Christmas Caricature Commission

I meant to post this in January, but I forgot! I did a couple of caricature commissions for a friend last December. They were Christmas presents for his dad and his brother. I think they turned out great (and so did my friend and his relatives).

Click on an image to see a larger version

The brother's, I think, was the most fun. It was a take on the Army of darkness movie poster. Here's a side by side:

Click to see a slightly larger version

His brother works on a golf course (and loves golf), rides mountain bikes, has a cute little daughter, and apparently is a fully-licensed chainsaw operator. It was my friend that suggested the Army of Darkness poster theme in his original email, and I just ran with it.

I'd love to do more of these. My only hangup was that printing costs were quite a bit higher than I was expecting. There's no Kinko's (FedEx Office, whatever they're calling themselves now) equivalent here, so all the printing places have a base startup cost, even if you're just printing a couple of pages (which I was not told about when I got a quote). I may just try to go through photo printing places, as they're less expensive, probably have better paper options, and I know a few people who have used such services for art prints before (and they turned out lovely).

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In other news, the job search continues. It feels a bit futile sometimes. I keep looking though, and sending out my CV.

I'm going to work on getting a portfolio website set up, and get more stuff up on Etsy. I was on a roll with that, and then it all got held up by the move last month. Then I went all gotta-get-a-job crazy, and when I do that it seems to zap my creative juices. It's like my brain can only focus on one thing at a time. I really need to work on that. 

I want to get back into doing illustration and paintings. I'd love to do freelance work, but other than registering for websites that require a large yearly or monthly fee, I don't know how to go about it. If any freelance illustrators happen to stumble upon this... do you have any advice?

I've also thought about offering my services as a caricaturist for local kids' parties and all that, but I'm not sure how to go about it yet. It requires more research.

Convulsing Enter

The internet is working superbly now! Hooray! Now I can make posts with photos and used a proper keyboard! Granted, it's got a European layout, and I forget where the @ symbol is all the time since it's not above the 2, but that's okay.

Now on with the good stuff!

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While out and about in Milton Keynes, Michael and I stumbled upon this awesome mural in one of the pedestrian walkways:

I really love the weird cute style, and the drips from the spray paint. I wish I'd gotten a better picture.

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Speaking of finding things while in Milton Keynes, we were in T.K. Maxx (T.J. Maxx in the States) and ran across this tennis racket for kids in the toy section. Nothing weird about that, right?

It's also got oddly translated phrases on the packaging. Take this for example:

EVERY STYLES FULLY WONDERFUL!

The best welcome gifts for the children.

Okay, so that's not really that bad. It's just a bit awkwardly phrased. But then there's this:

CONVULSING ENTER

WHAT convulsively enters? I'M SO CONFUSED!

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We did manage to get out of the Milton Keynes area, and headed down to Bedford for wandering and shopping. We didn't really manage to buy much, but it was really nice to walk in and out of shops that weren't in a big mall. We also got to see this rad sculpture:

I didn't realize at first that I was looking at it from behind! I liked the shapes of the silhouettes, though. Here's a shot from the front:

 

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In other life news, I've ramped up my job hunt. I'm heading into town to register with another agency on Monday, and have applied for about ten jobs this week Here's hoping I find something soon!

I've also been updating my weight loss blog a tad more than this one. The good news? I'm up to five pounds lost so far. It's slow going, but that's better in the long run, really. 

That's all for now! 

Posh Giraffe, Harold, and plans for 2010

The posh giraffe triptych is finally up in the Etsy shop, and I think it's my best yet:

And here are a couple of pictures of Harold, my first attempt at a crochet plushie:

I just found out that I have a job interview next week, so I'm pretty excited. It's a call center for the NHS, and is fairly nearby. I'm really hoping I get it, if only to feel as if I'm pulling my own weight around here.

I'm working on some ideas for new paintings, as well as something that for now I will just refer to as "Project Twee." More information about that will come in a later post.

2009 has been a long difficult year, from being in a long distance relationship, to getting married, quitting my job and moving to England to be with my husband, going through culture shock and depression, dealing with being unemployed and feeling unemployable, and catching flu after cold after flu. It was a year of massive flux. I'm hoping 2010 will bring a bit more stability, and will be the year I really go for it as an artist.

If I was to make any New Years resolution, it would be to not let myself down or sell myself short. I've spent too much of the last 26 years doing that.

I hope you all have a lovely night, whether you celebrate through the night or have a quiet evening in and go to bed at ten. May the new year give you a fresh start, as I hope it will for me.

Nearly two months later...

I'm still alive. It's been a rough couple of months for me, and that's the main reason I didn't post anything at first. And then It had just been so long that it felt awkward. But fuck it, I still want to do this, and I've managed to (mostly) pull myself out of the major depressive funk I was in.

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to get used to living in a new country. It still is, actually. Just because our language is (mostly) similar, doesn't mean our cultures are. I'm beginning to feel a lot more comfortable and at home here, though.

It was a bit strange celebrating Thanksgiving when (practically) no one else was. We did have turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and rolls. I also made a couple of pumpkin pies, one for us and one for Michael to take into work. It was a big hit! Many people (including Michael) had never even tried it before.

I'm still unemployed, but I recently received my National Insurance Number (the equivalent of a Social Security Number in the States) in the mail and that should help a lot. Thankfully, I was able to do a couple of commission pieces for a friend of ours for some extra money. I'll post them up after Christmas passes, as they're gifts and I don't want any chance of spoiling the surprise.

I've also got an Etsy storefront set up, so in the next day or two I'll list the prints I have leftover from last year's Alternative Press Expo. I also want to put up some original artwork, commissions, and other handmade goodies; maybe even some baked goods*. Hopefully that will help out a bit. I want to treat that as my full time job for now. I'll be sure to throw the link up when I've put up those listings.

I also want this blog to be part of that job. Instead of just focusing on being an American in the UK, I also want to post artwork and other unrelated things. More of a catch-all. So the name has been changed from Yankee Stephoodle to Oodles by Stephoodle**.

That's all for now, I suppose. Tomorrow I've got to get those commissions printed up, or at least sent to the printers to be picked up on Tuesday. I also need to run to the library, because one of my books is overdue (oops). If I get a chance, I'll post the wintry coloring pages I drew for Michael's third year class.


*I WILL make maple bacon fudge, so help me. And if it's good, I will sell it occasionally.
**Which also happens to be the name of my Etsy store. :)

Visa approved! Yay!

I got notice on Monday around noon that my visa had been approved. It was like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders! The package with my documents should get here tomorrow, and then I can buy my plane ticket. I'll be leaving on the 3rd of October. So just over a week!

I immediately launched into work mode, and thus forgot to update my blog with the good news. I've already got one bag packed, two boxes of books mailed off, and four more that just need labels and customs forms. I sold my dresser this morning, leaving me with only my mammoth printer that no one wants and a table to sell. I've got my iBook mostly set up (on hold now about reactivating my copy of Studio MX 2004 as I forgot to transfer the license for it... may give up soon and try again tomorrow; it's been about 45 minutes already).

There's still a lot more to be done, but I have the time to do it. And soon I'll be there and I can relax for a bit, as has been ordered by Michael. After a while I'll nab a part time job a few days a week to bring in some extra money for us (the rest of the time I'll be working on comics and art and writing again, which I'm excited about)... maybe at Borders or the other large bookstore I can never remember the name of, if they'll hire me. I'd even be happy just stocking shelves or doing inventory. I find stuff like that to be a bit Zen.

That's all I have for now. My next entry probably won't be until just before I'm leaving, unless something exciting happens before then. Stay tuned!