Pride Spotlight: Milo

Pride Spotlight: Milo

Pride Spotlight: Milo

We’re keeping our spotlight rolling with @milomars. Milo is a queer, trans illustrator, and a plant enthusiast—he only lives with about 70 plants—based in Massachusetts. His work mostly focuses on body positivity, queer issues and relationships, while almost always incorporating plant friends. Let’s hop right in!

Your work does a beautiful job of conveying love for what it is—just love. Talk to us how this theme has come to be prevalent in your work.

Thank you! Being queer is a big part of my identity. When I was growing up, I rarely, if ever, saw queer love in movies, tv shows, museums. I wanted to make art that showcased and provided a sense of queerness that I was missing in traditional art and media. I asked myself, “What do I want people to take away from my artwork? Who do I want to reach out to with my art?” This sparked not only self-realization but also a desire to represent queer love in my artwork. Representation in art, media, music etc. is so important and needs to be done fairly and by queer people. 

image

You recently did a piece with HuffPost for Pride as well. Where did that inspiration come from?

Yes! I was really excited to share my work with HuffPost for Pride. I really wanted to focus on the strength of the community while also giving a nod to Pride’s origin and the Stonewall riots. It’s important to reflect on what Pride originally was, what it means to us today,  and what is going on in the community. It’s also important to appreciate those who made celebrating Pride and queerness possible in the first place. My HuffPost piece depicts a sense of community while also showcasing each character’s individual self-love and self-pride—I wanted to reflect that relationship with oneself and one’s body. 

What advice would you give to any aspiring artist?

Post art and be proud of it. Too often artists will only post stuff they think others will like or small doodles, and then remain mostly inactive because they worry that they’re not good enough yet. Also, tag your art properly. This is important because tags allow you to reach a whole new audience.  

Build your community by reaching out to other artists. This will open doors to new friends, new experiences, and even good advice. It’s so important to try new things and to learn new techniques. 

Lastly, keep practicing! You are doing great, and regardless of where you are right now, you can get to where you want to be. You and your art are important. 

You identify as trans and queer. How did your journey to self-discovery help you with choosing to use the term queer?

I used to use specific terms but found that the more I kept growing and changing, the more my identity and how I referred to myself changed. Sometimes labels feel like small knives to me. The more I slap on a label, the more I feel obligated to stick within the confines of that label. The term “LGBT+” seeks to be inclusive but is still an umbrella term that often doesn’t include the diverse range of identities and experiences within the LGBT+ community. “Queer” came from a desire to be inclusive, and it allows for growth and change within my identity.

Of course, this isn’t the same for everyone—“queer” can mean different things for different people and can be very hurtful so it’s important to be educated and understand that only those who self-identify as such should really use the term. But for me, the word Queer resists definition. Saying “I’m queer identifying” gives you a sense of my identity without really saying much about my gender or sexuality. Anyone who isn’t cisgender can also describe themselves as queer, as a rejection of heteronormative ideas that are forced onto them. More importantly, this is a term that was taken back from those who used it to hurt people like myself—and which has since been reclaimed by a growing number of people. 

Thank you, Milo, we’re grateful for you sharing and giving us an insight into your identity and art. Tumblr, who are some other artists we should look into? Use the tag  #tumblr pride to share.

This interview has been condensed for clarity.

More Posts from Lifegreeny and Others

7 years ago

what is this? tumblr 

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8 years ago

yeaah

New found respect for this woman:

New Found Respect For This Woman:

I just got done watching Naruto Shippuden episode 431 and all I can say is: I have a new found respect for Karin. She went through so much shit and I actually wanted to cry while watching it. The episode gave off this ‘child sold into prostitution’ vibe and it was sooo sad. These people had no regard to the fact she was a child and used her. To see people have no compassion at all was just disgusting and sickening. Uzumaki women, no, Uzumaki in general, are incredibly strong beings. Fuck Sakura. Fuck SasuSaku shippers. What has Sakura really been through? Nothing. She was a bitch who wanted Sasuke as a prize. She’s had no hardship in life. Had two loving parents, was cared for and an ungrateful brat.

It was good to see that when Karin first saw Sasuke she didn’t fangirl over him. She was simply curious about him. Then she found out that was the boy that saved her and realized that she loved him. I could cry, man. I haven’t been this affected by an Naruto episode since the truth behind the death of Itachi and Sasuke’s parents. I respect SasuKarin shippers too. I never took a look into SasuKarin’s relationship until tumblr and their fandom definitely comes forward with good proofs and facts. Had it not been for the strong bond SasuNaru have and Kishimoto being a terrible writer, maybe SasuKarin could’ve happened. Karin wanted Sasuke to be happy above her feelings and was willing to help him archive his goal. She’s selfless when it comes to him, bro. That’s a ride or die chick right there. All in favor of Karin’s happiness?

New Found Respect For This Woman:

That episode was sad as fuck..

9 years ago

really nice fanart :)

When The Night Falls On You And You Don’t Know What To Do Nothing You Confess Could Make Me Love You

When the night falls on you And you don’t know what to do Nothing you confess Could make me love you less ______________________________

I couldn’t decide if I ship Price*field or Grahamfield so I thought, why not both?? And I noticed what lack of content there is in the Grahamfield tag so I decided to draw them as my first LIS fanart c:

7 years ago

Omgggg for real???? Are u work alone? I wanna tried to help

News From The Animation Project :) ♥

News from the animation project :) ♥

Instagram: sasukarin.gallery.2017

5 years ago

SO,

- jon being revealed as a targaryen? POINTLESS

- the night king being hyped up as the biggest threat for 8 seasons? POINTLESS

- cersei being the original mad queen and being hyped up as the biggest human threat? POINTLESS

- jaime’s character development and 8-year long redemption arc? POINTLESS

- bran becoming the three-eyed raven? POINTLESS

- jon being brought back from the dead for a higher purpose? POINTLESS

- arya leaving braavos and instead choosing her family and home? POINTLESS

- the starks going through hell for years and years waiting to be reunited? POINTLESS because they were reunited for like 5 minutes before being separated again

- daenerys overcoming all the terrible things that happened to her, bringing magic back to the world, going from nothing to becoming one of the most powerful people on earth, pledging to break the wheel, learning the moral difficulties of ruling, trying hard not to be like her father? POINTLESS

BUT HEY AT LEAST BRONN GOT HIS CASTLE SO IT’S ALL GOOD

8 years ago

Omg even shonen jumps confirms when the day Naruto fall in love

14 Days Until NaruSaku Day!

The ever important day, April 3rd, is only 2 weeks away!

April 3rd is the day the Shounen Jump calendar listed as the “Day Naruto fell in love with Sakura” in 2010. Since then, NaruSaku fans across the world have celebrated this day once a year. You can read more about it here [x]

In the past, NaruSaku Day has been bombastic and fantastic. The NaruSaku Day of 2015 is one of the most events I’ve ever participated in. It was a dream. I’m sorry for all the people who weren’t around to see it in all it’s glory. You can find remnants of it here [x] [x]

Slowly but surely, people are drifting further from NaruSaku and Naruto and moving onto bigger and better things. Such is to be expected.

We here at NaruSaku factory don’t have anything huge planned or any themes to suggest. We have some queued up posts of some of the best NaruSaku Day of the past.

You can participate in NaruSaku day by posting art, videos, or even just a post wishing everyone a Happy NaruSaku Day! Another suggestion we have is to make a post to all your old NaruSaku buddies letting them know of other series and stories where NaruSaku lives on.

If you did plan to do something for NaruSaku day, you have 2 weeks left! Don’t forget!

6 years ago

Why dont you like sasusaku? Be honest.

Okay honestly,

Let me put my dislike for Sakura aside because I don’t dislike the ship because it involves her, I dislike the ship for Sasuke’s sake. Though, there is definite evidence that needs to be said about Sakura’s character later on.

1. I’ll start with the fact that Sasuke shares zero romantic interest with anyone ANYONE in the series. He does not want it. He is focused on other things. He has said that he does not want it and I get frustrated when a character speaks their mind within their story and then others still assume they don’t know what they are talking about.

2. In addition Sasuke barely respects her and acknowledges her at all. So the idea of them being shipped together makes no sense to me, because for me there needs to be some sense of logic behind a ship especially one we are to believe as canon. With the type of character Sasuke is, he can’t be with someone for the sake of being with them, he isn’t casual like that. He doesn’t even talk to people he doesn’t want to. Sasuke has a personality where his significant other would be someone near and dear to him. Someone who has made an impact on his life. Now I won’t say that he does not care for her in a small way, he wanted the team to be safe during their time together as Team 7 and looked out for everyone including Sakura, but just because someone takes on responsibility like that it doesn’t mean he wants that pussy.

3. Something else to consider is, Sasuke doesn’t need someone to control him and keep him tied down to a location. He deserves to be where he wishes after all that he has been through. I don’t ever remember him being happy to come “home” to Konoha. So why would he want to be with someone who lives there? Maybe things would make more sense if Sakura (or insert any girl here) were to up and leave Konoha to find another home. But keep in mind that someone like Sasuke who has spend years locked inside his head and alone in solitude does not crave to be surrounded by people and always talking and such. Sasuke shows a lot of signs of depression so nearly any relationship that involves him will have to face off with his depression and isolation scars.

4. Sakura does not respect Sasuke’s feelings, she only respects her own. She never asks him how he feels, or of he likes her, or if he cares about her. She lives in a world that only belongs to her and I personally stem behavior like that from her being an only child. Maybe I’m getting too deep into this but Sakura and Naruto have a very selfish mentality where if a situation does not involve them then they will force their way in and they will project their feelings onto the other person. To be honest, the reason I prefer the idea of Naruto being with Sakura is because they share similar perspectives where they are selfish, childish at times, they yell to get their way and they project their feelings into others, and they bully people into doing what they want them to do with severe lack of respect for the other person. Naruto and Sakura also work really well together, and I saw this proven when they met Sai.

The moment Sakura and Naruto were introduced to Sai opened my eyes wide to the fact that the Naruto I liked pre-shippuden was no longer with us. When Sai came in we saw both Sakura and Naruto reject him, put him down, call him weird and invade his privacy to pry into his life without asking. They often compared him to Sasuke which I think is just do sad because Sai is his own person despite being part of Root, he is still his own being. Regardless, because Sai wasn’t what they both wanted, they rejected him until they were able to get to know him better and so on. This part of the story showed me the type of behavior Sakura and Naruto were capable of and I absolutely loathed it. I remember thinking, ‘this is our hero?’ And I shook my head.

5. Anyway back to Sasuke and Sakura. My point is that from they way I interpreted the manga I feel that Sakura is not the girl for Sasuke and for the main reason being that he said he was not interested. If he said he was not interested in Ino then I wouldn’t ship that, if he said he wasn’t interested in Karin, then I wouldn’t ship that, etc. Sasuke’s personality isn’t a mysterious one where he speaks in riddles and you need to dissect it. He speaks boldly and bluntly, what he says is what he means. He said he was not interested therefore, because I like and respect his character, I believe that he does not want to be with her. So why would I ship that?

7 years ago

sometimes i really love my fics. i wrote that because i wanted to read it. i love it. nobody visits my fics more than me. they remind me that i’m a hard worker, that i created something. it’s mine and i cherish it and love it because it’s exactly what i wanted so i made it.

and other days i’m crippled by self criticism and hate everything and can’t bear to look at my own work because i know it’ll never compare to the greats

but i live for the days i love my work. because it’s mine, and i made it. i didn’t wait for somebody else to make what i dream about. i went and did it myself.

so don’t feel like your work is awful

it’s the stuff you dreamed about. it’s the stuff you decided to make a reality. it’s not about quality, or poetry, or how perfectly your sculpt your words or keep it so deeply in character; because it’s what you dreamed and it’s what you wanted to see, so you made it.

keep writing; it’s yours, and you made it. and if you want to continue to sharpen and improve yourself? then do it. it’s all yours and you can make it whatever you want.

keep writing.

5 years ago
"Call Me A Slave One More Time"

"Call me a slave one more time"

I hope this will never happen, but low-key wanna them engage in a hand-to-hand combat

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