The last few weeks have been fast moving, and I’m gaining momentum as the year starts to re-open and the general hustle and bustle begins. This year has started with quite a lot of planning and excitement for me. I’ve been drawing frequently and really enjoying my own personal comics.
However today I decided to start posting them. And it was done with a bit of a pang of sadness; that they were no longer mine, they were out in the world and it makes me feel exposed. So now I’m trying my best to not look at social media, mainly because I feel it diminishes my creativity, it is a time waster and it puts unnecessary pressure on me. But boy is it hard. I can’t just not look at it. I first have to check that it is working. Which means I get to see if it’s doing well in its first moments. Ugh, I really hate that as it usually derails my work-time. So far, so good though.
I want to be invisible online now. No more being readily available to people. I just want to be in my inner world as I create things.
Oh this is from last Friday – a new restaurant opened, just up on the corner of K Rd – Casa Bella! We had some yummy pizzas, and I had a very strong but very delicious cocktail!
Last Friday I went to life drawing at the Auckland Art Gallery. It was definitely worth going, it got me into the rhythm of drawing and I came home feeling energised. I drew this when I came back home:
It is always a bit of a balancing act to try to get into creative flow, especially when I’m interrupted. But for some reason, this worked really well, almost like it’s not the “getting into” but the “warming up” that is important. This was thinking about the visual essays that I will create for Cyborg vs. Ai.
I’m really excited about it, as I think it will be the basis for my graphic novel.
So two more bits of news. Do you want the good news or the bad news? The bad news is a woman emailed, asking if I would do artwork for the cover of Diabetiologia for a minimum payment. I declined. I cannot do things for free anymore. I won’t. Why should I? Use AI if you want free art, but pay artists if you want quality artwork, and include it in your funding. If you haven’t, that isn’t my problem.
So the kinda good news: I’ve been invited to go to Jaipur, India to present on the topic of art and advocacy for the Global Diabetes Summit. At the end of last year, I thought about applying to go to the Summit but then decided that it wasn’t a good idea because of the short amount of time I’d be there, and that the trip would be 30 hours! But Matthew Garza, who I worked with at Diatribe emailed to ask me, and they have been so amazing to work with, so I guess I can’t refuse? I have to decide by Monday.
I also haven’t heard back from my application for ATTD in Barcelona. It’s getting kinda late now, so I guess I’m not going there. I will try and apply again next year.
More good news: Sanjana from WHO contacted me to ask if I wanted to work with them on the Lived Experience Event in June 2026. So that is really great news, and I’m excited about it.
I really struggle being both a public and private person – I’m excited by in-person events and meeting people, but I hate being on social media, even though it’s important to keep visibility on there.