when there’s nothing but long periods of silence from me. but the truth is, i’ve been working on a lot even with all the crap that was going on in my life.

thankfully, i’m able to get back on track now that things have settled down, but at the same time i have a LOT on my plate. i’m currently working on 12 dolls, another class with my mom, a series of drawings, and i just finished molding the mai ougi so now i have to get my sample doll ready for her sales at the end of the month…

my lovely work area (well, one of them… ) see that lovely list in the upper left? yeah, that’s all the dolls i’m currently working on with due dates, along with a bunch of other ones that need to be done as well… (the list is probably closer to 30 dolls… did i mention i have a VERY fully plate right now? )

and yep, that’s a test cast of the mai ougi’s head you spot there!

and the molds for the mai ougi (along with a few remaining xiang molds – once the mai ougi is up for sale, the xiang will no longer be available other than the occasional one-off doll)

and though i *should* be working on my series of drawings for possible print sales down the line (a yokai alphabet) instead i’m stuck on these two drawings. i’m having fun with them,and learning quite a bit too – can’t wait to start drawing my own subjects with some of the techniques i’m learning!

i just went through some extremely stressful weeks, but things are starting to turn around.

i’ve gotten the mai ougi about 1/3 of the way molded and i’m working on some one-off dolls for sale, plus xiang orders.

but at the same time, because personal stuff sucked out all of my energy, i’m a bit behind and haven’t done much on new projects and am now about 2~3 months behind on a couple of other things… sigh…

i had hoped july would be an easy month focused mostly on drawing to help me relax/recoup from spending the first 6 months sculpting, and instead it’s been one frustration after another and i’ve taken a day here and there to “relax” (ie. sit watching cartoons so that i don’t break down into tears in a fit of utter despair) i’m still running on low batteries.

i kept hoping i could get stuff off my plate to get it back down to a reasonable amount but c’est la vie…