Merry Christmas, Goodbye 2013!

Living in a different country meant that returning home for Christmas with my family really felt as special and exciting as it was when I was little.

Ho ho ho! ... Merry Christmas folks! 

I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families and friends, eating and drinking everything in sight until you fell asleep in front of the TV... Like me. It's that time of year again and, although i'll refrain from a tiraid about how quick time is flying by, it really is staggering how swiftly his year has come and gone. 

I apologise for the lack of updates in the last couple of months. I had been doing so well until November! I had the adventure of a lifetime when myself and my partner went to California for 3 weeks for an incredible road trip that ended with us flying in a helicopter to the Grand Canyon and a stint in Vegas! It was our first trip to CTNX which was truly an amazing experience. It was invaluable to meet artists I have been friends with online for years, a couple for over a decade! I spent time laughing and learning from heroes, peers, teachers and strangers who became contacts and friends. We were fortunate enough to meet with our friends at Disney Feature Animation, Pixar and Disney Imagineering to show us around and give us a glimpse of the magic that really happens in these places. It's safe to say I absolutely fell in love with California, I have always strove to get over there but having now been there as a visitor it's really fanned the flames of a burning desire to get out there on a more permanent basis one day.

The end of the year is always time for reflection and as I sit here polishing off the last of a mountain of Christmas chocolate I can't help but marvel at what a crazy year it's been. If someone had told me at the beginning of 2013 (or even half way through!) that I would be ending the year living in a different country and working in another new country I would've laughed a lot and backed slowly away from you, careful not to break eye contact with the crazy person.

It's really thrown light onto the fact that you really don't know what's around the corner! This is an odd concept for me because, although I've always known this to be true, It's rare to be faced with something so immediately life changing. It's been difficult at times but I'm striving to embrace it and I do love a good challenge!

I didn't intend on this being a rambley end-of-year post but it's definitely turned into one! I wish everyone who has read this far and wonderful, healthy and prosperous 2014. Enjoy one more day of festive over indulgence before we all get our heads down, diet, detox (for January at least!) and draw like maniacs for another year.

Adventure is out There

Hey everyone,

I've been terrible at keeping up with social media and updating my blog over the last month. I thoroughly intend to sort that out as soon as possible! Over the last few weeks my life has taken a dramatic, and unexpected turn; I was approached by a mobile and social games company, who loved my work but... they were based in Gibraltar. 

I pursued it (mostly out of curiosity) and did a few Skype interviews before getting invited out there to meet everyone in the studio and explore the country. It's really an amazing place, I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone to visit. It's like a Mediterranean Britain!

A very hard decision followed. Freelance work has been going really well over the last year, I have a long term boyfriend of nearly 6 years who has a fantastic job as a VFX supervisor in London, not to mention leaving everything I know and my friends and family. I weighed it all up; Dan and I decided we could make it work and could afford to fly back and forth to spend time together. My friends and family didn't take much convincing to come and stay in my Spanish apartment and my wages would be enough to allow me to fly back at least once a month so I wouldn't be disappearing full stop.

Very, VERY long story short; last week I accepted the job as an Interactive Designer with emphasis on Character Design. I will be flying my beloved London nest and moving to Spain tomorrow (!). Dan and I are embarking on an epic road trip across Europe, down through France and Spain to hopefully arrive at my new coastal apartment Sunday night. Obviously I will be offline for a while until I get the internet sorted and get settled over there, so this will be the last update for a week or two. Thank you for baring with me! 

This is all very crazy and I have no idea how it's got to this point but I have a good feeling about it all!

... Adventure is out there!