In which, I am terrible at blogging:

No, really, I am. I mean, look. My last post was, what, the end of 2023? Suffice to say, my will to blog appears sporadically at best. But, that's better than nothing, isn't it?

I turned 30, ten days ago!

To be poignant (and dark) for a moment, I never thought I'd make thirty. And, in fact, there have been several hurdles I've had to leap since my last post, that led me to believe I really wouldn't see that birthday come to pass. I will keep this particular blog post brief, bereft of Big Words as I am. But I thought an update was in order, regarding the goings-on in my world.

The Big Bad:

• Last summer, I left my old life behind. It was not a life I loved. I'll be candid: I was a victim of domestic ab*se. For four years, I was trapped in a marriage to a monster. I may get into more detail in a future blog post, but I'm not ready to spill all of those feelings just yet. But, I got out, and I've been living alone for the better part of half a year now. It is the best decision I have ever made for myself, and though things aren't all sunshine and gumdrops in my world, I'm free. That alone is worth every struggle I may face in the wake of my liberation.
• I'm taking things day by day. I'm still legally married (because divorce costs an insane amount in my state. . .) but I'm hoping to rectify that soon. My art and my inspiration have largely suffered in the aftermath, as is to be expected when one uproots their entire life like this. I lost a lot of good things (namely my in-laws, who have always been nothing but wonderful to me).

But, I'm free. I'm FREE!

The Good:

• I've achieved some incredible things and chased some more dreams I never thought possible, in the months since all this happened. I've been to Seattle no less than three times in the span of nine months, twice on behalf of my incredible friends. As of this year, I'm doing my best to secure better employment out in the PNW so that I can move out there ASAP. (I want to write a few blog posts about these trips. They changed me, fundamentally.)
• I got to see TDH an additional three times on last year's (2024) tour, two shows of which were in Portland and Seattle respectively.
• I made a movie poster! And attended the premiere of said movie quite literally last week. (Spoilers, it's The Dear Hunter's 2023 tour documentary ;)) Super grateful to Casey and to my Seattle friends for making that trip possible!
• I'm getting bigger commissions! My name is starting to get out there more, and I am so deeply grateful for that. I've got some really fun projects in my queue right now, that I'm so jazzed to be working on. More on those soon!
• I nailed a new art style! In large part due to the style Casey had in mind for the poster I made for the aforementioned film, I had to crash-course a brand new way of rendering that I had never tried before. Now, I find myself favoring painterly-style rendering over the more simplistic way I used to do things. It's a style I never thought I'd be capable of doing. It felt alien to me, but here we are!

So, this quickly became far more than I intended to write. Good for me? Good for you? Remains to be seen.

I'll be trying to update this more regularly, but historically, we're seeing how well those promises go. . .

Back from the grave,

- Lily Marlene