So. It sucks to be alive in the world right now. But, life has always been hard. For some people it has always been hard. Let’s talk about artists.
Unless backed by an exorbitant amount of money, artists throughout history have struggled to make their art. The struggling artist is a stereotype that we have seen throughout history and that is because art is not seen as something essential. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs it isn’t included in our pyramid, but some may argue that art is foundational human, in fact it lives underneath that pyramid. For me, and many…
To be an artist is to be always aware. If I have learned anything over these past months… it is that I am constantly learning how capable my awareness is.
In both my personal life and professional, the tools I am crafting as an actor and creative stem from me. I am all the paint and canvas that I have available so that is where I began in this rediscovery of being an artist. I began with a rediscovery of me, which at this current moment has been painful.
I’m sure many people understand the need a drive to be…
I just finished working as a Group Leader for the Open Jar Institute.
As I sit here in my bed watching the last season of The West Wing, I think about the idea of inspiration and endurance. I have pushed so much energy into these students that I realized teaching is a full time job. Giving knowledge and energy is a full time job, which is why I have so much respect for my past mentors and teachers that have made me who I am today. Now I sit here looking for the next thing.
I left my job working…
I have been trying to swim up to four miles a week and have been keeping up with that for about two weeks now. My body has never really been in a place where I have felt sexy or confident about my mid-section, but I think that will change this year. I’m learning what a priority looks like, and it is time I finally prioritize myself. And that notion makes me really ecstatic.
What does this mean in the long-term? It means a healthier body, a calmer mind, and ability to take time for mindfulness. Being underwater, as an artist…
Today I start a new journey.
I have spent the past weekend solidifying my choice to create a work of art. Something that shines historical light on tragedies of the past that we cannot forget. I have locked myself within these dark realities for awhile and will continue to do so until the play is done.
While I’m sitting here in the massive New York Public Library on 42nd street, I escape the scorching weather outside and grab hold to the chilled, air-conditioned environment incubating every word I take in. The state of our world is so terrifying… I constantly…
The graphic novel, Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic Novel, written by Trevor R. Getz and illustrated by Liz Clarke tells the story of Abina Mansah, a young slave girl from the Gold Coast. The author, Getz, created this graphic novel to portray this unheard story of a young woman fighting for her own freedom in a country dominated by men and ruled by white, British men. The author takes use of his own creative expression to portray a determined and passionate individual who will stop at nothing to take control of her own life.
Even the cover of…
“Nature… is by the Art of man, as in many other things, so in this also imitated, that it can make an Artificial Animal” (Hobbes, 9).
Hobbes is a philosopher that is keen on establishing and dissecting dichotomies that he has observed in his own realities. Whether one is speaking about the large, big-picture establishment of the “commonwealth,” or if one can be so in-tune with oneself that he or she is capable of sensing the pressures of the constant motions of “objects” that are attributed to the internal reactions of our senses on the external world.
Hobbes begins his…
Ry Armstrong
actor, creative, and environmental activist. ryarmstrong.co
