This has been in the works for a long while now and it’s finally official!  Kev and I now have a move-in date and will be moving into an apartment of our own January 2013!  It’s a lovely two bedroom place on the north side of Atlanta that’s within driving distance of a lively art community and the sights and sounds of the city!  As much as I love the quiet countryside, I’m happy to be moving to a part of the city where the art community is much more accessible.  I’m going to enjoy being so close to museums, theaters, and many of my friends from college.  The north side is also pleasantly spread out with just enough green that the city doesn’t feel so oppressive.

This move marks the beginning of what I hope to be an all new drive to solidify my future as an Illustrator, with new surroundings to refresh my focus and my inspiration.  Living with family prior to now to save money has been really challenging, even though they mean well and I did manage to save up enough to work down some of my student debt.  The challenge of getting into a creative mindset for work with family around has been especially difficult, but I am hopeful that these new surroundings will be far more conducive to concentration.  There’s also a fitness center, tennis courts, and pools in the complex we chose, which will be great for keeping our health up and dealing with some of my muscle damage issues.  Best of all, the second bedroom is going to be my new studio!  I admit sleeping and working in the same room has started to make me see faces in the yellow wallpaper and that simple separation of location will do my mental health and motivation so much good.

I was cleaning out my closet to take note of what I’ll be moving and realized that I have a lot of old stock lying around here!  In an effort to get rid of it, I’ve posted an infographic showing all of the inventory I’m trying to clear out.  Much of it is discontinued with limited stock, so get it while it’s hot because once it’s gone it’s gone for good!

My shop – http://angelicshades.etsy.com

So I’m counting down the days and enjoying my current break from leather crafting. I’ve wrangled up a seasonal day job to help some of the costs of the move while I take a break from mask-making.  Exhaustion, muscle damage, and burnout have all had a hand in this.  I would really like to return my focus to creating the art I need to further my career, while keeping masks as the labor of love for enjoyment they were meant to be.

I’m also filling up my last few days here with studying the CS6 Suite (via a new sub to Adobe’s Creative Cloud) and catching up to technology. I’ve gotten the CS6 Classroom in a Book and am enjoying learning of all the new improvements Adobe has made to their graphics suite.  I am hopeful getting up to speed with technology will open up new doors for me that might not have been there before, in addition to all the other changes going on in my life right now.

Soon!