Wow, this post is really overdue. I attended the June First Friday and this one was pretty good. I sold enough stuff to make up for the two hours of work I missed and the gas used to drive to Coshocton from Millersburg (okay, maybe not the gas part).

This coming Wednesday (June 18), I'm going to set up at a Gallery Hop in Coshocton at the Blue Bean gallery, unless more complications arise from work, and on June 28, I'm planning on attending a Fairy Festival in Wooster, although that's still tentative. For August, I'm going to have work featured at the Blue Bean, although I don't yet know the day of the reception.

For paintings, it's been a while since I posted anything on EF since I've been mostly working with dA. I've only had time to work on my calendar project, which I'm only posting on dA, so it might be a while before I can work anywhere else. I've got Jan. through May done (I've yet to post May), but I'm faced with the major problem that I have no idea set for June. July, Aug., Sept. and Oct. are good to go, but I just don't have anything for this month. I might have to skip it altogether. :(

First Friday in Coshocton finally rolled around, and it turned out to be the most... exciting First Friday I've ever attended. After an excruciatingly boring day at work, I managed to leave a little early. It had been threatening of rain all day, but so far, nothing had happened, and I was hoping that it would just remain cloudy. Half-an-hour later, I made it to Coshocton, located the gallery I was planning to set up shop in front of, and began unloading. Normally, I set up in the court square, which is where all the action is. A couple other ladies were setting up there too, and because of the threat of rain, they let me set up with them under a canopy someone had loaned them. For about an hour, I sat there, doodling and makes notes of my observations of the typical Coshoctonian (not even going to get into that). I happened to look behind me and was a bit surprised to see thick, black nimbostratus clouds on the horizon. I ignored them at first, but upon checking again about 15 minutes later, I noticed they had gotten much closer. The owner of the gallery (The Blue Bean), suggested we bring our stuff inside. The others did just that, but I waited a few more minutes. When it started to sprinkle, I figured I'd better do the same. I had gotten most of my stuff in (all the important stuff), and I was just turning around to go back out, only to see that a massive sweep of wind had literally smashed into everything, flinging the canopy over and blowing everything I still had outside off the table. A heavy downpour of rain accompanied this, and I flew back outside, grabbing my stuff and doing a combination of tossing stuff in my car and hauling stuff inside. Only one person, a total stranger, bothered to help me, and by the time I had gotten everything, I was drenched. The metal-framed canopy was destroyed, as were all our plans. Fortunately, I managed to save most of my stuff, only losing my business cards and some paper bags. We stayed inside the gallery, and I was surprised to find that the owner had hired an opera singer to perform. I was cold, wet, and extremely hungry since I had hardly eaten anything that day, but I stayed and listened to her performance (she was very good, by the way), snacking on hors d'oeuvres and wine.

Finally my article came out (I've been posting entries about it for weeks!) and it was pretty awesome. It even had a large, full-color image of one of my paintings (not one of my best paintings, but it could have been worse), and a picture of myself. I only managed to get one copy of it because when I went to the store to get some, they only had one copy left, and I wound up giving that to my mom. A friend/co-worker of mine picked up about 10 copies from the Tribune, and she gave me one (not quite certain what she's planning on doing with the other nine).

Anyway, I finally got some ink for my printer after an hour long drive to Zanesville, so I should be able to get ready in time for the First Friday coming up this week, assuming that no one at work has a problem with my leaving an hour earlier than usual (I don't work appointed times) and assuming it doesn't rain, storm, tornado-destroy-the-whole-town.

Okay, this post is a little overdue. I finally had my newspaper interview on April 13, but it hasn't come out yet. I'm just keeping an eye out for it. We had the interview at my (dad's) house, and I think it took about an hour or so.

Also, I've run into a bit of a dead end. The First Fridays in Coshocton that I always attend are coming up into two weeks, and I don't have enough merchandise ready. I ordered a few items, but I don't have anything that I make myself (greeting cards, bookmarks, etc.), and I currently can't make them because I'm very low on black ink for my printer and the only store that was selling what I need is apparently no longer carrying it.

As for deviantART, I've been having a lot of problems with my account, (plus I want to change my user name), so I've decided to create a new account and start over again. Mainly, I want my user name to match my name on other sites. I'm not sure when I'll get around to doing it, but I'll just have to update my links.

Well, things have been pretty dead lately, but are starting to pick up. I haven't been able to really paint because I have too many other things to work on, such as finishing scanning all my paintings and preparing for upcoming art events. Since the Coshocton Art Guild disbanded, I'm now planning to join the Coshocton County Arts and Cultural Alliance, maybe just to spite all those old women who think 'fantasy art' is an oxymoron. At least I'll get benefits.

Anywho, I've just recently started work on my March painting for my calendar, Beneath the Surface, which is a little late. I managed to get a better image of Box o' Chocolates scanned and posted [link]. Mostly, I've been working on merchandise.

As for the newspaper interview, I was just contacted yesterday via e-mail by the lady writing these articles, so we haven't set up a date yet, but it IS on. I haven't been able to go to work the past couple of days, except for late in the evening when my dad can take me, because of the Fat Bastard car I drive (a 1986 Caprice Classic). When driving home the other night, I kept hearing something rattling. The next day, upon inspection, I found that the exhaust pipe had broken off the muffler and was dragging on the road. Strangely, the car didn't sound any louder, that is, until when I went to leave for work. Now it's like a little explosion inside your head. Fortunately, one of the benefits of working for a newspaper is that you don't typically work appointed hours.