- Linda Belcher, Bob's Burgers

/inhales
OHHHHHH DUUUUUUNNNNKKKKKKKK I AM GOING TO GUARDIANCON 2018!!!!!

I am going to sell art there!* It is a huge event for me. It's a huge event for them. It will be a huge audience. I am bringing original works and Destiny themed works. I have been working nonstop on this and other paintings and design works for the last 3 weeks now.

Ace of Spades - 42x36" acrylic and mixed media, hand painted on canvas.

I want to describe some fairly serious stuff in this post, and ask a really big favor. I'm very interested in feedback on all of it. Please use the comments or e-mail me, especially if you know me or received a separate e-mail about this.

I have to admit that I fell into a funk after I left my IT career in April. I finished a few works in April and May, but I largely felt unmotivated and anxious about stepping up to do any work. But since June started (and I hit rank 60 Dead Orbit to get that Graviton Catalyst...) I've finished nearly a dozen new works already and have plans to finish another five within the week. I'm submitting to shows. Submitting to publications and for art prizes. It is great. The culmination of my work, whether I spent it wisely or not, will be GuardianCon.

And as some of you who will read this know, the weekend after I left my previous job, my father became fairly ill. I won't share his details, because that's his story and his right to share those details. I bring it up only to note how deeply it affected me. It compounded a lot of things that I was already struggling with and I wasn't prepared for the confluence of them. I think I fell into actual depression. Upon reflection, without the requirements of a full time job, and with time as a catalyst for introspection, I think I can now admit that this has happened many times. I'm not sure that it's clinical. I'm not sure it needs a doctor. But I'll interrogate that personally and seek professional help as soon as it is possible. Some great friends and family have already offered some amazing support and that is buoying at least and functional and productive at top tier.

Right now, I'm optimistic and I have a plan. Attending GuardianCon and making rent for August, September and even beyond may in fact be incredibly feasible- off of only one event. It may just be the perfect opportunity. It is also a long shot. Critically, it relies on the kindness of others to a degree that some may feel I do not deserve and that I know I haven't been the most reciprocal on in the past, but which I need now, desperately. And of course, I have backup plans. I even have a Plan C. But this convention and this opportunity might change my life forever and even if I have to scrape and beg and sell my possessions, I'll get there.

I'll be public about this every day until it works. Hopefully, it will be off the ground and flying by the end of this week. And I'll ride this torpedo to the very end.

* - Full, explicit disclosure: I cannot afford to go, yet. Please read more below if you want to help me get to the convention through commissions or donations.

I also have a big family event in Florida that weekend, and I am going to have to spend like 30+ hours in the car over a period of about 4 days in order to make this all work. But it's going to be worth it! I can feel it. Buuuut... It's also going to be tough, because I need to raise funds to get to the con and possibly produce more work.

So. July 13th and 14th, I'm going to be selling art at GuardianCon (the 14th is up in the air, if I can get some help from a friend or two to watch the booth) in Tampa, Florida. I also hope I get to play some Gambit before the release in September... and pee while my belongings and art stays safe at the convention... you know, logistics.

I have a 6x10 booth on the main floor with all of the other vendors. I will be with at least 15-20 other artists. Only a handful went last year and it SOLD OUT (see: @broman on DCP Podcast #89 -- Ed.). I chose to take the opportunity (and risk, definitely risk) to obtain my booth ASAP. Secure that spot. I heard recent episodes of DCP and I got stoked, so some other artists did too, and time and space are finite.

I think Bungie's recent updates and announcements have revitalized the community and the players. I get a very hopeful vibe from the parts of the community that I do interact with on twitter (a few other artists, podcasters, etc).

Also, in the spirit of GuardianCon, I'm going to be contributing 20% of all sales at the convention (and the lead-up) to St. Judes Children's Research Hospital. I'm also working on some plans to possibly marathon some paintings live in the lead-up to the con to raise even more money- I'm a noob at video though, so that might be... rough...

SO. Add that all up. Opportunity. Charity. Positivity. Availability. Potential.

I'm so stoked. This represents an opportunity for me show my work to a new and massive audience, allowing me the opportunity to continue working as an artist full time. It feels like a wonderful confluence.

It sucks that I couldn't extend my runway as long as I needed. It sucks that I feel like two months vanished into too-long sleeps and 3+ hour hikes with the dog, ear buds blocking everything out. Maybe that was healthy. I came through it. But time's arrow marches inexorably forward.

All that said, I do need help. If you're willing to pitch in, please hit me up for a commission. Or if you're feeling particularly generous, please visit my gofundme.

I'm glad I have time to explain this. Thanks for reading. For those of you who got this far and loved The Stranger in D1 as much as I did, here's a 2K wallpaper I made of her.

Also, I've posted a Variate/irrezolut Ghost with Hakke colors, that I'm using to do some promos for, well, all of this.

GOING TO FLORIDA, FLORIDA FLORIDAAA