Am I a Racist Writer?

There are many groups underrepresented in today's culture. As a woman, I often feel underrepresented. As a straight white person I'm objectively overrepresented. And I do underrepresent people of colour and the LGBT community in my own writing. So am I a bad person?

If you look closely and try to understand why underrepresentation happens you sooner or later
realize that you underrepresent other people as well ...

When I was seven or eight years old I made a curious observation: Almost all heroes of the stories I liked were male. Women and girls were usually nothing more than side-characters, prizes to be won or even some weird kind of background decoration. Needless to say, I rarely could identify with them. This may be one of the reasons why I have issues fully identifying with my gender: What I was told being female means never really matched what I wanted to be like. Fairytales, books, movies ... All those stories taught me to identify with men.

Art Is Immortality - Why Artists Never Die

It's fascinating how the words "art" and "immortality" often stand close to each other. We speak of art that is immortal and the immortal fame of artists. And though this may sound like mere rhetoric, art and immortality actually are linked very closely. Because, in a way, art is suited for communication with people long dead.

The most realistic way to become immortal is to create art.

There are true words of wisdom said by the therapist, psychologist, communications theorist and philosopher Paul Watzlawick:

"One cannot not communicate."

Communication is behaviour, and behaviour doesn't have an opposite. What doesn't have an opposite doesn't have gradations. One can't say a person is more or less communicative than another, because even if a person hides from the rest of the world and never says a word, this person still permanently communicates that they don't want to interact with anybody.

Does Specialization Kill Creativity?

Sometimes artists we admire don't seem to move forward. They're good at what they do, but they don't seem to evolve. May they be trapped in their respective field? And is it bad for creativity?

The multipotentialite Leonardo da Vinci would have had quite some trouble in our era.

I've followed quite a few artists so far. I enjoyed their books, their music, their paintings, their movies, their jewellery designs ... And even though their art still amazes me, with time, I stopped following some of them. - Why? Because their art bored me.

The Art of Imitation - Lack of Originality?

There are many different kinds of imitation in art. At the same time, we expect artworks to be original. But is it really a contradiction?

What makes realism and photography artistic is the original input by the artist.

Most people in the art community agree that tracing other people's drawings isn't the ideal form of art. Many people feel it's okay for learning purposes and I, too, have learned a lot by tracing and copying drawings and photos. Yet the problem with copying is that it lacks originality and thus isn't real art.

... Really?

Creating Art with Software - Is It Cheating?

Computers ease many processes - the process of art creation included. Working on a creative project requires less and less skill. All you need is a little basic knowledge and a good idea. Art isn't what it used to be. - Or is it?

We can't stop technological progress. We can only embrace it and make the best of it.

Computers ease many processes - the process of art creation included. Using traditional brush and canvas, you have to paint every single grass stalk when painting a landscape. If you use Photoshop, however, you can adjust the brush settings in a way that you only have to go over the areas where you want the grass to be - et voilà, you have a quite realistic grassy landscape within a few seconds.

With other art genres it's no different. You play only keyboard, but you need a guitar for your piece? No problem, there's software for that. You want to create a video game, but you have no programming skills? There's easy editing software for that as well. You need a professional-looking website, but you don't want to waste your time on PHP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS? There's professional software for that, and it's free.

Perceiving Art in Circles - An Autobiography of Being a Fan

Sometimes we love an artwork so much that it impacts our whole life. I'm a passionate fan of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and the person I am now is the result of re-reading the books and re-watching the movies over and over for about 20 years ...

Some artworks give us guidance throughout our whole life.

Some artworks stick with us throughout our whole life. We keep re-reading, re-watching and re-playing them over and over again while our friends and family just roll their eyes and wonder when we'll finally be fed up with them. But, sadly for these people, this never happens.

For me, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is this kind of artwork. After my parents introduced me to its prequel The Hobbit at the age of five and I forced them to read it to me over and over again they decided it was time for the great trilogy. I was only seven years old back then. And little did I know that this novel would be one of the greatest influences in my life.

Childish Fascination

My first experience with LotR was an adventure. I completely immersed myself in the world of Middle-earth, I was really scared when the Hobbits were buried alive in the Barrow-Downs, I participated in their every step, and I developed a childish crush on Merry.

Is Performing an Art Form?

Are actors, singers and musicians performing other people's creations actually artists? What do they create? This week I dive into the specifics of performing arts.

When performers enjoy themselves they pass this joy on to the audience.

Nowadays we have quite a culture of idolizing actors, musicians and singers. But being a writer, I kept wondering:

Art is about creating. Writers create stories. Composers create music. Artists create drawings and paintings. Architects create buildings. Sculptors create sculptures. Game developers create games. But what do actors, musicians and singers do other than perform what other people have created?