Roland & Tom on Inkspokes!

Thanks, once again, to my friends at Inkspokes for featuring my Somewhat Adventures of Roland and Tom book in Book News, recently!

Yaaaayy!!!

Start Small, Build Your Creative Business as a Side Project

Check out this helpful (and well written, I might add) article on starting a creative business by Sean Hodges of Creatro.

Thanks, Sean!

On "Overnight" Success

Just read a great article on Emu's Updates. Author Laurie Ann Thompson talks about success vs failure. I don't know about you, but I often feel I've crashed and burned when it seems that nothing's happening with my art and writing career.....career? Is it a career? Sometimes I'm not sure!

This article is so helpful if you ever feel the same way!  Check it out here: On Overnight Success

Thanks, Laurie!

Proof....Not in Pudding

The book proof is here!

Birthday Plans....Proof!

The Somewhat Adventures of Roland and Tom: Birthday Plans
Thankfully, the proof is not in the pudding....it's actually on its way to me!

Somewhat Adventures in Paperback

I've decided to go ahead and format my new story to be a paperback book, now, after all.  I hope to finish it in time for it to be available on Amazon and their other marketplaces within the week.

So, if you'd prefer a book about Roland and Tom to hold in your hands, just hang on a bit.  I'll try to make this version as affordable as possible, as well.

Roland and Tom's Blog

Roland and Tom also have their own blog, of course!

It's rolandandtom.blogspot.com,  if you'd like to visit.  I'm just getting started, so stay tuned.....

My New Book: Birthday Plans

EXCITING NEWS!  I've been hunkered down in my cave finishing another book and now it's published on Amazon!

It's called The Somewhat Adventures of Roland and Tom: Birthday Plans

It's super goofy.  Check it out!

It's my first book to illustrate AND write and it was a hoot!  I'm hoping to create more Roland and Tom Somewhat Adventures, as well as the million other story ideas I have floating around in my head.

Roland and Tom: The Birthday

In between end-of-school-year stuff, learning stained glass, and....well....life.....I'm working toward finishing my next book, Roland and Tom: The Birthday.  This one's due to go straight to Amazon Kindle within the next month, if things play out like I'm planning.

I'm also hoping it'll be the first of many adventures for Roland and Tom.

We're all excited!

Stained Glass

As an artist, I LOVE trying out new things!

The latest is stained glass.  I thought my paintings would really translate nicely into this medium, and, so far, I think I was actually right!

I'm enjoying this SO much.....here are some photos from the process (I'll post a finished product photo, when I have it):

This is my "Grace" painting design.

Birthday Countdown

Roland is counting down the days until his birthday party......

Riverside Arts Market

Brother Prairie Dog and I have our spot reserved for the Local Authors Expo (even though I'm not actually the author of this one:) at Riverside Arts Market, Jacksonville, FL on Saturday, April 19th.  Times, I believe, are 10AM to 4PM.

Come by and visit us!

Classroom Visit

Well, I survived my first classroom visit....actually, I didn't just survive it, I LOVED it!  Ms. Caroline's 1st-2nd grade art class ROCK and we had an awesome time chatting about illustration and reading Brother Prairie Dog Goes to Town together.

It was so much fun to see the kids' reactions to the story and see that they truly seemed to enjoy it and to actually be a bit on the edge of their seats (SO cute!). That's the kind of thing that makes it all worthwhile to me, ya'll!

Thank you, again, Ms. Caroline, for inviting me!

If you're interested in a classroom visit, contact me (info in sidebar) or visit the Brother Prairie Dog Blog.

Love Does

This post isn't really about art, but it's definitely about life.  My new favorite book is Love Does, by Bob Goff.  And my new favorite cause is Bob Goff and friends' Restore International.

Read the book. It's awesome! Purchase the book through Restore International and all the proceeds go to this cause.  You can also buy a goat here. What's not to like?

Brother Prairie Dog Goes to the Beach

I'm so pleased to announce that Brother Prairie Dog Goes to Town, my first book to illustrate, is now being sold at a beautiful book shop in Neptune Beach, Florida, called The Bookmark!

If you're in the mood for a trip to the beach and would like some reading material, stop by and visit Rona and her friends at their lovely store. They are as close to the beach as you can get without actually stepping in the water and they'll even direct you to the best local eating spots!

Hope to see you there!

Exhaustive-Lists-as-a-Reliable-Tool-for-Unstucking-Yourself

I really like Seth Godin's advice.  It's short, sweet, and to the point. And it makes sense.  I subscribe to his blog email updates.  Here's the latest:exhaustive-lists-as-a-reliable-tool-for-unstucking-yourself

Rejection? Whoa!!

Yes, it's the R WORD!  When I started down this path....the trying to actually earn a living with my art path....I heard tell of this monster what would (yes, I meant to type "what would")...anyway, I heard tell of this monster what would be lurkin' in the darkness...waitin' to pounce on unwitting victims.  It's name is

REJECTION!

No matter how much people try to prepare you for this monster, it still hurts. 

It's bad bad bad bad ba-a-a-ad, right?

OR, could there be something good good good gooooood about it?  After wrestling, thinking, and reading about others' rejection experiences, I'd actually say there's a whole lot of good that can come of it.

SO here are my *drum roll, please*

Top 10 Reasons Rejection Can Be Gooooood:

1. It helps us examine where we can improve, then
2. We fight to improve
3. We don't have an over-inflated ego (& who wants that?)
4. We can console others who are going through the same thing
5. It redirects us to the path we need to follow
6. We fight to improve
7. We go "back to the old drawing board" and learn, then
8. We fight to improve
9. We learn to be patient, because, maybe the world just isn't quite ready for our next great thing, but eventually, maybe they will be, and, along the way,
10. We fight to improve.

Are you sensing a pattern, here? 


So, give the R WORD a chance. Embrace it. It's going to come at some point. Many absolutely amazing artists were rejected an astounding number of times before encountering their one big break.  But, if they'd quit, they never would have met with that break.

So, as Dory would say, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming........."

Featured Artist? Whoa!!

Another update, which is very exciting for me, is being the current featured artist on a wonderful website called inkspokes.com !  Nelson and Seri really like my silly birds, in particular, and have been kind enough the invite me to share a couple of pictures and some info about me, as well as linking to my websites.

Thank you, again, inkspokes crew!! Check out their site (link above).  It rocks!

New Portfolio

Okay, ya'll, I'm sorry I haven't posted in sooooo long!  I've been busy trying to "get my head in the game" and update my portfolio, open an etsy shop, apply for arts markets.......you get the picture.

It's hard enough to do all that (not to mention dealing with the rest of life, eh?) AND keep up with social media and blogging, so a few things dropped.

Here's one update: I have a new online portfolio called wendycillustration.  I hope soon to upgrade this to my own address.

Another update coming next......................

Happy New Year!

I can't believe another year has passed! Can you?

Personally, I enjoy this time of year for re-organizing for what I feel is a fresh start.  Not just physically re-organizing, but also, mentally....setting goals and preparing to meet them.  Not that I'll get to all of them.  And not that meeting the goals will look like I expect.  But hey, that's part of the fun, isn't it?

Anyhoo....I've been busy preparing to enter a new phase of my business with my company, Crossbow Designs, Inc. (sounds big, doesn't it.....well....it's not).  Setting up Paypal, gathering supplies for shipping books and other items I create,  and building up an inventory of greeting card designs,  paintings, and such, that I can sell online and at local art markets.

Lots of fun!  As freelancers, I believe it's vital to have work to do and goals to reach for.  Otherwise, we tend to wander aimlessly.......so....what are your goals for 2014?