Outside our small safe place flies Mystery... A snake beneath the forest floor, a whisper: Melusine

My artist block has been lifted and I'm feeling uplifted. The above image is of a character I've been threatening to highlight in a comic strip called "An Ordinary Day in the Life of an 18th Century Lady" -- her name is simply Estelle.  I'll have to come up with a few more names and titles to add to her common name.  She has a torrid affair with a fop pictured at the top left of the illustration.  I haven't come up with a name for him, yet.  I'm also guessing that Estelle is either widowed (she married a rich old fart who croaked not too long ago) or is about to be married to some big wig.  In any case, she was not born a Lady and may, in fact, started out as a courtesan. 

 

So, what lifted me out of my artist's block?  I met with my old college advisor, Rob Stolzer.  Rob encouraged me, from the start, to pursue my love my comic art and illustration.  He is most likely the best art professor I've ever had and it was great to share with him what I've been up during the last ten years.  Yes, folks, this December will mark the last time I attended classes at UWSP, and I did not finish my degree.  You might be thinking, "why, pray tell, dear Valentina, what kept such a talented young lady such as yourself from completing college?"  In December 1997 I suffered a severe nervous breakdown and was subsequently suspended from college because I missed two weeks of classes.  Those were the days before I was officially diagnosed with bi polar disorder, and I couldn't get much help through the university at that time, so it was suggested I take a few years off from classes.  This proved disasterous.  I ended up homeless because my full time job was at the uni, and no longer being enrolled in classes, I could not come back the next semester to work.  So I went straight from hospital to homeless shelter.  Long story short, I've been floundering ever since I was wrongfully suspended from UWSP.  Rob took a look at my transcripts and told me that I all I have to do is serve two more semesters to finish my degree.  So there is hope for me in achieving that milestone.

 

Knowing that I have a future, provides me with that "in love" longing feeling that inspires me to pick up a pen in the first place and start drawing.  Without that feeling, I'm lost. 

 

On that note, the comic book is now fully under completion.  The translator has til the end of the month to come up with a translation for the story.  Soon I will be creating a computer font for the Ojibwe language!  It's all so exciting.  Finally I'm in love enough with what I'm doing to be more productive.  The sooner I get done with this, the sooner I can move on to new things...