Happy Friday, everyone! It’s time for a recap. I was sick for a bunch of this cold, rainy week, but in moderately high spirits regardless. So I’ll begin with some musings before the actual recap. You may already have heard me go on about the following a bit on Twitter, but I wanted to expand here.

I drew a LOT this week, felt very creative, getting back in touch with a part of my artist self that I’ve kinda abandoned over the last ten years. I’d say the last couple of years have brought me the most joy art-wise. I feel more fulfilled when I draw than ever before. And yet… I’ve felt these past six months as though clients in the art community I’m in may be kinda moving on from me and some other artists.

I see a lot of established artists like myself struggle to fill slots, including artists that were once in high demand. Maybe it’s the economy, maybe it’s algorithms, all I know is I am not the only one (which is some comfort).

Basically, I’m trying to branch out, at least before I give up on commission art altogether. I’m trying to go back to my cute little characters from 10+ years ago, the non-commission art that predates my days in the fandom, which has more mass appeal.

I’m also going to be doing the odd fan art. I just feel like there is less demand for some parts of my work these days. So, rediscovering myself as an artist this week has been refreshing, even though the uncertainty regarding funds does have me very worried.

🤧 Monday 🤧

Nothing much to say for Monday. Had a quiet but busy day at home. All I have to share from this day is a picture of Rosie.

☔ Tuesday ☔

I’d been getting pretty stir crazy, so, on this day, I got permission from Christopher for a Starbucks treat, and went out. It was rainy. I spent some time at Starbucks, and once I was done with my food, I walked to the bookstore.

At Barnes & Noble I got a plushie and a book. I also read this picture book which promptly made me tear up in the store. I would have bought it, but it was like twenty bucks. I ended up buying it on Amazon as soon as I got home.

Usually I share a little bit of the inside of a book. But I feel like a lot of the punch of this book is lost if you show any pages. It’s a bit like a little comforting, hopeful song, and a book I intend to keep near my desk to read when I need to remind myself that all bad times are temporary. I really, really recommend it, even if you are an adult, it’s a nice thing to have.

The other book I got was Growing Grouchy. A very cute little story of Oscar’s birth and early years. And a little chick that I named Gumdrop.

Here’s a couple of close-ups from that book. I love the cameo of little grumpy Bert:

And a photo of Gumdrop with the hat I picked. I’ll make him a bandana and name necklace soon:

🐤 Wednesday 🐤

Wednesday was another day of arting. In the morning I had a Zoom call with my mom. Then I went on a walk (it was rainy again, but nice and cool out):

…and had an acai bowl for lunch:

Not much else to say about this day. I’ve just been working so much every day this week, I didn’t leave much time for leisure. 😅

🏮 Thursday 🏮

Ok as far as Thursday, first let me get my lunch out of the way. I made my own Mexican-style corn thing and it was very yummy, I had queso for a dip:

The best part of Thursday was date night. I’d long been excited about it because we planned to watch Turning Red. I was very turned off by this movie when I saw the first trailers and images, but as I heard more about it after its release, I got a little more interested.

Well, I’ve got to say, it is my favorite Pixar movie in years! The expressions and body language of the characters absolutely make the movie. As some have stated, it is cringy, but in a delightful, purposeful, “that’s the joke” sort of way: your early teens ARE probably the cringiest part of your life, after all.

It is also a love letter to the late 90s/early 2000s, a pivotal point in my own life. I was a bit of a late bloomer, since I was Mei’s age in 1997, but it was around the time the movie takes place (a few years after that, meaning I was older) was when I was emotionally in the same place Mei is in the film. I still found it deeply relatable, even more so because it was just my mother and me during a large part of my late childhood and all of my teens/early adulthood.

Conflict was inevitable, especially as I got older, but I was much less “my own person” than Mei is (too afraid to do so) and had no friends to fall back on, other than one girl for a couple of years. So, it would take me until I left the house at 30 (!!) to slowly begin to feel like voicing serious disagreement, let alone anger, to my mom was allowed.

These days, it is much less of an issue for me. Like with Mei, having other people giving you perspective really helps you to be your own person, standing on your own two feet –and eventually you don’t need that either.

Anyway, between watching an animated movie (something I haven’t done in forever) and getting a Happy Meal, WITH a toy I actually cared for, this was a very “Little” night! I was over the moon when I saw that Mario Kart was the theme!

To make things even better, I got Bowser, and my burgers where some of the best I had in a while, with very juicy pickles. I even used my Bluey placemat for the first time!

After the movie we just hung out and had quality time together. It was a lovely evening and the highlight of my week all around.

Friday

This was a very busy day. I worked on art all day, and we went shopping to like four different stores for groceries. That was actually very pleasant, and I got treated to my favorite sandwiches from the Argentinean bakery. But it is always so hard to step away from my work.

We had a lovely dinner at home in the evening. Here is a photo of Kotoko and Elliot that I took in the early afternoon to wrap up the post:

Tomorrow we have an outing, and Sunday a dinner with friends, so I’ll do the weekend on a separate post in case I end up with a lot of photos.