Six Months?!?

Wow.

Man, where does the time go? In looking at my buddy Matt Wieringo's blog recently, I noticed his sidebar details the amount of time that has passed since the last posting on his linked blogs. The link for mine said six months...! Again, wow. I can't believe I've been incommunicado for that long.

Once upon a time, this used to be an art blog, but life sort of took over. I've obviously had a lot of time to reflect on things, and have realized that there's a lot more I want to do than I have in the past; with life, in my career, and in my home life. While that is a big part of what I currently think about, I don't think it's entirely relevant to what I'm trying to do here on my blog. However, it is what's been on my mind as I've been attempting to rebuild my life.

So, in light of all that, I am considering this my unofficial blog relaunch. In the coming weeks and months, I'm going to get back to posting art on a regular basis. You'll again be seeing my Portfolio Showcase feature, showing past work, and I'll also be posting current work on my desk. I'd also like to begin showing a bit more of my work flow, for all of you process junkies out there. I'm not sure yet how I'll present that, but I'll try to be interesting and creative about it.

So, what have I been up to? Well, the short answer is trying to figure out what my life is now. That's a pretty complicated thing though, so I'll just say this: since Traci died, my focus has been purely on raising my three and a half year old son, and making sure he is happy and secure. Work has been completely secondary, and maybe not even that high on my priority list. However, I do have some projects coming across my desk, so I'll have new art to show soon, as well as a few smaller jobs I managed to fit in within the past few months.

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to post this "placemat art" I did for my boy at dinner yesterday. Lately, I've been drawing fun stuff to amuse him while we wait for the food to come in restaurants. Nothing fancy or good, but it entertains him, so it accomplishes the goal. Remember, this was art directed by a three and a half year old, so I was at the mercy of his whims, as well as the limited diner crayon palette! I hope you like:



See? Told you it wasn't great!

Overall, life has been good to me lately. While it's still difficult getting through certain times each day, I have to say I have the most incredible support a person could ask for, so I'm managing. At this point, I should take a moment to thank all of you who have been so patient waiting for me to post again. I'm certain that all three of you are kind and generous, and probably go out of your way to avoid stepping on ants. Seriously, I really do appreciate all of the words of encouragement from everyone over this past year. I'd also like to thank you for indulging me in my stream of consciousness in processing all that has gone on since last year. Sincere thanks to you all for being here for me, and for taking the time to post in the comments section(which is still open, hint, hint!). I hope you'll remain, and that I can offer some small amount of entertainment for you over the course of the coming weeks, months, and perhaps even years.

I'll leave you with this recent picture of me, taken a week ago, while on vacation in New York; my first vacation since before Traci was ill, almost two years ago. You can see the that I look like I'm at ease, and let me tell you, it had been a long time since I felt that serene. Here's me:



Have a great week, everyone! See you soon!

Best,
Rich