Pandemic Madness and the Hereafter...2022

 Welp!...

Well that was a wild 2+ years... I thought I would use the time in lockdown to catch up on my art life and business and I instead got caught up in the chaos of an unhealthy relationship, selling my home that did not end up selling, and just trying to survive, like most of us, in the face of so much uncertainty.  The two years that followed my last post, I finished 2 summers and 2 full academic years in my social work undergrad and made a few personal and professional changes.  Go check out ART by: Cat Free on Facebook and @artbycatfree on Instagram for some updates on my art and life.  

The Biggest Change...

I think the biggest change to my work is that I want to start pouring myself into work that I love once again.  I think I worried so much about turning my artwork into a business that I spread myself too thin in many directions and I have decided to stop that.  From here on out, I draw, paint, and sculpt what makes me happy and if it sells, it sells.  If it doesn't, well I suppose it will be fine to have work that I love hanging around my home from here on out.  

Many Apologies...

So many apologies to anyone who has made attempts to follow my website over the past couple of years.  Social media is where I keep the most up-to-date content that I produce.  I will refrain from making any promises that cannot keep as a student but I will say this, thank you for your loyalty over the past decade and a half (for some of you, far longer).  

Cat

Strangeland...

2019 Posts Continue...#catchingup....
...I have seen so many artists challenging themselves to try to redraw a subject that they had previously tackled to see how far the drawing skill had come.  Below is my character Captain Howdy from Dee Snider's Strangeland.  I gotta say, I loved this movie, I still love the soundtrack and had a sequel a friend of mine was supposed to be in it.  I once drunkenly emailed Dee Snider to see if he wanted to write a screen play with me, not shockingly, he never wrote me back.  :)  Below is my 2004 (I think) vs 2019... biggest improvement is the hands and the accuracy of the tattoos, I feel.

More to come on 2019...

-Cat

More On 2019...

2019 You Say??...
...I just wanted to break my 2019 posts up into different blocks of time for my own organization.  I worked on what wound up being a prototype set of Northern Fish ornaments for my man for the first part of the year but then we split up and I sold off the set.  When we reconciled, I reworked a new set and I think they turned out far better than the originals.  Truth: art improves with practice and experience.  I'm impatient by nature so my last thoughts don't always coincide with who I am :|  Below is the first set as it was intended and then the second stellar set that turned out even better.

#1

#2

...The lake/island scenes were given as intended with the set of fish ornaments and magnet.  These two projects really pushed me outside of my comfort zone as an artist and I felt really connected to them as someone who grew up camping and fishing but also because it afforded my love a special Christmas.  

Bonus Footage...

...Below is a kids craft project that I turned into something a little more artsy and fun for my buddy Lindsay for Christmas as well.  I didn't end up posting to Instagram mainly because I forgot but...no time like the present (pun intended lol).

More on 2019 in my next post...

-Cat

2019 Went Fast...

Life In The Fast Lane...
...Well let me just say, my attention has been almost entirely on the my job these last 4 years and I have been waiting for the opportunity to catch up on creative projects, this blog included.  Keeping up things like this blog are more for me but I am grateful for the time to be able to do it.  If I were sitting and waiting for this pandemic to be over, I am sure days would be too long to bare.

As For 2019...
...I tried to get in as much creativity as was humanly possible.  For Christmas 2018, my darling love got us a Paint Nite evening out.  Pictured below.  I deviated from the plan because I find How-To-Be-An-Artist tutorials quite boring when I've already been selling works since 2004.  The people around me and the instructor were not fond but it was my gift and I wanted to do what I wanted with it.  So I did and I think it turned out pretty well.

...Around the same time, I did a #DrawItInYourStyle challenge on Instagram, the original piece was by Shawn Coss #drippinginsin .  Below is what I produced...it has changed a little bit even from the finished pic below as I rework it a little whenever I has a white gel pen handy LOL.

More on 2019 in the next post...

-Cat

2018... Phewf...#outofsync

2018 Recap...
The last couple of years, I have gone through several phases of interest.  I attempted to do a Drawing-A-Day-Challenge instigated by my pal Kevin P. West and did a pretty darn good job.  Many couldn't be public posts as I was secretly writing and illustrating an adult colouring book of inside jokes for my BFF.  Cover shown below:

...The images will remain inside.  I made a mer-man ornament for a good friend and an Elvira ornament for my sister for Christmas.  This is the first year in 6 years that I didn't do a commission near Christmas time.  I feel the world around me evolving, this I think it's time for me to do the same.

Hope you enjoyed these!  I know I did!

-Cat

It's Been a While, Folks!...
I feel like I'm always apologizing for not touching base more.  LOL  I'm going to stop that and just promise that I will update as often as I am able.  I haven't had any significant shows lately.  I missed Pride in the Park here but the wonderful folks at the new Bay Village Coffee at 221 Bay St in Thunder Bay, ON were kind enough to carry the magnets I made to help fundraise for Thunder Pride 2018, alongside their own homemade rainbow cupcakes.  I must say, they tallied the total and they made significantly more than I would have.  Wonderful!  Thanks, gents!

Hopefully, I will be able to make more of a contribution next year!

Cheers!
-Cat

Drawing-A-Day...
My pal Kevin West challenged a bunch of artists he knows with a Drawing-A-Day challenge.  I did well for the first month and a half of the year.  Below are some of the drawings I completed.  Many are now top secret as I am working on a top secret project of a top secret nature.  They will likely never surface because of the personal nature of them but I have continued to draw!!!  I swear.  LOL  The Hot Cheese Super Hero is the personification of my favourite Cards Against Humanity card and the pole dancing Hot Cheese was a challenge given to me by my buddy Ester to turn Hot Cheese into a moonlighting stripper.  So....enjoy!

More soon!  Enjoy!

-Cat