Spectrum Fantastic Art Live was this past weekend, and my experience there exceeded any fantasy expectations I could have had. It was my first time going, and the first event I'd been to since going to my first Illuxcon last fall, when I first met many of these people.

In the last 3 months while taking the mentorship class with Todd Lockwood, I really worked hard to push my work to the next level and get myself over the threshold of being 'there'-- good enough to get professional work. I managed to get 5 new pieces done, and the difference between my new work and last year's work is enough that I wound up just taking down all of my old portfolio work entirely, and only showing the new stuff. I knew I had improved, but I wasn't aware of how much I had improved until I showed my portfolio to the same art directors I had talked to last fall. Again and again, I was taken aback by the response I'd get when asking for feedback from art directors and artists I respected-- somehow, I'm crossing that line, and to have all my hard work beginning to pay off is such an amazing feeling!

So, SFAL was awesome... but I'm also glad it's over, because wow the last minute prep to finish work in time was intense!! I also had to drive quite a ways from Austin to Kansas City and back (stopping overnight at my cousin's place halfway thru both ways,) while behind on sleep, which wasn't fun. I was in town for a day and a half, then left super early Thursday to fly to Savannah for my sister's graduation-- I'm here in Savannah until Tuesday. And then I'll be home for... 4-5 days? Before heading out to Amherst, MA for the Illustration Master Class for a week. Whew! Soo, yeah, my crazy month of travel is only halfway through.