Updated: 03/20/2024

What a wild past year it's been. Writing to you from Chicago, IL, I've been living here for just about three months now. My partner Matt and I are no longer doing long distance, which is a huge success in my book, and it is in fact very lovely. We've adopted two kittens, Maple & Iris, who are quite the cuddly little guys.

As for my professional life; I graduated last May from TCNJ with a BFA in Graphic Design! Immediately after graduation, Matt and I traveled through Europe for a few weeks, 20- something- year-old style (hostels, lots of foccaccia, and never staying in one city for more than 3 days- to maximize our time abroad, of course). Right before we left, I recieved an offer to work with Unique Industries in Philadelphia, PA as a mock-up team artist. I accepted, and began work two days after landing back in the U.S., mid June. The summer flew by, and I loved working with my team; I absolutely would have loved to join them full time, but opted to move forward with my plan of living with Matt in Chicago, IL, since long distance is pretty much not fun, going on five years at the time. 

In Fall of 2023, I returned home to my parent's farm, where I spent a few months helping out during apple season, running toddler storytime & crafts a few times a week, and working as a face painter around the county for children's parties & festivals. I also took on a few freelance contracts as a designer (seen on my design page), which was nice to stay actively creating. Last- I spent much of that time consolidating my art supplies and life in NJ, trying to figure out how to haul it all to Chicago. We found a beautiful apartment, made two 14 hr road trips, and the rest is history.

I've spent the last few months applying endlessly to job openings in Chicago, with fingers (and toes) crossed that one of my applications will make it past the seemingly impossible to reach filters set up to sift through resumes, and that a real human will actually read one of them. I've also applied into a few artist-in-residency programs that I haven't heard back from yet.

What's to come?

No clue! But I'll figure it out, it's how life goes. Sometimes I'm more optimistic than others, and I can't wait until I can wake up and go to work daily, simply for the fact that it has to relieve some of this stress!

I'll be flying back to NJ this year for a few festivals here and there (Shadfest, Hunterdon 4-H fair), and a handful of weddings for family and friends. Hopefully I can get my name out there as a face painter in Chicago, and pick up a few gigs that way too. Maybe I'll write a book or create a masterpiece in the meantime.

Until next time,

Lianna