In my last entry, I wrote that I developed rheumatoid arthritis, but the lab results are finally in, and it turns out that I do not have rheumatoid arthritis. That's the good news, the bad news is that the pain I'm experiencing is gout spreading through me. I already knew I had gout, but until now, it had only struck my toes.
After living with gout for several years now, I'm aware that I can manage it with my diet. I've singled out most of the foods that cause flare-ups, and I've got some good guesses as to the culprits behind these latest pains. Although gout is known to suddenly flare-up for no reason.
In a couple months, I'm hoping to be back to a fairly healthy state, mobile and able to hold a pen or pencil for more than a few minutes without trembling.
I want to thank those of you who offered your support through this time. May you be blessed with the same kindness throughout your life.
Now, back to figuring out how to pay all these doctor bills.
August 11, 2008
A DIFFERENT KIND OF ARTHRITIS
May 2, 2008
A CALL FOR HELP
I wish I had good news about my recent lapse of activity to post here, but unfortunately, my physical health is not working with me as of late. I developed rheumatoid arthritis in my feet, knees, and hands which makes working in my current retail position incredibly painful.
This development threatens to wipe out my current career, as I can no longer take the eight and a half hours a day on my feet for nearly two weeks at a time. My savings dwindle due to loss of hours at work, doctor bills, and moving into a new apartment. It is a struggle to keep showing up. The time is rapidly approaching to take care of myself, and I have to take a new direction to my life.
In order buy food during this transition, I'm asking people who like my art to purchase a print from either my ImageKind gallery (which I will update with some illustrations) or my Deviant Art account. Also, the original of "Consciousness" and "Devoured Dragon" are for sale. If you are interested, please contact me at codefreespirit@gmail.com. Devoured Dragon comes professionally framed!
I want to continue advancing this site, but I'm not sure what my life allows at the moment. My plans were to model my site ala Jonathan Coulton style and sell digital prints via email for one or two dollars depending on the resolution and size. I don't know if the Jonathan Coulton model works for art like it does for music, but I thought it was worth a shot since most people like to support artists. For now, these projects are on hold while I assess my new priorities in life and find a workable career that pays the bills.
I thank you for your patience with all these changes, and for those who aid me in this period of adjustment, I am truly humble and grateful for your kindness. I've always had trouble asking for help directly. This is a new experience for me.
March 10, 2008
February 26, 2008
NEWLY DEVIANT
No big news yet, but I thought I'd let my viewers know that I'm using my Deviant Art account finally. I'm finding the Deviant Art community is much more receptive to my artwork that the Flickr community (sorry, Flickr). This doesn't mean I'm giving up my Flickr account, but I'll most likely be making updates to my artwork links and sending people over to Deviant Art. You'll still be able to download my art from there, for free, if I'm not mistaken, but when that transition is complete, I won't be posting artwork to Flickr anymore. It'll be just photos there. If you are an artist and haven't used Deviant Art yet, I strongly encourage you to do so.
February 17, 2008
February 10, 2008
January 23, 2008
January 22, 2008
WHEELS OF FORTUNE
Again the site has changed. Yes, I've consolidated the posts and made relevant labels to filter the content on Codefreespirit. The objective of such tactics: to spend more time creating rather than posting. Along the same lines, I've eliminated the descriptions for my work.
I've located my major productivity/creativity flaws: 1. I spend too much time on the computer rather than working on new creations, 2. I don't break down my projects into manageable tasks (instead they seem to loom like giant balloons over the horizon that are big enough to see in all their majesty, but too far away to inspire me to pull them to the ground), 3. I stop creating in order to process that information which I only need to capture, and 4. I'm not grateful enough for the creations that work (i.e. I spend too much time perfecting the perfect circle).
In order to manage these weaknesses, I'm spending more time offline. This blog won't get neglected, however, because I have plans to make high-quality prints available and sell the originals here. I'm in the process of organizing these goals, and I plan on reaching them later this year. Until then, you can always download smaller versions via my flickr account.