Habemus booklet
Here I am, back from hell, that is the place where in the last few weeks I said to myself: do you know what's up? Let’s do this booklet!
Those who read this newsletter know my shy project of illustrating an artbook dedicated to a trip to Thailand that I took earlier this year. I'll tell you right away that I didn't give birth to an artbook, but I did a fanzine instead!
And since I only talked about it here, in great secrecy, only you can understand my joy at the announcement of this (small) happy event! For me it's something important that I really care about. I want to try to explain why, but I'll do it after I show you a little about the fanzine!
There are about twenty original illustrations, almost all of which are brand new. I didn't write much because I wanted it to be more like flipping through a photo album, rather than a set of information. On the other hand, as I had already said last time, I don't have the arrogance to propose it as a guide, not even an approximate one. It's an illustrated fanzine, printed very well by the same ones who take care of my official prints 🖤 I'm super satisfied with the result, even if it's not the book I dreamed of. It's a small first step, though.
Here’s one of the illustrations with some context:
It's inspired by a strange evening. Advised by the owner of a hotel that I suspect was once a hospital, we went to a local fair in the area of the former Chiang Rai airport. There I realized that the markets seen until that moment were to say the least sweetened for the tourist's palate. Out of thousands of people the aforementioned tourists were 6, us included. The level of decibels was not quantifiable, and neither was the wonders and horrors (like the many animals of all species in not exactly excellent conditions unfortunately). In front of the most glittering and absurd rides ever seen, I thought listening to our guest was a great idea. At that point tough it was inevitable to escape on an old tuktuk, once the eardrums began to bleed.
And here I have come to the point where I explain to you why I cared so much about this project.
Lately I've found myself wondering if it was worth doing things with a lot of effort and passion. Looks like a horrible question to ask, and I never thought I'd have to do it. Yet the massive presence of ai in the creative field, the amount of rehashed and trivial content that erupts from social media, and a year for me particularly sad for a huge loss... have put a strain on my naïf attitude full of hope and sparklings in the eyes. I wondered if doing things "with full heart" was appreciated as an added value or not. If it made sense to give everything, to take those 3 extra hours to perfect a drawing, or to invent a tattoo from scratch without "taking inspiration" from someone else, even if it is less saleable. If it made sense to invent a book that doesn't exist. Or write a newsletter putting in it not only promotions but a more authentic part of me.
The answer is no, it doesn't make sense. And he must not have to make it. It doesn't matter if it's appreciated or not, because this is a job but also my passion, so, as long as it’s possible, I want to do it my way. And I want to do it well, traveling that "extra mile" that it takes to propose new things that excite me, that make this work magical and make the famous sparkling in my eyes sparkle (even if after drawing 12 hours a day I'm afraid I've lost the very few residual diopters I had, and maybe the flashes I see depend more by my shitty retina).
Of course, your support would be a wonderful answer to my question 😂 and in general it already is, because at net of my existential questions my clients have always been special and have always made me feel appreciated 💕 let's say that my reflections refer to the sinister and evil world and the "public" as a generic scary entity. Indeed, I already love you very much just beacuse you are here reading this rant!
However, if you like content like this, your support is so precious to encourage me to continue. And I just mean to tell me your opinion, a feedback, a good word or a pat on the back. And if you want to buy a fanzine, you’ll make me very happy! Here it is available on the shop:
Oh oops, maybe you noticed the title change of the newsletter, it seemed more fun to me. Bellini is my last name, but in italian it also means cute so I find it funny!
Ok that's all because it already looks like a novel!
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart 💖
Laura
