passionate

this morning's walk low tide with crows, gulls, great blue herons, canada geese & cormorants

When work, commitment and pleasure all become one
and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible

Unknown

I have been working hard. That just occurred to me yesterday afternoon as I was finishing up an exciting new little project designing Valentine's for American Greetings, a project which arrived on the heels of a steady stream of new design opportunities, filling my days & often evenings for weeks now. I forget that it is work because I love it so much. Especially lately where what comes naturally to me, what is me, is finally merging with making a good living. Hooray !! Instead of being hired by someone because I have a set of skills (drawing & design) that they can use to finesse their own vision of something (graphic design and/or product) I'm being hired, both freelance & licensing contracts, for me, my style, my look, my vision. All part of my master plan.

This Creative Empire building ship of mine ran into a patch of thick fog this past year & it really felt like I was losing my way, or maybe I didn't even know the way. I was trying so hard to make money, letting the desire (understandably so) for financial security be the driving factor in all my quests, all the while completely floundering to find my creative compass - my voice, my passion.
In August, after a particularly angst filled (probably 90% self induced) June & July I made a deal with myself to say f&ck it ! ... let it go-go-go. Stop thinking so much about everything & just do stuff ... do lots of stuff. Do, do, do ... relax + chill out, do some more, etc ....

This work was a giant breakthrough for me, that has effected both sides of my creative life - the more commercial side which I embrace with open arms and finally, finally a more fine art side to what I do. I've been doing mentals (sketches both in my head + small & scratchy thumbnails in my sketch book) of big new collage pieces - 18 x 24 - I can't wait to begin them but the early part of October is a month of prior commitments so for now these new big arty pieces will remain in my head & trust me they're snug as bug in there & they always have plenty of company.

Nothing you do is wasted. Every little thing leads to some other little thing which sometimes then leads you to some big OMG freakin' thing. So keep on doin' all the little things - it works ;-)

Be quiet. Stop thinking. Make stuff.
Trust in yourself, always be nice.
Especially to you.

me