Free Advice #2

Dear Jessica,

I would love to have a cat. But I will probably be moving a lot in the next few years, and not home much. It doesn't seem fair to the kitty. How much upheaval do you think cat can take before it is unhappy? Also, I have never had a cat before. And I'm afraid it will pee on things. How do you prevent that?
  
Love,
Kaela


Dear Kaela,

I love cats too.. and I actually do not have one at the present moment for the exact seem reason you seem to be hesitant about getting one. I'm not home a lot and would worry a lot about the cat's happiness in my absence. Sometimes I think that the best way to avoid this whole problem is to have two cats so they can keep each other company. However, I have also met happy cats in single-cat households where the people who inhabit it are busy and are not home a lot. Usually these cats have been single cats all their lives and are very active and/or have access to a backyard or a lot of space.

Also, as per the moving around a lot--I think it all depends on the cat. Some cats move easily and some do not. Usually it depends on how drastic the change is between spaces. For instance, if you move from a huge loft space where the cat can roam free to a tiny apartment--he is not going to be happy. However, if the old space and the new space are relatively the same in size / access to the wild (windows, backyards, etc) the cat should be fine--you will still be there to love him.

Finally--the peeing thing. I've never had cats with peeing problems! Though I did find this really good article (thank you Google). Its really informative and worth a read.


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dear jessica,

last year i graduated from art school and am finding it hard to keep myself motivated. it's ridiculous as i have have had great success since leaving university and have all i need to keep going (two great part-time jobs & the cheapest studio in the world, £3 a week!) i am pleased with the work i do, it's just takes a lot to get going. i just wondered if you have any motivational tips or mantras that spur you on? thanks!

rebecca


Hi Rebecca,

First--a studio for £3 a week! Amazing. Ahh.. your position is very similar to how I felt for almost a year after I graduated from university. I know you've probably heard this/know this, but it happens to everyone. School (at least in my experience) is this super fabricated special zone where students have to churn out work, critique it, then repeat the whole process over and over in a very short period of time. Its not real. Even in the big art galleries, established artists only have to have a major show every two years or so--and even then you know they have so many assistants actually fabricating the work for them. So.. when you think of it that way, time and that feeling that you aren't making enough work.. its all relative.

That said, there are a few things I always come back to when I feel stuck. A lot of them are simple visual exercises--but if even working in a sketchbook is too hard I would suggest that you read a book. Lately I've been reading a lot of fiction. Short stories at first and then when I got a bit more adventurous, I started reading novels. Also, its good to remember that making anything, however small or bad or whatever, is still making something.. and those things will eventually and effortlessly make something bigger given enough time. I know a lot of my work is "made" when I go back later and edit/curate/put things together that weren't together before. Time is as big a part of the artistic process as any--even though the Internet doesn't make it seem so sometimes.


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Hi jessica,

I am a student working on my final major project for illustration, I am currently working on a book which includes my illustrations, photography and typography based on the topic on individuality, focusing on the stranger and less obvious traits that makes us stand out.

I find you work really inspiring, and love how you work across such a wide range of medias and techniques, is this something that is important to you and your work? What do you find inspires you the most? And do you have any tips for a successful final major project!?

Thankyou very much for your time, I look forward to hearing from you!
Emily


Hey Emily,

Working in many techniques has always been important to me. Half of it is because I think some things or ideas work best in certain ways over others and its important for me to use the medium that works best for it.. the other half is maybe that I am not good at only doing one thing because I lose focus and want to do something else too easily. I get frustrated easily with things if they do not start off "right" and often it is because I am trying to do something using the wrong tools. For instance, maybe there is an image/idea in my mind and I want it to be a drawing so bad, but it works much better as a collage or even a photograph--or even as a collection of found images from Google posted to a blog, etc. And when I finally accept this, it makes sense that the image takes whatever form it does and eventually it works together seamlessly with other images in other forms because they ultimately share a similar feeling and have the same point or origin in my brain.

As for inspiration and tips for a good final project. Hm. A lot of things inspire me but I don't usually think about them or recognize them when they are happening. Small things and big things inspire me--the way light looks at a certain time of day when you are stepping out of a building, just the feeling of walking in a particular place and a particular time. Trying to remember dreams and hearing about other people's. Reading inspires me a lot and makes me think of things, too. And as for the project.. I wouldn't worry about it so much. It will all go by in a blur (at least that is always my experience) anyway. Just really spend some time on it and make sure you are happy with it--but don't stress/look at it too much or else you will drive yourself crazy. Take breaks when you need them and don't hesitate to ask a friend to look at it during its various stages. When I made a book for my final project in university it went through many drafts and changes and some really great people and a few teachers really helped me along the way. Its good to take advantage of that school community while you can--you might miss it when its gone, even if you don't think so now!


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HI JESSICA
WHAT DOES TRUE LOVE FEEL LIKE?
LOVE,
ARNA


Dear Arna,

The first thing that came into my mind was an image of lying in a bed on a Sunday morning fully clothed next to a person and feeling totally content. Feeling like there is nowhere you would rather be and nothing you would rather be doing. Just looking at someone and feeling like the rest of the world couldn't possibly imagine what this is like. Feeling like you are both on the same page and everything you are feeling is mutual. Feeling like you understand each other. However, this moment/this person is far away from me now--and only exists in memory. I think it was true love and if so, true love is definitely fleeting. Like normal love, true love can be taken for granted/forgotten/cause rifts between the people involved over petty boring things, etc. True love in the real world is dangerous.

The other thing that came to my mind is a quote from Douglas Coupland's Microserfs. The whole book is basically in diary-format and at one point the main character writes: "Heaven means feeling intimate forever". Sounds both amazing and impossible to me. If heaven is being intimate forever, maybe true love is that same intense intimacy but on a smaller time scale: anything between a minute, an afternoon, and a hundred years, basically. Because "true love" (at least in the traditional sense) depends on another person, it can't last forever. People change--including you.

Also: