New Year, New Business! New Site! Clicky!

Ok, so.

I've been working a temp assignment for the past few months, and it ended the day after Christmas. I'd been extremely sick (see last post for the gory details), and the prospect of going out to find yet another crap job for another few months made me feel even worse. I decided to let myself get better and then I'd think about what I would do next.

The result is that, two days later, I sat down with my (awesome) husband and told him I'd figured out just what I would do. It would take a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of discipline.

I've been doing small commission art for friends for a while now; there are several pieces I've put up here for print sales, but I've never really pursued a career using my character designs. That's all changing. As of today, January 4, 2006, I have reopened my secondary site divinebird.com and turned it into a real access point for commission art, print sales, and more.

Every Wednesday, a new image will go up with a vignette about the character portrayed. Today, I started with Neelie, a dye merchant who will act as the 'hostess' of my site. Later today, a second image will be added, and Neelie will be the one telling stories about the characters.

I have several commissions in progress now, and I am open to accept more. All new images going up on divinebird.com will be offered as prints here and on merchandise through cafepress.com, with items through DeviantArt also being added later once I get used to their designs. I know a lot of people watch me through my various sites (many thanks!!) and I hope that, even if you aren't interested in buying one of my pieces, you might think of someone else who would.

I suppose it clicked for me to try this after hearing yet another person ask me why I wasn't a full-time artist. I have a long way to go before I meet my own standards, and I am sure you will see changes as time goes on. I expect that of myself as an artist. By the same token, if I wait to become a 'serious' artist until I meet my own standards...well, let's just say that I don't think I'll ever do it. ;) I think a lot of you understand that!

I know I can do it.