Uhhhh...back?

I had totally forgotten that I had this blog and it's weird reading past entries....I mean the ideas and viewpoints being expressed are totally mine, but the language just seems different to me...weird. And its funny because almost two years later I find myself in the same frame of mind - frustrated and trying to figure out what direction I want to go in. But I guess I should update from my last entries. Had my solo show and it went pretty well. I ended up scrapping any kind of theme for the show and just showcasing recent pieces I had worked on as well as a bunch of small, affordable paintings. I ended up going with the title Illustrate or Die! I just kind of thought it sounded cool, but also has kind of become my thinking over the years as I've tried to navigate the trials and tribulations of being a freelance illustrator. I still don't know whether this whole thing is going to work out for me and sometimes I wonder if maybe I'm not cut out for the life of being an illustrator and all the stress that goes along with it.....but I try to keep moving forward on something akin to a suicide mission, hence the title of my show. Also I kind of rhymes with Interplanetary Spy, one of my favorite book series as a kid. Here's a link to an album of new pieces from the show. But the show went well, I sold about half of the small pieces (priced at $75) I did for the show as well as a bunch of art prints and rock posters. As for what I've been up to lately, the two main projects I worked on this year were Speedy the Turtle a children's book I illustrated and an award design for the first annual Alternative Press Music Awards. I was working on both projects almost nonstop for 5 months and still haven't really recovered from it...I've been wanting to take a proper vacation for awhile now...not really go anywhere just take a break and rest my brain for at least a week, but it seems like a small project will come along and then things snowball. I shouldn't complain that I'm getting work, but my personality of wanting to be Johnny on the Spot and help everyone who comes my way IMMEDIATELY has really started to exhaust me. That along with no real clear cut direction for my art or career has led to a lot of sleepless nights, making me even more exhausted. I really just want one of those deprivation chambers where I can just chill in it for awhile...my only request is that the deprivation chamber also stops time so I'm not missing anything. Well, I'm going to try and make this a regular thing again. Maybe bitching and moaning about trivial stuff will help me snap out of this funk.