It has been a while since I have posted, life tends to scoop me up and carry me along with it most times. I jump off the carousel and run back to the beginning to start all over, picking up new things along the way that I may have passed by.

The year started out with the death of my external hard drive. I was using for it as a supplement for my main drive and, well, it led a good life having tolerated me for three years of hard, daily use. It is, on a bad note however, holding 168GB of my life hostage…writing, art, all my music, my client work, everything. So, I am learning to adapt.

This year is about renewal for me, a renewal of self and the things that drive me. About breaking old habits, forming new ones, and being thankful for the time in between. Instead of waiting for a better situation to come along, I am making one.

Working for my Self.

One of the decisions that I have made is that I am no longer accepting new clients*. I have had far too many of my own projects go undone, sitting in journals, waiting for me to pick them up and bring them to life. I can work on someone else’s projects, or I can invest that time into my self and my family and work toward getting paid. Family and self won out.

*I have some current clients that are fabulous, and will continue my work with them, but I am at a comfortable, manageable work load right now so I will not be taking on anything new.

Art for Cures

Art for Cures is resurrecting this month from the ashes after a three year pile up. Yup, three years. (Thankfully I am not alone, as I have run into others who have been breathing through straws under their own avalanches for longer than I have.) The guilt piles up as much as the work does, but I am finally out from under after sneaking time in between work, college, homeschooling, and daily life. I have a plethora of updates coming in the next week and will be posting a few things to both our Etsy and my eBay account.

Art for Cures is also, God willing, going to become a non-profit this year. We are going through the planning preparations now and I will have more updates on the AFC site in the coming weeks.

More thank yous than I can count to the friends and members I have been blessed with who have stuck by me, I could not be doing any of it without you guys. MWAH Your support and love have been the one thing that has kept me moving forward.

Pen in Hand

My writing, other than running Word Whimsy, has been on the back-burner so long my characters have all started pelting me with rocks and small, sharp, projectile implements. Odonatia, Coffee Cartel, Making Art from Non_Cents, and Clementine’s Garden are all on the goal list for this year though I am planning on doing the “book happy dance” with my friend Pam Carriker with at least one caffeinated book soon. Congratulations Pam! HUGS You can pick up her new book on Etsy or on Amazon.

Full sailing ahead.

One of the biggest dilemmas for me recently has been which school to pursue once I have graduated in March. I am graduating with my BFA in Visual Communications, Digital Design (basically the degree for what I have been doing for 24 years) and have already started the enrollment process with Full Sail in Winter Park, Florida.

I grew up around and loved the Winter Park area. It is commercially overrun now, like most places, a lot of the quaint independent shops that were unique to the area having had to make way for larger corporate shops they, sadly, couldn’t compete with. I still have a huge poster-sized menu from the old East India Ice Cream Company (any of you remember that place?) that we used to frequent. The park is still there, and my tree with its sitting branch best for train watching that my grandmother and I used to frequent, as well as a few old busking spots. The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival is what really drove me to become an artist full-time and, while I don’t attend the show anymore, or at least not near as frequently, it still holds fond memories. We have a similar show, FAFO, that we enjoy and attend every year here locally.

I will be starting my MFA in Creative Writing the first week of May then plan to move on to their Game Art program. The reason the decision was so difficult is because of accreditation, or lack thereof. I have my own goals and projects, though, and I look forward to having both degrees under my belt.

I also used to work for a rubber stamp store in Winter Park and there is nothing better than getting paid to play and create, well maybe…

Art grows on trees.

After a great deal of thinking, I have decided to postpone Gumtree’s launch until June of this year. We need the extra time to build stock as well as get all of our paperwork in order. I feel it was a necessary decision though as, with my external drive in possible permanent limbo, there is more that can be done so that our launch is as smooth and seamless as it can be. I know that when we do launch it will be an incredible experience and one I have been looking forward to for years.

Gallery exhibit July 2011, Winter Park Florida

All paths seem to lead to Winter Park lately! The Brooklyn Art Library’s Sketchbook Project will be exhibiting at Full Sail’s gallery in July and I am proud to have one of my original journals in it. I am mailing it out on Friday and will be posting a video walk-through of it on my YouTube channel this weekend.

We don’t need no stickin’ genre.

Dragonfly Press Publishing, formerly a venue for zines and other small press publications, launched itself as a small, private publishing company last year with its first title, Freemasonry through the Jaundiced Eye of a West Virginia Hillbilly.

Ophir E. Vellenoweth, also the band leader for Buddy O & the Dancemasters has been a delight to work with and I am currently typesetting another book for him, a work of fiction entitled Tales of the Colstops. I am looking forward to presenting it to you soon. He is currently working on a sequel to Colstops and another book within the Freemasonry genre. Freemasonry through the Jaundiced Eye of a West Virginia Hillbilly is now available in digital download format or hardcover.

Dragonfly Press Publishing will be releasing at least one zine this year, possibly Kraft Paper Muse which has been reorganizing with support in the background.

They finally did it. They, in this case, being Paper Source and they have an at-home, tabletop Letterpress Machine!

I have several projects that I have been researching printers for, all Letterpress, and there was no way I could afford it, so they have sat collecting dust instead of bolstering sales. Having a machine I can use at-home opens so many doors. :::dreamy sigh::: Not to mention all the fabulous stuff we could do with Art for Cures.

My 40th birthday is Friday O_O so I think that is a little short notice, but this one is definitely going on my Christmas Wish List!!

Sadly, it is official. Actor Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully in his sleep today, family at his side. He was 57.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

He went peacefully, which is all anyone can ask for and I am happy for that. From everything I had ever read or heard about him, he was a great man and will be sorely missed. Prayers go out to his friends and family. Rest in peace Patrick…

I am always looking for scholarship money and Brickfish is always running campaigns. I graduate with my BFA this September but plan to go on to a Masters in Education so I’m racking up the school loans. Come vote for me and comment! If I make the top cut I’ll get money toward school. WOOT hehe

What’s Your Favorite Toy? Brickfish

I am going to be in a charity event on January 17th with my own exhibition area as well as a table full of greeting cards and other goodies. If you are local to the Ocala, Florida area I would love it if you came and showed your support!

Tickets are 50.00 which includes both receptions, the exhibit and the live theater performances as well as the silent auction. I will also have one piece (possibly two) in the auction as well. For more information, you can download a copy of my full-size flyer here. Help me get the word out!

After posting that one of my new designs was up for critique on Threadless yesterday, I got a lot of wonderful replies in support of the image. I have officially submitted it into the running and hope to hear back some positive news in the next 4-8 business days. Once they have approved it (note my positive attitude), it will go up for voting and I will be emailing everyone again.

In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for me that it is well-received. There is a lot of money at stake, over $2,000 if it gets voted into being, and I’d love to be able to give my family a nice Christmas as well as eat a large chunk out of my bills. hehe Wish me luck!

I have a new design on Threadless, one of several I am posting for critique this week. If you would, please drop in and take a look at it; I’d love to hear your thoughts on it: http://www.threadless.com/critique/32351/Zen_Coffee

It is up for critique right now but I hope to push it into the running. If it wins and is chosen by Threadless to become a t-shirt, it is $2,000 in cash up front (that I could definitely use toward school loans hehe), another $500 as a Threadless gift certificate (or $200 in cash), $500.00 every time it reprints, and more if it wins an award! WHEN :::hopeful::: it goes into the running I will post a link for voting.

Thank you for your time and support!

We surf around on YouTube a lot and have come across some pretty incredible things, one of which is ConcreteBeat.

Backstory. Years ago, early 90′s, I got to live close enough to NYC to be able to drive up for the weekends and hang out. It is a whole ‘nother world there. You see and hear stories about New York all the time, major motion pictures, the news. Being there, though, is an incredible experience and one that you’re not likely to forget.

It is that time of year again! The cool winds are beckoning me to travel to my favorite haunts, clouds rolling by in the clear blue sky above. Fall through the new year’s dawning is when I feel most alive. Living in Florida you would think it would be summer, but no, I long for leaves the color of fire and a cool wind to carry me north to someplace snowy. So it is with these thoughts in mind that I begin my transformation…and Clementine’s.

Clementine prides herself in being stylish. She is a princess so it is expected of her as well. For the holidays she enjoys dressing up in all manner of costume. This year she has chosen to combine several of her favorites – witch, vampire, and Frankenstein – all while trying to help raise breast cancer awareness.

You too can Feel Halloweeny! I will be adding more goodies to the cauldron this week so make sure you bookmark the page and keep checking back. Lots of ghoulish surprises in store!