Okay, so I've been seriously neglecting my blog. The bug spray totally worked, by the way. The entire summer ended on my second spray bottle full of the concoction, not even halfway through the original bottles of essential oils. I sprayed my dogs down once a week and rubbed it in. No more than that. And no fleas or mosquitoes hanging around. Admittedly, we had a few ticks, but not that many - less than five the whole summer - when the dogs going swimming outweighed my spraying. Overall, still better, less expensive, and hopefully healthier than the alternative.
I've been busy upgrading my tattoo studio! Recently, I've invested in a new stencil machine, new tattoo machines, books for my tattoo library, and studio equipment and furniture. And the artwork I've been collectiong is up on the walls, with more being added all the time. I've been working on longer term, bigger color pieces, too, which I love. Soon I'll be able to share a big Phoenix piece I'm very excited about finishing.
The 365 Caricature Project was paused at 92 or 93, and I have not had the time to get back into that groove. While that was a relative fail for the year, at the same time, hey, I produced 92 or 93 new images, which makes me happy. The other upside of even doing that many was that when a regular client came to me for a batch of caricatures for an event in September, they were the best set of caricatures I had done for him to date.
Just after Thanksgiving I had another deadline - Secret Santa gifts with fellow artists on illustratedATCS.com. I was seriously hooked up with some incredible art. Here is one piece I sent to a fan of David Bowie. It is 8"x8" acrylic on canvas.
and here is another, a portrait of the person receiving the gift:
You can probably tell I had a little fun..
Pottery sales have been booming! Last year, I worked out of a tent in my living room. I was too busy over the summer to accomplish much, and I've recently relocated my studio to the former guest bedroom. Now that we have two six month old kittens running around, no greenware is safe, so I've had to modify a bit. Winter is high gear for me when it comes to working the pottery wheel and running the kiln pretty steadily. Plus, I have eight place settings to make right away.
When my hands are covered in clay, I avoid my technology. I won't be online much for the next couple of months, so I hope everyone has a wonderful Winter!
