Wrapping myself up...

I frankly don't recall the color of my pillows. I have a hard time sitting still when I get a chance to actually do so. I haven't had a day off now in more than two weeks and I'm absolutely buried in work. It's the good kind of work, LOTS of it! I can honestly say I am busier than I know what to do with. I put in 70+ hours for the past two weeks in a row. I'm producing a stellar amount of work and some nice projects have come my way. I picked up two huge accounts on top of my daily 40+ hour a week contract during the day. I live, eat, sleep, breath design and photography these days! I can't say much for my social life, and Tia understands what I need to do, and has been a wonderful, patient and tolerant spouse through all of this. For now, as long as this seemingly endless surge of work and energy is going strong, so I go with it.

Oh, we had 17 sets of people come through our house Sunday for our three hour open house. That's like 20 TIMES the amount of interest in our house than we have seen since the real estate bubble burst! Not sure we're going to get what we're asking for the house - or if either of us even FEELS like moving - not to mention WHERE!!!???

I'm off to pass out on my pillows... see ya!

International Shooting All The Time Day Contest

In honor of the International Shooting All The Time Day Contest, I post this little snapshot of my mom and dad at opposites once again. Opposite sides of the door that is - oh sure, I know that they've had their share of opposites through the almost 55 years of marriage, but today, they're on opposite sides of my front door, lovingly refinishing it while I'm busy at freelance work and blogging...

Thanks mom and dad!

Making History.

A new year, a new start. I'm making reparations to our alienated Sarasota lives, catching up with familiar faces and friends now. Tia is doing better about being back and there's some new hope regarding our lives here. I can't really go into detail too much - but there are a few developments happening that may change things for us in Sarasota in a huge way - I hope....

Anyway. I've gone on far too long about our move and I think over the past year of blogging I've strayed away from the real purpose of this blog - to journal my creative process and offer my work to the scrutiny and sharp eye of the world-wide web and all its participants.


Picture: Thomas Moran, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 1872
oil on canvas, 213.4 x 365.8 cm (84 x 144 in)
Department of the Interior

I want to make this world a better place. I want to leave it making my mark on it by fixing, saving or improving it for the future. I know, yadda, yadda right. Well, as an artist among artists, we have the power to influence what people see through our creations. I can't say how many times have I encountered an artist who has helped save a patch of natural environment through their craft. Creativity is a decisive and powerful tool. Yellowstone National Park and the entire national park system was created as the result of the work of two artists, painter Thomas Moran and photographer William Henry Jackson.


William Henry Jackson
Crystal Falls, Crystal Creek, 1871
Yellowstone NP, YELL 50364

Part of the exercise of refocusing my blog will be research into the creative arts by finding and portraying other artists here past or present. I will attempt to make it my goal to find and feature one artist a week. Someone I admire or someone I've just discovered. This will be a good way for me to broaden my horizons, blog at least once a week and help spread creativity into the lives of those around me. Hope you enjoy... In the meantime, it's well past my bed time and it's another long day ahead tomorrow.

Better Blogger, Many Thanks

Thank you to everyone for standing by us through all of this. Your comments and support have been heard!

Everything is still so up in the air. Tia and I are doing what we need to do right now to find a way to keep ourselves from going crazy. We're looking at other opportunities in this country as well as keeping an open mind towards still making an international move. Feels like we can't settle on any dream anymore until we have some serious lookers for our house and so far, that isn't happening. We've lowered the price again with half-hearted hopes that someone will take interest. I have a whole heart set on moving, Tia just the opposite. We're agreeing that if we can get a decent offer on the house, we will still make a move, possibly out west somewhere. Time however, is running out on that idea. I'm looking for serious work opportunities here in Sarasota in case we need to stay. I am overloaded with freelance work and more keeps flowing in which helps our finances greatly. It's exciting in that regards, but exhausting. Web design work, print advertising and photography jobs seem to keep flooding in and I'm at work right now, so I have to keep this short. I'll continue to update as time will allow.

Thanks for hanging on to our connection. I want to be a better blogger and better friend to you all, perhaps my belated new year's resolution. Now can anyone tell me how I can set up the service that let's you know when one of your blog friends updates their blog?

Cheers and have a great day!

Update from Florida

I was hoping this would be a surprise update from some new location, a new attitude, a new way of life... Instead it's a post from our Florida existance. I know it's been a while since I posted last and since I visited all of you. I feel my blog has been merely another memory of a time before everything went crazy on us. Before we started down this path that brought us back here again. Everyone assumes that Tia being home has been a remarkable reunion. It certainly has in some ways, certainly I breathe better when we're in each other's company and its all I can do to just get through my work week so I can get home and spend my evenings with her - and even that has been sacrificed with freelance work, updates on my website to further market myself and research for other potential move opportunities. These past few weeks have been filled with frustration and tears about the past two years spent anticipating a move to New Zealand only to have it fall apart by a flailing housing market in Sarasota. Feels like if we put our house up for sale for $10 no one would be interested in it. We're planning a trip out west where land and homes are less expensive, where we can be closer to mountains, have seasons and greater outdoor lives. We're leaving in a couple of weeks, but in reality, we can't even think about moving until the house sells. It's a seemingly hopeless situation. I know Tia has lost faith and I feel mine slipping as my frustration grows. Dose of reality? Yeah, maybe a sign from God, I don't know, but now you know why I (or we) have been out of the blog circle. Please forgive us for not being around these days, but the news hasn't been good. So I work day and night. This is so damned depressing I can't stand it. You guys have been wonderful friends. I'm not signing off forever, but I think it's time you know the truth, I'll be taking a break for a little while. I'll try to pop in once in a while, but all I can promise is just a casual existence for now. Maybe once my freelance work slows down I'll be able to be back up and running.