2016
Oh the irony of unpulished drafts, that have remained unpublished for many of the reasons the draft was written saying I would change. - This was from January of 2016. I have since left the business. I did make the branding changes. I have not been active on my site, because of… oh because of all the things.
Over the past weekend Kat (of Why Knot Fibers) and I had a business retreat. We rented a little studio buried in snow, nestled into a meadow/woods. The goal was to plan the year and decide finally what is my role in the business. Basically we had "the talk." I am no longer her yarn mistress, but official Partner.
Part of that conversation also included use of social media/branding. One of my goals for 2016 personally is to increase Authenticity. Authenticity is very important to me, but sometimes in the face of life, society, habits, and other pressures we slide away from our authentic selves into a 'safer' mask. My art has been/continues to explore that concept, and yet I have been keeping that part of myself a bit more hidden (another area I was struggling with making a commitment ;)* ).
Coming out of the retreat, in addition to the work of becoming partners and the work of ramping up the yarn lines for the spring, I am creating clarity around my art. I updated my Instagram account to reflect Roxie Lune, created a Facebook page for Roxie Lune and all of my Instagram posts will be shared there instead of on my personal page.
For the past few years, most of my art exploration has been through Instagram. The instantaneous of it, the ease of having an idea to share and getting it out there, on my phone, in whatever time I had, was essential. One of my stated driving forces on this website has been to embrace all of the different directions of art and creativity that I want and am pursing, and yet my most active work was not being included or promoted through Roxie Lune. Partly this is because the line between personal/professional is especially blurred as both an artist and with social media. I have struggled over the past 10+ years at walking that line in a way that feels true, authentic, and safe. However, managing a multitude of different accounts/identities for different audiences is exhausting and creates a barrier between the creative process and the creative exchange. Instead of trying to craft different identities that allow me to carefully distribute/share with only the audiences I think will want that, I am opting to be me authentically, messily, boundary crossing, me. Because if you know me in person, that is actually how I am (how most people are? We don't really wear only one mask). So I will let others choose what/how much if any they want to participate in that exchange. Ideally all of this means I will be posting and sharing more in the upcoming year. YAY!
* This seems to be an ongoing theme for me, hesitation on commitment. I often leave envelopes unsealed because sealing them is such a commitment. Choosing a path means not choosing a different path... oh all of the opportunities are exciting/fun I don't want to pick just one :)