Blog| Fresh Start

I've gone through a lot of blogs. I was part of the Xanga craze, Livejournals, Tumblr, even the journal section of DeviantArt. Blogs aren't new to me. I've always needed some form of written release, being an introvert and all, and blogs are ways I can word vomit and get it all out. Raicodoll is my art, my videos, my events, but most of all it's me. So let's get to know each other a bit better. Blog I shall. If you just like seeing my art and or going to the things around town I host, that's fine. The News section has my non-personal stuff. That's cool. But if you don't mind a bit of word vomit and venting, then read on!

In October, after the weekend from hell (that is, the three event weekend where I attempted to kill me and fellow artists with exhaustion), me and Rony spent a week in Seattle for a conference he was attending. Seattle had been on our list to visit for a long time. Companies we loved were located there, it rained all the time, it's a very artsy town and it wasn't a desert.

Visiting Seattle was magical and we fell in love instantly.

Cut to this year. You can only grumble that you miss a place so much before finally just saying, we should move there. Before, moving to Seattle was kinda a lofty dream we would say when the weather was too hot and the wind threatened to take the fence down the block. But after a few google searches and some research, it wasn't impossible.

We made a plan. Two years max we'd move. After some re-budgeting, it was cut down to one year. We'd move in one year.

And that's the plan. We're going to get rid of all our non-essential things, save a ton of money, and pack up all five animals and a trailer and move everything up north! Which is wonderful and exciting but also terrifying.

I've lived in Lubbock my whole life. My whole family is in Texas, at most 5-8 hours away. Moving across the country is a brand new experience. Plus I'm a natural worrier so yes, I am already preparing for this move over a year in advance. Everything feels final. Final birthdays and holidays and events. Things I have created I now have to figure out what the future holds for them.

It's a bit daunting. In the end, I think it's a good decision for us. Sometimes you just hit the limits of your growth and have to move to a bigger sandbox. It's scary and uncomfortable but it'll make you better.

This weekend we're having a garage sale to start getting rid of the junk we've hoarded over the years. I'm purging what I can and deciding what makes the cut to stay. It's refreshing, like de-cluttering your life. Everything will be a new start and I think I'm excited for that. As much as I love what I do, it'll be so nice to start over back at zero and not have any pressures.

For now, I'm going to enjoy life here, doing what I love, and making memories. There's a lot planned for this year and if I'm gonna leave, I want to leave while things are good.

-Sam <3

2017.

Holiday season was a whirlwind that I'm barely coming down from. I completely overextended myself in October and paid the price for that (mental exhaustion is a thing, folks) and then the holiday season finished me off. This was followed by birthdays and Valentine's Day and dog sitting (plus we got a new puppy and Almond joined Obedience School) and I'm essentially drained but mending. Long story short: sorry for the absence.

But I haven't completely been out of the game. I've been working on things.

So one of my goals for this year was to focus more on galleries. I love cons but they're hit and miss right now as the industry goes through a shift and I'm still kinda trying to figure out what's best for my business before I do a bunch. I will be at Lubbock-Con this year though, but that'll probably be my only one. I pretty much barely broke even on Hub City Comic Con and figured I'd lay off cons a bit after that.

We will be at Staple 2017 but only as attendees! I love that show so no matter what, we're going.

With that said, galleries give me a lot of freedom to paint what I want and let me shake my wrists out, so to speak. I don't have to worry about what sales and if anything is cost effective or how many I can reproduce. It's a one and done and I can spend a lot of time on something and not feel bad.

We started the year off with a Bad Luck Gallery at Star Books & Comics for my birthday (January Friday the 13th. Lucky me!) and for it not being on the First Friday Art Trail, the house was packed! I'm so happy so many people were able to come out for it and it shows that as long as you have something interesting, people will come.

That gallery actually got extended to the end of February so if you haven't checked it out, go!

March I may be speaking at the Lubbock-Con Artist Workshop covering the business aspect of art. So conventions, galleries, online stores, etc. It's the side that rarely gets discussed but is extremely helpful for anyone who ever wants to get into art professionally or even just on the First Friday Art Trail. So if you want to get the details, go to Lubbock-Con's Facebook page and find the event there.

April! Ladies Night 3rd Anniversary! Can you believe we've gotten to do 3 years of Ladies Nights? That's nuts. We're finalizing the date now but we have a neat artist lined up that I've featured before so I'm excited to see what she can bring to Ladies Night! Keep an eye out on my Facebook for the official date announcement and event!

Also, big shout out to Star Comics for always letting me run crazy events and being super supportive. Best people ever. Seriously, I could not do any of the stuff I do without them being willing to partner up with me.

May is Lubbock-Con! Feel free to refer back to said Facebook page for details!

And then June 2nd, there's a little movie you might have heard coming out. Wonder Woman? Yeah, we're doing an artist collective gallery for that! We'll have about 20 different artists all submitting pieces dedicated to the Amazonian herself. It'll be on the First Friday Art Trail so go see it! I promise it'll be cool as hell.

There's a few more things in the works, but that's all for now. If you have commissions with me, Sorry!! I'm getting back into the swing of things and am working on getting them sorted. My projector that I use to blow up my sketches also went on the fritz but I'm working on it!

I'm also looking into getting my Inktober works in a sketchbook and as soon as all my inventory is replenished, the Etsy store will be back up with all those.

Thank you again to everyone that's stuck by me and liked my work and just been completely supportive.

-Sam <3

Inktober! Week 1 Recap

It's been a very, very long, busy beginning of October but somehow I've managed to keep up with Inktober. Here's all the pieces I've done so far: