Conversations

A long time ago, I rented an apartment west of Denman Street, in Vancouver. This small, low-rise residential zone in the heart of the city is still one of my favourite hoods. To the west stretches Stanley Park, and to the east, the high-rises of downtown. A curious little pocket with no traffic. What had sold me on the particular apartment was a lovely inlaid oak floor and an ancient Bakelite wall phone that lived in a tiny alcove made just for it – the previous tenant had clearly been there a long time.

With a little shelf on the bottom and a half-circle top, it felt like a sort of shrine to communication and connection - a space dedicated to conversation, and not much else. It felt vaguely religious... something confessional? There was something about that phone-shrine, and the value of the good conversation has endured, despite our new diet of short attention span (we've been fracked), clipped texting (bonsai-ed by the Telcos?) and the thin soup of a virtual social context (transactional exchanges?)

Getting My Fix...

So, dear reader, in my quest to wrest back the real from the virtual and fan the flame of conversation, I'm starting a sort of AMA! An ask me anything, one that is more reciprocal and relational:

• Conversations With Readers - CWR?
• Speak Easy Sessions - SES?
• Yak At Mes - YAMs? – I like yams.

With YAMs, we can both ask questions and root around for answers, or maybe not. Maybe ambiguity is fine? Maybe we just have a wandering conversation and see where paths take us. Maybe you do have a burning question, or something you'd like to ask about, and maybe you just want to gab. Maybe a drawing comes out of it, or maybe a story, or maybe both?

And also...

I have a more prosaic reason for this now. I'm getting help with moving this blog to Substack, adding membership tiers and growing our little circle. I'm also working with someone to help create a shop for prints and cards, and book projects - to get some merch out. Substack won't be as clean as this blog, and yet an illustrator's gotta live, and so, reluctantly, it's time to join the thundering herd with a subscription-based thing. I hope you'll all come along.

And also, I really just would like to hear from you... It's a lonely job, this illustrating and writing and posting. A bit like dropping a penny in the well and waiting to hear it drop, sometimes there's an echo, sometimes there's not. I'd like to hear about your experience with this little project over the years. What works, what doesn't, what lands, what sucks? What would you like more of?? Less of? I think it's called feedback - I'd like feedback.

So now is not the time to be Reluctant...

Ok, dear reader and subscriber - are you ready for a Yak session? Got a hot topic? No idea what you would want to talk about? Feeling introverted? Shy?

Perfect - pick a time slot and we can yak about it...

If you're not a subscriber, consider subscribing and sign up for a YAK!

Are you up for a YAK?
Scratch that itch in a wandering conversation! It's a chance for subscribers of The Reluctant Illustrator to pop the bubble and wander through whatever's on your mind – or under it.
Pick a time...

Let's Yak!

As always, thanks for reading and indulging!
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