Loneliness and Solitude

Recently I've been taking a break from my usual animal-loving art projects, and working on something a little more personal.  For the past year or two, I'd say I've been on a major journey of self-discovery, trying to figure out where I'm headed, what I want in life, and the kind of person I want to be.  While I've done a pretty good job at discovering what I'm passionate about (sea turtles & art 4 lyfe!), I've done a pretty terrible job at discovering myself - particularly in finding happiness.

Like many people, I'm not very good at resolving bad feelings.  I'd rather distract myself with other things until I feel normal again, but it's never a permanent fix.  This small series has kind of been my way of finally confronting all the negative emotions and thoughts I've struggled with; The main one being loneliness in the absence of my love life.  I'm not sure exactly where this project will go (maybe I'll do something like "Into The Wild" and live with the turtles), but for now, here's a look into the little lonely girls inside my head.

On the topic of loneliness, I discovered the artist Katie So a little while back and FELL IN LOVE with her work (you can probably tell where I picked up the pen and ink style from now).  Her illustrations are so simple and pretty, but so creepy and sad and extremely relatable at the same time.  Sometimes it's just comforting to know that other people feel shitty like you.  Is that wrong?  Anyway, these are a couple pieces from her "Destined For Misery" and "Attempts At Positivity" series, but you should check out the rest of them here & here.

"I was doing fine until I realized; You were doing much more fine than me."

"I hear my phone in the hopes that it's you.  But it's usually, if not always, my mom."

I Like Turtles

So I think it's time for a big life update after not posting in here for 9 months (new record)!  Most of you know this, but I started a new job as a sea turtle nesting surveyor last March, and I've become prettyyyy turtle crazy.  But while sea turtles are wonderful, this job has helped me re-discover my general love for animals, and more specifically, my passion for helping endangered species.  Mass extinction, rampant poaching, and the negative ways we affect our surrounding ecosystems (which this cartoon portrays perfectly), have been big topics floating around lately, and on a large scale, they seem insurmountable.  But after seeing this record breaking season for our sea turtles' first-hand, it's given me a little glimmer of hope for the future.

In my very small effort to help save our beloved sea turtles, I wanted to use art to inspire people to care about them - and what better way to reach people than through a HUGE mural?!  I recently submitted three sea turtle designs to a mural contest in Downtown Melbourne, FL, and to my surprise all three were accepted!  The start date for my work is still TBA, but it will hopefully be in the near future.  So the next time you go out to eat, or get your car fixed, or just take a stroll, you can gaze up at these murals and remember that we share our shores with these prehistoric beauties.

Green Sea Turtle

Leatherback Sea Turtle

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

And what better way to wrap up this post than with some badass murals of wildlife?

Right Whale Chalk Mural - Philippe Baudelocque

Ethereal Bird Mural - Eron

Green Sea Turtle Mural - Irony

Hawk Mural - Wes21

Pelican Mural- Dzia

Towering Fox Mural - Irony & Boe

Sting Ray Seascape Mural - Hannah Stouffer

Sting Ray Mural - Meggs

Whale Shark Mural - Cinzah Merkens

Receipt Doodles

I think 2014 will be defined in my books as "the huge brick wall of reality" that I ran into full force.  Mainly, I learned that the struggle to find a job after graduation is very real, especially as a biologist/artist (why did I decide to follow my passions???).  So for the past year and a half, I've been floating around in the networking-boat, which has led to many great opportunities (1, 2, 3, and a few more I still need to post on here), but has also left me very very broke.  Lately, I've been juggling two part-time retail jobs in order to sustain myself, and although they're not very art-related, I occassionally get time to doodle on receipt paper.  For my homage to 2014, I thought it would be fitting to post my little collection of receipt doodles, because in a way they represent my attempt at balancing real life with my aspirations this year.  Even though 2014 brought me a lot of defeat and heartbreak, I'm genuinely happier now than I was a year ago.  I'm grateful for the luxuries I have, the people in my life, and the opportunities I've had to pursue my goals, and I can't wait for more of it in 2015.

2014

8.19.14

8.20.14

8.24.14

8.29.14

9.3.14

9.10.14

9.13.14

9.18.14

10.15.14

12.18.14

2015

1.1.15

1.3.15

1.4.15