Balancing Work, Art, and Chaos.

Crazy crazy crazy times as of lately. Sometimes I sit at my desk at work just thinking, "I cannot for the life of me believe I am quitting." It is such an exciting feeling, but again, that excitement is often overshadowed by my overwhelming fear of running out of money. And not making money. And not having money. This has been a true test of how positive a person can stay about a completely unknown future, and how much faith someone can have in what they are doing. So far, mine is strong.

It is a tricky thing when I am gone from 7:30am until 6pm every week day. I have to cram as much working on my "new job" into the evening hours as possible. That can get tricky when plans of happy hour, TV nights with friends, and awesome dinners with my brothers fit into the mix. Artists can have a reputation for being hermits, but... I like to party. Still. At age 29.

Most of my art stuff gets done over the weekends (also can't believe that in three weeks my life is essentially turning into one continuous weekend). Right now my sink is piled with dishes, my bathroom is covered in clothes, and I need to buy lightbulbs. However, here are some things that were born yesterday:

I honestly worked from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed yesterday. And the best part is that not once did it feel like work. It's a great feeling to get so lost in what you are doing that you forget to do things... like eat dinner. Have I mentioned that online pizza ordering is one of the best inventions ever? So now here I sit, sink still full of dishes, bathroom still looking like a laundry bomb went off in it, and there is still a pack of lightbulbs at the store with my name on it. Oh well. It's been a great weekend. Now it's Sunday Funday and I happen to have a very close friend who is a very amazing cook, and all he asks me to do is bring the booze. Match made in heaven. Guess the dishes will have to wait another night!

Inspiration Wednesday!

I have discovered a boatload of amazing artists on Society6. Sometimes once you start clicking on that website, suddenly an hour has passed. Here are some recent finds (link to artist's Society6 page underneath):

Anna from Galaxy Eyes combines dreamy photography with inspirational words and phrases... I think having a wall with seven or eight of her prints arranged together would look amazing.

Sharon Johnstone's photography is stunning. Pair that with her keen eye for color? Deadly combination. You may get stuck on her page for a while because you can't turn away from the beauty. 

I actually discovered Cassia Beck on Etsy a while back and fell in love. Her body of work is HUGE and this dreamy, calm feeling kind of flows throughout. 

I love David Fleck's combinations in intricate ink drawing and carefree, flowy watercolor.

Elisandra's work is colorful and happy and just makes you feel uplifted when you look at it. 

I tried to go with some calming colors this morning because I have been having these random moments of absolutely freaking out over whether or not I'm making the right decision by leaving my job, what if I run out of money, what if I fail... Doubts are natural I guess but they are still not fun. I know this is going to be great, just gotta keep the inspiration and creativity flowing. 

Have a fantastic Wednesday :)

Life as of Lately

Oooooooh my. Where do I even start. How about here: I quit my job on Monday. Yeah. Impulsive/crazy/rash/brazen/sudden? Sure. Quite possibly the best decision I've ever made in my life? Let's hope :) My last day is September 7. The way I see it, that is when my life really starts.

I've done this whole thing very bass-ackwards. I have read Etsy's "Quit Your Day Job" articles religiously for almost two years now. It seems like a lot of people use Etsy as a side business then once things get rolling (after a year or two), they realize their potential and take the plunge.

Me? I opened my shop two weeks ago tomorrow. My "nest egg" is the size of a caviar. I could draw 1000 terrible metaphors about how irresponsible my decision is, but bottom line is that I have unwavering faith that everything is going to work out. I don't know how yet, but I know it will. I'm not going to ramble on the job quitting situation, in this post at least; there are many more fun things to share.

I went to the fair a few times this year! A lot of people turn their noses up at state fairs (even though it's amazing people watching), but what's not to love? Tons of color, noise, excitement, fried food, food on a stick... Here are a few things I saw:

And yeah, I split a donut burger with my friend. Don't judge. It was actually really good. A nice sweet-salty combo similar to a McGriddle. Not that I love those.... Aaaaanyway, there are tons of fair pics on my Flickr if you want to check them out!

Today I finally got the majority of my stuff listed on Etsy, so I decided to take time to experiment with promo photos of prints, just to see what I am after. Here are some examples:

The Carpe Diem ones did not turn out AT ALL the way I wanted. Oh well; you win some you lose some. Lastly, I believe in signs, I've probably said that before. On Friday after I got home from work we had a random thunderstorm. It only lasted a few minutes. Afterwards, this was raging across the sky:

The beauty and calm after the storm... I couldn't help but compare it to my current situation. I am transitioning into beauty and calm and inspiration and creativity and appreciation and approximately 1,000,000 other things I won't mention right now. Life is good. 

Lastly, my kitties are adorable.

Remember that life is good. If it's not for you right now, change something to make it good, or close to it. Nothing is guaranteed, so we might as well cram as much stuff into our given time as possible.