Life moves Fast and Slow

Summer update, work realizations, and a finished shed.

At the end of July, I stood under a little pop-up tent for the Montavilla Street Fair in the hot, humid summer air. It was a beautiful day, and it was such a fun moment for me in my career; having designed the visual identity for the event and then participated as a vendor selling prints, I felt like I’d finally figured out how to be a ‘designer/illustrator’ and an ‘illustrator/artist’ at the same time.

I could visualize the two distinct sides of my business in a way I hadn’t seen before. I still can’t say that there’s one I feel more drawn to over the other, but I’m keeping them both in mind as I move forward and hoping to keep doing them both in a way that feels sustainable until I do feel drawn to one more than the other (if ever).

A drawing I did recently that I like

Slow August

While July felt like it moved so fast, with a never-ending list of weekend plans leading up to the street fair and that ‘gotta make the most of summer’ feeling, August felt slow. We celebrated Nick’s birthday, played with the dogs in our backyard pool, and lounged around. A mid-August rainstorm made for a great mountain bike ride on Mt Hood. We went to a beautiful end-of-August wedding in the Gorge. It was nice.

Work-wise, I’ve continued to work on a contract for What Else studio and have had such a fun time doing it that I’ve been contemplating finding a design job full-time or just continuing to get freelance contracts like it (as opposed to trying to build a creative studio with a full roster of projects/clients). It’s not that I don’t love working directly with clients (I do); it’s just a lot of work to keep the new business coming in the door, and it’s been so nice not to have to worry about that the last few months.

I spent four years doing new business, project management, and operations at OMFGCO, a place with smart systems and a solid reputation, and it was still tough sometimes to keep our project pipeline full, our projects on task, and our clients paying on time. One of the main reasons I initially decided to work for myself was that stressed feeling - trying to keep a team of five organized and busy - was slowly burning me out, and I thought keeping just myself organized and busy would be a lot easier (and it has been), but it’s still hard, and I have to do the creative work, too—go figure.

Behind the scenes of some ads I designed recently in Figma

Additionally, after two years of working for myself, I’ve found that my favorite projects are those where I work with a team of creatives. Last summer, I worked with Play&Co, and between the founders handling all the invoicing and billing and the senior designer handling all the communication and scheduling, I was left to pull mood boards, write copy, and design the brand. I got to bounce ideas off the team and get feedback on my work in a protective environment. Ultimately, the work was better and more thoughtful because we had an entire team on it. It makes sense – that’s the magic of a team.

I’ve been working with What Else for the last six months, and it’s the same story. Two creative directors, two talented design directors, a copywriter, two PMs, and me. So what do I do? I design things. That’s the main thing I do, and honestly, it’s been such a dream. I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity to work with and learn from them while not worrying about a client paying an invoice or a scope getting signed on time.

What Else team in NY

It’s been hard (in some moments) to let go of my many years of task organizing and client wrangling to let others take on that role, but the more I do, the more I like it, and overall the whole experience has been great. We’ll see where this realization takes me in the new year; I’m enjoying what I’ve got going for now.

Fast September

September seemed to speed by. I decided to take a trip to NY to meet all the coworkers I’d been working with and finally see New York City. We met for a workshop in Brooklyn, then went out for drinks, and it was such a blast. I met up with Nick’s cousin Bryan and his partner and ate dinner in their cute Brooklyn neighborhood. I did a full NYC tour, including many of the highlights from the 9/11 memorial to Times Square and Central Park. Everything they say about NYC is true; it’s an incredible city. I get why so many people live there, more there, etc. It was a quick trip, but I’m happy I went.

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I was still riding the high of my NY trip when I was out at Thousand Acres Dog Park at the end of September and lost one of our dogs. It was the scariest thing to be out there in the park calling his name and unable to find him. We ultimately did find him 36 hours later, with a broken leg, and after a whirlwind of vet visits and a lot of worrying about how we were going ever to recover financially/ emotionally/ psychologically… we finally have recovered (for the most part), and he’s recovering too.

A drawing of a dog

Anyone who followed this saga helped us find him, put up posters, send messages, or donate to our GoFundMe page. Thank you. There is nothing quite like a tragic moment to remind you how much love and support exists within your community.

Slow(ish) October

I ran a half marathon in early October. I went on a couple of gravel bike rides with some friends, but other than that, October has been dedicated to caring for and hanging out with a dog with a broken arm (and keeping the other one entertained enough not to derail those efforts). We embraced being at home and refocused our attention on our long list of house projects, the main one being the shed.

After over a year of building it (in starts and stops), we finally worked through the last few steps, and I moved in! After insulating the shed in the heat of August and realizing just how much we had done from framing, siding, and roofing, we decided it was okay to hire out the drywall and the window trim, so we did. Once finished, we (mostly Nick) painted the drywall, sealed the floor, installed the baseboards, and painted all the woodwork.

Where I’m sitting currently.

We carried my desk out to the shed just in time for me to have a 9:30 meeting earlier this week, and it was the most peaceful—noninterrupted—day I’ve ever had. It’s a quiet space with no mailmen to upset the dogs, no cars rushing by the window to distract me, and no household chores over my shoulder. I can already tell that having this space separate from the house will help me separate my work and personal life; I’m so stoked.

I’m scheming a “shed opening party,” maybe once I finish getting my stuff moved in and some art on the walls. I’m enjoying the space and slowly figuring out where to put things and how I want to organize them. I feel so proud of us and grateful to my dad and Nick for all their help and hard work.

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That’s my update! It feels so short compared to how much happened in the past three months, but that’s how it goes, I suppose, when you try to put three months in one newsletter. One of the illustrators I follow sends a newsletter every Monday. Maybe in 2025, I’ll go back to writing more newsletters so I don’t feel like I’m just giving the highlights every time. Either way, thanks for reading. <3 Ariel.