Howdy ya’ll!
Morgan here- the artist behind this small corner of the internet and the studio known as UH BEAUTIFUL MES. But if you’re here, you probably already knew that ;)
This is the part where I tell you WELCOME to my shiny new blog! This is where I’ll post the most up-to-date info on this site- the real nitty-gritty, not-your-father’s-case-study kinda stuff.
That begs a few questions, which I’ll try my best to resolve swiftly without *too* much cringe:
Who is this, realLY?
Alright, now that you know what goes down easily on paper- who am I, really? Well for starters- a formerly gifted kid turned engineering student, turned graphic design student, turned college dropout, and student of LIFE baby! That’s a long story in and of itself, but I’ll save it for another day.
These days, I am a letter-obsessed nerd who is particularly interested in the intersection of custom type and history, and/or music. I’m also fascinated by the marriage of digital and analog technology used in signpainting and mural installation… All of which led me to this point, I suppose!
Left to right: Goose, Salem
Outside of things directly related to work, I am intrigued by the science of personality, the interaction between fear/hope/action, adventure and the Hero’s Journey, as well as living a life under the (good! motivating!) pressure of inevitable death. SUPER light stuff, right?
On an *actually* lighter note, I really love playing guitar, eating cilantro and garbanzo beans as snacks, analogous color palettes, and my two dumpster babies- Goose & Salem.
What will you be posting?
Full disclosure- I’m going to let this be my most ~free form~ platform for sharing longer-form content on any and all things I am fascinated by. This can/may/probably will look like a smorgasbord of content containing but not limited to:
Freelance/career updates!
Featuring client work!
Sharing resources/tips and tricks!
Miscellaneous (nonfiction) book reviews!
Other work I’m inspired by!
General musings on life and the state of my world!
Like I said, a real buffet of lots of things that may or may not be interesting to the same people (outside of myself.) I’m trying to take the pressure valve waaay off in here, largely to serve my “why” of posting on this platform at all.
Ooh okay. So what *is* the why?
You might be shocked to discover- these disparate musings are *not* here to serve the all-knowing SEO powers that be! Primarily because I do not understand them, but also because I think that’s the lamest motivation behind writing things someone else may end up ever reading. No buzzwords for buzzwords’ sake in this stew of posts, guaranteed.
My primary “why” behind sharing on this platform is to serve as an example of someone imperfect, vast and varied, who can over time find success in this kind of career. I hope others can see me being an *actual human* and think to themselves “Hey! If this wackjob can figure out how to build a life on following what she loves… then golly gee I probably can too!”
A secondary, more selfish reason I’m posting here is to have an archive of my own thoughts and progress over time. In the past, I’ve used social media to serve that end. But after the latest #InstagramShutdown on top of my own personal account getting deleted by hackers after a decade of posting frequently (RIP @morganelyce) I realized it’s time to move on to something I can have a little more control over.
Plus, this gives me a space to nerd out over whatever I’m inspired by or projects that take a *little* longer to get on the main site. Gets a lot of the professional thoughts/books/ideas I stew over out of my noggin’ and onto the page… It feels like a step in the right direction, at least.
Alright so… when are you posting again?
Well… starting today! Unlike my project Small Town Walls, which had a lofty weekly goal that has fallen waaaay by the wayside (whoops) I’m going to keep things as casual as possible over here. Let’s aim for at a minimum, quarterly- but probably something closer to monthly or even biweekly if things are staying interesting!
Okie dokie, so I hope that’s answered a few main questions about what on Earth this space is for, what I’ll be sharing, and the like. Decide for yourself if you care to tune in for the grab bag of content that is sure to follow- and if you have any further questions or ideas of content you’d like to see, feel free to drop them down below.
As is STW tradition, I think I’ll end each post here with a favorite (and relevent) quote of mine. This is gonna be a doozy, but it’s one I come back to again and again... just seems right somehow.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”