Friday Follow: Illustrators, Artists, and Word Weavers

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“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ― Pablo Picasso


Alicia Souza

This first ever Indian illustrator that I came across was Alicia Souza. Now an entrepreneur, with a full fledged product based company, she too had started out small, like most artists, without any formal training in art. 
Yourstory


Her illustrations are just so cute, humorous, quirky and they do have a childlike innocence about them. Always full of smiles and crinkled eyes, Alicia is as cute as the characters she creates.


Fran Meneses aka Frannerd

An UK based illustrator, who went from being unemployed to a full time artist.

I have been following Frannerd for years. I love to watch her vlogs where she talks like having a personal conversation with her audience, shows through her creative processes, and shares her new ventures. I await them ever so much. She’s always so soulful and chatty. And she doesn’t hesitate to talk about tough times, bad throats and days when she has nothing to share due to a low phase. She shares her aspirations, fulfilled dreams, gratitude stories, trips to drawing camps, her deep rooted respect and fascination for Studio Ghibli, and so much more.

Patreon


What I so like about her is that she is so real. She is learning English, is not great at it, and she doesn’t cut out her mistakes. Whenever she has nothing to say owing to a slump, she says so truthfully, and vlogs only because she knows her subscribers must be waiting. Once I watched a video where she details about her process of creating a Yearly Planner full of illustrations, how it was a challenge for her. It was interesting how she shared her learnings from this experience for other freelance illustrators starting out. Most often than not, she is very inspiring, urging to take up the art you want to, even if you are not good at it initially.


Makoccino

This is Mako- DIY specialist, artist. “-ccino” is for her love of cappuccino. Her tagline speaks for itself- Encouraging creativity one video at a time. She offers hobby ideas, simple DIYs, planners, art journals, mostly helps you be your best creative self without worrying about making mistakes. I draw artistic inspiration from her, without doubt. Check out her series- Painting Out Loud.

YouTube


What I really like about her videos besides the artistic processes are the voice-overs. Even if you do not watch the video, and the listen to her soothing, friendly voice, encouraging you to just create whatever you want to, without resisting yourself, thinking about the outcome or failure, you are bound to be inspired. She motivates to stay true to yourself, and express yourself in your own unique way.


Jordan Clark

I share her love for pretty fonts, morning sunlight and the sea. Also her fascination with crystals, stationeries, quotes, wildflowers, tea sachets, letters, postcards, and all things tiny and beautiful. 

She vlogs on DIYs, drawing tutorials, making travel journals, pen pal letters and much more. Best thing about her videos are the aesthetic appeal- the instagram worthy pictures and the easy hobby ideas.

Jordan's Blog


Jordan too says inspiring things in her voiceovers. I love to binge watch them on lazy Sundays, and take away crafting ideas from them. I also look forward to her travel adventures.

Her gifting ideas are very useful for sending out personalized gifts to friends. I had made bohemian jewellery inspired from her DIYs. It was fun.


Lang Leav

From dabbling a career in fashion to creating and selling handmade books, to self publishing her poetry collection, her journey was a great one. Catapulted to fame in a matter of months, she has managed to remain grounded and true to her art. From writing on old envelopes, bills and scrap papers to writing for her huge fan following on instagram, life has changed for the better for Lang Leav.



Her words are addictive. They are so full of love. Some are about pain, loss, and the impermanence of things. And some of her prosaic poems just pierce right through the heart in a matter of seconds, and you are left hankering for more. She’s one of those instapoets who has garnered a big fan following, explosive success and several book deals. Not without reason. Unlike her partner and fellow author Michael Faudet, she is not shrouded with mystery and mischief.

For one who loves words, and the magic that they create, hers are like elixir. As one fan had aptly pointed out, she manages to write about feelings we could never put into words. “Three Questions” is one of my favorites.



Modern Gypsy Shinjini

Shinjini aka Modern Gypsy

She describes herself as a tarot card reader, journal keeper, and seeker of the soul.
Her art is soulful, so are her words. I wait her monthly newsletters, blog entries, tarot tales and art journaling experiences. And yes, the year end “Decoding the Year” questionnaire too. I find so many quotable lines from her thoughts.

Currently she’s making her own tarot deck for an online challenge and they are so beautiful, thought provoking pieces. What I really like about her is that she involves spiritual seeking in documenting her journey as an artist. Be it a tarot readings, art experiments, or choosing a word of the year, she stresses on trusting your intuition and going with the flow. For me, spirituality is a daily pursuit, in whatever I do, but sometimes I do fail to inculcate it. In those times her words and art works are like a reminder, that the time is ticking for all of us, and we should invest time in pursuing what is true to us.

She is indeed very inspiring, and a passionate soul.


 “Art and love are the same thing: It’s the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you.” ― Chuck Klosterman, Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story


I have been following all the mentioned awesome people for over two years, and I don’t know, I have formed an emotional connection with them. Their journey feels personal. I wish them my best, wait for updates. It’s like catching up with friends who are way across the sea in different countries. What I believe is that we draw inspiration- people can’t inspire us if we don’t draw inspiration from them. I draw my motivation from these awesome girls. Whom do you follow?

My recent follows: The Artidote - perfect combination of words and visual art.

Shekhar Kapur- His instastories are so full of wisdom, worldly knowledge, takes on life, moments and beauty.



I am participating in the #AToZChallenge with #BlogchatterA2Z and I am sharing posts themed around Art for this entire month of April. Share and connect with me on social media.
Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram 


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Queeristan by Parmesh Sahani

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  Queeristan (Amazon Link) Thanks to Audible Free Trial I listened to this amazing non-fiction on LGBTQ inclusion in Indian workplaces. Author Parmesh Sahani identifies as gay Indian, working closely with Godrej higher management and employees for years to create an inclusive workplace, both legally and in spirit. This book is a result of those years of experience, research, collaboration with individuals from difference spectrum of the society and organizations who has successfully transitioned into a queer friendly one.   Indian history is inclusive. From the Khajuraho temple architectures, to Konark to the Rig Veda, there is existing proofs even 2000 years ago of Indian inclusiveness of queer. It’s the draconian British law that criminalised it, which was scraped in 2009, came into effect once again following a sad judgement in 2013 and eventually was scraped off for good in 2018. I am in awe of the lawyers who fought this legal battle- colleagues and partners – Arundhati Katju
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