I am a creative professional. I am lucky enough that my “job that buys groceries” is a creative job as well but I have quite a few irons in the fire. I am an illustrator and painter. I love doing it; terrible at selling it. That is my husband’s job. He can sell ice to an Eskimo. I am also an aspiring writer in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign to help publish my first novel, The Adventures of the Flying Furniture: The Return of the Great Flyer. The novel has been at the forefront of my creative efforts (my sort-of grown up job aside) and everything else has been sporadic; pushed toward the farthest back burner of my life.
Drawing is quick and somewhat relaxing but I often feel guilty pulling out my fancy pens and gouache to doodle when I should be revamping my social media campaign to promote my novel and Kickstarter. Painting is more taxing but when my project is completed, I feel more satisfied that with almost anything else. I lose time when I am painting. Before I had my son and I was a childless, unmarried young-un, I could spend all day on a painting. I could LIVE paint…at a festival…with people watching and let my now-husband talk about my paintings on display and make sales. Now, I am lucky if I paint twice a year, not including my day job. It is something I have not forced myself to make time for.
My writing has always been my mythical golden goose. It is the way I have seen myself cross over into the enchanted world of getting paid to illustrate things and making films. My paintings sell. I am not a character or a celebrity. Art sales for the normal folk are tough in a world that sees rising interest rates, daycare tuition, endless student loans (stay strong!) and car insurance premiums. I think my non-interest in playing a role and being gimmicky has held me back for sure but it doesn’t change the fact that I love to paint.
Writing and painting both require this zen place for me. Tripping over Lightning McQueen and hearing the theme song for Paw Patrol twenty-five times a day kills the zen a bit. I love my family and I have a good life. However, I would like to find my zen place and my balance between all of my creative endeavors and the necessities of life (great, now I’m singing The Jungle Book).
Visit my Kickstarter for The Adventures of the Flying Furniture at FLYING FURNITURE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN and read more about my literary works on WordPress: FLYING FURNITURE ON WORDPRESS.
Beetle&Bird Studios 