I have been remiss in letting you, faithful reader, know that I was hired last Friday.
I am working part-time at a web design firm learning Expression Engine, I will go full-time when I am able to handle a full production schedule ... but you don't need to worry about the details, just know that I have a job. Also, I was fortunate enough to pick up a freelance client two weeks back. I should be wrapping up with him next week. He seems pleased with my work and could lead to future side jobs.
I want to express my sincere, heartfelt thanks to any and all prayers, well-wishes, recommendations and/or attempts to find work for me. I felt like I was in limbo for an eternity, but in reality, I was very blessed to get hired as quick as I did, and to be working with some cool guys in a fancy office - above ground and with windows, no less!
Naturally, this has been a HUGE weight off my shoulders; I feel like I can almost function normally again. "Normal" being highly relative when used in regards to me.
My first order of extra-curricular business is to get some artwork done for Nevermet Press. They've been shoved aside for this whole job-hunting mess and I really want to make it up to them with some quality illustrations. Jonathan, Nevermet's big kahuna, will never know how much I appreciate him making me a part of Nevermet, his patience and his willingness to try and help me find a job.
I also need to make myself keep writing the story I started last year. It's currently sitting at 24,759 words and I am determined to finish it. Unfortunately, I haven't touched it since Jan. 20 due to all the job-related craziness. I also have a bad habit of setting projects aside when something else captures my interest, but this is one that I feel is important to finish.
I'm looking forward to an exiting new year of opportunity and finally getting some interesting content posted at least a couple times a month.
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tales of a Desperate Freelancer, part I
I think the Mayans were on to something. They knew 2012 was going to be a rough year, they just didn't know why or for whom.
Our tale of woe begins back in the Spring semester of 2011 when I took a course in Advanced Drawing. I loved it. As the semester progressed, I found myself looking forward to class and, increasingly, dreading the trudge back to my dreary little cubicle. I daydreamed about being a designer or doing art for a living. I was given a couple of HTML/CSS-related projects, but it was to implement designs from the Marketing department. I longed to create and be creative.
I made mistakes.
Two, to be exact, and my manager took me to task for them. After multiple sit downs with him, we came to the conclusion that my heart simply was not in programming. Fearing that attempting to stay in a job I could not stand would only lead to further mistakes and possibly getting fired, I submitted my resignation in November of 2011. The resignation was padded, giving me 90 days to find a new job; my last day would be January 31st, 2012 - I figured that would give me plenty of time to get hired and carry us through the holidays.
Thus I updated my personal website, tried to patch together a presentable portfolio, and began hitting up local and national job sites, looking for design positions that would allow me to do what I loved, but would not have to move. I got several calls from the DC/NOVA area, but they were interested only in programming and/or required me to be on-site. Other leads turned out to be for positions which the company already had someone in mind, they just had to advertise the opening for legal reasons.
In December, I was connected to the owner of a local design firm. We talked and he seemed eager to take someone on. Right after Christmas, I went in and spent a full day in the office, familiarizing myself with the team and their projects. The owner wanted to know when I could start working, as they had some projects coming up. I felt obligated to finish my current position (it was three weeks, versus two), but offered to spend that time learning their systems and brushing up on skills they used that I had not in a while on my own time.
Things were looking up. I was teaching myself new software, the stress of looking for work was over and, while I wouldn't be making as much initially, the potential for growth was much better than in my current position.
On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, I emailed the owner of the firm - whom I'd been staying in contact with - a interesting link. He replied by telling me that business had slowed down and they no longer had the amount of work they needed to support my position.
Reading that email, I could feel the bottom drop out of my stomach; I was devastated. What was I going to do? My last day of employment was 14 days away and suddenly I had nothing! I wanted to keep this from my wife - to quietly find a new job, then break the news to her once everything was alright. But I couldn't do it, I had to tell her. She was devastated as well.
Back to the hunt. I called up a friend of mine who said his company might have a position I could try out for - though I haven't heard back yet - I designed and printed up business cards offering services as a freelance Graphic and Web Designer. I started hitting all the local print and design and computer businesses, hoping to generate leads.
I decided to write a blog article about my experience. Maybe it would generate a lead or two. Maybe it would help someone else who was considering a move to freelance work; hopefully they can avoid the same stress that I have experienced.
How will it turn out - Will I succeed? Will I fail? Do I have the skills and ability to provide for my family as a freelancer?
That chapter has yet to be written.
Our tale of woe begins back in the Spring semester of 2011 when I took a course in Advanced Drawing. I loved it. As the semester progressed, I found myself looking forward to class and, increasingly, dreading the trudge back to my dreary little cubicle. I daydreamed about being a designer or doing art for a living. I was given a couple of HTML/CSS-related projects, but it was to implement designs from the Marketing department. I longed to create and be creative.
I made mistakes.
Two, to be exact, and my manager took me to task for them. After multiple sit downs with him, we came to the conclusion that my heart simply was not in programming. Fearing that attempting to stay in a job I could not stand would only lead to further mistakes and possibly getting fired, I submitted my resignation in November of 2011. The resignation was padded, giving me 90 days to find a new job; my last day would be January 31st, 2012 - I figured that would give me plenty of time to get hired and carry us through the holidays.
Thus I updated my personal website, tried to patch together a presentable portfolio, and began hitting up local and national job sites, looking for design positions that would allow me to do what I loved, but would not have to move. I got several calls from the DC/NOVA area, but they were interested only in programming and/or required me to be on-site. Other leads turned out to be for positions which the company already had someone in mind, they just had to advertise the opening for legal reasons.
In December, I was connected to the owner of a local design firm. We talked and he seemed eager to take someone on. Right after Christmas, I went in and spent a full day in the office, familiarizing myself with the team and their projects. The owner wanted to know when I could start working, as they had some projects coming up. I felt obligated to finish my current position (it was three weeks, versus two), but offered to spend that time learning their systems and brushing up on skills they used that I had not in a while on my own time.
Things were looking up. I was teaching myself new software, the stress of looking for work was over and, while I wouldn't be making as much initially, the potential for growth was much better than in my current position.
On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, I emailed the owner of the firm - whom I'd been staying in contact with - a interesting link. He replied by telling me that business had slowed down and they no longer had the amount of work they needed to support my position.
Reading that email, I could feel the bottom drop out of my stomach; I was devastated. What was I going to do? My last day of employment was 14 days away and suddenly I had nothing! I wanted to keep this from my wife - to quietly find a new job, then break the news to her once everything was alright. But I couldn't do it, I had to tell her. She was devastated as well.
Back to the hunt. I called up a friend of mine who said his company might have a position I could try out for - though I haven't heard back yet - I designed and printed up business cards offering services as a freelance Graphic and Web Designer. I started hitting all the local print and design and computer businesses, hoping to generate leads.
I decided to write a blog article about my experience. Maybe it would generate a lead or two. Maybe it would help someone else who was considering a move to freelance work; hopefully they can avoid the same stress that I have experienced.
How will it turn out - Will I succeed? Will I fail? Do I have the skills and ability to provide for my family as a freelancer?
That chapter has yet to be written.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Art, Misc: Da Vinci and Me
A few years back, I was getting counseling as part of an effort to overcome some personal struggles I was having as a result of my insecurity, anxiety, and undiagnosed low-grade depression. I found myself repeatedly mentioning how I loved to create and to be creative - despite the very uncreative existence I was living at the time - and that my attempts to pursue a 'practical' life was in conflict with the person I was created to be and the life I was called to lead.
"Who is it you want to be?" I was asked at one point. It took all of a half-second to decide. "Leonardo da Vinci," I replied, completely serious. I went on to explain that the man was a genius, fascinated by everything, threw himself into everything he did, and while he didn't produce a huge number of works in his lifetime, what he did finish mattered - he lived passionately, if impractically.
Not to sound arrogant, but I'm pretty smart, pretty good at art - I want to produce all sorts of creative works in a variety of media, and I have the tendency to jump headlong into everything I try ... up until the point at which I'm distracted by the next shiny thing that catches my attention and I jump into that, leaving a dearth of half-finished projects in my wake.
Fast forward to a week ago. I'm taking Advanced Drawing; free classes being one of the perks at the university where I work. Our assignment it to pick a Renaissance artist and copy one of his sketches. Then, produce an original sketch in the artist's style. By now it should be obvious who I picked. And, to be honest, I was pretty proud of the sketch I copied. It turned out well and I got a good grade on it.
However, when it came time to do the second piece, an original sketch in the selected artist's style, I was so burned out from trying to do justice to da Vinci's self-portrait that I honestly didn't care. I approched it like a regular drawing and drew like Paul, not like da Vinci.
The grade on the second drawing wasn't as high. Below the class average, in fact. Initially, this bothered me - I like to excel in everything I do and below average is not excelling. Then I started to compare the pictures and realized something: There is more of me in the self-portrait - literally and figuratively, than in my attempt to ape da Vinci's self-portrait.
It's real. It's honest in a way the other picture is not, flaws and all.
Don't get me wrong, there are certainly things I could get hung up on and criticize - the face, for example. But that line of thinking always pits me against myself: "I'm not da Vinci!" I'd gripe as I started to chafe at the differences in skill between myself and a dedicated Renaissance master; an all-to-common conversation, I'm embarrassed to admit.
And then, for the first time, it hit me: No, I'm not da Vinci, I'm Paul.
And I'm okay with that.
 |
| red conte on paper, 18 x 24" |
Not to sound arrogant, but I'm pretty smart, pretty good at art - I want to produce all sorts of creative works in a variety of media, and I have the tendency to jump headlong into everything I try ... up until the point at which I'm distracted by the next shiny thing that catches my attention and I jump into that, leaving a dearth of half-finished projects in my wake.
Fast forward to a week ago. I'm taking Advanced Drawing; free classes being one of the perks at the university where I work. Our assignment it to pick a Renaissance artist and copy one of his sketches. Then, produce an original sketch in the artist's style. By now it should be obvious who I picked. And, to be honest, I was pretty proud of the sketch I copied. It turned out well and I got a good grade on it.
However, when it came time to do the second piece, an original sketch in the selected artist's style, I was so burned out from trying to do justice to da Vinci's self-portrait that I honestly didn't care. I approched it like a regular drawing and drew like Paul, not like da Vinci.
 |
| pencil and charcoal on paper, 18 x 24" |
It's real. It's honest in a way the other picture is not, flaws and all.
Don't get me wrong, there are certainly things I could get hung up on and criticize - the face, for example. But that line of thinking always pits me against myself: "I'm not da Vinci!" I'd gripe as I started to chafe at the differences in skill between myself and a dedicated Renaissance master; an all-to-common conversation, I'm embarrassed to admit.
And then, for the first time, it hit me: No, I'm not da Vinci, I'm Paul.
And I'm okay with that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)