Updates (mostly professional) from Terri DelCampo

 

Hi Everybody!

2023 has been an interesting ride so far, and February is already half gone. Boom! I'm going to try and keep current updates on my blog because I haven't been on social media much over the last few months. I have writing and art projects out the wazoo, not to mention personal stuff that it's imperative I keep on top of.

Personal issues, (the biggest, trying to help my 94-year-old mother out from 800 miles away), consume a chunk of my time, at least during the day. Mom has had several major problems, over the last few months – fortunately with her home, not her health - and she's deaf on top of it, along with tech challenged so instant communication with her is impossible. If we could just text back and forth the problem would be solved, but anything tech goes right over her head. It's like teaching a lizard to ice-skate. Not happening. I have to contact her friends/neighbors or write her, which is useless for pressing issues. It's been a seriously frustrating challenge…not to mention time consuming, but that's a Terri problem.

Drawing started out as a calming activity that took my focus away from problem-solving drama in the evenings. I hesitated to turn it into a project, though I think it will be fun to put my drawings on tote bags, notebooks, mugs and stuff. And if it stops being fun, I'll stop doing it. Because I'm a retired, disabled old fart and the 'gotta do' years are in my past. 😊    

Finding a home for my writing and art projects has been another time-suck. To the point where I almost said screw it.

That home ain't Patreon. I started to put individual issues of Owl's Eye View Magazine up there, with illustrations, so that patrons would have exclusive material not in the bundle that's on Kindle. I wanted a place to publish the individual issues without them overwhelming my Amazon author page. Patreon seemed perfect. Until I noticed that my patrons would be charged per creation (every post would be $3) rather than my choice of a $3 monthly subscription rate that would include everything. I tried to reset that and got all through the setting edit page, but was required to contact Patreon to make the change. I contacted Patreon through the link they provided and received no response whatsoever. I tried to call Patreon and the number listed on the site is invalid. I tried emailing. No response. I tried going on Twitter and Facebook and tweeting them. No response. So by that time, frustrated to tears, I started looking for another way to publish.

The other way seems to be Fine Art America. I can put up my art and it will be available not only as prints, but it will appear on merchandise like mugs, shirts, blankets, shower curtains, notebooks, etc. This is exciting because I have a ton of abstract art for my Trash to Art collection that will lend itself beautifully to all of that. So that's one collection.

Another collection will be Impact, an illustrated memoir I've been working on. I plan to eventually release that on Amazon as an eBook, but I can put the illustrations up on Fine Art America with the brief memoir anecdotes in the description box. In the eBook I can expand those anecdotes if I want, but for now, I want to focus on the art. And I can put the pieces up gradually as I complete them instead of waiting for all the material for the book.

And then there will be a nature and animal collection, because….birds. I love 'em and already have two nice pieces of a chickadee and a cardinal, and Benny the Owl who was my mom's pet for over a decade. I also have some random drawings of other animals that need a home. Plus other nature pieces.

And then there will be random pieces of art that won't belong in specific collections.

So my stuff on Fine Art America is definitely a work in progress that I'll be adding to almost every day for the foreseeable future.

Right now, I'm still trying to familiarize myself with the Fine Art America platform, and learn how to prep, upload, and price my stuff according to the rules of that site. Everything's a work in progress, and I don't want anyone buying any of the merch until I know I've mastered the skills to ensure its quality. I will let everyone who's interested know when stuff is ready for perusal and purchase.

Aside from Fine Art America, I'm doing illustrations for Blaze's "Paranormal Posse" on his Patreon page. Fun! I can't really put them up in a blog because they are part of his subscription package, exclusively for his patrons, but it's a cool project I'm having fun with. (Little plug: Blaze has hundreds of posts, several complete novels, poetry, short stories, and articles all for $3 a month. You can't beat that. He posts every single day. A crapload of bang for your buck!). Blaze is so prolific on Patreon I can hardly keep up with the illustrations– especially right now with all the projects of my own. Days fly by with too few hours to get everything done. It's a happy kind of frazzled that ensures I'm never bored.

I've also decided to put together a companion book for Owl's Eye View Magazine called Owl's Nest Locals. It will have bios for every character connected to the magazine or the novels set in Owl's Nest. Also, it will have lineage charts, maps of the town (both historical and current), and other tidbits of Owl's Nest trivia. This project is on the back burner for now, until I get in a groove with my Fine Art America projects.

There are also practice pieces and doodles that I like, but that don't meet my standards for publishing on Fine Art America. There are some things I drew just for fun that nobody would want on their coffee mug or hanging on their wall. That stuff I'll just share on my blog, or directly on Facebook or Twitter.

So that's what I've been up to, if you're even wondering. I'll be posting more often, hopefully, and staying in touch a little better. I do try and scroll though Facebook a couple times a week to see what's going on with family and friends. I don't always comment, but I'm around, and I try to keep up with my Facebook messages when I'm on there.

I guess that's about it. Hugs to all!

Ter

Little sample from "Impact": It's my childhood home on Baynard Boulevard where I lived with my parents on the third floor (my window is lit up), my grandparents, Gladys and Dick on the second floor, (along with two boarders), and my great-grandmother Maggie and great-aunt Edith on the first floor. I have amazing memories of this house and my family within it. Lots of drama, but fortunately lots of love as well.