Why I'm Not Going To Take On Commissions Anymore

When I shut down my commissions way back in January it was so I could catch up with a long list of things I needed to do. I figured that once I got my work under control again, I could start it back up.

Then I went a little insane. Literally.

For about six months.

But you may already know that.

And although I'm stronger, my brain is still healing and I need to do whatever is neccessary to help keep it going in the right direction. So I've decided that I can't take on commissions.

"But why? If people are willing to pay for them, why wouldn't you do them?"

It's not about money at this point, it's about my health. And without my health, I'm incapable of creating anything. Worrying about the long list of people that have lined up waiting for me to put my commissions back on line is not good for me. Worrying about whether the painting I'm doing is perfect enough for the person who commissioned me is also not good. I need to just paint my little characters the way I see them for now.

And maybe, just maybe, someone will connect and fall in love with that character anyway.

Almost as if it was painted specifically for them.

Or you :)

xoxoxo

Kris

Limbo

Even up until last week this probably would have freaked me out. But then again, even going to sleep at night freaks me out (damn my brain). However, today, it inspires me. So I thought I would share. Haven't played it, but the whole atmosphere of it is amazing. Totally reminded me of Silent Hill combined with Little Big Planet. What a great job, kudos PlayDead.

RoboMom

My mom has had terrible arthritis in both her knees and her hip and hasn't been able to walk much. Last month she had a partial knee replacement and then decided it was time for the hip replacement. She went into surgery at 6:30 pm yesterday, out at 11 pm and this morning they are going to get her up and into physical therapy. That's some crazy shit y'all. How insane is it that they replaced a huge part of my mom 12 hours ago? My dad was talking with the surgeon and he was saying how they have to isolate the sciatic nerve so as not to damage it in the switch. He had it out and was holding it. No, thanks doc, but I really don't want to hear about all that. But then again, how amazing that this guy does this for a living? He's swapping out joints for people all day and then getting them right back up and going. Brilliant.

Many, many thanks to all the amazing people who helped and will continue to help my mom (and dad) at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, NJ.

And super big happy vibes to my mom to get her through the recovery and therapy.

 

Ahhhh....

I'm finally getting back to being able to look around the web and one of my favorite places to visit is Super Punch, by the awesome and generous John Struan. He rounds up such amazing art every day, from book covers to buildings. Well that's only the b's but you get the point. I went there today and found this:

A building in Taipei decorated with Friends With You.

I wouldn't mind waking up to that view every morning :) Thanks John.

 

This Is What I Need

While doing a search for jellyfish (and no, this article has nothing to do with jellyfish, but...) I came across practicalfishkeeping.com. I'm pretty damn sure that this is not practical, but they had a lovely piece on the world's largest planted aquarium. "It has been created by nature exhibit design consultants Green Chapter who have also produced many of Singapore and Malaysia’s best public and private aquatic exhibits" So this amazing 'fish tank' is in someone's home in Malaysia.

Roland Seah is the genius who created this beauty and is the founder, head honcho, big magoo for Green Chapter.

If you want to read more and see details on temp, construction and the lucky little fishies who get to live here, click here.

Cuddly Coffin via Orneryboy

I had the best email yesterday from Michael Lalonde who creates the comic Orneryboy He made a little coffin for the Zombie I had made for he and his wife, Jen, and sent along pics of it. It is awesome and I wanted to share a bit of win with you all today.

And please check out his flickr account for closeups and how he made it.

AND...while you're looking around at cute, morbid things, check out Jen's shop, Sick On Sin. It's chock full of Michael's characters on tshirts, buttons, etc. Like this Cupcake Fiends button set (and you can get any of these illos on tshirts as well)

Or the Gulf Gang set where Sick On Sin is donating 100% of the profits from sales of this pack to the National Audubon Society, an organization that has protected birds, wildlife and their habitats for over 100 years.  

Check them both out and give them some love. They are wonderful people who have supported CRM and myself over the years and I'm honored to know them.

Enjoy :)

Spiral

I just finished the last two commissions I got before I shut them down in February. I can't thank Joy and Jen enough for waiting so long for their pieces.

"Muddle" 7 x 9 acrylic on wood plaque. For Joy who simply gave me the word, 'mojito', and said run with it.

"Wahnilla" 5 x 5 acrylic on wood plaque. For Jen who loves vanilla beans, vanilla orchids, the beach and a bit of morbidity.

And with that I am bidding you farewell for the time being. I hope to be back in a month, or two. A good friend of mine brought it to my attention that Winston Churchill called his depression the black dog. My black dog has been following me for the past month but never quite out of sight. Now after circling around my feet he has jumped back up into my lap. I need to clean my system out before I can try my last med so a relapse was inevitable, I just didn't think it would be quite so quick.

Questions...

I'm going to be making some changes around the shop soon (I hope). I wanted some feedback about my prints.


1. Would you NOT buy my prints if they did not come with a certificate of authenticity?

2. Would you NOT buy my prints if they were not numbered if they were an open edition?

I would still be hand signing/dating them. I would be printing them in my studio on our brand new Epson professional printer (the absolute latest technology they have). I would still board and bag them.

Your thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you :)