It has been awhile since I last got into anything of an artistic nature, be that writing or fine art and I am beginning to wonder if I will ever be able to get back into it.

I came to Oxford this summer with an additional intent of finding my muse again. Jesse, May and even Lyric have been off doing their own things for months, at least, and left me without even a note to tell me when they would be back. I'm at a loss for this.

This is not to say I do not still have my creativity. I have a few ideas for stories and art projects but I feel...lost almost, like a novice who has no idea where to start. I need a push or something to get me on my way. Initiative has never been a strong suit of mine and now, when I most desire it, it is even more elusive than it ever has been in the past.

Of all things, photography has been my pseudo-outlet for creativity. With the road trip I took earlier this summer and here at Oxford, I am seeing plenty of new things and wish to record them in some way. In the past, photography was never a strong desire or avenue to pursue, though I have many friends and acquaintances who enjoy it very much, Jen to name but one. It never struck me as something to go after, though, to study and enjoy, but I find now, at the ripe old age of twenty years it is the one thing I have really been able to adhere to. But even so, I find myself simply trying to commit things to memory rather than try to capture them in a camera obscura.

This is not to say, again, that I have not done a few things. I sketch now and again but I still find myself at a loss for being able to do anything else rather than simply sketch. Drawing and painting and anything else of that nature is really getting to be a weak or non-existent past time of mine. Again, I feel lost, hopeless against this horrendous block that seems to be in my path.

And I wonder if I should even try move it.

Please Fill Out If You Watch Me

"YOU WATCH ME. I want to know 28 things about you. I don't care if we've never talked, never really clicked, or if we already know everything about each other. Let me know with whom I'm friends with!"

1. Your Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favourite Film:
5. Favourite Song or Album:
6. Favourite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:
9. Do we know each other outside of dA?
10. What's your philosophy on life?
11. Is the bottle half-full or half-empty?
12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
13. What is your favourite memory of us?
14. What is your favourite guilty pleasure?
15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the 'world peace etc' malarkey) - what are they?
17. Can we get together and make a cake?
18. Which country is your spiritual home?
19. What is your big weakness?
20. Do you think I'm a good person?
21. What was your best/favourite subject at school?
22. Describe your accent:
23. If you could change anything about me, would you?
24. What do you wear to sleep?
25. Trousers or skirts?
26. Cigarettes or alcohol?
27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
28. Will you repost this so I can fill it out for you?

Goal: Complete the 100 Themes Challenge by December 31, 2010

Possible Themes:
-Lucifer
-Original Characters
-Mythology
-Werewolves

1. Introduction
2. Love
3. Light
4. Dark
5. Seeking Solace
6. Break Away
7. Heaven
8. Innocence
9. Drive
10. Breathe Again
11. Memory
12. Insanity
13. Misfortune
14. Smile
15. Silence
16. Questioning
17. Blood
18. Rainbow
19. Gray
20. Fortitude
21. Vacation
22. Mother Nature
23. Cat
24. No Time
25. Trouble Lurking
26. Tears
27. Foreign
28. Sorrow
29. Happiness
30. Under the Rain
31. Flowers
32. Night
33. Expectations
34. Stars
35. Hold My Hand
36. Precious Treasure
37. Eyes
38. Abandoned
39. Dreams
40. Rated
41. Teamwork
42. Standing Still
43. Dying
44. Two Roads
45. Illusion
46. Family
47. Creation
48. Childhood
49. Stripes
50. Breaking the Rules
51. Sport
52. Deep in Thought
53. Keeping a Secret
54. Tower
55. Waiting
56. Danger Ahead
57. Sacrifice
58. Kick in the Head
59. No Way Out
60. Rejection
61. Fairy Tale
62. Magic
63. Do Not Disturb
64. Multitasking
65. Horror
66. Traps
67. Playing the Melody
68. Hero
69. Annoyance
70. 67%
71. Obsession
72. Mischief Managed
73. I Can't
74. Are You Challenging Me?
75. Mirror
76. Broken Pieces
77. Test
78. Drink
79. Starvation
80. Words
81. Pen and Paper
82. Can You Hear Me?
83. Heal
84. Out Cold
85. Spiral
86. Seeing Red
87. Food
88. Pain
89. Through the Fire
90. Triangle
91. Drowning
92. All That I Have
93. Give Up
94. Last Hope
95. Advertisement
96. In the Storm
97. Safety First
98. Puzzle
99. Solitude
100. Relaxation

Hey all,

Kaye here, updating for the first time in a few months. I have a good amount of artwork that I need to put up here, but I don't have internet on the desktop so it'll be a bit in coming. Have to get the new battery for the laptop before I can start uploading it really, so I'll try to have it all done for next week.

Aside from that, I have less that two weeks before I leave the country. I'm heading off to Oxford in England for five weeks to participate in a Study Abroad program. Going to be taking two classes there: "Shakespeare" and "Language and Linguistics."

Should be interesting.

But anyway, if you've noticed, I've cleared out all my old journals and I'll be working on clearing out the old drawings and such as well. Just needing a new start to all this, so I'll work on a new ID and then upload all the new artwork within the next two weeks.

Sincerely,
-Kaye

P.S. I left one journal entry up because it's an important topic to me and I actually got comments on it (gasp!). So, I'm leaving it and feel free to read it if you so desire.

Something that bothers me about dA is the comments. Always, always whenever someone does a good job on a piece, everyone just fawns over them and is like "oh, I like this" or "this is really cool!!! ". I try not to comment very much and even more rarely leave a comment along those lines. I usually breeze through the comments a few times, looking at what people write and it is usually something like stated above. The artist most likely won't respond to that at all, or if they do, it's with a "Thank you", a "ty" or "Thanks!" These are all unbiased responses, which is fine, especially when you get about 300+ comments on a piece all stating the exact same thing. *coughs lightly*
I've found, however, that most people who respond asking a few questions or pointing out things that they have noticed (ex. choice of colour, pose, tone of the piece) usually get much more of a response from the artist. These are the types of comments that I try to leave, commenting on the actual piece, as well as a compliment and statement of my like for it. I usually ask a question about it and these sometimes go unnoticed but MUCH more often do people respond and sometimes small discussions involving the piece evolve. Most people don't read the comments of other artists' pieces, so it isn't unfair to those if you take a bit of the artists' time to discuss the piece where you posted a comment.
Actual interest in the piece other than an "Oh, this is really cool" and a favourite added to your account goes a lot farther than a quick statement of liking the piece. I like to be challenged, I like it when people tell me "Oh, this shouldn't be like this, you should do this and this to get the effect you were looking for". I like when people criticize my works and I like it even more when these people know what they're talking about. Sure, it's nice to get a compliment, but it strikes me as being more complimentary when someone tries to correct something I did because it makes me feel like they want me to do better. I try to give a bit of my own knowledge with every piece. I took four years of art in high school and studied a lot of different styles. I want to take some art history classes, too, in college as well as some additional attempts to increase my talent. Getting side-tracked, though...

All in all, I think people should leave more intelligent comments on artworks that they genuinely like.