Wow. I just commented on Shaun Tan's blog, followed my own link, and realized my poor blog has become derelict.
Parenthood really swept me off my feet, especially once our second son was born in 2012, and every free moment has been spent trying to scramble for time in the studio or, some days, just keep breathing. My children are old enough now to entertain themselves for at least small chunks of time, and I feel like I am emerging from a cave after a storm.
I've still been creating artwork since my last post here in 2011, especially, commissioned maps and other artwork that I'm proud of, such as the above map of Kerala, India, but meeting deadlines and trying to create enough new work to not become totally stagnant has taken much of my time. Now, because we're packing and prepping for a huge move next year, and we have a lot of renovations to do, my studio is packed up and I am working from a tiny desk in our bedroom, so I put my Etsy shop in vacation mode and am not taking commissions until I have a solid place to work again. Which may be the end of 2018 or may not be. We live in suspense around here! Such is the way of military families...
This is a good time, though. I needed a true hiatus from mapmaking. I have ideas for several projects to come. I've also returned to working on basic drawing skills, which weren't getting enough attention while every free moment was devoted to completing commissions on deadline. I am experimenting with other media as well, especially art journaling, not to switch direction, just to fill up the creative well.
One of the biggest projects to come a set of children's books I am beginning to plan. We have some specific needs for books in this family that I haven't been able to fill, even with all the amazing, wonderful books out there. So I will write them myself.
If you'd still like to follow my work, I have every intention of bringing this blog back to life - and I can see that it needs some serious design edits - but these days, I am fairly active on Twitter at @paintandink. If you're reading this, please join me there and let me know you saw this post! My Facebook page has sort of slipped into hiatus with my Etsy page, but that should be just short term, and I imagine I'll update that again soon. I started a Patreon page, but I am not active on there, either, although I absolutely plan to revive that once I start going again.
Sadly, I do not have an active Instagram page and likely won't start one, as I'm trying to extricate myself from the hold of my smartphone, and Instagram is not laptop friendly, really.
When my artistic metamorphosis is complete, I will have a more rounded online presence, I hope. In the meantime, though, I really am learning to enjoy the journey.
