2014: That's a wrap!

What can I say?

This year has been an amazing and completely crazy ride. It went by way too quickly! There were some moments of doubt but I am happy to say that there were many more triumphs!

Sometimes life can be a bitch. You can look back on past failures and become stuck in a rut out of fear and negativity. Or you can look at those as learning experiences, trial runs, warm ups to the successes that will happen and you keep moving forward. You start to learn what works and doesn't work and you change your plan of attack according to the outcome that you want. You pick the battles that are worth fighting for and cast the negative and unimportant crap aside. As cliche' as it may sound, attitude really is everything.

I'm still me, but I'm definitely a different me from the person I was this time last year. I'm stronger, more creative, confident and inspired than ever before. I am also working harder than ever but am starting to enjoy my successes that come from all of that work. That is a big deal for me. I'm super excited for what the future brings and cannot wait to share it with you. Good things are happening and I am happy!

I have so many people and things around me for which I am grateful. People like Brian who helped me plan a smart strategy and always had a critical eye for what works and what doesn't. His never ending support and belief in me. Friends who are like blood and their encouraging words of advice. Always ready to celebrate the good things right here with me. Inspiring artwork and music and stories all around. This world is a big place and there is so much to learn. I want to experience more of it and I will.

Final thoughts: Life is good. Enjoy it now because tomorrow is a question mark. Create! Inspire! Live!

Whatever and however you celebrate, I wish you all health and happiness in the new year.

-Michele

Monuments and Medicine: New illustration for Washington Business Journal

I was asked to create an illustration for an article in this week's Washington Business Journal about the future of medical tourism in DC.
 You can see a preview of the article here

Enjoy!

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! (for those of you in other countries, Thanksgiving is a mostly North American "harvest celebration" type of holiday.) It's the time of the year where many of us pause to reflect on all of the things that we are thankful for.

Practicing gratitude, and thanks is something that I do on a weekly, sometimes DAILY basis. I think it's super important to give yourself a reality check from time to time!

I have A WEALTH of people and things to be grateful for. I'm not going to list it all, but here's maybe the top 10 or so...

1. People that I love. Brian, family (pets included) and friends. SUCH good people on that list!

2. Good Health. For myself and the people in #1

3. A roof over my head and food on the table. It might not be the fanciest house, or the fanciest food, but we have everything that we need.

4. My talent.

5. The opportunity to do what I'm good at and what I love for a living.

6. Grit. (balls, perseverance, backbone, determination, whatever you want to call it.)

7. Being able to go to sleep at night knowing that I try to be a decent person.

8. Self respect.

9. Nature

10. Art, music, creativity - this is a shout out to all of those like minded people putting their heart and soul out there for the world to see and enjoy.

11. Freedom. As much as some of some my fellow countrymen might complain about government, taxes, whatever, the reality of the situation is that we are pretty damned lucky that we are here.

12. Thinking for myself. I don't follow the herd. My whole life I have either been thought of as a "weird outcast"  or "unique individual" because of this. Depending on your outlook, one might sound more appealing  than the other but I'm totally okay with either. " I yam who I yam"  if you know what I mean. It's all good!

13. Happiness, in general.

And so on...

What are YOU thankful for?

The Foo Fighters

I've always loved the Foo Fighters for their solid body of music as well as the fact that they seem to be down to earth, decent human beings. Dave Grohl has been on the running list in my head of "people to draw" for a while now.

It turns out that the band is releasing a new studio album titled, "Sonic Highways", in early November and are also currently airing a documentary series about the inspiration for it on HBO (which I have yet to see) so I figured that now would be a great time cross that illustration off of the list.

Although much of the music has a serious note there is also a slapstick side to the band which you can see in many of their videos, TV appearances, bit parts in movies, etc. I wanted to capture the likenesses of each band member as well as the humor that emanates from them as a group. You can scroll down to see detailed crops of of the illustration.

Enjoy!

HOLIDAY UNSELFIE ORDERS!

Hello there! I can't believe that I just wrote "HOLIDAY" in the title of this post! Folks, the season of gift giving is fast approaching. Unselfies are unique, one of a kind pieces of art that make great gifts for everyone! Make your gift stand out above all of the other ties, knick-knacks and fruit cakes that people don't really want. Whats best of all is that they are affordable gifts for all budgets. 

If you would like to order an Unselfie as a holiday gift for someone now is the time to do so! As each Unselfie is original artwork created by me, ordering now ensures that your gift will arrive in time for the holidays. Because these holiday order slots will fill up quickly I'll need to make a cut off date for all orders needed by December 23rd. This cut off date is not set in stone, but will probably be sometime in early December. As the slots fill up I will announce when the cut off date will be.

When you order, please add a note to let me know if you need the Unselfie to arrive in time for Christmas or if it is for after Christmas. And as always, Gift Cards are still available! So check out TheUnselfieProject webstore and get your holiday shopping done early this year.

Happy shopping!