Working Toward Working at Home *New Illustration*

So I know I'm a few months behind, but happy 2012 everyone! This year has been off to a great start, and I'm hoping that it's a sign of great things to come. I figured it was time for an update, so thanks for hanging in there with me!

First, things on the Mommy front are good. My son is 5 months old and is growing like the most beautiful flower I've ever seen...

He's rolling over on his belly, laughing and smiling, holding things pretty well, and is starting to understand the oh-so-intricate game of Peekaboo. I'm proud to say that he's 100% healthy and right at the level he's supposed to be development-wise. I thank God every day for blessing me with my little angel. I have to say, being a mother is both the most challenging thing I've ever experienced. It's crazy to have such a tiny little creature be so dependent on you, seeing him grow and change every day, making sure his needs are met, etc. At the same time, being a mother is the most inspiring thing I've ever experienced. I want to be able to give him the best, be there for him in every possible way, and artistically, he's revived my creativity in ways I've never thought possible. Children's art has never totally been my "thing." Pin up art greatly inspires my work, and I enjoy illustrating work where sexuality is tastefully implied. But since having my son, I want to be able to create things that he and other kids can enjoy in their childhood. Above all though, he's given me twice the motivation to accomplish my dream of being a full time freelancer, so it can enable me to be a stay at home mom.

So with that said, I've been approaching building my business with an even more aggressive manner. First off, I've thankfully reduced my hours at my day job. Working less hours there helps me in so many different ways, but the main thing is that I'm able to get home earlier and be Mommy and tend to my little nugget until he goes to sleep earlier. After that, I can put on my business cap and put more hours into building my business.

Second, I'm expanding my marketing efforts. Over the past few months, I've been advertising and searching for jobs mainly on Craigslist, and I've actually landed some great clients and jobs there. But obviously to build my workload, I have to go beyond the internet. So I've decided to go the postcard route as well as advertising online. So I went out and purchased a PO Box, and created a new illustration to put on the postcards...

This is called "Closer to My Dreams," inspired by the Goapele song. It's totally inspirational and a great mantra for anyone trying to reach their life goals. So this was the perfect image to send out to different companies to advertise myself. I ordered a box of postcards with my info on them, and I've compiled a mailing list to send them out to. I'm confident it will bring in some more business. I've also ordered more business cards to carry with me.

Next, I've been attempting to organize my schedule a bit better. While I'm at the day job, I write down everything I need to do for the week.

Finally, I've been sketching new ideas and brainstorming different ways to make money. I have a great new idea for a new painting series, and my goal is to paint enough to sell on the street, preferably in Union Square. Then there's eBay and Etsy of course, both of which I'm still trying to learn to navigate. My website could use an update, so I'm working on some new work to upload to it. Best of all, I broke down and finally bought myself a MacBook Pro and a new printer/scanner/copier. My old Mac (my iBook, I should say) was a seven year old dinosaur that's been on life support for at least three of those years. Now with this new equipment, as well as a slew of new art supplies, I feel even more confident to move forward with my career.

So that's it for now. I'm still trying to find a balance, but every day gets a little bit easier. My son is my motivation, not only to be able to be home with him, but to show him that with enough hard work and motivation, you can be anything you set your mind to be.

2011...The Year of Change

Man, I've really stepped far from this blog, because so much has happened in this crazy year. It's definitely been a year of change for me. Thank you to those who have continuously checked back to see how I've been doing, it is much appreciated. I'm still hustling in the art game, trying to make it my full time job. But admittedly, a few huge changes in my personal life slowed my journey a bit. Because my day-to-day life affects my creative process, I feel it's necessary to share at least the Cliff's Notes version of what has happened since my last post in January.

When I first started this blog last year, I had just moved back to my hometown in Westchester County, New York. I had just gone through a very difficult separation and divorce, and being back home, in my father's house in the neighborhood I grew up in, among friends and family, was the best way for me to heal from the whole terrible process and figure out the next phase of my life. I got a chance to reconnect with people I lost touch with and rediscover parts of me I had lost. It was nice and helped me work through the confusion and pain.

After a few months, I found a job and an apartment, my first one completely by myself. I had lived by myself during the separation, but this one was truly mine and truly me. It was a small attic apartment painted in different colors and slanted ceilings. I decorated it with whimsical pictures, curtains with rhinestones, and of course, lots of purple. It was a different experience, living alone for the first time, but I have to say I honestly enjoyed it. Sometimes I just laid in bed, listening to the wind rustling through the trees outside my window and thanking God that I made it through such a trying time of my life.

After a while, I felt ready to start dating again, so I went on a few, some good, some not so good. I hadn't really put much faith into the men I had gone out with as anything long term, and pretty much signed up to the fact that I was going to be single for awhile, until I met an Angel...

Long story short, what started as an amazing first date grew into an amazing relationship. A relationship on maturity, respect, adoration, friendship and real, true love. A type of love I'd never felt before. I had a partner, and we became inseparable...
After a few months of togetherness, I received the biggest shock of my life...I found out I was pregnant. Becoming a mother was something I thought would never happen for me. But here I was, growing a life inside of my belly. Our pending future as parents brought us even closer, and nine months and one week later, I gave birth to the most beautiful baby boy I've ever seen...

Throughout my pregnancy I had to make some major moves in order to prepare for my little prince, the biggest one being from the lofty suburbs of Westchester to the ultimate concrete jungle, New York City. It's been a dream of mine to live at least one year in Manhattan, and since Angel had a bigger apartment and he wanted to take care of me while I was pregnant, I finished out the lease on my place and moved into his Harlem apartment. It's been an adjustment to say the least, but it's a beautiful thing to wake up to my best friend every morning, not to mention peering out my bedroom window and seeing this...
This city can be quite intimidating for this small town girl. I often wonder how out of place I look as I walk these streets, but no one seems to notice. The creative energy found here is unlike any place I've ever been. Musicians and artists and actors are everywhere, honing their craft and hustling it out into the world like it's the last time they would ever do so. It's inspiring, and finally, after the dust settled around the chaos that has been my life for the past couple of months, I've been able to enjoy it and let it inspire me. I'm teeming with ideas and for the first time, I feel like I finally have the means to focus on my creativity totally, and direction of where I want to take my career.

So that about sums it up. Throughout 2011, I've lost and gained jobs, came close to losing everything and then gaining it all back, been through family and friendship dramas. I had my heart broken, found a place of healing and found myself again. I fell in love, started a new chapter, and became a mother. All of my experiences have made me stronger, wiser and more focused. I feel confident entering into 2012, because I'm entering it with a happy state of mind. I feel like I can do anything, and I'm definitely going to accomplish doing just that. :-)

The "Regular" Job vs The Career Path

Man, what a crazy couple of months it's been! First off, I need to say a big thanks to all of you out there that have been following me throughout all of my transitions and my growth in this creative world I'm trying to build. With the new year, I feel more focused, more determined, and bursting with new ideas and business ventures. I truly feel like this is going to be a fantastic artistic year for me, and I'm so excited for what's to come.

Okay, the first thing I wanted to share is the picture above. She's yet to have a title, but she's hopefully going to bring me a lot of business, because she's going to be gracing the back of my business cards and post cards. I've been posting ads on craigslist, growing my mailing list longer and longer, applying for jobs on several freelance sites...my marketing efforts have been quite hardcore, I must say. I've been blessed enough to land a few jobs, and I know it's a direct effort of all of the hard work and late hours I put in immediately after getting home from my "9 to 5" job. And because of those blessings, I can't help but wonder how much more work I could pull in if I was able to dedicate all day to my artistic efforts, instead of just a few hours after working 8 hours in an office.

That brings me to the subject of finding the balance between my creative endeavors and my regular day job. As most of you know, I work a regular office job that has absolutely nothing to do with art. This is a conscious choice I've made since I've been out of college. Obviously a big reason was that I needed money. But the other big reason was that I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do career-wise. Working a "9 to 5" enabled me to earn money, but not occupy my mind with any type of intense workload on a daily basis. I've worked many types of jobs, most of which have been with small businesses, and I've been able to pull lessons from each place on how businesses are run. I've managed to form close relationships with my bosses, who happened to be the owners and founders of these businesses, and learned from them. It's helped me grow and hone my skills as a businesswoman, and that's what I've needed more than anything. Creating is easy. I can draw in my sleep..hell, I HAVE drawn in my sleep! But the business side of things...that's what's hard. Contracts and invoices and taxes and estimates...all of the administrative stuff alone makes my head swim. But it's obviously necessary in order to keep my illustration business going. And the biggest thing I've learned from all of the jobs that I've worked, is that one of the hardest bosses you'll ever have, is yourself.

The place I work at knows about my illustration endeavors and supports them, as long as I get my job done while I'm on their time. And I know when that inevitable time comes, when my business grows big enough for me to have no choice but to support it on a full time basis, I know I will have their blessings and support. But until that time comes, I have to approach both with the same kind of determination. Because at the end of the day, they are trying to accomplish the same thing I'm trying to do...be successful.

The Debut of Purple Mist Art

Hello All! I want to welcome you to my new Creative Blog here at Blogger. I decided to move my blog over here because not only does it enable followers, but there are SO many artists I admire on Blogger, so I can follow them too. No worries though, the same insight, sketches, and experiences I shared on Wordpress will be shared here as well, all that's changed is the host. So welcome!

Sorry I've been MIA for quite some time, there's been so much going on in my life, creatively and personally, it's been almost impossible to keep up! So thank you for hanging in there with me and continuing to support me on my creative path. You guys are awesome! Now, on to the updates:

Okay, so first things first...my company name. It is now "Purple Mist Art." As most of you know, I came up with the Purple Mist persona during my freshman year of college, and it holds several meanings to me, but the biggest being this: There comes that point in time, when day turns into night and night turns into day. When the sky is bathing in lavender and pink and gray hues. When the stars are faintly sparkling, trying to decide whether they will shine bright or fade away. When life is simultaneously waking up and falling asleep. This is the place where my dreams are made. This is where I find my creativity. This is what I call the Purple Mist. The change in company name also embraces the many changes I'm going through, and allows me to grow not only creatively, but as a businesswoman. I want to go so far beyond just illustration; I want to build a brand. So make a note of it :-).

Second, the website. The basics are the same, just a bit more added to it, and the URL now of course is http://www.purplemistart.com/. I will constantly be adding new work and am working on adding a store and cart to enable people to purchase original artwork and prints. So check it out and drop me some opinions!

Finally, the Fan Page. Seeing how Tasha Taylor Illustrations is now defunct, I decided to make a fan page dedicated to Purple Mist Art. So be sure to "like" me on it. For those of you who are on my personal page, I am going to send out a Suggestion Alert in a minute. For those of you that aren't, simply go to the Search box, type in "Purple Mist Art," and "like" me that way. Liking my page will give you direct access to sales, site updates, events, and any special announcements. Liking me also gives you access to any special discounts and offers I have going on.

So that's it for now. I feel confident in my creative path and I can't thank you all enough for your well wishes and support. That's what drives me to keep going and keep dreaming.

Creatively Yours,

Tasha
www.purplemistart.com