Turn Your Insecurities into Artwork

Hey everyone! Today I just want to take some time and focus on encouraging anyone who’s been in an painful situation whether it be lost love, any form of heart break, feelings of depression, loneliness, and anger. I think it’s important to share some experiences because you never know who you could be helping to avoid a painful situation like that in the future.

So I saw this quote the other day, and even though it might be some what controversial, I believe it hits the nail right on the head when it comes to caring for oneself. If your going through a rough patch in life emotionally, you tend to find yourself in this sort of funk. It can be very hard to get out of and if you don’t address it soon it can progressively get worse and spill over into other areas of your life like school, work, or friends. The key is to know that you have an issue and know what’s going on. Know who your real friends are, or your support system, so that you are not alone when going through something. Unfortunately in this world we have to be careful who we trust, because sometimes people say you can trust them and you find yourself in a bigger mess because of it. One of the most important things to dealing with situations like these is to talk to someone about it. You don’t necessarily need them to give you advice, but just to have an open heart and an open ear. If you want advice then that’s fine too.
One thing that I noticed to be rather helpful when dealing with these issues is to have a positive outlet. Because I’m a fan of the arts, ( and I have an arts/fashion blog) I choose to focus more on an artistic outlet. My outlet is writing. Whether it’s poetry, writing a song, writing a letter that you never send, or just writing down a situation that might have happened to you just to get it out of your head. For me, writing helps to clear my mind, clam me down, cheer me up, and most of the time further inspire me to do something else. As that quote say, you deserve to manage your problem with dignity and whatever makes you happy in a safe way. Other people might choose drawing or sculpting, or any other art form that puts them at peace. I think doing these things serve as a healthy distraction that can lead to better insight, and ultimately healing from your problem.

Everyone heals at a different pace so don’t let anyone tell you when to feel better or when to get over something. Take your time and never rush your feelings. It’s your body, mind, heart and soul and only you can truly know when you feel better. Other people can make you happy and help you to get better quicker and help you realize who you are, but ultimately you have to put in that work on yourself to know who you are and look at yourself in the mirror and confidently love yourself.

I really hope these words encourage someone to help themselves and to even use art as a way to express themselves. There’s such a beauty in self expression because we all have something different to bring to the table, but we all often have shared experiences. So being able to express them in different ways can open up a whole new world of understanding and hope for people that need it. :^)

GIRL BOSS

Hey readers, I know I haven’t posted in a while but I’ve been extremely busy.(I’m a college student so finals were my priority.) But I’m here now! So today I wanted to talk about this amazing book that I’m about to start reading. The book is called #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso, founder and CEO of Nasty Gal, the clothing line.

I was already a huge fan of the line before her book came out because the clothes are very different in style. I would often visit the site and stay on there for hours trying to find what I liked the most. The thing that interested me the most were the heels. I’m a huge fan of high heels and love platforms. I remember when I was younger there was a pair of heels on the site that I wanted that were ridiculously high and just amazing. I wanted them so badly. Unfortunately, I didn’t get them because they were sold out by the time I was ready to buy :^(. But anyway, her style is unconventional but at the same time, it’s something that all high fashion women would want.
The book mainly focuses on her trail to success and talks a lot about how she was just an normal teen, broke and looking for something better in life. The book really shows her quirky personality in the informal style of writing. It’s a very personal account and that’s what makes the book lovable to me. And as well as describing her personality and growing up, I think the way the book focuses on how she got her success is important for people interesting in doing the same to pay attention to because she just makes it clear that hard work gets you where you want.
Like I said I haven’t read the book yet (sounds like I have right?) but I’ve seen several interviews with her about it and I’ve opened a few times and skimmed some pages. I have been waiting for my winter break from college to fully focus on it. So I’m really excited and encourage everyone interested in the fashion industry in anyway to read this book and shop at Nasty Gal! :^)

Cliché: Fall into Fall

Hey everyone! So I’m kind of doing a basic persons post for around this time of year but I can’t help it, so here it goes:
It’s getting cold out and the leaves are falling. ITS FALL!! As much as I dislike the cold, I think fall is a beautiful season full of color and inspiration for photography and poetry. So as well as me personally being inspired by the beauty of the changing seasons, I also saw an awesome picture on tumblr (I mentioned before I’m a tumblr junky) that inspired me to take my own fall pictures that represented my feelings for Fall. So this is the tumblr picture that I fell in love with:

The image is just so relaxing and it just puts you in deep thought all at the same time. There’s so much beauty to take in at one time. When I look at it I tend to image myself actually in the image just standing before the trees marveling in their beauty. So as I said before I took my own pictures (iPhone pics) just as a representation of the calmness I get from fall and things that I’m up to around this time.

So clearly my iPhone pictures (featuring my dog Angel) are no match for that beautiful shot of lush trees but for me, fall is like the quite whisper in your ear that tells you to relax. You can sit outside wrapped in a blanket and just take a deep breath of that brisk air and when u let it out, it just feels like your body has been cleansed. I also think it’s a great time to let nature inspire your writing. There’s so much beauty in fall and so much you can do with your writing. So let the beauty of the season inspire you! :^)

I really hope this inspires you to get creative! And for my next post I think I’ll actually incorporate some of my poetry so you can get a taste of that Fall feeling. Leave comments below telling me what fall means to you!

GarDen of Lust

Hey everyone, so I was sort of nervous to make this post because it’s really personal but I think it’s times! So I’ve been working, and still am working on, a visual poetry project featuring, well, me :^). The name of my project is GarDen of Lust. It sounds a little strong I know, but that’s because it is. It’s full of emotions ranging from pure happiness which is where the garden part comes in for me, deep sadness which is where the “Den” part in the the word “garden” comes in, and a sexual, sensual passionate part that comes in with the “lust” part. I believe that these are three concepts that most people deal with at some point in their lives and I try to express them using this imaginary garden world that I created. I believe that everyone has their own garden filled with different types of emotion and these are just mine that are probably very relatable. That’s just a brief summary(I could go on and on!) So now the visuals!

I don’t want to post to many images because I am incorporating some of them in my work so I’ll leave you with these and hope that you’ll want to see more.

I’m not exactly sure when I’ll be done this project because this is the first time I’ve actually done something like this and I’m really putting all my heart and soul into this. But if you would like to see the story leading up to the whole project you can follow me on Tumblr at:
bethanyafreeman
And check out the hashtag “GarDenofLust”.
Oh and I am a regular person so when you go to my tumblr page I have many random reblogs so you’ll probably learn a lot about me! Just make sure you pay close attention to the things that I actually post. This project is a story of love, love lost, sadness, and finding oneself. So I really hope you check it out! :^)

I also quickly want to shout out my brother who I mentioned before for here on my blog. He’s a major part in this project because he’s been taking the pictures for me and I love him so for helping with something that means so much to me! So follow him and check not only is skills on the camera, but his main focus which is producing!

Email: benjaminthebanger@gmail.com

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/benjamin-banger

Twitter: @BenJaminBanger

Instagram: http://instagram.com/benjaminbanger
http://instagram.com/bnjmn_bngr

WOMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So over the past weekend I took a bus trip to New York and was able to go on a walking tour of the historical parts of Harlem New York (you don’t even know how excited I was!) After having probably the greatest meal I’ve has in a long time from a place called Jacobs, I went to The Schomburg Center For Reasearch in Black Culture there in Harlem, and they had a great art exhibition called I Found God in Myself. This was in representation of the 40th anniversary of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls. The display features many different artist that all crated works that revolve around portraying women at the life stages of youth, adulthood, and late adulthood to represent issues such as class, body image, gender identity, immigration, politics, and war. One of my favorite pieces that I found to be the most striking was a piece called no assistance by Kathleen Granados

For me, the piece kind of represented a lot for women and their role in society. On a literal stance it seems that women are the “makers of life” and I got that idea from the use of the yarn and the hands controlling it, also from the little plant at the bottom which kind represented life to me. I also got the sense that it was trying to show how women are often controlled in society and strung along or often times have to be put back together after an incident in their lives. I got that idea from the red color of the piece, just representing a strong emotion that could either be love or in this case hate and hurt. I just thought the piece was so powerful and really represented what Ntozake Shange’s was trying to archive in her works. :^)

So what do you think about this piece? Leave a comment and let me know what emotions are sparked for you!

Oh, and The exhibition is going to be going from September 19, 2014 through January 3, 2015 so make sure you stop by the Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture in New York to see this amazing expedition it’s definitely worth your time!

The Eyes of the Beholder

As fashion continues to grow, becoming a trend setter can be a bit of a challenge for some. But as you see here, for today’s post, fashion is made to look effortless. I Love the this trendy ballerina skirt (which are becoming quite popular these days) paired with a basic tee, and a pair of black strappy heels to dress up this look.

Not only does the skirt add flair to what could have been a simple outfit, but it is an attention grabbing must have for the girl that loves to have her picture taken. So even if you don’t do ballet break out this skirt and you’ll get the attention that a ballet star would! :^)

I also want to give credit to the guy who took this picture, Brandon Price. He’s an amazing photographer in the Baltimore area and if you would like to see more on him I’ll leave his info below!

WordPress blog: http://orngchnlphotography.wordpress.com

Email: bjprice92@gmail.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/orngchnlphoto
http://instagram.com/noiztheproducer

Carnival life

Everyone has that picture with ferris wheel in the background right? Well this one is better! So I really like this picture because, well to me it’s thought provoking. This picture was taken of Baltimore’s Artscape which is America’s largest free arts festival. As any art lover would say, art is an expression of self and when I see this image it makes me think about youth. Like there’s a beauty in being young happy and innocent. It’s something that we have as memories, wether they be black and white memories or in color, we all have them. There’s something about the playfulness of a ferris wheel that invokes thought about the past. :^)

And I can’t forget to mention the amazing guy who took this shot, my brother Ben. Ben, or better known as Benjamin Banger is a Baltimore born amazing producer who also dabbles in photography. So check him out because it’s definitely worth it wether your looking at his pictures or your listening to him amazing beats.

Email: benjaminthebanger@gmail.com

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/benjamin-banger

Twitter: @BenJaminBanger

Instagram: http://instagram.com/benjaminbanger
http://instagram.com/bnjmn_bngr

Simple yet amazing

Okay, so I really didn’t want this to be my first post but like for some reason I’ve been thinking a lot about weddings and receptions and getting married (probably from watching too much TLC) so I found this beautiful table display and was in shock for about five minutes. The picture just reminds me of like a pure beauty. Which I think any wedding should be. It’s something so beautiful like the flower and the love at a wedding is like the flame burning on the candles around it. This is definitely something I would do for my wedding when ever that will be. I really love the sort of simplicity to it. In away I reminds me of how love should be. It should be simple. Easy. There should be no ” oh to get love I have to do this then that then that.” It should just fall right into place. It’s not something u have to think about wether it’s real or not. Because you know it is. :^)

Freeserene

Hey everyone,

Welcome to my blog. Free Serene is about not only the beauty in fashion and art, but the concept and work that is put forth to create it. I love styles of all kinds and anything that is considered art; images videos, fashion, dance, modeling, etc.,  is near and dear to my heart. So everything you see here should and will have some type of deeper meaning rather then just a cool picture of something. Fashion can be interpreted in many different ways and serves as an outlet for some people, so I hope you enjoy my post and they can serve as a refresher to you all! :^)