Looking Back

One of my (too many) projects this year has been building my new website. It's broken down in a logical way - separating my art from my books, one page for drawings, one page for paintings, a contact page... Pretty standard stuff. But I've also added a page called "DemoniCat" that I lovingly refer to as "ye olden days" page. It houses the old artwork from my awkward, emotional teenage years.  

It doesn't show EVERYTHING, because there would be hundreds (yes, literal hundreds) of pieces to wade through. I certainly can't handle that much reminiscing - can you?

I wanted to include this page on my website for multiple reasons. One, because I cleaned out my and deleted my DeviantART account after seeing them officially encouraging the use of AI generators to make "art". I won't get into the topic of AI generators right now, but you can read my thoughts on it in a previous post. My DA account, ~demonicat, was over 20 years old. I began posting my art there when I was only 16. I bought DA shirts (I still have them!) and art prints, followed my favorite artists, and met other artists my age. To this day, I still sign all my art with "<3DC!" When I draw self-portraits, I draw DemoniCat (aka "DC", a demon-cat princess). For many years, if you Googled "demonicat" 95% of the search results were my art. With the end of my DA account comes the end of the online artist demonicat, leaving only Red Stone Art Studio to continue my journey.

It wasn't an easy decision to close my account, but it felt like the right time to do it. It took me hours to do, going through each posted piece, saving it, then deleting it.

​...Did you really think I was just going to wipe that slate clean without keeping some mementos? Silly friend, I still have it all stored digitally! ;)

The main reason I kept the account open (even though I wasn't posting new art there anymore) was to use as an example for when I was talking to kids! See, when I was a kid my parents were my cheerleaders. They always encouraged me in my artistic pursuits, listening as I would talk about my weird characters and drawings, pushing me to enter shows and contests, taking me to art openings at the local college and art center - they even paid for a year long subscription to DA for my birthday once! But they are my parents, they have to be encouraging, right? (Sorry Mom and Dad!) 

It would have been incredible if I had an older artist as a mentor, or even just to encourage my shy, insecure self every once in a while! So when the opportunity comes along for me to step into that role for a young person... I will jump on it!

But there's one small snag with that. See, those young artists are seeing my current art. I very specifically tell them, "Don't compare your art to my art now, look at the work I was creating when I was your age." I've had over 20 years of practice since then, and that's the key to my success today: decades of practice.

I am not ashamed of the artwork I made as a kid - it was my best at the time, just like the work I create now is my best, and my art and skills in the future will continue to grow with every drawing and painting I make. This is the true journey of an artist, and I'm proud of the journey I have had to get to where I am now. (Screw you, imposter syndrome!)