And that, boys, is how it's done

Unfortunately for me, being a practicing artist doesn't pay the bills. So to get by I have a job in retail as well. I do actually enjoy it, so I guess that makes it all ok.
But, every shift I work I get hit on, asked out, or "pet-named". It's something I have to deal with all the time as a woman. Sometimes it's sweet, I get made to laugh, I am classily handed a business card with a number, but other times it's quite degrading and demanding and rather misogynistic.
Today, however, a true gentleman walked into my shop, and I feel it's worth sharing.
I was sitting behind the counter, reading my book, as is actually part of my job, and I was quietly approached by a man with a friendly smile and two large coffees.
"So I have two coffees, and I was wondering if you might like one,' he said to me.
"Really?"
"Yes really, for you, if you want it," he replied.
"Thank you," I returned with true sincerity.
He returned my smile with warmth, and wandered around the store, bought an item, wished me a good afternoon and left.
There was no smut, there was no assumptions, there was no pressure, and was not very long. And it made me feel lovely. Now that it was it supposed to happen.
Now if only it was Elijah Wood or Tom Hiddleston doing that in my store...

Never noticed how much facebook controls my day before...

Ah, life. That unforgiving, controlling necessity we all participate in.
And yet, Facebook is not really something that should control a life, and yet it really does.

I found myself this morning, faced with a strange blue screen asking me to confirm my identity. I was baffled; I hadn't spoken against anyone, any sexuality, any religion, I hadn't fought with someone or used strong language, and yet here I was, facing that screen of doom for anyone using an alter-ego; I had been reported as a fake account.
As one can assume, I was furious! I hadn't hurt anyone, it didn't stop others from interacting with me, and yet, here I was being forced to either provide details of my name, or lose my account in seven days.
Well, as you can imagine, I chose to provide "details" {cough cough} as no-one has any right to tell me that I don't exist, or that my name is acceptable!
But, this is nothing to the utter frustration of knowing it only took the facebook police two hours to take my account down after I was brought to their attention, but after twelve hours of waiting, I still haven't been allowed back onto the site. And that is what hit me the most; that I was so controlled by this site, that I had spent my whole day worrying about the fact that I couldn't get on.
Quite frankly, it's bizarre.

How is it, that our whole lives have become about scrolling the "newsfeed" and "likes"? I never noticed it until now, but we all do it now, a moment where we look at what others are doing, liking, saying.
Don't get me wrong, I will be back, and I will be just as addicted. But, I hope now, that I have had to deal with a whole day without my art friends, my models, and my admirers, that I can learn to go through my days without it.

And now to finish, here is some art.
xx

Modern Mythology- Dreamy fantasy photograph's by artist Eating Strawberries

I love fantasy, always have. So for me it is a thrill to use that subject matter in my art. Elves, nymphs, fairies, priestesses and the like all come to life in spaces where you might not have previously looked to find such creatures.
These images came to life simply because I happened to look in the right direction and see a spot f spectacular autumn light and i thought to myself i could imagine a elf appearing there, so that's what I made happen, and since then I have continued it, to make a modern mythology of Australian Autumn creatures.

"In the end"-some new stuff from artist Eating Strawberries

WOW, I have been away for such a long time! sorry strawberry-peeps.
I have still been art-ing, but i have also been working for the money to make such things, so my time is even more divided.
I have been working on a series called "In the end" which comes from "Gollum's song" for the Two Towers {Lord of the rings} with the line "And in the end I will be what I will be, no loyal friend was ever there for me", and it's about various ways in which woman are viewed in society, from lovers, to murderers, to sweet and loyal, to evil and promiscuous. It is also a series in which I have been taking a step back from my costume work and using the body as subject, both to clearly convey the female form in my work, and to explore the body as object, which is why all my series features my model, Bellatrix Immortal concealing her face.
As I have gotten older, I have found the gender equality gap become wider and more prominent, and I had to start using that in my work. {some of these images have been edited for facebook purposes as they have boobs in them! oh no!}