Better late than never right - September was a whirlwind, more so than normal. Day job has gotten very busy and my freelance work has also picked up quickly as well. At work I've been tasked with redesigning processes and webpages, as well as the shared word-logo for our department. Freelance wise, I've started managing the social media accounts of a small book publisher. It's a great group and I'm learning so much about the industry. I won't be participating in Inktober/Drawlloween because of how busy I am but I want to make sure that I do some drawing and creative work this month in the spirit of the 30 day challenges. I honestly cannot believe we are already in the last quarter of the year. 2021 really flew by quickly.

Half way through 2021... oh my! How can it be that midsummer is a little over a week away?! I landed my second cover story with Sidelines Magazine. My work for them has taken a bit of a backseat to APHA's assignments, but once my last 2 APHA articles for 2021 are finished in August, I will be focusing more on my drawing freelance and picking up a couple more articles for Sidelines to round out my 2021 work done.

Here is a scenario - you are a manager hiring for a writing position. You get a bunch of candidates, one being an internal candidate who has experience freelancing and degrees that match the job requisition, they just don't have the day-job titles that would match the position. But, they hustle, they land paid writing and design gigs for years - DO NOT offer that person 'exposure work' FULL STOP. It's condescending as all hell. Unless alienating one of your companies employees IS what you are after.

This happened to me recently, I guess I'll quietly look for work elsewhere while continuing to contract my services to the wonderful magazines that have been giving me work.

No jokes here this April Fool's day. Inevitably I fall off the wagon on keeping this space updated. Last year it was due to a major slowdown in freelance work. This year I was just surprisingly busy and continue to keep myself occupied. My first profiles for American Paint Horse Journal were published and have been added to the portfolio section. I've also been taking programming classes to see if I can pivot my day job!

I still want to get back to comics at some point this year, especially my pet project '4'. Here's to hoping!

As a woman of color, it brings me a lot of joy to be able to write about other BIPOC riders and bring their stories to people who may not have heard of them and the work they are doing. It really helps give my writing a clear purpose, and it makes me feel good to use a skill I have to uplift and amplify. I've recently been approached to pitch to a couple other magazines, so I've been brainstorming what riders, trainers, non-profits and content creators that don't fit Sidelines Magazine's niche and could benefit from the amplification of my small platform that I am trying to grow. Opportunity is knocking, so I am opening the door!

After the controversy surrounding Jake Parker and Inktober, I will not be participating in the trademarked event. Instead I'll be participating with the hashtag Drawlloween and NoirLifestylePrompts (if they release them). This of course means dusting off the ol' art IG account which I've neglected for all of 2020.

And then like that July is out like a flash! Why is it that some months seem interminably long and others we are barely able to catch our breath? I currently am having a moment of crisis - or maybe that is too harsh of a word.. maybe what I'm feeling is doubt. This was brought on by my new boss asking me where I'd like my career to go. "I have a career?!?!?" Was what my brain shouted. I always just considered it a "job". My accidental career at the lab is comfortable and slightly more secure now that everyone is working from home, but I want to pursue creative work which is why I love working from home. No commute = more time to pursue other things outside my 9-5. So now I am doing some soul-searching and deep diving. What do I want my next 5-10 years to look like?

Yikes! Long time no write – the year really slipped by me I suppose. A lot has happened – I got married in August, I started working on new equestrian product branding, I also wrote several articles for Sidelines Magazine. Besides the wedding (which was pretty consuming in mental and design capacities) I was super excited to get a brand new printer! Looking forward to making art prints on this baby!

In the midst of all the holiday hub-bub I missed my December blog post about what’s going on. Basically it was all about family and friends – wrapping up working on the Mercury Moon website and finishing up this website!

In January work was a little slow – I illustrated a couple horses, worked on the Mercury Moon logo and wrote a piece about Diversity in Equestrian Media for The Plaid Horse which blew up! I’m glad to get the conversation going even if some of the voices out there are toxic. One step at a time.

Long time no talk – a lot has happened since my last post. I finished my Grad School program in 2016 and walk in the commencement ceremony in 2017. I moved from NorCal to SoCal, traversed a web of making new friends, building new routines, and discovering who I am down here.

I’m finally getting my act together and doing it! At the beginning of September of this year I vowed to use the last quarter of the year to dust off, update, and publish my portfolio site as well as launching a webstore. I’ve been working diligently a little bit everyday. Things just started happening at the end of October – I was asked to do 2 freelance projects (illustration and website + branding) as well write a blog piece for The Plaid Horse (which did very well!) Right after Thanksgiving I officially launched my webstore (link on my About page) we’re down to 1 month left of the year.

Welcome to the Soft Launch and I look forward to being more active!