JULIE ‘DOWNSIDEUP’ CRANE-MILLER

DownSideUp is the ultimate culmination of all projects & alter ego’s of Julie Van Craen who observes and reimagines the dreary world through her kaleidoscope eyes.

Lovely to meet you! I am Julie, DownSideUp and/or alter ego’s such as clumsy crane art and Polexia Miller. (I tend to hop from one hyperfixation to another, as you’ll discover here.) Who is behind all those names? Well let me tell ya!

CREATOR

There’s an incessant, subconscious stream of possible projects that flash through my mind at any point in time. I like to write. Or scratch that, I like to create in general. Hence the mixed media madness you will discover here.

Writing is however my first love, and words are my passion. I’ll be cursing and sighing as I search for the right ones and experience an uncharacteristic sense of pride when I finally find them. It’s an irresistible battle for me. A bewitching war with words as my weapons of choice.

The narrator that occupies my brain is multilingual. This means the words swirl around in various languages and usually come out in either my native tongue Dutch, or my adoptive language English.

Sometimes it’s something in between, with some Flemish dialect phrases strewn in. (Google must hate me!) It is what it is. I hope auto translate may help overcome some barriers. What else?

My urge to create is IMMENSE.
I am not an artist, but I draw and paint like I imagine myself to be Frida Kahlo.I am far from a genius with fabric and thread, but I crochet, knit, sew and embroider when the project requires it.

(Couch) anarchist

I am highly sensitive to injustice, inequality and oppression. This can partly be explained by my diagnosis of ADHD/ASD, which brings with it beautiful quirks such as justice sensitivity and BIG emotions. My sense of (in)justice often leaves me FURIOUS. I then try to channel that anger constructively, often through words. (Hence the war of the words I explained about above!) At the moment I call myself a couch-anarchist. My ideology is that of an egalitarian anarchist, but I am still working on my vocabulary and courage to express it in a public forum. So I’ll be hanging out on the couch for the time being, but who knows where my enthusiasm, grit and determination will drive me next. (See you on the barricades!)

BEHOLDER

My favourite pastimes are listening, reading and watching.

I am obsessed with music, in all its forms, but preferably live.
I DEVOUR books (mostly) within the fantasy genre and have discovered a renewed love for non-fiction.
Young Julie was mainly a film fan, but currently I’m also a little addicted to tv-shows. (Which should also explain the use of Leslie Knope gifs.)

I behold the world around me in great detail. (Another neurodivergent quirk!) Sometimes I miss seeing the forest because of this, but in the meantime I have certainly greeted all the trees, flowers, birds and (especially) the bees.

In short: I absorb everything I see, look for patterns with my kaleidoscopic eyes and develop my kooky project ideas from there.

CHILD AT HEART

My inner child (roughly 95% of my genetic makeup) needs play to master the big bad world. Gaming is one part of that and can occur on computers, consoles or through board games. I still love toys in general and stuffed animals specifically. Blowing bubbles in the garden, taking flight on a swing or playing hopscotch on the way to the car will have my childish heart soaring with joy.

I also have a BIG thing about animals. Taking a detour through the petting zoo is one of the fastest routes to happiness for me. I am the mom of two affectionate cats, a punk-rabbit and three lovely chickens!

Is there an animal nearby? Then you’ve lost me, both literally and figuratively. Going out with me feels a bit like accompanying an enthusiastic labrador or, if I’m really honest, a rambunctious exploring toddler. You’ll find me enthusiastically shouting ‘COW! HORSE! SHEEP! BIRD!’ and darting off in the distance to go pet them or otherwise make friends with the furry creature. Oh, look!