Wait, it's Spring?!

:blinks:
Well, the past two months just flew by in a haze of art [thankfully.]

Lately I'm trying to be more involved with the Untitled Artists Group, but so far I've missed a few meetings due to back-logged work...this week I'll be able to get more info about the Spring Show in April, which I made a squiggle for my own poster design. Once the date/venue is posted I'll update it, but for now, enjoy my ink!



I also did a smaller squiggle study for the piece I plan on entering in this show. The idea came from an old sketch from sometime between 2002-2004, which was revived due to my desire to revamp the idea, and Hobbit-husband's love of the original. I might try to draw one similar to the original just for him, but I like the squiggled-version as well. Behold.
Original: Twins 031311:


I sold a BUNCH of items at the Hellblinki/Joe Black show in mid-February. Boa Clothing is keeping me on my toes with restocking and special orders on the crafty items. And honestly, I really need to get back to restocking my own inventory for the large festival at the end of May, not to mention really getting down to stocking the Esty site. So...random fascinators/accessories/necklaces are a success. I suppose they could be my "hobby" when people ask what I do in my free time. (Hobbit-husband would laugh at the phrase "free time" though, cause it doens't really exist)

I've gotten a little more freelance work under the belt, and one regular client that is helping build the dream of "earn a living with my skills alone." I still do a little part-time as-needed mockup work at the local design company, but lately I've been too busy, which is a half blessing cause I miss working with those people.
Hopefully I'll be able to upgrade my website to allow 500 images, cause I'm at the limit and Really want to just add instead of rotate new projects in my current 30 image limit.

I was asked to design a friend's baby shower invitation and am so happy with how it is coming out. I'll post the images from it after delivery, as I want the mom-to-be to see it before the interwebs. I still have production to do, trimming out embellishments, putting them all together, but doing things like that are fulfilling in their own way. Soon I'll be holding a stack of 40 cute and complex-looking invitations and can say "I made it all, minus the actual paper." Maybe one day I'll have the space to Actually make the paper, or at least recycle paper into home-recycled stuffs.

Anyway...That's mainly what this design-junky has been up to the past few months. It's not everything, but the coffee is finally kicking in and there's a meeting I need to get to....which time has totally snuck up on me! Must run!

Also!

If you ever need some custom designs or freelance work from me, head over to my profile at Thumbtack. For all you designers out there, this is actually a great place to make connections and find new clients. I've gotten a few good hits this week, so check it out!

More steps in the right direction.

Just made an account on Thumbtack.com that focuses on all those Heartworks and Facinators I've been churning out lately. I already have one for the Illustrations & Designs & think this will be a great addition to the web "presence" I've been trying to build up. (and the best part is the price tag of free :)

Pop on over for a full selection of my little twisted creations and details on how you can order your own wearable art!

Locomotive Thinking

9 days after the previous post and I'm still working at fulfilling 2011's goals. I can haz cookie?

I've been trying to flesh out a new series of illustrations based on my vision of Neil Gaimen's "Family of the Endless" from "The Sandman" comics, but they're a little hard to fully form. I'm still stuck on which medium to use, mainly based on time, which is putting a big wrench in my cogs as far as design. Today's sketches yeilded the idea of approaching the portraits like the Bible Series pieces or even the Skinny Puppy portrait, with text interwoven through the illustration, grittily colored and slightly garishly fleshed on the board. My initial idea was a simple vector line illustration because of a slight time constraint/number of images ratio, but the first attempt yeilded a bit of an...underwhelming portrait. I planned on casting close friends as each character, listed as so (in case you're familiar with either side of the list or just curious)

Destiny-Hobbit Husband
Dream-Hobbit Brother-in-Law (first attempt complete)
Death-Myself
Desire-Chris (girl-chris, though the androgony of the name lends well to the character)
Despair-unknown
Delirium-Hobbit BiL's girlfriend, Rachel
Destruction-Hobbit Husband or friend Gerald (Gerald is honestly a perfect match to the character, but Husband is a quick model if need be.)

There is an art gallery in the Hickory Hollow Mall having a comic/anime art show on the 29th of this month that at least 5 of these would fit into. The problem lies within that small amount of time to do these portraits....But we will see how well I spend my off time from the day-job, yes? Maybe seven amazing pieces will just leap from my fingers as easily as five did last spring?

I'm also eyeballing at least three other shows in the coming months, all insisting I revamp my inventory and bulk up the "new art" list.


The best news, or newest news, is that last week I was accepted by a local shop to sell my necklaces, notecards, hair facinators and other random art on consignment! Now my items don't have to sit away in storage til an art or craft show, they can be lovingly drooled over by locals and bought up! (my little dream)
The shop is Boa Clothing located at 4902 Charolette Ave. in Nashville TN and I swear the owner/operator Sam is one of the most awesome chicks you'll ever meet. Her shop is one of the best places to burn through a paycheck for your horror/goth/punk/vintage desires and she is severely dedicated to local artisians.

As it's nearly 4am in The Shire I'm going to wrap up the package designs I was working on trying to get sleepy and crawl in bed with my poor sick Hobbit Husband. I don't plan on sleeping in too much, though. There's just too much to do in too little time :D

In the year 2011....

...things will happen.

I know that January fills the interwebs with postings bursting with resolutions, goals and grand ideas, and there's no reason to change that trend here.
2010 was the year that essentially boiled down to my wedding, something grand that needed much time to be dedicated to planning, creating and sorting for. I tried to set time aside for art shows and such, but by September I was just burnt out, and decided to dedicate wholly to the wedding "art project" and leave the rest on hiatus til January.

Wedding day came and went off beautifully and was kindof the begining of the great bomb that is known as "Family Holiday Season." The honeymoon was a week later, Thanksgiving the week after that, and essentially I literally didn't stop until New Year's Eve. Well...more specifically New Year's Day as I was battling the annual hangover (on a much smaller scale than usual) combined with a cold (of a much larger version than usual.) After the hangover burned itself out I was still left mostly immoble with an insanely stuffy head and chest leaving me time to sketch. Bringing us to day 4 of 2011.

I applied and interviewed for an intership in the end of 2010, which I didn't get, but the process pushed me into a more motivated way of thinking which I hope to keep up with. I need to push myself. I need to utilize the skills I have, the books I have, and build the professional Book I know I can create. I'm trying to sketch something substantial everyday, no matter the style or subject, no matter if it's on paper or digitally.
Since I'm still rocking an amazing headache from the cold, I'll cut this short with a couple of b/w sketches.

b/w digital sketch of my Hobbit Husband and I.

b/w digital sketch with minimal color, illustrating the pain sometimes behind inspiration and ideas.

Cheers!

Tennessee is in the midst of an acutal autumn this year. Unfortunately we had some strong enough windstorms that the beautifully colored leaves are mostly covering the ground (at least in my area) but that doesn't quiet the desire to try some plein air studies.
There's no attempt, though, as it's a week before the wedding and I'm not entirely sure everything is ready, heh. I will admit that almost every creative juice has been flowing into this, but a few sketches and preliminary ideas have surfaced. I have a small list of ideas to start on after Thanksgiving, including a list of owed art.

I feel like my art plans were put on hold for an unreasonable time, but honestly I've only been out of school a little more than a year, and most of that time was spent in local group shows, trying the crafty thing, and pulling a slightly-big wedding together. Not a bad use of time, but also not the most useful way to hone my skills for the demanding freelance world.

Just wanted to make a mark, say I hadn't dropped off the face of the Earth and that my plans are still in motion. Hope all is well with you.

Take a Moment to Breathe

When everyone was making their New Year's Resolutions to lose weight or save money, I was making social and art-oriented goals. To get more involved in the local art scene and to see my friends more often.
What I forgot to include was all the time that would need to be applied to making all the stuff I wanted to hand-craft for said art stuff, AND the stuff for the wedding. So we get to September, I feel a little behind on the stuff for the wedding, I feel a little overwhelmed with how much time I've put into the art shows, and Hobbit is feeling more than a little neglected at times (not to mention my friends....I'm pretty sure I've chased a few more off during the past summer.)

So, while driving down to the Starving Artists' Benefit, I told Hobbit that this would be the last show of the year so I could dedicate more time to him, friends, and wedding. Little did I know that said Benefit would be cancelled/possibly rescheduled to October. Ok, I can do that. Nor did I know that another group would contact me about a show in September.....ok....I can do that. THEN I realized Untitled's next show is in September.....Shit...I better think about this.
Which I did, and came to the conclusion to stick with my guns this month about my verdict, and participate in the rescheduled Benefit if it happens. See, even though I want to participate in Cadillac Tramp's show on September 25th VERY BADLY, there are already a ton of things that day: wedding with Hobbit's family mid-day and I'm not sure how long the reception is, there's another group of friends who are meeting up at another bar downtown, and it's technically Hobbit's birthday weekend, so he got to chose whether to really cram-pack that Saturday or not, and he wisely chose not to.
The Untitled Show came to the same demise in my plans, though I might be able to actually attend that one, just not as a participant. I shouldn't cough up the registration, even though it's a very, very reasonable amount, and though I'd possibly sell 5 small things, I just don't have the time to make one new large one (which I'm inclined to do for new shows. i don't have enough paintings to just haul one out at a given time.)

Instead of getting ready for these shows (even in the "psyche myself up" way) I'm pulling together things for the wedding. I'm hanging out with people and going on walks at Radnor Lake. I'm sketching for myself, and reading.
I figure I keep sketching and socializing I'll be ready to embrace both the local art scenes and the wonderous world of Freelance Spamming come January. November is full of wedding/honeymoon/Thanksgiving, and December is just rife with Family Things.

So forgive me for hunkering down and hiding in the Shire.