Spatterings: Good heavens, how long has it been?

Well, let's see. Where to begin?

I think the last entry on this blog was made right before I quit my last job. In addition to my freelancing, I was holding down a day job on the art staff of The Deal, a business weekly. The Deal was, in most ways, a nice place to work, with a great bunch of people, but the money was ... uninspiring, and I also had no possibility for advancement. I was trying to figure out my next move when I received an invitation to art direct at another company, which will for the time being rename nameless. In the meantime, I was asked by The Deal to do their conference marketing materials, an interim job that has lasted about six months now and will (he writes with fingers crossed (no mean feat)) go on indefinitely. I really enjoy that work, although it consumed my waking hours to the point where I actually did not have time to draw -- not illustrate, draw -- for several months. Things have gotten better lately, but not that much.

Just recently, while still essentially working two jobs, I took a week of (ha ha!) vacation to attend Milton Glaser's workshop at SVA. Milton Glaser, if you don't know, is a legend in the design industry, a phrase that for once can be used entirely without irony or hyperbole. I can't describe much about the experience -- suffice it to say that it's like no other design workshop on earth -- but it was inspiring, to use a word that I usually can't say without wincing. Milton is, among other things, a mensch, and it was amazing to work with a person who, while remaining remarkably down to earth, uncompromisingly strives for greatness. I learned two big things that week: First, that I am capable of extraordinary work, and second, that I will never do it at the job I am at now. The time has come to stop fooling around and to set up my own full-time studio.

The first step to doing this is to resume doing illustration, so expect to see a lot more frequent updates on this site, of what I think will be surer material. The next step is to find a partner. I want a collaborator. The final step will be to actually set up a business. I've seen forty-year old freelancers, and the picture isn't pretty. I don't want that. I want an office, a business plan, and an accountant who keeps lauding me for surpassing expectations. This won't happen tomorrow, but it's going to happen. And soon.

OK, more later. Now, to bed.

-T