Sorry for the absence! I’ve been quite busy lately so I’ll catch you up quickly:

-Thought I was losing my job so I doubled down on art, made a huge plan for overhaul to my portfolio, Etsy shop, business plans, commissions, etc.

-Didn’t lose job, super busy with summer festivities, painted my living room/studio walls, and then ran out of time for art

-Currently trying to find balance between being able to pay at least most of my bills by cutting day job to part time, and getting my art career off the ground.

I’ve been working on making more Youtube videos (editing takes me forever so it’s still pretty slow going) but I’ve been having fun working on them when I can. It’s something l’d really like to work on more. I’ve made clay pins for my bag that a lot of people liked so I’m currently working on a batch for a shop update (hoping by early September) . I’ve added some more custom options to my Etsy shop, as I find it’s easier for people to feel comfortable commissioning an artist that way. Finally, I’ve been working on new stickers for my shop, updating my Redbubble and working on adding digital prints to my Etsy shop.

Dayjob // Dreamjob Drama:

My day job (a retail job I’m not particularly fond of) changed things around and my hours got cut from full time to about 15 hours per week. At that point I would not even earn close to a minimum wage. So with the extra time, I could either get a second day job (not much to choose from in my tiny town) and quit my art career….or double down and try to get my career off the ground. Clearly I chose the art.

I had all this extra free time so I worked on new products and paintings and marketing and had a few commissions come in and things were looking a little less bleak…..but now my day job changed things around again and I am back to 35-40 hours per week…..I barely earn enough to live as it is, and while I have the comfort of “okay I can pay most of my bills…” I no longer have time for all the plans I made for my art.

At this point….I think I just need to take that leap. Otherwise I’ll be forever stuck in my shitty little comfort zone where I’m miserable but surviving. I think I really need that little push. You know, the fire under your ass that be like, “HEY GET MOVING I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE WORRIED OR IT’S NOT PERFECT OR IT’S UNCOMFORTABLE!!”

So maybe I’m not flat out quitting my part time job, but cutting it dangerously low to force myself to be responsible for making up the rest of the money I need to live from my art. A craft that I have been honing for a solid decade.

Also it’s summer so everyone and their mother wants me to be there for their wedding/graduation/birthday/their kid’s birthday/fireworks/etc…..so family and friends have gotten the largest slice of free time I had. I was trying to be productive and just ended up planning too much and spreading myself too thin. You know how it is.