reminder to my future self:

start writing again

it has been so since I’ve written anything that I feel like I am losing a part of myself that I quite liked: the writer. it seems that I am trying to be and do so many things that I have forgotten one of the most cathartic ones.

I am deep in the editing stage of you look like you’re looking for something and it feels like this book is NEVER going to come out. I know it will but it is so daunting and seems so far away that it is stressing me out so I am, naturally, pretending that it’s not happening. luckily I hired an editor that is saving my life, brenna croker, and she is helping me figure out how this thing is going to come together. the content is there but the order is definitely not. this seems to be a reoccuring theme in my life, no?

sometimes you just need to make or write something and then not look at it for 5 months, you know? that time is essential: you come back to that piece as a different person. revision has always, always, always been the most important part of the writing process for me. I will work on a painting for a year and revisit it every month or so. unfortunately, I am in the stage of this book that I want nothing to do with it and I don’t want to look at it so I am going to move on but just know it is *in the works.*

I moved to a different apartment a few months ago and I FINALLY got to hanging up all this art I made with some of my friends and I am so happy with how it came out.

other things to note:

-rewind kingston, my family’s thrift/vintage/used book/art/gift store in kingston, ny has been getting alot of my time. it’s been so fun creating a brand from start to finish and all of the social media and marketing I’ve been doing for it has been so fun.

-I am illustrating a children’s book for a friend.

-doing logos for a local publication and local farm

-working my day job.

-making my website (www.karlieflood.com)

-making prints and greeting cards and journals and always something random and ridiculous. It is so HARD to make enough money to survive through freelance work—they weren’t kidding about the starving artist thing—but I have to believe it will be work it. I am not bored (but at what cost?????!!!)

anyways, rewind is having a barbie party. here is the flyer I made:

I stumbled upon the piece below while updating my website. I made this awhile ago as 1/4 of a series commission for a family friend. she wanted something that illustrated overcoming adversities and I drew this girly. I’ve always loved drawing but it scares me because it’s so obvious if you’re not good at it. my art is so messy and chaotic and imperfect that it frees me from criticism because it’s art, it’s supposed to be like that and you can’t tell me otherwise. drawing always feels like there is a clear “good” and “bad,” so I mostly stayed away. illustrating this book has been a very good exercise for me in realizing there is no good or bad: there is just art.

rewind kingston logo:

I’ll write something purposeful later, but in the meantime, you can find me on instagram here and here, my website, or rewind’s website.

been lagging on my instagram because it’s always the last thing I get to now, but thank you for sticking around. it will one day be as active as I want it to be.

lovelovelove,

karlie