2009 Highlights…
If you block out all the traumatizing stuff, I had a GREAT year!!!
January
· My first magazine cover publication. The Meadow was chosen for the cover art of the first issue of The Fairy Society Magazine
· The trip to Eugene, Oregon, with my friend Rachel Keay to attend the FaerieWorlds Masquerade Ball. Walking through Downtown Eugene at night, in costume, feeling ridiculous, trying to find the theatre while freezing our wings off!! A homeless man finally told us where to find the place, HA!
· My first solo exhibit. Thank you Seattle (Lynnwood Arts Commission). After being snubbed by some galleries in my hometown of Cleveland, this was satisfying.
· Hired as a contractor by a start-up Web Design company and being an integral part in developing company structure. I was promoted to Creative Director in less than 2 months. Hoping when I get back to Seattle this will still be an open opportunity for me and that the company will thrive in 2010 so I can finally -finally-, after all my hard work, have permanent employment and a steady paycheck for the first time in 2 years. We’ll see…
February
· Began collaborating with Rachel Van Asch of Van Asch Clothing. I worked on transforming many photos into enchanting digital art for her this year! So far they’ve appeared in two magazines.
· Meeting and making my first friend in Seattle through a serendipitous Google search she did while looking for artists to create her album artwork…the lovely and talented Aradia!
March
· The trip to Vancouver, BC. The most beautiful city I think I’ve ever seen. So far…
April
· Photo shoot with Aradia for her album cover and website art. It was fun to get to know her and we really seemed to click and have a lot in common. I was unable to finish her artwork due to my emergency move back Ohio two weeks later, but it was still great to work on this project for her. By the way, her music rocks!!
· This isn’t really a highlight in terms of success, but for experience it definitely is. I was a vendor for the first time at an art fair. I sold one thing. At least the drive home from Tacoma was magical! Ben and I were so hungry after the event that we got a pizza at the nearest Little Caesar’s and ate the entire thing in the car! Then I drove the rest of the way home…the sun was shining and the views were incredible.
May
· Finally meeting Tara who introduced me to Camlann Medieval Village in Carnation, WA. We feasted on delicious authentic medieval food at the Bors Hede Inne…an amazing May Day Feast!
· The rest of this month and all other events relating to it I do not care to remember…
June
· Reuniting with all my amazing lifelong friends in Ohio! They are a huge part of why this was a great year. Highlights are definitely driving out to the west side to hang out with Katie & Jenn, meeting baby Logan for the first time and the fun times I had with Maria, and Andrea being there for me when I needed someone most. I’ve been friends with these beautiful people for many years, some since we were 6 years old!
July
· July (well, from May until this moment) I worked like a madwoman for my freelance clients while making countless trips to the hospital and spending many nights with my husband as he went through 14 cycles of chemo and major surgery. I didn’t want to mention my husband’s traumatic and devastating cancer ordeal on this list, but to explain how much I had to overcome, it’s necessary. Due to all the medical bills that, literally, arrive daily, I have to keep us afloat financially, and I am doing a decent job of that with the help of my freelance clients. Also, without them throwing tons of work at me to keep me busy, I would have lost my sanity long ago. Hardly a moment goes by that I’m not working on something. Work, especially work you love to do, is a great way to deal with stress.
August
· Big art spread published in UK magazine, FAE (Faeries and Enchantment) Magazine’s Summer ‘09 issue! Now available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and more outlets in the US! Karen & Michael run a truly stunning magazine, please do go check them out! I love my fey friends in the UK!
September
· The drive with Starlie to Pittsburgh to be a part of a crowd 3,500 strong in a beautiful outdoor setting to witness the best Mediaeval Baebes concert ever!
· Becoming a finalist in the Boston Globe’s National Parks photo contest. I’m pretty sure Ken Burns at least glanced at my photograph of Mount Rainier while choosing the winners 
October
· Studio portrait sessions with friends…they were a lot of fun and for a brief few weeks I felt like I was ready to open my own portrait studio. I still have nearly 1,000 photos to go through and edit, oy!
· Baking pumpkin rolls with my friends Kristy, Jenn & Katie…dinner at the restaurant with the bad art but amazing pizza!
· Scary Movie Marathon 2009, with Ben, Johnny and my brother. Discovering some great Japanese horror films.
· Making the cover of Spirit Seeker Magazine.
November
· Another big art fashion spread for Van Asch Clothing published in Alt Fashion Magazine. I think this is some of my best work ever.
· Made the cover of Spirit Seeker Magazine, again!
·Teaching myself how to tat (lacemaking). I finally found a craft I really love that I can do without the aid of studio space and tons of supplies.
December
Since nothing really happened this month, I will group all the amazing Seattle experiences of 2009 in here (when we were still living there). It was hardly glamorous, and I spent a lot of my rare time out and about in traffic, but I still have some great memories of all the ethnic restaurants Ben and I experienced, the breathtaking views of the mountains just one block away from our apartment, the confidence and excitement I felt about my job hopefully becoming permanent, and all the dreaming about how we would do a lot of traveling around the Pacific Northwest again in the summer. I wish those dreams, simple things that many people take for granted, had come true.
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2009…I left out a majority of the mean things you did to my husband and I because I refuse to let the fear bring me down. I do thank you for all these good moments, and let’s hope that your friend 2010 will bring happiness, success and HEALTH. And although many of my goals for this year, like getting passports and beginning to plan a trip to Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales, were once again put on the back-burner, I have hope that next year and the year after will be transformational years full of progress and excitement. And stability.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the pleasure of developing & designing the official websites for authors 
I am a photographic & digital artist inspired by myth, dreams and nature. My work is infused with the magic of the natural world and of the unseen realms of myth and imagination.
