My Story: Art and Disability

My philosophy is that there is beauty in everything even if it doesn’t seem that way at first

The reason why I make and sell kawaii stickers:

I’ve always loved Art. I draw, watercolor, decorate, calligraphy, write, dance, sing, and do DIY projects. As I grew older my disability progressed, making it more difficult to do these things. When drawing or writing, I scribble, tear the page, slam my fist onto the notebook, throw my pencil, break my pens, cramp my hand muscles and ruin what I work on.

I have a severe disability — what you call Tourette’s Syndrome. If you are unaware of what Tourette’s Syndrome is, it’s a neurological condition where one has involuntary outbursts or physical movements. Not everyone’s Tourette’s is severe. Actually many people have mild tics more than they do severe. Mine is very severe and happens every 30 seconds or so.

I’ve loved and collected stickers ever since I was a child. I love the sticker format and I particularly love what’s on them. It’s an aesthetic thing. And I especially LOVE stickers that happen to be kawaii. Let’s step back and talk about what “kawaii” means. Well, in Japanese it means cute or the quality of being cute, adorable, or lovable. It is also in the context of Japanese popular culture. The term kawaii “has grown from a national trend to a global phenomenon” according to Sarah Gottesman’s article (https://www.artsy.net/article/the-art-genome-project-what-is-kawaii).

My philosophy is that there is beauty in everything even if it doesn’t seem that way at first. Just like my relentless Tourette’s that sometimes incapacitates me, I still find beauty in life through the little things that are cute and lovely. My love for beauty and wonder is shown through  my work. A while back I’ve been through depression and suicidal phases due to the severity of my Tourette’s. And for anyone who has gone through depression or have had suicidal thoughts, they know more than anyone how the littlest things life that could make them happy can make a huge difference. Even if it’s a smile from a stranger, or the love and compassion of a pet, or even good food. For me, it’s stickers. It’s the littlest things that get me through life, that helps me survive.

To learn more about my experience with Tourette’s, check out my blog at itstictime.wordpress.com

Check out my shop at http://www.MiGoKiKawaii.com

About the Artist

The artist is Megan Phox who has severe Tourette’s Syndrome. Check out the homepage in “menu” to learn more about what Tourette’s is! Megan’s an artist (She love to draw, make jewelry and decorate stuff) She owns a  business selling handmade high quality jewelry and kawaii stationary supplies. Please check out her Facebook and Etsy page below!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/migoki

Etsy: http://www.MiGoKiKawaii.com

MiGoKi is Two Years Old!

We mustache you a question! Will you come celebrate with us?! To celebrate our two year anniversary month we are doing a 15% discount (no minimum purchase). The coupon is valid until January 31! Code: MIGOKITWO. You can visit the website here:

 

 

These Morning Tics

My Tourette’s Syndrome made it especially hard this morning to draw Megumi the Maneki-neko cat mascot for my business MiGoKi Kawaii. I tore several pages, scribbled, started over and over until I finally got it right. Boy was it exhuasting!!! Megumi is having some of HoneyBee, Buzzy’s honey. Is Megumi a thief or just a friend trying to get Buzzy to share his honey? Hmmm the world may never know.

Drawing with a Disability

My Tourette’s makes it sooo hard to draw. But I managed to draw Megumi the Maneki-neko cat batting a honey bee! They’re trying to make friends! If you want to learn more about my Tourette’s please check out my other blog, Its Tic Time : itstictime.wordpress.com

Meet Megumi the Maneki-Neko (lucky) cat!

This is MiGoKi Kawaii’a new mascot! Isn’t she adorable? The maneki-neko (Japanese: 招き猫, literally “beckoning cat”) is a common Japanese figurine (lucky charm, talisman) which is often believed to bring good luck! There are stickers for sale of this cute lucky cat now available!! Check out www.migokikawaii.com to buy some Kawaii stickers!!

A lucky cat holding a golden coin

10% Off to my Kawaii Fans!

You will 10% off your next purchase. There is no minimum purchase! Go ahead, make your day a kawaii one! Valid through March 31.

Www.migokikawaii.com

Don’t Let Your Disability Defeat Your Art

So many of you already know, I have super severe Tourette’s Syndrome. As an artist, it makes life all the more harder to do art because, well — you scribble, tear, throw, toss, mess up, rip, and just totally ruin the art you make involuntarily. If you don’t already know,  Tourette’s is a neurological condition where one has involuntary outbursts or physical movements. So! I’ve found ways to work my way around the Tourette’s to continue pursuing my art business — MiGoKi Kawaii.

First off, I LOVE drawing. I could say I’ve drawn every since I was in my mother’s womb…. on her walls — No, im just kidding, but you get the idea though. But with my tics I bang the notebook, paper, or sketchbook and slam down my fist down really hard, breaking my pencil, or ripping the paper, or scribbling on my steady drawn lines. It just sucks. Your masterpiece you are working on keeps being interrupted!

So I’ve found a way to somewhat solve the issue, or at least I think I did, since my solutions is being delivered to me (I ordered it online). I bought a digital drawing pad and pen. But! There is one more issue: I would break the pad or pen, wouldn’t I? So I bought these boxing forearms and fist gloves that could reduce the impact (I hope). They are these padded forearms gloves that covers, well, your forearms and your fist/hand area too.

I also LOVE decorating and writing in my weekly planner. I use a planner called Erin Condren Life Planner (EC) and it’s a really neat planner where the covers are interchangable. The nice thing about the EC planner is that the spiral is made out out of some sort of super strong plastic! So when I slam my fist down onto the spiral (ouch) it doesn’t bend or break! The problem is if I slam my fist down hard enough, it tears the pages from the spiral which breaks my heart because I love perfection and this — THIS is anything from perfect. It’s a torn page!

So, what I try to do when writing on the EC planner is this: on the VERTICAL EC planner (which bear in mind is a different layout from the HORIZONTAL EC planner) they have little boxes where you can write your daily stuff in, whereas the horizontal layout, there are a lot more lines and spaces to write in. (see difference below)

(This is vertical)

(This is Horiztonal)

When I write I tend to slam my fist like I’ve mentioned so the page tears or I scribble on my whole planner (and EC planner ain’t cheap!). So, instead I precut squares of the vertical planner and write on those before transferring or glueing them onto the actual planner itself. Handy huh?! I dont like using pencils and just jump to pens right away, just in case you were wondering why I dont use pencils. Also, with pencils you can still scratch and tear the page with your scribbles. So cutting out squares, writing on them first, and then glueing them onto the planner works great for me. Here are some sample pictures below of what I do. First I measure the EC vertical planner boxes, and then use printer paper or if you have an old EC vertical planner you can cut that box out. TA DA! Take that Tourette’s!

Here is what my decorated planner looks like if you were curious!

That’s all for now folks! Tune in next time for more information about how to live with a disability and do art!