Hello Neglected Blog!

 I think it's traditional to say how long it's been since you last posted whenever there's a long period between posts. It's been more than a year. I would apologize, but why?

I want to focus this entry on my art goals for the year and how things are going with that so far (one month in). But first, just to touch base with the last post I made, I am still in college at ASU (Online). I'm currently taking a Spanish class and a Creative Writing (non-fiction, sadly) class. I am on track to graduate at the end of this year, as long as the classes I need/want are available when I need them to be. So that's that.

For better or for worse I've kind of attached my art goals to Instagram posting. See, I've slacked off on posting to Instagram regularly every since I started back at school. Partly because school was keeping me busy but also because when it came to Instagram, I just wasn't feeling it. It felt like a losing game in too many ways. But I'm not entirely ready to give up on it, so I decided to try to rebuild things. But this time I want to make sure that my account firmly establishes itself as an art account, not just an embroidery art account. There's so much else I want to explore. I knew I couldn't keep up with posting consistently unless I planned things out in advance, so I decided to map out my posting schedule a month in advance. 

And in order to have art to post about, I made a modest goal of one hoop art piece, one block print, and one illustration (digital or otherwise) per month. I've also decided to document my efforts to create a daily or semi-daily sketchbook habit by making sure to fill in one page or spread per week (a bit each day or so) and then post the result. And I want to invest a little bit more in stickers this year because I love stickers, because I only have three available, and because they're an easy, inexpensive way to purchase art. And, lastly, I want to blog here more regularly (potentially putting it on Substack as well for email subscribing purposes).

So, how's it going so far? Pretty good! Here's my first hoop, which went up in my shop earlier this month.

I made this hoop because I wanted to play around with wavy, swirly lines. I made a hoop a while back in pink and yellow that I really loved. It, too, had lots of lovely swirly lines. I called it Pink Lemonade and put it in my shop, but there came a time when I was feeling discouraged and disheartened by the whole idea of having an online shop to sell my art in. I wrote this about it last year:

"I also struggled with whether or not to re-open my shop. In the end, I decided that I like selling pieces to people who appreciate them. That's a good feeling! So, I re-opened it, but with a few changes. One, I did not re-activate every piece. I started thinking about some of them and realized that I want to keep them. There are a few of my embroidery pieces that I love so much I don't know if I'm every going to feel okay with letting them go. So, onto my walls they will go and maybe someday I'll make new pieces that are similar that I am willing to part with."

The Pink Lemonade piece was one that I decided to keep. And I have since realized that it might not be so much that there are pieces that I love too much to let go of (although that can definitely be a factor for some), but that I had not been giving myself enough of an opportunity to just sit with my own art and appreciate it. I would make it and list it and stick it in a drawer to keep it safe until it sold. Sometimes I just want to admire my own work, you know? So, some of those things that I pulled from the shop might eventually come back, but actually the Pink Lemonade piece I am keeping. I just really wanted to explore some of the same things that had made me love it so much and I think I really did that with this new piece, even adding some new elements and explorations. For instance, I love, love, love the two-tone fabric background. The colors on this piece are so pleasing to me. Here's Pink Lemonade, by the way.

As for block-printing, I am still very much in the learning phase. I carved up some pink stuff and printed a few pages and overall it was not really that successful except in that I learned from my mistakes. I hope.

My illustration for January is this guy:

Overall I'm pleased with him, but I do think there are things I would do differently if I drew him over again. 

As for the sketchbook venture, it's going great! I've managed to draw almost every single day in January and have filled up four pages (two spreads). The drawings are by no means perfect, but that's not really the point. The point is to create a more regular habit of drawing and it's working, so I am pleased. 

As for the stickers, I did order some. I only bought a few because I don't have a ton of money to invest in this. The plan is to just get sample size orders every month or two to build up some inventory. I opted for this design, but as of this writing, they have not yet arrived.

And that's about it! I'm hoping to write here a couple of times per month instead of just once, but my Spanish class this session is kicking my butt. I did not anticipate the sheer amount of time it was going to take to get all the work done. I will be glad when it's done, but also, I have to take two more Spanish classes before I graduate.