old dog, new tricks

Still waiting to hear from the publisher about 'At Night' (you can see a spread above) and feeling unable to concentrate fully on any of my artwork. I have a pet portrait with a deadline looming and have made a good start on the Fire & Light illustration (well, have the roughs done anyway!).

The sunny weather is making missing my dog almost unbearable (we lost our Siberian husky boy almost three years ago now). I'm currently driving Andy mad looking at rescue dogs!! I've found the most gorgeous, sad and abandoned boy here http://www.oldies.org.uk/?p=1496 I really want to go for it. There's nothing quite like a meander on the beach with a dog to restore the creative soul - but now I'm waiting for the rehoming lady to get back in touch to see if we are possible candidates for rehoming him. More waiting...

paralysis by analysis

I heard this phrase the other day and it seems to sum up how I feel at the moment. So busy trying to find new outlets for my work that I haven't produced anything for a couple of weeks. Even commissions I already have to do (like the pet portraits) are sitting untouched. The illustrations for the fire & light exhibition exist in rough form only and work on the folklore book has completely ground to a halt. Today I feel a bit of a fraud even calling myself an illustrator.

end of an era

Last day at work today... 11 years, tens of thousand of pounds worth of design pitches won for the company, and my bosses didn't even say goodbye, nevermind thank you (and obviously no present!). Eventually, 10 minutes before I was due to finish, I went to say goodbye to them (just good manners after all) and one of them had already left! Still, think the other one felt really small, well I'd like to think so but hey, probably not! I even worked until 8pm last night on the last job I was doing for them - nice to know it's all been appreciated!!!

Fortunately, the people and clients I work with more than made up for the pathetic pair of scrooges. They baked a cake, gave me a much appreciated amazon book voucher, the Kooks & Kaiser Chiefs cds, two bottles of Faustino and a bottle of champagne (and they'd written two amazing poems for me too). Going for a drink with some of them on Friday and made them this card to say thank you. I'm really going to miss working with them.

It most definitely is the end of an era. After leaving work, I came home and my very ancient cat, who has been failing for a few weeks now, died at 5pm. I couldn't believe it at first, she was such a survivor, but she really has gone. Lots and lots of tears and full of guilt at not spending enough time with her over the last few weeks.

illustrative schizophrenic and gaelic pronunciation

I've moved on to the next project. I'd like to do a series of cards/prints based on seasons and weather. My style is constantly evolving and changing, I don't know if that's a result of keeping going with design, portraits and illustration at the same time? I'd like to think you can still tell it's my work but then sometimes wonder if I'm just an illustrative schizophrenic!

It's my last day of work tomorrow [I handed in my notice three weeks ago] and I start my new job on Monday. I'm completely hyper tonight - so excited! - I've worked there for 11 years and I'm just itching for a change. Will have to start swotting up on my traditional Scottish musical instruments and gaelic pronunciation!

The White Stag

I've been working on the illustrations for the Scottish folklore book - this one is for 'The White Stag'. I've also had the opportunity to exhibit in Padua in Italy in December so hopefully that will be a great opportunity for my work to be seen in Europe (the exhibition is touring Italian cities in 2008/2009).

No word yet from the publisher! I worked out if it can take two to three months to hear back then that's only 4-6 submissions in a year - it could take forever!

Waiting

I'm playing the waiting game now. The best thing to do is to keep working on the next project - that way I won't be too disappointed if my book idea is rejected. I'm currently working on an illustration for 'The White Stag', a traditional Scottish fairytale and will be 'unveiled' as Illustrator of the Month on the BRAW website on Thursday!

I quit!

Also forgot to mention, I resigned from my design job last week. Not quite as brave as it sounds (I'm moving to another job as an arts administrator). But still, I'm hoping the change of scene (I had worked as a designer for the same [unappreciative] company for the last eleven years) will do my creativity some good.