© beth-emily 2011
Photos by me enjoy!
Adelaide Botanical Gardens & the view from home in the wee hours of the morning.

- New drawing inspiration -

- pretty -

- this is so true at the moment, being a small business owner, cash flow is king -

| Every creative writes one of these at some stage |

So, I’ve been thinking A LOT about what I’ve been doing in my career lately (it keeps me up at night sort of thinking). In the last couple of months there have been some major changes. I’m completely and utterly on my own now – no design partnership and no partime job for security. It’s just me and my freelancing business. I do however, have amazing friends and family to keep me sane and this has been most helpful, especially when I play the ‘what am I doing’ and ‘do people actually like my work’, which is completely irrational. I know that there are people out there that really do appreciate my skill. But sometimes it gets a bit tough and all you want to do is act like a child that can’t have another piece of candy because the whole picture becomes to over whelming to cope with logically, sometimes it’s easier to be a big pain in the ass – although I’m not sure for who.

I guess most of my thinking and concerns (about my decision to brave being a freelance illustrator/graphic designer) have been about, how can I sustain my small business for further years to come. I seem to be doing okay for now but, I guess at one point I’d like to own a house or travel and maybe even have kids. I’m certainly not expecting it to all arrive at my door – it’d just be nice to earn a moderate living for the thing I love doing the most. SIMPLE! Right!

My partner Tom is also a creative, going through similar motions as myself, so it’s not like we have each other to rely on for a full time income and for that added cushy security padding for when things get tough. It’s just us, our practices and our cat for cuddles.

I read a lot of books and blog posts regarding freelance creative practices and how others have found balance, between life, work and cash flow. Some are liberating and some make me feel worse.
I’d like to share some that I have found helpful in hope that it may help others feel liberated too.

http://www.jessicahische.is/obsessedwiththeinternet/andhelpingyougetpaid/the-dark-art-of-pricing#comment-7486

http://bentheillustrator.prosite.com/23231/240808/articles-by-ben/lets-start-a-new-illustration-industry

http://www.aoiportfolios.com/about/commissioners/guidetocommissioning.html

*The first link I can’t take credit for finding by myself Tegan Rose from Ink and Spindle posted it via facebook. :)

I love everything about the above image.

Audrey Horne from Twin Peaks is the best.

New A3 limited edition prints now available exclusively at Signed and Numbered.

| Photo crazy |

I made a packed with myself earlier in the year, that this summer I’d take more photographs. I’ve always loved the idea of taking up photography as a hobby but, I’ve always found it quite intimidating and it’s certainly not as easy as it looks, which has also been a massive deterrent. But, in the last months I’ve found time and mustered up some unexpected confidence to snap a few things. I even ordered a toy camera from ebay it’s a Holga 135BC. It’s cheap, plasticy and reminds my of something you’d get in a show bag – it even rattles, I’m pretty sure it’s not suppose to. Yesterday, I got film for my new camera. Now I’m all set for the summer fun times and if all goes well, the next purchase will be a Olympus Trip 35 and then a real camera for my birthday.

Above is the beginnings of a small personal project. Basically, the idea is to snap pics of the local friendly cats I pass on my way home or to my studio – pretty simple. I thought it best to start small. Although, the first image I can’t really count as that’s my cat. But I just think it’s the best picture I’ve taken all year.

Tom, myself and the rest of the family went away last weekend for my sisters wedding. The wedding was held at Tarraleah lodge – which is about a 2 hour drive north – west of Hobart. We stayed at the logde for 2 nights which was amazing. The day of the wedding we went for a short walk in the wilderness. These are the snaps I took while we were walking. I hope to share some of the photographers pics (the lovely Sean Fennessy, snaps) of the ceremony once my sister receives them.

| Other News |

I’m excited to share that, I now have A3 size prints in my etsy store. At the moment there are selected open edition prints, I will be expanding on the range in the not so distant year of 2012. If there is a particular birdie you’d like at a larger size please feel free to contact me at  – hello[at]beth-emily.com
please remember to replace the [at] with the standard @
*The birdies look amazing at this size.

Click here to go to my etsy shop!

I’ve also veeerrryyy slowly been rebranding. I feel my illustrations have out grown my previous brand. So it’s time to shed the old and bring in the new. My website at this stage has only received a minor makeover – new images and new works have been uploaded to share with the world.
See for yourself. It’s all a bit of a WIP at the moment. There will be more to show in the early months of next year. Stay tuned.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend – mine was spent pulling out weeds of your garden, I’ve got now got matching cuts and blisters. I also got the opportunity to play in the sun with fellow talented creative, Megan Perkins.

x BE

Thank you to everyone that came by my stall at the October Bowerbird Bazaar Markets. It was a super great market and I met some really great people even if it was a brief introduction, Megan Dell and Dawn Tan were among a few of the happy faces I met.

Jim Darling – Amazing art works.

Bears!

The most important thing ‘Do what you love doing‘

Starry Night Sky.

Don’t stare at it for to long.

Admiring the craftsmanship in this here hair – so intricate!