So, it's been awhile, and I figured I'd update for once.

I am busy as all hell. Srsly. 18 credit hours, an internship, and a part time job. Huzzah! But I enjoy it, I do. Sure, I get stressed out more often than most people, but I like 90% of what I'm doing. My illustration projects are coming out really nice; the only problem is I took too long to kick it off, so now I have three weeks to pound out two illustrations. Oops :/ My internship is awesooome! Instead of backing up files or editing text like interns at larger companies get stuck with, I'm actually doing real work for real clients; some projects I do pretty much by myself. I made a postcard-like thing for a hair salon in Ravenna for their monthly special incentives for next year. The copies finally came in from the printer last week, it's so exciting! Something I designed myself is going to be displayed in public and seen by lots of people!!! When I get a chance, I'll scan it in and upload it to my page.

My advertising class is going well; so far I have a 96%. Which is good, since I need to boost my gpa before graduation. I currently have a 3.56, and my goal is at least 3.6. So close! The design business class I'm in is going okay...kind of boring, but not bad. It's nice to hear speakers from different companies and their views. The only class I really can't stand is programming. It's so freaking boring, and the professor I have is terrible at teaching. You ask him a yes or no question, and he goes on a 20-minute rambling. Bleh.

So yeah, that's really all that's going on. Work like mad all week long, and play with puppies at my job on the weekends Not too exciting, but only three weeks until winter break!

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I'm on the gallery website! I got a contract with Mac Worthington, yay! :3 And I'll be in their February exhibit, so I'm working on a new painting. I finally had an excuse to buy a big canvas!

Plus I recently got my first actual commission! My mom's been flaunting that pelican painting to everything with a pulse, and one of her coworkers liked it so much she's actually commissioning her own painting! She wants me to paint a portrait of her parents' horse for Christmas. Apparently she lives in Kent, too, so when she can ninja a picture from their house (is a surprise) I'll just meet up with her somewhere to get it.

So I have that commission to do by Christmas, which is 11"x14", a painting to do for the February exhibit that's 20"x24", and an internship this fall. Woo, busy! At least it's a good kind of busy this time. I don't have any graphic design studio classes this fall, just an individual illustration project I'm doing for an honors credit. So all I'l be doing next semester is illustration and painting ^^ Pretty nice. I do have to stay awake through some classes for my minor, though. But I just have a fair amount of work for fall semester, then spring semester I won't have any kind of studio classes. Just four more lecture classes and I'll be DONE! Augh I'm so ready to graduate already!

Well the stuff with the gallery got a bit...weird. I think the woman who runs Blue Cottage has waaay too much on her hands; I first contacted her the weekend of July 4 and have yet to receive a contract. I called her to see what was up, and unfortunatley I won't be able to send my stuff to the gallery until next season. Since it's on Put-in-Bay, they can really only sell the art they have in the summer when all the tourists and boaters are out. So I have to wait until next March to send my prints out, but it will happen. I guess it's not too bad, since it gives me more time to get everything together and do more paintings.

In the meantime, I've been contacting other galleries to see if anyone else would be interested in my art. I got a response from Mac Worthington galleries, which seems like a pretty successful gallery. Bad news is it's down in Columbus, so if they do accept my work I don't know if I'll be able to go down and actually see the place. But I talked to the art director on the phone Saturday, and he seemed really nice. Their website is really cool: [link] They have all kinds of art in all kinds of styles, so if they do want to display my work hopefully I can send them a lot of different things.

So now I'm getting all eager and nervous at the same time! It's a good feeling, though. I just can't wait until I sell my first piece! Or print. Whatever, I'm not picky XD Plus my manager at Camp Bow Wow is having me do some graphic design work for him. I'm making gift certificates right now, and since corporate screwed up his Grand Opening posters, he said he's probably use me the next time he needed something like that done. So I'm getting all kinds of new portfolio pieces!

And I gotta be at work at 6 am tomorrow, so off to bed for me! Peace out!

Imma have my work in a gallery!!! Eep! There's a small gallery on Put-in-Bay that features only work from local artists. I was in there a couple weeks ago, and I asked the owner if I could have some information about how to submit artwork. She promptly gave me her name, phone number, and e-mail address! So I sent her samples of my work, and she loved it! I'm just waiting for the contract to arrive in the mail; she was out of town for awhile, and it feels like I've been waiting forever! For now, I'm just going to send prints of some of my pieces: the mask painting (cropped into a vertical), the watercolor pear, and an oil of a pelican (it's almost done, I'll post it here when it is). If those sell well, I'll do original paintings for the gallery to sell. I already have so many ideas!

It's a consignment gallery, so I get 55% of the profits. Which actually isn't bad; I don't have to pay to use their space or anything. They have so many great pieces in that gallery, including a $350 giant painting of koi fish that I want sooooo badly! If they had a website, I'd put a link to it. But they don't. Buuuuu.

So...since I got a good response from an actual gallery about wanting to sell my prints, I was kinda wondering if anyone on here would be interested in any of my work. Whether its prints of existing work or commission ideas, please let me know. I would love to kickstart an art career, and I would honored if anyone in this art community would be interested. If you're seriously interested in something, please send me a note. Nothing would be expensive, expect maybe a commission for an original oil painting (and by expensive I mean like $50, that's a lot in my book!). Those take for freaking evarrrr. But yes, note me and we'll set something up and negotiate price and whatnot.

And I have a job I actually enjoy for the first time in my life! I'm a "camp counselor" at Camp Bow Wow; it's a dog daycare and boarding place. I get paid $8 an hour to hang out with dogs! How awesome is that?!

I just moved into a new apartment with Sean and Danny, and Brian will be here...eventually. I don't know what day he gets back. But it's a huge place with a washer/dryer hookup, a dishwasher, and a fireplace! I'm so excited...mostly because I'm actually going to be living with my boyfriend! ( in case you didn't know)

So all in all, I'm pretty happy right now. I don't really have anything to complain about, which is quite rare.

...Woo!

I finally finished my last final exam today! It feels sooo nice to be done!

And I have an internship!!! Yes yes yes yes yes! It'll be in the fall during the semester; I'm so excited! It's a small design studio run by a woman who works from her home right in Kent, with a couple freelancers who work from their own homes. So it'll be just me and her during the day at her house, which is nice. It's not nearly as intimidating as a big corporation, plus I'll get a better idea of how to run my own business. Since I want to eventually be able to live off of freelance illustration, running myself as a business is basically what I'll be doing. Now I don't have to stress out about searching for even more companies, or worrying about having to wait an extra semester to graduate. Plus the woman is so nice; she even offered to send some freelance work my way over the summer!

I found out that I got a B- on my junior review, which really isn't that bad at all. A B would have gotten me in the BFA, so I was only a half step away. Which is better than I thought I did. Lucky for me I'm in the Honors College, so I can do an individual honors project with my illustration professor in the fall. The BA doesn't have any studio classes in the senior year, and I really don't feel like I'm ready to be done. So my professor's going to work with me outside of a class, which is pretty cool.

Now all I have to do is get a job for the summer, and I'm good to go!