tekitsune

Hey everyone. Long time no talk. It's been 12 months since my last post here. A lot has happened, and very little has happened as well. Let me sum up.

October 2015: Started my job at the Disneyland Resort. Star Tours! Dream job attained!
November 2015: Job going well, but money issues are still weighing heavy.
December 2015: Learn that half of my financial support is disappearing. Looking at the prospect of having to leave California.
January 2016: Last month of full financial options. Give my apartment complex notice to vacate.
February 2016: Have to leave Long Beach and my dream job of working at Disney. Not a happy camper. Life goes on, though.
March 2016: Back in Utah at my parent's place. Attempting to reboot life again, but things still aren't going too well on the job front.
April 2016: More of the same. Only been interviewed at one company in the last two years: Had three rounds of interviews at a local advertising company, but after meeting with the CEO on the third round, silence. Never heard from them again.
May 2016: Decide to stop the job hunt and try going back to school. Start in the Culinary Arts program at Utah Valley.
June 2016: Survive the ServSafe® Food Protection Manager Certification exam. Ready to cook!
July 2016: Finish up prep classes before the start of cooking classes.
August 2016: Start the first cooking class, Baking and Pastry I.
September 2016: Informed by the university that my financial aid is gone. With no financial aid, school is over sooner than I hoped. Would have to come up with $10,000 out-of-pocket to finish. Not a good prospect, but, again, life must go on.
October 2016: Finish my Baking and Pastry class. Did pretty well considering. Have to drop my second block classes and stop my Culinary Arts journey.

And that brings us back to today. Almost one year to the day.

I'm back at the point in life where I'm not sure what to do again. I need to find work, but that's been a tough prospect. I'm not sure if I want to get back into the art side of things. I've had little luck there too. I dunno. Where life goes from here, I'm not sure. I'm on God's good humor now. 

Like the title says, there's nothing new going on around here. Long Beach Comic Con came and went and, while it was a fun time, the end result was rather red. (as in "in the..." The con cost me over $1000 and I made less than $100...) I've come to a crossroad here and I'm not quite sure what to do. I've got an idea, but it's hard to make a choice.

I start a new job this week. For the first time in quite a while, it's not a "creative" job. It's a part-time position as an Attractions Host at the Disneyland Resort. I have to be honest. I've done something creative for my job now for almost 25 years. Quarter of a century. And I'm to not sure if there's much left that I can contribute to the creative world right now. I've been searching for a new job for almost 3 years now. In that time, I've been interviewed for positions twice. That's right. Twice. I tend to think that I'm pretty good at what I do. I'm just not sure what the world is looking for anymore. Little of anyone seems to want my skills. I know there's very little demand for my art. I got that confirmation from the con. It was really an experiment to see if there was anyone that really was interested. And I got my not-so-surprising answer there. I've had art-related things available for sale for years and haven't really sold much of anything. I think with how my creative world is going, it's time to move on to something new.

I'm coming up on my 40th birthday in a few months. The prospect of starting over in a new line of work isn't something that I'm *really* looking forward to, but it's where I find life at the moment. I can't really afford to live with my current situation. The new job will barely bring in enough to pay my rent. Having to start from the bottom and work my way back up to self-sustainability is going to be a long and painful road. I hope it won't take too long.

That said, this may very well be the last thing I post here on deviantART for a while, if ever again. Moving on is always hard. But sometimes you just have to realize when it's time. And, unfortunately, I think it's time.

To the handful of folks watching me here, have fun on your artistic ride. May you find yourself on a safe journey full of art goodness. 

We'll see you all on the other side.

News! For the first time, I'll be in the Artist Alley at the Long Beach Comic Con on September 12th and 13th. I've been meaning to do this and LBCC was a good opportunity since my move from Utah to Long Beach. It's going to be a good reason for me to kick myself in the butt and to get moving on artstuffs. I've got Foxtails, Inc. starting back up again (first new page has been drawn!) and I'm working on some pieces that should be ready for the con.

One thing that I am hoping for is some help getting prep work for the con set up. I've got a GoFundMe campaign going to help pay for some of the pre-con stuff, like marketing materials, booth banners and printing and stuff. I can get part of it ready myself, but if anyone can help chip in, that would greatly help the process. And if you can toss in $10.00 or more, I'll send you a print after the show! Any help is greatly appreciated!

You can get to the GoFundMe campaign by going to:
www.gofundme.com/tekitsuneAtLB…

Not sure what the booth number will be yet, but as soon as I know, I'll let the world know. For those that will be there, I'll see you there!

Let's see where this goes...

So, yesterday I turned my drawing table back into a regular flat desk. 

With all the fun health stuff I've dealt with over the last few month, I think it's time to sit back and look at the direction that my artstuff is going. I readily admit that there hasn't ever been much of a following for the art I've done over the years. I've tried a bunch of different things and nothing has ever stuck. I've tried to publicize what I do, but that never seems to get anything going. The Patreon I had going for Foxtails, Inc. was a certifiable flop (but then, I really couldn't expect anything else, knowing my track record.) I had a whole one patron, and I'm glad there was at least one person that was willing to show some support, but the cost outweighed the benefit. I've tried to get general thoughts from the world, even friends, and I've never really gotten any criticism, constructive or otherwise. Oh, people will give generic thoughts on a specific piece, but never too much that has any meat to it. Most times it feels like I'm creating in a vacuum. I just don't know. 

I wonder if I just don't have the drive to do this kind of stuff any more. I hear friends and acquaintances saying the same thing, so you just have to wonder. I guess when you put yourself out there, you're looking for SOME kind of validation, so it's hard when there isn't much that comes back.

Now that I have the aftermath of all the medical stuff, and more specifically, the bills, I really don't know where anything in life is going. 

I love art and drawing, but, for me, is it worth it anymore? Heck, even my design work seems to be going that direction. I dunno. Reflection time?