Fresh start 2014 – Studio 2.0

Happy New Year!

It’s always nice to have some sort of a fresh start with the New Year. I took a few weeks off over the holiday and decided to reorganize and paint my studio to do just that. The studio had always been a functional workspace, but I was never 100 % happy with it.  Too much furniture in too tight a space made for cramped, dust-behind-everything conditions on top of it starting to become a catch all for junk. It felt like it wasn’t so much my workplace as much as it was becoming a storage room that I worked in.  Worse yet, I had some serious studio envy when I look at other people’s awesome work spaces. I know, one of my first rules of sanity is not to compare myself to others but COME ON ….have you seen PRIMER’S space?

So I cleared it all out, including my filing cabinet and the studio crawlspace (which I could not even walk in) and heaved a bunch of crap to the curb and shoved the rest of it into the attic – ha. Below are some pictures of the before and the after. Sorry about the poor quality of the shots but the slanted ceiling makes it a hard room to photograph. The before shots are while the operation was happening so there is a bunch of crap everywhere. The after shots are what it looks like at the moment. There are still things that I want to do to the space, get a new light fixture for the ceiling, put some carefully curated stuff up on the walls, accents that will make the space “mine” but I’m really happy with the way it is turning out so far. I’m kind of going for what my version of a “man cave” would be since I am not a girly girl really at all.  I love working in here now…even if it’s just to sit and drink my coffee while I read the news.

PS, I still cannot walk in the crawlspace.

And That is That.

It seems like it was just yesterday when I was writing my Happy New Year 2013 post. It has been a great year of growth for me professionally and personally.

Professionally, this year has been one of the best yet. I had the opportunity to work on so many awesome illustration projects – from web to print and even an animated commercial. To all of the new and repeat clients and Art Directors that I have worked with this year: thank you all so much for the opportunities that you have given me. As you probably know, illustration is not an easy career path and I know that I am pretty much a crazy person for deciding that is how I am going to make a living. But I am truly grateful every day that it is possible for me to do what I am good and and what I love.

Personally, I have gotten a lot better at the whole living thing. I know that probably sounds funny but it’s true. As a person hard wired to think in black and white in addition to being a chronic worrier, I am doing GREAT! It takes practice but I am finally learning to slow down, find the gray areas and be in the moment instead of worrying about the next thing right away. In today’s avoidance culture of smart phones, video games, TV and social media, truly being present in your own life actually takes a lot more practice than you think. You have got to make a conscious effort to find balance. In my case it’s more about realizing what is and isn’t important.

Worrying about things that you can’t control will only make you more worried and negative. I’m not saying that you should bury your head in the sand (or hours of bad television) when troubles arise, but to just acknowledge whatever it is and let it motivate you to move on. Concentrate on the things that you DO have control over. Focus on the good people and things that are around you. The less you feed the negative, the smaller it will become. Feed what’s positive instead and that good energy will grow and multiply. I’m sure that to some this sounds like total hippie-dippy, new-agey baloney but I have a sneaking suspicion that many of you reading might actually find it true as well. That being said, I am grateful for all of the good people and good stuff going on around me. It is nice to be able to slow down and appreciate it. And that is that.

I wish you all Health, Happiness and Success in 2014.
Happy New Year!

Michele

Obamacare Illustration for Benefits Selling Magazine.

I was recently asked by Benefits Selling Magazine to work on an illustration for the December 2013 addition. The feature, titled “PPACA’s Pivotal Point”, is about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the pros and cons of what the public, insurance brokers and their clients might expect in the coming year. After reading the article, I kept thinking about how the ups and downs, unanswered questions, fear of the unknown, etc. seemed equivalent to navigating stormy seas. Below, is the four page spread. I think that it turned out great and I really love how the designers worked the compass idea from my illustration in the title!

Questlove of The Roots

Ahmir Khalib Thompson A.K.A. professionally as ?uestlove, BROther, ?uestion, Questo, Brother Question or Qlove (wow that’s a lot of aliases) is a drummer, DJ, record producer and music journalist from Philadelphia, PA. He is best known as the drummer for the Grammy Award-winning band, The Roots, which currently plays as the in-house band for the TV show, “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon”.

I created this illustration of Questlove and the beautiful Philadelphia skyline using Photoshop CS3 on my trusty old circa 2008 iMac. This is the last illustration that I will ever create on it. I really like the way that the illustration turned out, so I think it is an honorable farewell for the old Mac. I have recently (as in the past weekend) upgraded my studio to a brand new 27 inch iMac and have finally graduated to CS6 Creative Cloud so keep your eyes out for BIG NEW GREAT THINGS soon!

Cheers!
xox
Michele

World Cafe Live in Philadelphia

This past Friday night we went to World Cafe Live at WXPN studios in Philadelphia to catch the Stray Birds show. Walking in, I realized that the illustration I created for American Express a while back was on the door!