This will be an ongoing series, answering whatever questions my followers have on their minds - whether it’s about me, my art, my life, or stuff I could help with that doesn’t have anything much to do with me at all. You can ask them on my instagram: @prettynobody, email: prettynobodyco@gmail.com or the contact form on my site!

Q: How are you handling the instagram Algorithm?

Ha! Omg It’s my arch nemesis, it brings me so much grief and anxiety, it’s one of the few reasons I decided to start this blog - so I had a place where I didn’t have to constantly bend to an algorithm’s will and have it still not work out. Hashtags drive me mad, I try to do all the “tricks” to “beat it” yet my engagement is the worst it’s been since starting out in 2015. I’m doing my best work but no one sees it, no where near all 29k of my followers. It’s hard to deal with after everything it takes to reach nearly 30k followers, it ends up feeling like a waste of time, which is just a total mindfuck.

Real talk- I honestly believe that if you were at a certain level, say having at least 20k+ followers, before the algorithm went into effect, your growth wasn’t effected as much as accounts with 10k & below (which was where I was at the time it took effect) I feel like accounts similar to mine that were only bit further along in followers we’re able to continue a pretty constant growth and are now into 100k territory - Where as I feel like I’ve hit a wall and have been hovering below 30k for years. That, combined with instagram refusing to give me a verified badge, not that I would know its value, and losing the ability to flip a business account back to personal without still being effected like a biz account - I’m beyond fed up. 

I’ve always been such a huge fan of instagram, as an artist, I’m a visual person so It’s always been my favorite social media platform - but at this point, it’s worth less and less while becoming more and more of a hassle. I mean forcing you to stare at the numbers - (business accounts tell you how many profile visits you’ve had in the last 7 days) something you can’t turn off - it’s there ticking down, up, down, making you feel horrible about yourself and your abilities. Instagram is exhausting for small businesses and artists, who are out here just trying to be seen by the people who request to see our stuff - but that’s not what instagram is about anymore. It’s a huge bummer that effects me daily as it’s still my biggest platform. I’d much rather pay per month to use the platform chronologically than suffer through this, and people who try to say the Algorithm doesn’t effect us, H A H A H A you cute but wrong. 

Q: How are you feeling with Regular Therapy apts?

Honestly, better than I’ve ever felt - Which is a big deal after all the moving, the house buying and more moving, therapy has helped immensely. I honestly can’t suggest people go enough. I’m so happy to have turned multiple people in my life onto therapy after hearing about my experience. I feel it’s become a really big part of my life, something that I want to continue advocating for.

I started going 2 years ago (this past March) so I’ve actually been reflecting a lot on my journey, on how much I’ve improved. So we did some celebrating in my last session because its important to acknowledge how far I’ve come, seriously it’s night and day compared to when I started. I’m on the road to finding my voice, that’s huge for me and I got to say, having a designated person for unconditional support is life changing.

It hasn’t been easy, therapy is hard work, delving into your past or even dealing with your present can be exhausting but it’s how you fully heal and move on. Not everyone has as much as I have to unpack but I wholeheartedly believe it’s helpful for anyone regardless of their mental state. It’s like you go to the gym for your body’s fitness, you go to therapy to work on your mental & emotional fitness - something that is casually ignored and deemed less important when in reality it also takes a physical toll on your body and mind. It can be awkward and scary to start out but if you’re willing and open, a good therapist is going to be incredibly helpful. With that being said, not all therapists are equal, I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about bad therapists who blame, shame and end up causing more harm. I found mine on yelp because well, reviews are a damn godsend! If multiple other people are saying they are a lifesaver, they might just be one. If you get a dud, do not quit, keep looking for your match, and don’t be afraid to drop therapists who aren’t helpful, they are working for you and should be genuinely focused on your wellbeing, period. I could go on forever about therapy, so I plan to do a full blog post about My Experience, feel free to send me any therapy specific questions I can answer for you! 

Q: What’s your Biggest Inspiration?

I would say my 90s childhood, well the brightly colored positive bits that distracted me from my living conditions. Barbie, Goosebumps, Lisa Frank, Halloween & Trick or Treating, Nicktoons - the culmination of the things I loved as a child + my many feels. Mashups are a fave of mine as well as making the cute, creepy & the creepy, cute! I really like flipping shit on its head, of course Frankenstein can wear makeup and Barbie could have toxic sludge barrels waiting to be illegally dumped, things aren’t always as the seem or have to be experienced how society designed it to exist. So basically, It’s my art I do what I want! I’m also utilizing my art as a way to help heal my ptsd from childhood trauma by focusing on things of that time in life that I found comfort in. 

Q: What was the first piece of art you created that gave you confidence in your artistic abilities?

There were probably other pieces but I remember being really excited to get an A on a sculpture/vase in high school. Just the fact that my teacher thought it was good gave me confidence. When I looked at the piece, I didn’t see my favorite thing I had ever created but having that important outside opinion made me feel validated. I think I ended up choosing the wrong glaze because it ended up weirdly matte and cracked off, oops. This does kind of make me want to try sculpting again though, see how I would fair now, hmmm… 

Q: Who was the most influential person in your development as an artist?

Can that person be instagram? That surge of visual inspiration and the ability to witness so many artists being confident in their abilities, it made me believe it could be an option for me too. Also, shout out to my love for supporting me to quit a horror show of a job so I could focus on design school even though I’ve ended up as a self-taught illustrator, whoops, love you! 

Q: What’s the most important advice you would give someone who wants to be an artist for their career? 

Most important advice is probably to just start. Just do it, like Nike says, fight the fear, practice your craft and keep going until you make it happen. I’ve wanted to quit a few times and I’ll probably want to quit some more but at the end of the day, I know it’s worth it. I always thought to that having a creative, artistic career would be a pipe-dream but I wouldn’t be where I am right now if I didn’t start trying to make it my reality then back then. 

Got more questions? Send them my way on Instagram: @prettynobody or email them: prettynobodyco@gmail.com

Kat