Catching Up With New Work

Our move to Boston has continued to be something Amy and I are really happy with.  Though we're only now entering our fifth full month as permanent residents, things continue to go smoothly and we're pretty happy in our new home.  Despite all this joy, life has not been kind to either one of our families over that same time period.  A lot of death, a lot of sadness, and a great deal of disappointment.  There have been times where Amy and I both have felt like Cerberus' chew toys, and the repeated punches in our mental and emotional guts have left us a little worn and weary.

Nevertheless, we are alive and kicking.  We continue to do what needs doing.  We manage to keep moving.  The blog, however, has suffered.  A bit.

I've been trying to write some stuff recently but distractions have been many and severe, and I'm finding certain stories I want to tell difficult to nail down.  Perhaps I'm aiming a little too high with some of these things, but that's always been my nature.  In the meantime, I figured I'd pop in and write a few words to bring things up to speed.

I'm going to go ahead now and make a couple announcements then close with a new piece.  First, I will be at the Magic Grand Prix in Providence, Rhode Island next month, along with fellow artists Lars Grant-West, R.K. Post and Ryan Pancoast.  I can't say whether any of the other guys will be bringing paintings, but I'll have a few, and I'm sure there will be prints and proofs available all around.  Should be a nice event and I'm looking forward to it.  Secondly, I am still headed to Japan in June.  As long as Wizards plans on having the Pro Tour event there, I will present to support it.  Joining me will be fellow artist Mike "Daarken" Lim.

Further details on the above events will appear on my site's news page as we close in on their respective dates.

Here, now, is the newest piece spoiled officially by Wizards of the Coast for the upcoming New Phyrexia Magic set:

©Wizards of the Coast

I can't tell you what it's called because they haven't released that info, but they did at least spoil the image.  As soon as that bit of info has been released, this guy will end up in the gallery on my site.  I don't fancy leaving him untitled until then.

Well, I'm off to finish up the voluntary changes on one painting and make a go at completing the unfinished second take on the Badass cover.  With a little luck, I'll be able to start that personal piece I was talking about at the beginning of May.  I shall keep you all posted.

Writus Interruptus

I'll be taking a last minute break on this blog starting tomorrow.  I need to go down to New York and do some work on my old apartment.  Not sure if I'll have internet access and such, and I'm not sure how much time I'll actually have to put towards this old blog.  If circumstances allow, I'll try and polish up something that's already written.  We'll see.

Anyway, the work I'll be doing will include but is not limited to: re-grouting the shower, filling nail and screw holes, and fixing water damage.

I'm also going to take the opportunity to see my accountant and deal with this year's taxes.

Hopefully I'll be able to pry some time in there to see some friends and hang out.  After all, my building won't let me make loud noises past 6:00pm, which means I'll have to stop working by then.  Sure, many of the activities I have to do are relatively silent ones, but they're the type of things that are sure to solicit loud swearing on my part.  While the swearing itself might not cause problems, the volume will.

With any luck, there'll be at least one more post this week.  If not, I'll be back next week with more stuff for you fine folks to read.

10,000 Strong... And Growing

When I started this blog in August of last year, I didn't think it would be much more than a blip on anyone's radar.  It turns out I was wrong.  Well, sorta.

In the grand scheme of things, this blog doesn't really receive a whole lot of traffic.  Still, yesterday I passed 10,000 hits and this will be my 84th post.  For me, that's a lot of hits.  Considering that I'm a middling artist who is late to the blog party, and considering also just how many art blogs there are I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out.  Fact is, I didn't expect to reach this point within my first full year.  I was just hoping to get to the point where I might reach 1,000 hits per month by then.

In all reality, I have three other sites to thank for much of my blog's traffic, and I'll take this opportunity to plug them.

First is Matt Stewart's blog (link).  While I'm unsure whether or not he's ever specifically mentioned me in a post (I've been following and I really can't remember), I cannot imagine what I did to get listed among his friends.  The fact that I'm on that list has funneled quite a few folks in my direction, and I thank him.

Second is Star City Games website (link) where my FAQ entry about card alterations was mentioned in an article about collecting all things Magic.  According to said article, "Steven Belledin is strongly anti-alteration," which I guess if fair, though I would qualify that with my being against doing alterations rather than being strictly anti-alteration as a while.  Still, the article sent a lot of folks my way, and is actually a nice article in general for the collectors and the collected.  It's always good to see how folks on the other side of the table see things.  So, thanks to John Dale Beety and Start City Games for the shout out and the link.

Third is The Starkington Post (link), a website about the trading card game industry.  I assume it was Bill Stark who wrote up the article featuring links to my series on reference, as well as giving my blog and website plugs.  I really appreciate the the mention and the kind words.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading this blog, regularly, irregularly, or what have you.  The next few months will be trying at times as I'll be jostled around quite a bit by work, taxes, and some minor fixes in my old apartment.  Despite all this, I have pretty big plans as far as content.  I have a few interviews I want to conduct, and I'll be putting up process shots of a personal piece or two as they happen.  Hopefully that'll be worth everyone's time.

Cheers!

Announcing....

While I've generally attempted to keep news on my site's news page and my blog stuff right here on the blog, I feel it necessary to try and cover my bases with this announcement:

I will no longer be accepting cards in the mail for signatures.  Temporarily.  This is due to my imminent move to the Boston area.  I  have no real idea of how the move is going to play out (it's complicated) and I want to avoid anyone's property from getting lost in the mix.  Please check my website for news on this matter as it happens.  Thanks.

I will be updating the blog soon with more blog stuff and apologize for this non-blog related bit of business.