Okay, I think there is something to be said for both using and making it work with the supplies you already have, but there is also for investing in the tools that will help you make the art you really want.
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Hello! Here for a weekly update, but it's actually the last three weeks, really. I had my first ever Instagram story sale, so I thought I'd chat about that a bit and how it went. Other highlights of the past few days are some new art supplies, a fun virtual seminar, a renewed plan for developing a sketchbook practice, and my first ever Instagram live stream.
Read moreWell, after a very long buildup (like 15-20ish years), I finally went through with correcting my vision with laser eye surgery. A bit of background; I first needed glasses when I was eight years old, and my vision pretty much deteriorated every year until my mid-twenties, when it stabilized at a prescription around -6.00/-7.00. Laser surgery is not recommended unless your vision has been stable for several years, so it was sort of a shiny, unattainable object to me most of my life. Last year, I mustered the courage to ask my eye doctor about it at my yearly exam, and she enthusiastically let me know I was a perfect candidate and handed me a list of referral clinics to contact. I brought my list home but pretty much chickened out and ordered my year's supply of contacts the next day.
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Published by kailaelders in Non-Art Life
Hello! I got a new chair! And I'm very excited. I think a lot of people can relate to the all of a sudden WFH life. I was working from home before Covid really hit, but I definitely wasn't sitting at a desk for the majority of the day. I moved around a lot between the kitchen table, the couch (drawing on my ipad) and Ian's desk. Now Ian is occupying his desk, and I've taken on more work and projects where it makes the most sense for me to be at my "desk," which is actually our dining room table (which we never eat at).
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This week I wrapped up some client projects for the month, and got my hands on a SEWING MACHINE. That's the big game changer around here. My friend Elisenda is away from Seattle back home in Spain for a long term trip, not sure when she's getting back, and was able to have her in-laws bring me her sewing machine from her apartment! So exciting to have something new to learn and be creative with as the days start getting darker and colder and I need some mega distraction from all the darkness in the world these days.
Read moreThis week has been...not the best? Mostly because I got horrible news about my green card application (wrote out all my feelings on that here). I've also been hard at work on client projects, including a pet portrait commission in the style of my "Couch Potatoes" series, and a commission from a stationary company to create some sheets for their upcoming sticker book.
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I am sooo stuck. I feel lost. I really never thought I'd be in a position like this in my life. How far in do you wade into the river before deciding you can't make it and turn back, when that's just as difficult a trip? Ian and I have been anxiously moving through the different steps of the PERM application, which is how we would be able to transition from a temporary work visa to a green card. It's not going so well.
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I have fallen hard off the blogging train, and with all that's going on in the world I think that's probably just fine. But I would like to start some version of a weekly or monthly journal update here, for a couple reasons. I've felt so many wild emotions in the last five months and it's interesting even looking through drafts of blog posts that I never ended up uploading to see where my headspace was at. I also would like to start a Patreon in the future, and my favourite thing about the artists I support there are the inside look at their work week, or month, or current client projects. I'm unable to start a Patreon until I get my green card, so for now I think it would be interesting to get in the practice of it here.
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Before accepting the fact that I needed to rest my wrist and take an extended break from art, I started up a daily gouache practice. Gouache is something I've been meaning to learn for several years. I love the opaque and chalky look of it and the vibrancy of the colours. I bought a 24 colour set of gouache paints from Arteza, a more affordable option to the Windsor & Newton and Holbein varieties that I see all over Instagram. I got the paints, tried them once, and then they sat in a pouch on my art shelf for eight months. I'm sure that's a relatable series of events, especially with something aspirational like art supplies.
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