'Toto' (Aleksina Teto)
Bio
A Canadian designer, writer, typographer, and artist.
Stories (35/0)
Imposture Syndrome
Infinite scrolling for inspiration - I'll get a spark, right? I'm not gonna lie, I think I spend more time looking at what other people have created than creating my own art. Writing this, I question how willing I am to even call myself an artist versus just a slightly more nuanced online art viewer. At one point, I even did daily writing for over a year, which I even posted. Now, sometimes I'll find myself in that spiral of drawing the same 3/4 face and watching that little line blink on an empty white Word document.
By 'Toto' (Aleksina Teto)2 years ago in Motivation
Finding Your Voice
Having a voice, expressing your own identity, being authentic, knowing yourself... As our culture changes, and information is more readily available, more people know how to do specialized tasks. Especially with creative fields, the amount of people who have skills in video, painting, digital art, audio... you name it, is flooded. Though they are skills you can develop for a whole lifetime and still have more to learn, the knowledge is easily accessible and many people know and use those skills.
By 'Toto' (Aleksina Teto)3 years ago in Journal
How I Got Creating Again
There have been moments I've questioned if I'll ever want to create again. At times it gets bad enough I question my own ability at creativity. Months on end of not wanting to draw, write, record... do anything that requires developing an idea. When I do begin to try, I question every stroke and every sentence. Nothing quite hits the mark.
By 'Toto' (Aleksina Teto)5 years ago in Motivation
Creativity, Culture, and the Factory Mindset
Creativity, Cultural Shift, Labour, Factories Getting labeled as creative, there's a motivation or pressure to always be creative. If you draw, write, craft, it "must spread into other avenues." In some cases, that is true. Thriving off creativity, normally something on my plate is creative, whether it's a drawing, a meal, or how I'm going to tie my shoelaces.
By 'Toto' (Aleksina Teto)5 years ago in Journal
Rekindle Creativity
Recently, the white page has been winning. Sitting down to create, I get distracted by Netflix, my phone, video games, eating, staring at a ceiling chanting... it's been bad. I managed to convince myself I wasn't creative. Looking back at my creative output from this last year, I found myself getting anxious, as if it was a callout, rubbing in self-esteem issues. Within that, I managed to convince myself I lost all creativity I once had.
By 'Toto' (Aleksina Teto)5 years ago in Journal
No Resolutions for the New Year
New year, new you, new expectations of who you should be. With each year, it is so tempting to make resolutions and promises to yourself of the person you want to become in the coming year. There is a glow of optimism, and maybe a little nervousness. Fitness, career, personal... there is always an area that could be better. We are human.
By 'Toto' (Aleksina Teto)5 years ago in Motivation
That's Enough Critique Already
Music blaring in my ears, I glare at my painting as I work it to death. How dare it not be perfect! Going back to my post two weeks ago, I've really gotten caught on the idea of judgment, especially creatively. As the idea hit me harder than I ever expected, I started to notice myself judging others, not deeming anything as bad, but instantly getting into the head space of critiquing. Not only others though, probably even more aggressively, I was critiquing myself.
By 'Toto' (Aleksina Teto)5 years ago in Journal
Shame of the Non-Creator
I remember a time when I would spend endless hours drawing, crafting, my hands always busy. In middle school, my classmates and I each made a pie chart showing how we use our time. My desk partner was an athlete and a mild socialite. His time was divided with running, football, homework, socializing, and a few other activities. He slept for a healthy seven to eight hours per day. And then there was my pie chart. I was in bed for 10 hours, three hours of which were spent writing stories in my head, school was however many hours, travel was minimally an hour to two depending on summer or snow, and every other minute was given to drawing.
By 'Toto' (Aleksina Teto)5 years ago in Journal