It’s been a couple weeks since Dries and I first clunked across the California border, and I’m finally starting to feel at home. The last my stuff is unpacked, if not quite put away, there are posters on the wall, and my locally-based (finally!) job search is in full swing. I’ve also found a bit of time to create some more drawings and develop a flat portfolio for applying to concept/story art positions.

Two days before I left Austin I also picked up some VERY last minute scenic paint work in the form of a prop for my hair dresser, April Skinner, who is also an up-and-coming photographer in the area with her company, Almost Impatient Productions. When I first saw the crescent moon, it was a tacky, disheveled, bright, glossy yellow, with water damage, paint peeling around the edges, etc. April asked for a copper patina kind of look, and, though it was my first try at that particular effect, I think it turned out pretty well. See for yourself in the Scenic Art/Design page, and while you’re at it, check out the design gallery for photos of the scale model of Iden B. Payne Theatre featuring a set of my own design, created for my Design for Performance final project back in May.

Well, my resume is shaping up my online and flat portfolios are shaping up, now to put it all to good use.

Date posted: August 30, 2009

Well, it’s been a longer period of silence on this blog than I had hoped, but life has done well in keeping me busy lately. After Belgium, we visited Norway, mostly staying around the Oslo area, but we did drive out to the country to see some fjords for a day.  Then, it was on to England to visit family in the Portsmouth area and do a bit of sight-seeing in London and the historic Portsmouth harbor. For me, highlights of the trip, apart from spending time with Dries and my extended families of course, were the medieval city of Brugge, cycling along the coast of the North sea in Oostende, Belgium, exploring the ruins of a 12th century monastery on the island of Hovedoya in Oslofjorden, Norway, the HMS Victory and historic dockyards in Portsmouth, and, in London, the National Gallery and the Wellcome Collection (an exhibition on the practice of medicine both past and present, featuring hundreds of fascinating  and sometimes bizarre artifacts from all over the world). A few pictures from these adventures are posted below.

Upon my return to the U.S., most of my life has been consumed by cleaning, packing, and minor repairs to my apartment to (hopefully) avoid move-out fees, in addition to continuing my job search. Although it seems hard to make much headway in this from out of state, I am continuing to create and gradually fleshing out my online portfolio, so I’ll have more to show once I get there later this month. I remain hopeful that even during this recession the world still craves creativity.

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Date posted: August 4, 2009