Challenges and Accepting Drastic Changes
Hi and welcome! November is well on its way and its time for the October newsletter. October was a month of challenges and drastic change. First I’m going to talk about the art related news.
The Inktober Challenge
Last month I took part in a yearly drawing challenge called Inktober (you can read about it here) and made one drawing a day for 31 days! This was a huge challenge that took a lot of time and to add to the stress, 19 days into October I suddenly had much less time on my hands. I’ll discuss the reason for that in my non-art related news below. However, I finished the challenge, all 31 drawings, and even though it was hard I had fun and realized how much difference good preparation makes when making art. You can see all my Inktober drawings in my Instagram highlight, but I included a few of my favourites here.
Halloween Market
I took part in a Halloween market in a small town, Akranes on Halloween day. There, I displayed my new “Hnallþórur” and “Pönnukökur” prints for the first time and was happy to see that visitors really liked them and they sold out! Not to worry, I've printed another batch (available here).
I have "best sellers"
I love taking part in markets because during them I can interact directly with people, talk about art or just chat about the latest news. I can also experience first hand which of my prints visitors are most drawn to and am realizing that I have "best sellers", “Conversations with the moon” and “Magic in the undergrowth” (available here). When asking people why they like them, the answer is usually that they make people feel warm and cozy, drawing them into a fantasy world. I love hearing that because that is what I feel when I make these small worlds. It’s not the mood of all of my artwork though, some of it feel weird or even unnerving.
My most popular prints, "Conversation with the moon" and "Magic in the undergrowth".
The Big Change
Now for the big non art related news, the big change! In short, had to take a day job, a “survival job” that is absolutely unrelated to art. I got it very suddenly and quite unprepared and started October 19th. I have been job hunting since I lost my job in March, at the game company I’ve been with for many years, but the industry is going through drastic changes and very little work is available. Globally, thousands of employees have been let go from game companies, film- and animation studios and even advertising and media companies are reducing budgets for creative work.
Carving out a full time illustration career takes time
Seeing jobs disappear in the creative fields like game development and animation I decided to work on carving out a freelance illustration career. That means finding my own clients and lining up enough work to be able to support myself without a “survival job”. This takes time and at the moment, making a living as a freelance illustrator is not an option for me. Not yet!
In all honesty, I’ve had a difficult time accepting the fact that I had to leave the creative field. I’ve worked very hard, for 13 years, to earn my place there. I’ve heard that people can grieve their past work almost like losing a loved one and it makes it easier for me to understand how I feel and I believe I’ll come to terms with all of this very soon. After all, I consider myself very lucky to at least have a daytime job, and it even pays well.
I will continue creating, continue being in touch with other creatives and also all the wonderful people that support us creatives! You are the most important people and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support!
I really enjoy working on my little print shop and if you need gifts or just fancy browsing my ever growing selection, click the brown button below to go to my Art Print Site:
It's easy to order, just email me and tell me what you'd like and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. All details are on the site!
Thank you for checking in and I hope you have enjoyed this autumn newsletter!
That's it for now!
Until next time, be safe and carry on dreaming ❤
Heiða
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