The first new blog (after a short-lived Mac-enabled one I did when I first got a Mac) on this site should be something substantial, should it not? Full of wonder, amazement and watercooler subjects for everyone to discuss?

It should, save for the fact that I currently have all sorts of writer’s block.

I spent a while this afternoon drawing a female body in front, side and rear views for a client. This ordinarily would have been just fine, except that I was trying to do this while sitting in a very nice cafe and enjoy a coffee. I felt very self conscious every time someone walked by! I got all of those done, threw in a bit more stylized front-only illustration for the client, emailed them off, and then began working on some projects for myself.

For those of you who don’t know – empire building is a slow process.

As it turns out, I cannot say “Hey, I’m back in the self employed business!” and expect clients to be lining up on the other side of my Mac. I count myself very fortunate to already have 4 clients who have brought me some very fun and interesting challenges. Logos, websites, business cards, package design and soon a complete rebranding of an existing business – very cool! The thing is, when you’re self employed, it’s not about only working on the projects you have. You also have to be out there getting new clients. And then you have to maintain your own brand – website, business cards, current portfolios – and then, there’s paperwork!

It’s all so very glamorous.

This blog, speaking of maintaining my brand, is part of that process. I’ve been teaching myself the coding and process on how to create something like this, with the ability to let people leave comments, allow for RSS subscribers, a search function and even a sort of CMS is all new to me. I have decided, for now to split this blog into two sections: The first being the actual blog proper (which you see now) and the second being a posting of my various attempts at poetry. Utilizing this CMS system will allow for a mucheasier method of posting.
The true goal of all this though? I now feel confident in offering this service to web clients. My previous websites, while wonderfully designed, were much simpler in terms of code and available features.

And now, if you will excuse me, I must get back to empire building.

JT