xXArtimisXx

I'll be at Necronomicon Tampa next week! I'm helping Nash sell his books and selling my prints of the covers of both Heathen's Barrow books in Writer's Alley! If you're gonna be there, come say hi and show us some support!

Back in October 2023 I started working toward earning my Master's Degree in Fine Arts! I'm working full-time while doing classwork full-time so I'm pretty busy and tired all the time.

But I can't state enough just how much I enjoy being back in school again! Especially when it's doing something I love: art! I'm excited to continue my classes and learn even more! I'll probably make another post giving more detail at a later date.

I feel like it's been an age and a half since I last posted anything, art or stories included, so I thought I'd give a bit of an update.

Well, I'm trying to become more professional in my art career in terms of creating and marketing myself. I've hesitated on the second part for a few years now due to anxiety, so it's time to take a breath and be brave. Commissions are open. I'm currently working on setting prices and making a commission sheet, but making that sheet may take a bit since I'm having some technical difficulties...

The laptop I've had since... I think 2017 has been showing it's age for over a year. Two years ago it was moving as slow as molasses in January, and the motherboard had to be replaced... which reset the whole device and I lost soooo many files... Papers I wrote in college, stories I started writing, and several pieces of art I was working on... Needless to say I've learned my lesson in backing up my art files, but that loss of my work really hurt my soul and impacted my desire to create art. I felt pretty discouraged to even try again, so I didn't really mess with my laptop for most of that year. And then I got a commission from one of my best friends, Nash Nelson! I'll readily admit I procrastinated with that project because I just felt so... worthless and doubted myself as an artist, and I had a persistent sense of guilt. But I persevered, I finished the piece, and now it's here for everyone to see! The cover for Heathen's Barrow: My Evil.

After I finished that first commission piece I felt better, more accomplished and more confident with myself. Nash then graced me with a commission for the cover for the second book, Heathen's Barrow: Our Evil, and we agreed on a deadline for the first of June to finish the cover. If you've seen the deviation page for book 2's cover, you'll probably have read the description and saw that I had a few technical difficulties... I won't repeat that here though. Anyway! Just a month or two ago my laptop started slowing down again and now it doesn't register that it has a sound output or input, so now I can't hear anything playing through it's speakers and if I'm in a call no one can hear me unless I use a headset or a set of earbuds with a mic. It goes without saying that I'm a bit hesitant to turn it on and potentially run into a new problem or accidentally break it more.

I'm working on finding a replacement, but money has been tight so it might be a hot minute before I post any new digital pieces. I'll most likely post some old pieces I've done instead and never uploaded, and I'll be working on some traditional media pieces as well. Once I have a working computer, I'll get back to work on some digital stuff. I'll also most likely be working on overhauling my profile, gallery, and favorites to make this page look a little more professional. I'm not going to delete any of my old pieces, though! I believe in showing my progress, and boy howdy have I made some progress.

That's all for now! I have another announcement to make, but I'll do that later. Be on the lookout!