Hello! I've just moved (yet again) to a new server (this one) as my old one has melted down so here's an introduction about me.
My name is John Bloor, I'm 53 years old and married with two grown up boys. I live in southern England.
I studied film, worked in the film industry, learned how to do HTML and became a web designer in 1996. Then slowly I became a graphic desiger and illustrator.
I kept losing my job, kept having confrontations with people and eventually was diagnosed with ASD in 2011 age 40.
Even when I told my employers that I had ASD I was still forced out of jobs. So I freelanced but developed so much anxiety when freelancing and dealing with clients that I fired them all.
I had a psychotic episode while at one of these jobs and have never been the same since, starting to suffer from paranoia. I have since learned that working on my own and having minimal contact with people is the best thing for me.
Printmaking literally saved my life! I started printmaking in my early 40s and began doing it seriously in 2015. A few years later I became a full time printmaker.
Printmaking is very mindful (I hate that word) and it is a safe place for me where I know what I'm doing.
Now I bring in an income, I'm not quite where I want to be but I'm getting there. I'd like to be able to print what I like all the time instead of just some of the time.
I live every day with anxiety but that is manageable. I know how to deal with it and plan things carefully. The episodes of paranoia and mood swings are harder to deal with but I'm hoping I'll get there.
I came to Mastodon to escape other social media which was completely doing my head in with perfect posts, adverts, videos and suggested accounts. Also following too many printmaking accounts led me to feel terrible.
So far so good, I am loving Mastodon and the way everyone supports each other. I hope to contribute to that.
As well as a printmaker I write music and sometimes take photographs. I am very keen on collecting new music too.
So you can expect to see posts from me about my printmaking, music, photography and mental health. I hope that's ok!
#autistic #anxiety #paranoia #mentalhealth #printmaking #printmaker