Draw That Beast

Inner Pain

2012-01-30T19:33:00.003+11:00

Rorschach

2011-12-02T07:44:00.000+11:00

20111129

2011-12-01T08:24:00.002+11:00

Translation:

"Hunger
In the kitchen.
In the ashtray
a mountain.
Airplane after airplane
cuts through the grey"

Words

2011-11-04T11:14:00.001+11:00

This is a song of my sadness.
Of the Heavens and the Earth.
Of this wonder and loneliness I feel.

For mans blindness and ignorance
of itself and of the creatures of the Earth.
It is a song of wonder and great sadness.

The Drop

2011-09-13T19:15:00.002+10:00

Untitled

2011-09-09T17:27:00.000+10:00

What's your cycle?

2011-09-05T19:32:00.000+10:00

Black Dog (2006)

2011-08-26T18:30:00.003+10:00

Liptember

2011-08-23T21:17:00.015+10:00

*** Update: Well, Liptember is over and what a month is was. Who knew there was so much work involved in being well-groomed! After a month of looking fabulous though, the Lady of the Beast can return to her usual casual lip balm self.

A big THANK YOU to all those who sponsored me during Liptember. Together we raised $AUD280 for mental health. An excellent outcome!

-----------------------------

Every year, the Lady of the Beast financially supports Movember - a charity drive that encourages men to grow beards and ugly moustaches to raise money for organisations addressing mens health issues, including depression. But as a pre-menopausal woman with stable hormones, there's not much chance that the Lady of the Beast can join in the bearded fun any time soon.

But now there's another way to get involved! Liptember asks women to wear lipstick all day every day throughout September while other people sponsor them to do so. Money raised from sponsorship will go directly to the Centre for Women's Mental Health and Lifeline Australia, a crisis support hotline.

Looking hot and raising money and awareness for mental health - what's not to love!?

So please check out this worthwhile cause and, if you've got a spare dollar or maybe even two, sponsor the Lady of the Beast to be her most fabulous best in Liptember :)

http://www.liptember.com.au/profile.aspx?u=draw.that.beast

Cheers
Meagan (aka Lady of the Beast)

Draw that Beast turns one!

2011-07-27T21:59:00.008+10:00

First of all, some serious apologies to Alice Carroll for adding truly dreadful photoshopping to her beautiful logo but it had to be done because Draw that Beast has turned one! :)

This past year has been fascinating and heartening. I am continually humbled by the courage of people to trust me - a virtual stranger - with such highly personal glimpses behind the masks they wear everyday. That trust has allowed this project to become a place of insight and understanding into a common but often unreported condition. So a big thanks to all you brave souls out there - you know who you are!

While this is a project about depression, I find it to be ultimately uplifting and I hope you do too. I see in the comments and emails a sense of connection among people where they may have otherwise felt isolation. Honesty encourages connection.

So onwards we go, further into the journey. As always, feel free to add your beast to the rogues gallery by emailing it to:

drawthatbeast(at)gmail.com

Cheers
Meagan

A touch in the dark

2011-07-16T17:37:00.001+10:00

In the Wash

2011-07-03T11:36:00.000+10:00

The Hole

2011-06-28T21:09:00.001+10:00

Cross_red

2011-06-23T19:10:00.000+10:00

Hole

2011-06-23T19:09:00.000+10:00

Black / White

2011-06-23T19:08:00.000+10:00

Beast on the go

2011-06-02T19:36:00.010+10:00

The Lady of the Beast has been leaving her mark along the way of her merry travels to get the message out there. Berlin, Dresden, Dusseldorf and Bonn are all on beastly notice now!

As always, if there are any beasts lurking out there then feel free to send them this way: drawthatbeast(at)gmail.com

Portrait of a lunatic

2011-05-14T04:39:00.002+10:00

"The invincible fear of our hearts moving up to our heads and our brains escaping into thin air, to vanish and fly away" - Anon -

Despair

2011-04-16T19:30:00.001+10:00

Flawed

2011-04-16T19:29:00.005+10:00

Broken

2011-04-16T19:29:00.003+10:00

Word-Fest

2011-04-14T19:23:00.004+10:00

I have had a flurry of beastly descriptions from people after Draw that Beast was linked somewhere. I'll post the all the descriptions as a stream of thought.

Remember folks, you're always welcome to get visual and email me pictures/photos/montages/drawings/etc. Release the beasts! As always, it's drawthatbeast(at)gmail.com

Cheers
Megan

"Mine looks like a big black mess" - Anon -

"Me with an 'I told you so' smug expression" - Anon -

"Mine is a dimly lit space with no sides but no way out" - Anon -

"A black swirling mass with a frail shrieking creature in the direct center of it" - Anon -

"Grey water, with the surface out of reach" - Anon -

"A big, horrible black storm cloud that wont go away" - Anon -

"A very dark, thick blanket" - Anon -

"A glass vase filled with question marks" - Anon -

"Something out of a horror film- a dark cold scarey fog with a mocking demon that throws insults at you to keep you a prisoner" - Anon -

"Me as a child" - Anon -

"Mine is a crying dark angel who has rapped its wings around himself to shut out the world" - Anon -

"A big thumb pushing me down into the ground" - Anon -

"I see depression as a dark grey cloud - ominous, heavy, sticky and bleak. I can taste it's unpleasant features, feel it's vice like grip. At times it's a monster chasing me through the woods that have no end, over a cliff that has no bottom. It can be scary and ugly, frightening and yet challenging. Depending on what level or form of depression I have I feel like sometimes I can dance with it, play with it, wrap myself up in the cloud and burst the seams with colour and vibrancy - energy far more powerful than the depression. I can feel sorry for it and dialogue with it, make poetry to help it through its dark days. Depression is a friend not a foe. It's hard hard work but when you win it's love it is left with only the name and human meaning of 'depression'. Om shanti" - Anon -

Lines of control

2011-04-12T19:53:00.010+10:00

As a matter of principle, this website is strictly anonymous to encourage people to be less inhibited and reserve the right to disclose their beastly battles without google getting its search engine claws all over their name.

That said, I find the comments people email with their beasts interesting and give a sense of context. In some way, it feels selfish to not publish these offhand insights but the idea is to let the beasts speak for themselves.

One contributor's comments in particular though stuck with me. They submitted art that they did to keep their beast at bay through distraction and channelling abstract emotions. The work wasn't an analogy or interpretation of their beast but closely intertwined because of the battle through which it was born.

I thought of this approach in the past weeks while I've been working on keeping my own beast contained. I wondered about trying my own hand at painting to distract. It was worth a shot and the result is below. I'm a long way from being an artist but the point is more in the labour rather than end product. Perhaps though I have graduated from considering myself a stick figure artist.

And, for what it's worth, concentrating on this piece did help get me through an ebb. Thanks to the original contributor for planting their wise words in my thoughts. You know who you are.

So, just as a side-thought to Draw that Beast, what else do you guys out there get up to to distract yourself? How do you battle your beasts?

New logo!

2011-03-22T22:41:00.014+11:00

The Lady of the Beast has had herself a facelift. Well not so much as a facelift as a complete makeover! Draw that Beast now comes with added new logo.

The official logo exists thanks to the wonderfully talented, generous and artistic Alice Carroll.

Alice and I put our heads together to come up with the new Lady, which we hope you like. She is intended to be a positive character, one who carries a weight but isn’t completely weighed down by it. She has a quiet inner strength to her.

The mask represents that we all, to varying degrees, wear masks to hide our true selves in the day to day. It ties back to the original and driving intent of Draw that Beast, which is to give people a virtual space to express what is behind their own masks. The mask intentionally blends in with the rest of the picture to make it not immediately obvious. This reflects that you can’t see depression in others as easily as you can a broken arm, it’s more subtle.

So, that’s all the news from Beast Central. If you feel like submitting your beast, then email drawthatbeast(at)gmail.com If you have trouble drawing, then remember you can always take a photo, make a montage or digital mash, paint, write a line or two, knit, sew, sculpt – whatever helps to give your beast a form.

Cheers,
Megan

Please leave me alone

2011-02-25T17:12:00.001+11:00

Words

2011-02-18T07:25:00.002+11:00

"I always see my depression as a dark bird. Small. A wren maybe. I don't know it's gotten in until I've already closed the windows" - Anon -

Caged bird singing

2011-02-17T18:24:00.003+11:00

Calm before the storm

2011-01-28T19:49:00.006+11:00

Mastiff (stamp effect)

2011-01-27T20:31:00.000+11:00

Pompeiian Cleaned

2011-01-27T20:29:00.002+11:00

Solitude

2011-01-11T10:23:00.002+11:00

A beastly win!

2010-12-23T22:35:00.005+11:00

The Lady of the Beast was informed today that this blog was awarded as one of the Top Ten Depression sites by PsychCentral. An early Christmas gift and honour, to be sure! You can read the awards article here. This is a good opportunity to wish everyone a safe and relaxing holiday break. Thank you once again to all the contributors so far. It's been an amazing and humbling experience to connect with strangers on such a personal level and have them trust me with their imagery. Cheers Megan.

Like a bug

2010-12-03T10:00:00.001+11:00

Warrior woman

2010-11-27T12:23:00.004+11:00

In the gray

2010-11-21T19:18:00.005+11:00

Visit to the Chamber

2010-11-16T07:31:00.003+11:00

An anxious embrace

2010-11-12T23:01:00.004+11:00

Radio interview

2010-11-10T18:28:00.004+11:00

The Lady of the Beast was interviewed this afternoon about the project on ABC 666 radio!

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Words...

2010-11-09T08:36:00.003+11:00

"A picture of a lack of smile,
sad eyes,
downward countenance,
a black fog to walk through,
the solution inside yourself,
but must realise it,
no amount of talk therapy will resolve it"

Movember is here!!

2010-11-01T19:47:00.004+11:00

The Lady of the Beast admittedly doesn't look that hot with a moustache but she is willing to put her money where her mouth is and donate to this worthy cause.

If you are unaware of Movember, you may soon wonder why so many men are sporting strange bits of fuzz on their faces. Men can volunteer to grow a moustache over the month and be sponsored by friends and family. The aim is to raise awareness and funds for health issues that affect men, including depression.

To learn more about Movember and how to sponsor a Mo', go here.

Mourning pains

2010-10-21T14:44:00.002+11:00

Unsent

2010-10-07T18:28:00.005+11:00

Art and darkness

2010-10-03T11:35:00.003+11:00

Tapestry

2010-09-28T08:18:00.001+10:00

Mandalas of distraction

2010-09-24T20:41:00.009+10:00

Self portrait

2010-09-10T06:51:00.004+10:00

Rendition scream

2010-09-05T21:31:00.001+10:00

The distance

2010-08-19T22:38:00.003+10:00

Winter's stillness

2010-08-07T22:48:00.012+10:00

"Mamma, are you ok?"

2010-08-03T19:58:00.002+10:00

Yearning

2010-08-03T15:42:00.000+10:00

Unmasked

2010-08-03T15:41:00.000+10:00

Tragedy

2010-08-03T15:40:00.000+10:00

Words...

2010-08-01T16:24:00.001+10:00

"I'm sorry I can't give you what you ask but I can give a written description. When I imagine depression as an animal, it would be like me, laying on the ground, looking too tired to get up. On top of me would be a long, heavy, constrictor, wrapped around me and my limbs, with it's face near mine. Instead of eating me, it would be sucking some unseen force from me. But instead of being nourished, it would be poisoned and equally unable to move" - Anon -

Truth in advertising

2010-08-01T15:46:00.001+10:00

Untitled

2010-08-01T15:45:00.002+10:00

Frozen

2010-07-29T20:12:00.001+10:00

The road ahead, the road behind

2010-07-29T15:49:00.001+10:00

About the Creator

2010-07-28T20:51:00.006+10:00

This is a strange blog for me to create. I am a writer, not an artist. I paint the world as I see it with words. Drawing for me is all stick figures and scribbles a five year-old could do better.

But as much as words are my lifeblood, I do concede imagery can sometimes better capture a feeling or moment. This is particularly true when writing about a well-explored topic like depression. There are only so many descriptive words before you start retreading the imagery of another writer.

In my own personal journey with depression, I have found the words stop where the feeling begins. No amount of pretty prose can capture the storm that blows through me at times. But drawing and imagining pictures has helped give form to the formless. And, with a shape, I have been better able to explain, understand and begin to heal my internal landscapes.

Every journey is highly personal and I do not for a moment proclaim there are any right or wrong ways to perceive depression. Yet there are certain commonalities and I believe art is one way to draw these out.

In doing so on this blog, I hope people will sense a connection where they may have otherwise felt isolated in their experience. If I achieve this with just one person, then the effort will have been worth it. This is why I have chosen to enter the blogosphere.

Submit

2010-07-28T20:48:00.004+10:00

The only limits to submitting to this blog are the boundaries of human imagination. You are free to draw, paint, make a montage or take a photo. Or, if you have an another idea for a medium, then feel free to use that too!

Although this is largely a visual project, I am not anti words. If words fit better, then you are welcome to use them too. I only ask you ensure the work you are submitting is original and free of copyright.

You are also free to submit multiple works. Depression is not one-dimensional so it is understandable if you have more than one image in mind.

This is an anonymous art project. This rule decreases self-censure and maintains the right of the poster to choose whom they disclose their condition to in real life.

Finally, this is not an artistic competition. I’m asking for honesty and not your ability or inability to draw. If you can’t draw, then make a montage of images or write a descriptive paragraph.

So start creating! And when you're done, please send your work my way (preferably in .jpg format): drawthatbeast (at) gmail.com

The Concept

2010-07-28T20:23:00.012+10:00

If depression was sitting across from you, what would it look like? Would it be a he, she or gender neutral? Would it be animal, vegetable, mineral? Or would it be intangible, like an image or moment in time?

Winston Churchill once famously referred to his “little black dog” of depression. He imagined depression was just like a dog - loyal and steadfastly by his side through life. The imagery stuck and continues to be the mascot in popular culture for depression. On this point, Michael Johnstone has created a brilliant illustrative interpretation of said famous black dog.

This is an interactive online art project and not-for-profit. It is a chance to observe and give form to a condition that goes to the very core of the human spirit.

In time, I hope this blog also becomes a space for understanding. Depression is nothing to be ashamed of or to hide from. It does not reflect personal failure or defect, as it can happen to anyone at anytime.

If you do suspect you are depressed though, it is essential that you reach out for help from your support network. I also urge you to visit the following websites for further information and assistance:

Beyond Blue
Black Dog Institute
Lifeline
Reach Out
MindGYM

So here we are, at the beginning of this art project. I hope you choose to join me and are as curious about where it takes us and what we will see when we get there. Let the exploration begin!