This year has been... interesting.
January and February were alright, stressful... It was when I created "The Maw."
My spouse was forced to resign from his position and he spent most of this time being (in my opinion) unproductive. I had a lot of anger and frustration from my job also. A lot of additional responsibilities with out additional pay or staffing. Not that the pay would have made things better. I was at my limit anyway, I needed extra man hours.
Either way, I was miserable at work and home. If I was not painting I was sleeping. I slept a lot.
Here is the January and February art.
March is when I put notice into my full time employer. I can only stand so much misery. Either leave my spouse (it was very bad) or leave the job. Things are scary. For the second time in my life I was "unemployed" but the first that it was my choice. This was also the month I started looking for Art groups to be a part of. Looking back I only did two major works this month.
April saw me excited at the prospect of being free. It was still scary and stressful. Trying to get things cleaned up at work for the new person and at home... I also was getting ready for a show in May. I did a full sized acrylic painting, the skull experiments and a farewell flower bouquet! Busy girl!
May: All done at the job. I never have to go back and work that thankless job ever again. As crazy and desperate as things are right now, I am so glad I do not have to work there anymore.
I did my first vendor event! Oddmall Tacoma.
I was a flurry of work to get things ready for the event. Title pages for my portfolio, making sure I had to much to display, pricing, and color pages. I even painted a set of cute birds that an awesome friend purchased. (I cannot find the photo of it.)
June and July were also a bit crazy. I did that awesome jellyfish painting and an Octopus painting (sold.) I did a few more ink wash paintings and geared up for Art on the Ave in Tacoma with the color-me puzzles and Music and Art in Wright Park. I also started to work on "motivation Monday" stuff. In July I also got two commissions! It was so cool. I will be working on another commission for the one of those people in 2018.
The worries of not having steady income and my spouse not having a job yet, is starting to bother me. My spouse and I are selling icecream when we can for a local iceream maker, Viking Feast Icecream.
I also got a part time job at the end of July. Gotta make ends meet.
PS. I was not happy about it. I was "unemployed" for less than two months. It still makes me angry to think about. I could go on for days about the work balance in my relationship.
August and September is when the dread really set in. I got a small commission in August and prepped a lot for Music and Art in Wright Park.
This is also the time frame where I had the awesome pleasure of working with a talented artist on a collaboration! I had started with an idea for an abstract painting for a comic related piece and it just did not go well.
I did a small commission and started getting ready for events that I work. I sold icecream and got laid up because I hurt my back and could not work.
I created a bunch of nerd oriented art for Jet City Comic Show in November.
October... Should have been the best month ever. Halloween, Inktober and a fun little Halloween event for me to vendor at, and a Friday the 13th. My spouse was working steady hours, not full time, but steady. All the makings for an excellent month.
Then my spouse's best friend committed suicide... a few block from our house. Messed up the whole month. We did what we had to. My spouse got fired from his job and the whole emotional mess that comes with losing your best friend... I think that it is worse than losing a family member. You do not get to pick those, but you pick your friends (just try not to pick their noses *hahaha.*)
October and November were really just horrible, terrible, and no good.
In November and December I did not work much, just art. The job that I work at has its slow time during the holidays. I made enough to pay the utility bills. I also did a few small events and sold some art that helped pay a few more small bills.
I had art on display at a restaurant in Fremont, Washington. It was exciting to see my art on a wall that was not mine. I also was at Jet City Comic Show as a guest of Terra Crux Games.
I spent most of the November and December coloring Inktober drawings and cursing my spouses best friend.
It has been a long time since $400 felt like a lot of money. I was a teenager when that last happened. My first pay check was $281.64 in the mid 90's. I felt so rich.
Now I hope I get that much so I can make sure we have light, food, and heat.
I am also frustrated with "the system." A person who has worked their butt off since they were old enough to work, cannot get help. There is virtually no one who is around to help my family (no kids) keep the house and pay the bills, during this bad year we have had.
A person who has only worked long enough to ensure they get state and federal benefits can easily get "assistance" for housing, food, and bills.
I do not understand it.
This is the last post of the year.
A summary of what I have done.
I look toward 2018 with hope.
I am an eternal optimist.