The First One: Corners
When you’re a creative soul searching for an outlet, I think, you often return to your roots. And one of my creative roots is blogging. “Blogging is over. Blogs are dead. Who reads blogs? It’s all social media platforms now. Not on TikTok?” This is just some of the rhetoric I’ve read over the past couple of years, and I could or can easily get caught up in. But then, I kept thinking over the past year, 2020 and with all its highs and lows, that there were highlights that caught my attention. Finds that I wanted to showcase, dreams I wanted to express, objects of art/designers/fashion/books/textiles/jewelry/ceramics/museums/places that I fancy, all of which I kept wanting to organize and share in one place—ahem, a blog.
While blogging might be a thing of the past, I’m one that returns to the past, my past. And in my past, for as long as I can remember, I’ve journaled. So if anything, this will be my online journal around my favorites, my thoughts and commentary on who-knows-what, and a creative outlet for myself to practice the cadence of writing. Putting thoughts down in a coherent matter. Sharing countless imagery from travels that never make it up to the so called “‘gram.”
I need this for myself, selfishly, so with that, there is no promise to anyone or even myself of a daily post, or even a weekly post of such-and-such word count. I’ll pop in here maybe daily, or once, twice a week, whatever my time and creativity needs day to day and week to week.
Why “Corners”? Well, I love nothing more than peeping into someone’s mind, home, closet, or daily life via their own blog and even in real conversation (remember IRL conversation before COVID-19?). Nothing jazzes me up more than getting a sense of someone—their taste. A look into a corner of their mental or physical space. I thought “corner” can aptly cover a vast array of subjects and topics and lend itself to categories that I’m starting to think up (e.g. “World Corners”, “Home Corners”, “Book Corners”, etc.) because I really don’t expect this blog to stick to one niche subject, since I, myself, haven’t been able to do that with any of my hobbies and interests since I learned the pleasure of personal past time.
Last, in starting off on the right blogging foot, a steadfast rule: always attribute your photographs. The above photograph comes from and is of a Hannah Kristina Metz dress (the “Helen” one if you’re so inclined to try and find it. . .). It was the first photo I saved just over a year ago to a new bookmarked collection called “Inspiration” on Instagram. At first, the photograph and the model’s pose is what drew my eye (and it’s the kind of fashion photos I save for possible future drawings) but then, deep diving into Metz’s world, had me falling in love for the organza material that she uses prominently and her structure of such a fine textile giving it volume and drape. In case you’re wondering, the “sheer look” is in for 2021 (still), so it has me itching to purchase a piece, which might make sense to go the Metz route—when she hopefully opens back up as she is currently “closed for a time”—since her pieces are ethically and sustainably made on a family-run factory in India (bonus, and deal clincher for me if it’s from India). Now, I just need an event or more outings to come back onto the calendar in 2021 with real life shaping back into clarity hopefully soon. . .
The jury is still out on if I’ll make an accompanying and separate Instagram account for this page and content, but I’ve got some time. If you have any thoughts or suggestions on an unused ‘gram name, I’m all ears.
I’m conscious of scrolling fatigue these days, and how it’s a very real thing, so to lend a break to the thumbs, I’m wrapping it up—
Here’s to the future, by taking a nod from the past.