Freelancer Resolutions

A few inked pages from the book before logging & filing them.

It's been just over a month since my last post because things have been busy, but I think I just needed a wee break from the internet too. This post isn't so much an update as it is reassurance to readers that I am still alive. Alive and making changes to start living better.

Like usual, I'm busy with Photobooth: A Biography. I'm in the last stretch now and I feel great about the work and relieved that the end of this period is in sight. My tour and signing dates for May and June are all set and in the next couple months the plans for July and August should be confirmed too. Professionally, lots of things are moving and shaking but it's a little premature to share them now.

On a personal note, my winter holidays were a bit of a juggling act. It was wonderful to be home with my family but I was so swamped with my to-do list that I didn't get to take one full day off during the two weeks I was in Edmonton. I spent Christmas day inside working while my parents and siblings did fun activities. (That wasn't actually as bad as it sounds because my family celebrates the Solstice, not Christmas. But still, I will pout about it.) It sucks to have to work when everyone else is relaxing and there's no one to blame but myself. It's good ol' self-sabotage.

Being a freelancer can be difficult for so many reasons... lack of financial stability, no paid vacation time, no healthcare benefits, etc. But time management is obviously my biggest issue. When I get fully engrossed in a project, I view every minute of the day as a minute that I could be doing my creative work. I make detailed "time budgets" (that's what I call my daily schedules) and if at the end of the day, I haven't finished everything, I get upset with myself for how I may have wasted time by using Facebook for too long. Then I go to bed stressed, thinking about tomorrow's to-do list and sleep restlessly. These are obviously terrible habits.

I recently realized that I'm still learning how to be a freelancer. Maybe one of the reasons it can be so difficult for myself and others is that we didn't have any freelance role-models while growing up. There's just no one to emulate and learn from. Growing up, the adults I interacted with; my parents, my aunts and uncles, my teachers, my coaches, all had 9-5 type employment, mostly in offices. Later, during my BFA, there wasn't a class that covered the highs and lows of self-employment. I'm figuring this out as I go, so are most freelancers, so we have to remember to give ourselves a break sometimes.

After my bittersweet "holidays" it became apparent that I needed to set some serious New Year's resolutions. Self-care is at the top of the list, for me this means making time to 1. socialize and 2. exercise and 3. do not eat more than one frozen pizza per week.

1. I got in touch with the good people at Montreal Improv and have been performing with them once a week. At first it felt a little funny to be on stage again (after 3 1/2 years away) but it's not about the stage time anyway. It's about leaving my house, putting myself into a different mindset, hanging out with really fun people and laughing a whole bunch.  It's been an entirely positive experience and works for me because I can build the time into my weekly schedule.

Tonight's dinner, waiting for the oven to preheat.

2. I found the yoga studio I liked best near my house (there's about six all within a ten minute walk,) and signed up for classes. I've gone to one to three classes a week, depending on how busy I've been. I've really savored the exercise and the time to quiet my mind.

3. So far, so good.


I've learned a lot about creative work and about myself during this process. If in the future, I choose to make another 300 page graphic novel, I expect it will be A LOT easier. When this is all good and done I will make a list of the unexpected things that I learned as a reminder to myself and maybe it will be helpful for others too.

One Year of Mail Art - January + February

 
Admittedly, it was tricky to get January's Mail Art out. I was still recovering from surgery and was in a bit of a post-holiday lull. Unfortunately I didn't take great documentation of January's pieces, but the theme(s) were Old and New. Within the main envelope were two smaller envelopes, one new and the other old and tattered. Inside each were a set of drawings; the New envelope containing drawings of things when they were young and the Old envelope with drawings of how they've aged.

And per usual, I included  two puzzle pieces and the series of letters on the back of the envelope (which, with all twelve months and the arrangement key, spell a secret message.)

At the start of this month, feeling more up to it, I had fun putting together February's Mail Art. The theme was Hearts & Arrows, but I decided to take a non-romantic approach to this Valentine's Day related idea. I used some new air mail envelopes I bought online from Thailand and put together a little booklet of watercolour paintings and made a word search puzzle.

In Spirit of the Season

Halloween is one of my very favourite holidays and I was excited to celebrate it in a new city this year. Unfortunately, a nasty cold+flu combo has been dragging me down lately and put a halt to my plans on the actual night of Halloween... meaning I have a costume that has gone unworn. However, being sick didn't kill my love of the season.

A couple weeks ago I went pumpkin picking with some friends (and their vintage film cameras) at a nearby farm. We even had some adventures in a corn maze.

 I have a very tiny bedroom here in Chicago but that's no reason to not make it feel like home. I found some items I really like at a rummage sale and at a nice stationary store so I whipped up this focal wall.

My Feline Valentine

Last week Hank, my beloved cat, asked me if I would be his Valentine. I thought this was pretty romantic of him, considering our relationship is already quite serious (we sleep together every night, you know.) I, of course said yes and started my search for a cat appropriate Valentine. Late that night I woke up to see Hank using my computer, though I couldn’t make out what was on the screen. I pretended to be asleep.

Well, this morning Hank and I exchanged gifts and boy does he know me well! He ordered this beautiful, collectible, embossed, vintage Airmail envelope for me off ebay. (Seriously, click on it to see the details.) I gave Hank this equally beautiful vintage Valentine and a heart-shaped bag of cat treats. Hank's gift will be added to my rare Airmail envelope collection soon, as seen in the bottom right photo.

Holiday Odds & Ends

For gifts this holiday, I was conveniently able to print some illustrations I made this fall, frame them and give them to some family members. In addition to illustrations I also crocheted this cowl for my sister. I’d never made a cowl before and I didn’t use a pattern. Meaning, I just made it up and crossed my fingers that the finished product would be wearable. Which, thankfully it is, though I would make some adjustments to my design if I were to make another one in the future.

I also altered a store-bought hoodie for my brother with a wintery knit fabric I bought. I lined the hood and made triangular pockets out of the patterned fabric. It took me much longer than I expected because I forgot that tension and the stretch factor are so finicky with knit fabrics.

In January, I’m going to start to crochet myself a blanket out of small diamond shaped pieces that I’ll assemble once all the small pieces are made (meaning 95% of it can be made in that dead-time that I ride the bus.) And with the absence of provincial sales tax in Alberta, I’m going to splurge on some nice wool yarns to take back with me while I’m still in Edmonton!

Sew Busy!

Wowser.

I’ve had a very busy December. I sacrificed my exercise routine and my regular sleep schedule to fit in more hours of work. Over the next week I’ll post a few updates on all the stuff I made in the last month.

To kick it off, this is a cocktail dress I made from a 1950s pattern in my Fashion Construction class. I plan on wearing it for my holiday festivities… and today being the Winter Solstice (my family’s holiday of choice,) I’ll be sporting this dress tonight. I also designed/made some clothes as gifts for my siblings, which I can post after we’ve opened our presents tonight!

Postal Greetings!

I've been on a gouache & watercolour high lately so I illustrated two holiday postcards to send to my friends and family. A couple weeks ago I mentioned to Chara, the owner of Love, Me Boutique here in Halifax, that I was getting many dozens of cards printed and she offered to sell some at her lovely, all Canadian, all handmade shop.

Here's a sample slice of each card. The greetings are "Merry Winter" (cardinal card) and "Jolly Holidays" (mitten card). If you're in Halifax and want to send some yourself you can buy them at Love, Me. As for me, I'll be very busy gathering addresses and writing personal notes for the next few weeks.

An Air Mail Halloween

Well, I had big plans for Halloween this year that didn’t quite come to fruition because of a stubborn cold and a mountain of homework.

Early in the week I attended a Jack O’Lantern carving party, where I carved this little fella and ate some truly gourmet pumpkin seeds.

I spent Friday night making my costume and on Saturday night I won a prize for having the “Most Creative Costume” at Strange Adventure’s Party. What can I say? I just love snail mail!

I intended to make a bunted banner out of these non-spooky Halloween fabrics to decorate my porch, but alas time was too tight. Next year.

And… I really wanted to make Hank (my cat) a mane that I could attach to his collar. Here’s a photo of him being very lion-like. I will save this idea for a rainy day because cats in costumes is pretty close to the top of my list of favourite things.

Overall, it was a great Halloween but one of these years I’m going to go all out!

Jack'o'lanterns & Phot'o'booths

It had been years since I had the chance to celebrate, or even acknowledge Halloween. During the University years I was too busy making art to make a costume and last year I was in France, where no could understand the allure of dressing up and embracing the dark side for a day. So, naturally this year I was enthusiastic when Mark Meer (a Halloween expert no doubt) asked me if I would do some speciality pumpkin carving for his live late night talk show, Oh Susanna. I said yes, but first I needed a costume!

As per usual I have been busy working on various commissions and on some pieces for my own art practice, so budgeting time for making a costume was tricky. However it only took me about 45 seconds to think of this idea, as it is always on my brain anyway and justa few hours to make it.

Before going to Oh Susanna I practiced carving the show’s logo into a pumpkin and realized that drawing skills and pumpkin carving skills are not the same thing, especially if you took a five year hiatus from Halloween. I was nervous, though I’ve become used to making art on the stop with a full audience watching (check out previous posts here and here about Improv Art) and the show’s cast and audience are as kind as they come. “Susanna” (Mark hosts the show in a drag persona) also gave a drawing I did of Susanna in my Friends as Beast and Creeps series away to an audience member.

Without a doubt my highlight of evening was during intermission when an audience member approached me while I was still carving on stage. She said she had heard of "this girl" who knew everything about photobooths in Edmonton and was wondering, (based only on my costume) if I was her. It felt amazing to be recognized not by my name or face, but purely by my hobby. That means something, right?

All in all, it was a two-thumbs-up evening.

Photo credits: Top photo by Brad Fischer. Carving on stage by Theresa Wynn and the two pumpkins by me.

Canadian Winter = Time for Crafts!

I wrapped up my travels by going to my parents’ home in Edmonton for the holidays. I get antsy if I go five minutes without having something to do with my hands so I capitalized on being locked in doors by making some commissioned Go Eat Some Poison products and by organizing some family-fun crafts.

The first project was a Solstice banner (our holiday of choice). On the Winter Solstice every member of the family completed one or two banner pieces by sewing letters I cut out in advance to a triangle of a different material. The level of sewing ability varied greatly but everyone felt very accomplished in the end.

We also made a felt wreath, I crocheted some berries and everyone cut-out different shaped leaves and petals (based on their scissor abilities). I stitched the pieces of felt holly together and glued it to a wire wreath ring.

I was also busy making some more cross-stitched Interracial Sex Sketchbooks (I’m working on some gay couples now), and decided to try out a less controversial image for a sketchbook cover. All in all, it was a restful and productive holiday season.