A New Year & New Beginnings

Remembering all that's happened, to reflect and bring forth a better year

First and foremost, Happy DeviantART Birthday to me! I'm now 10 years old ( well, I have been 10 years old sense the beginning of this year, but alas having a birthday on the last day of the year is woo! )!  Wow, what an amazing, inspiring ride it has been thus far. So many positive changes for both DeviantART and myself.  <3

So we are finally saying goodbye to 2013. With the end of this year we are submerged in the beginnings of a new year.  You can't help but reflect on the previous years and on the future.  New things to experience, old things to remember, changes we want, changes we don't want will come to pass. With each new year brings the promise of great things and new beginnings and we must manifest that positivity for a good year to come. We must do our best to keep perspective on life and what we have. We live and we learn through the experiences  with each passing year and it continues to build upon the foundation of who we are.  For the good things we have and still have. It's been a tough year and one full of loss for myself and my family. We have to revel in the memories that we are so honored to have had and made to help us get by. It can be painful, but to press on is to look ahead. To look forward to other lives we can touch while keeping memories strong and true of those who are not with us. For in memories, they will never die.  Nothing will die as long as someone, something is there to remember them. So this helps me to cope with the losses that myself and my family had to endure this 2013.



I'm really excited for the new year and what it will bring. For myself and for my family.  Already we received great news that my mother is still breast cancer free after beating it 2 years ago! We had a little scare when she found a lump again in the same area as before and was concerned it had returned but, after getting blood tests and labs done, it came back negative! So that's been a true relief and joy for us all!

 There are a lot of changes that I plan to bring to the table for myself and for my art. For starters on myself, in January, I will be beefing up my work out routine to get to where I want to be physically, so that's pretty exciting and a bit of a challenge to motivate yourself to do it; but I won't give up and I will see myself through this goal!

Do you have any goals? If not,  set goals for yourself and achieve them! Even if it's getting up in the morning and no matter what, remember to smile. Let's bring on a strong 2014 everyone and I wish you all the very very best! I truly wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for the amazing support of my followers / watchers so thank you

 

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Volunteering

For the Community

Another amazing year has gone by for me as a Volunteer and mentor!  I really look forward to next year and all the things that I will be bringing to the table for the Anthro Community and community as a whole! I've received a lot of really great feedback and I'm already planning / writing up some articles, features, working on issue #3 for the Anthro magazine, artist features suggested by you guys and more!



I just want to say a big thank you to the entire Community Relations team. The amount of support, inspiration and love has just been so humbling! Thank you to each and everyone of you for working hard an dedicating yourself to your position here on DeviantART as a volunteer. I'd like to send out a special thank you to moonbeam13 for being an amazing leader, supporter and all around super hero to us all and the entire team! Same goes for dxd, ikazon and fourteenthstar! Thank you for all you do for the team <3

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My Art

Changes, patience, effort and new skills

I have to say that 2013 has been an amazing year for me in regards to my art. Especially the last few months. I'm really excited about the new skills and techniques I've picked up and continue to improve on. I will be working and re-working a lot of old and new pieces of art to allow my new skill to flourish and thrive. I will also be cleaning out my gallery and removing old art ( putting it in storage ) which will almost be my entire gallery save for my newer stuff and my more popular things. As an artist we are always growing and expanding and reflecting that in our galleries here on DeviantART is a great step forward.




This next year I will be focusing on getting my art out there and into the world and really pushing myself to improve throughout all the various projects I am working on. I've even been flirting with the idea of maybe even opening up a local gallery here where I live once I exceed my current skill level to something even more! This would be a huge step for me in both my art and my confidence in my art. I think that's one of the hardest challenges as an artists is to feel confident enough in your skills to push yourself out there and to make that positive change for yourself and to share you vision with the rest of the world outside the internet!  But I am ready and motivated to do it! So here's looking to 2014 and a bright horizon!