Recent reflection has me ruminating about communication and how I still feel stuck in 2010. Or at least, the 2010s online language. 

I have social media and I recognise the patterns that people create in their posts, how the algorithm seems to shift them past my feeds, the changes of that visual language and I am feeling exhausted by it. But I am also exhausted by a few messages that I have read from the push notification but haven't opened or responded to as well. In the days where I had more time to faff about the internet, I recall that I would need to wait in order to connect either because my phone was a simple brick with no pre-paid money charged on it, or because my laptop stayed at home.  

I have this blog that I draw myself to when I feel the need to articulate something around my art. Well "blog" suggests community and an opportunity for response, this is more like a whiteboard for thoughts that I can't quite put into speech or art. 

Recently when talking with a friend *in person* (fancy~) the discussion led to the anniversary of the all your base meme., a meme that both made us giggle on recollection. 

Weird that I picked 2010 as the reference point for this thought. In the wider social circles I found online it felt as though you would still be able to quote this in-joke and have a positive response from people despite the meme being 9 years old. I talked about this again with said friend a week later and we tried to think of what the longest living "recent meme" was and all we could come up with was the "get stick bugged lol". Then it turns out that was 5 years ago, not quite what I would call recent. 

This does really feel like an "old man yells at cloud" story at the moment, if you uuh... get that reference.   

Social media was around but I remember using mostly MSN and Forums for my communication and honestly, that is where my friends were. So even in saying something as wanky as "oh I wish i could stay away from my screens and/or phone" I remember racing at the end of the day to my computer so I could log on and talk to friends and read fanfic until ungodly hours of the morning. I guess now the pace feels so much faster and that you are always clocked in. 

At least on MSN you could set your status to an invisible "Offline". 

Be good,

Havra. 

2025 brought a lot change. Looking back there were a few things I am proudest of. 

I trialed an online stall and a physical stall. I committed to once a week sitting down with a friend to build this stall. 

Hope that 2026 can bring so much more! 

Be good,

Havra. 

Lately I have been drawing more for joy leaning into doing some fan arts. I recently played through Hollow Knight for the first time. 

Hollow Knight was a game that I wanted to play after seeing it as AvCon Staff around 2015. Somehow, I had developed the belief at this time that I am not good at games and thus, a metroidvania was not worth trying. 

Cut to 2025 and 3 key factors happen: Silksong suddenly drops, a friend messages to tell me she is one bottle of wine deep playing Hollow Knight, and I have a Steam Deck. 

To follow my inebriated friend, I started playing. Unlike 2015 I gave myself grace, patience and most importantly: time. I played without the expectation that I had to "be good" and instead played with the goal of exploration. 

And there it was, a feeling I had missed, something stirred that I had not felt in years. The joy of playing video games. 

As a mum it has felt very difficult to justify putting myself to tasks that are specifically for me rather than tasks that function for me and the household. 

I guess this is a show that I am re-learning how to enjoy what I love and it is showing in my art.

Thank you, Team. Cherry. 

Be good,

Havra. 

I have been applying myself to this idea of branding and trying to find my style. Unlike when i was younger, I am actually finding it hard thinking of what to say when I post. I have made a few unsuccessful applications for local events recently and I fear much of it comes down to re-learning how to be present online. Or even simply how to do that in a healthy way. 

I guess this is me making a declaration to the universe that I am still here.  

I am still trying. 

I won't give up.

Be good,

Havra. 

"Make it Exist, Polish later" 

This is my current mantra that has been serving me well.  By beginning I then felt the pull to take the time to slowly paint and polish this paint. 

This work was inspired by the feeling I had watching Poi bubble videos online and I am proud of this work for 2 reasons: 

One - I really like how it turned out overall. I was so happy with how the colours came out and how the whole piece leans into the purple hues. 

Two - this feels like a statement or flagpost of some kind. one that I can refer back to and measure my progress against. 

It is all very exciting :)

Be good,

Havra. 

Building is hard, let's go shopping.

Setting up art stalls to work on has been the current task. For the first time I have an online store as well woohoo! So far I have a stall set up at my son's childcare and have put some applications in for stalls and around Adelaide.

My current pride and joy is my Mahjong plushie keychains, the hope is I can print more in line with my South Australian Mahjong tile designs!

 Now that we are coming up on the Christmas period I am hoping to do some more festive arts. I am not sure exactly where I will be displaying my work but hoping for something soon! 

Be good,

Havra. 

Today marks the day for a soft launch of this updated website and with it I begin to feel vulnerable. 

In preparation for this website launch I have been reading about marketing, branding and advertisement to get a better idea of what I want to present. 

What I do know is that I want to earnestly try to sell my art, creating things that communicate connection to this world and people. 

Despite much of what is provided to me in media these days I do believe in the good that people have and it being worth our love and care. 

The world feels infinite and much of what I read feels so far out of my control. When I seek connection to the world and my influence on it, I often find something inane and fanciful. 

In a world where cultivating being genuine seems an impossibility I will approach this as open as I can knowing that while this feels vulnerable for now, it has the potential to grow into something wonderful. 

As for how that looks in my art, I haven't figured that out yet. I do hope you keep an eye out for me on this journey and drop in when you can. 

Be good,

Havra.