish I could take you with me now

    Oh you see I can’t get out

    But in my mind I’m leaving this town

    No I can’t stay no more

    Am I ever gonna be sane again

    Like a kid I’m lying and waiting

    Like a kid I’m lying and waiting

    For the summer time to get around

    And it’s been pretty serious

    And I can’t take you with me

    Oh I can’t take you with me, no

    And I can’t take you with me

    How I wish I could take you with me now

    New Drawings of Random Things

    10.24.2011 by admin | No Comments

    “I’ll settle for some old story, hopefully something that sets me free.”
    - Lyrics from Get me away from here, I’m dying. This song seems so depressing, but I just can’t get enough of it sometimes. The song lyrics are poetic, and the tune is very upbeat.

    Bonus – This school uniform looks familiar, no?


    “You said all you ever wanted to do was exist. That sounds awfully boring.”
    “That’s all you ever talk about. Feelings.”
    - I just saw Jean Luc Godard’s Pierrot le fou (1965). I swear, this French man has got me addicted.
    I don’t know French words, but I love the way the language sounds. This movie is so much more enticing, when you find out that it’s about a man who escapes his boring life in the city, to be with this freewheeling woman who tries to escape from Algerian hacks. Life on the run! How amaaazing.


    Here’s a random idea. How about hanging out with a friend.

    Let’s say, her name is Jane, and she’s simple, and she wears a bob haircut and loves reading books and listening to punk rock. She’s beautiful without knowing it.

    You hang out with Jane, just to absorb all that beauty. You just sit and think. And you ask for no reciprocation, whatsoever, just because it’s such a joy to go through this task with her. You are surprised that, on occassion, God surprises you with snippets of humanity that still delight you so.


    Yet another thought shared between Rico and myself. What’s so spanish about the Spanish bread?
    Was it just another breadcrumb left from Post-Colonial Philippines?

    If you google the real Spanish bread, you might be surprised to find out that it’s actually round, and resembles the appearance and texture of the typical “Pan de Sal”. The Spanish bread that I knew when I was growing up looked like a bastardization of the French baguette – a long-ish roll, that was oddly sweet, and fluffy. Nobody questioned where it came from, or how things came about. I think everyone just made things up as we went along, and the question of origins became buried down in history.


    “I see you like modern art and humanist serifs, you have great tastes in typography and visual art. wanna have drinks this saturday and discuss the intricacies of the ampersands of various typefaces since the 19th century?

    Song of the Settled

    10.19.2011 by admin | No Comments

    While browsing through old files on my computer, I found this hidden gem of work that we’ve done ages ago through Born Magazine.

    I just moved to Singapore roughly around this time, and I was looking for lots of “extra curricular” activities, so I found myself collaborating with my old friend and colleague June Baldovino and Stephan Delbos, a New England born poet currently residing in Czech Republic. ( We never really knew his story – his work was assigned to us by the organiser of the site. I kind of wish we corresponded more often)

    This is the poem through the lens of June and myself – we discussed visual cues and what we thought the poem meant. It’s a moving poem about a falling out, and failure to escape – and the things that go with it – the failure of dreams, the worthlessness.

    I know that there are tons of things I would’ve done differently now, had I been presented this art challenge – and I’m not proud of some of the aesthetic mistakes I’ve done; But it’s always nice to look back at previous work, and figure out ways of how it could’ve been made better, how the message could’ve been delivered, etc.

    Anyway – here are the visuals! Oh boy, do I miss watercolours!