Saphamia

Hi everyone. Apologies that I'm not active here anymore. I've been busy with work and life and new interests so I've not had the time, or motivation, for drawing any of my anthro characters. I hope one day that inspiration will strike again. I am working on a commission for a friend of Sapphire and co, so I'm sure I will share that here eventually!

Meanwhile, I am still doing art. I don't draw as much since I've taken up crochet as a hobby, but I do pet portraits over at www.facebook.com/pawfecttreasu… so if you like cute cats and dogs and other pets then please come and check it out!  

And thank you very much for the birthday messages from May. It was the big 30 this year, hard to believe I joined dA 14 years ago.

I'm going to go and look at the 6532568654 notifications that have piled up now. Thank you for sticking with me!

1. How long have you been on DeviantArt?

4 years on this account.

2. What does your username mean?

A combination of my OC Sapphire and my pet cat from childhood, Mia.

3. Describe yourself in three words.

...Tired, thoughtful, hungry?

4. Are you left or right handed?

Right handed.

5. What was your first deviation?

I think it was a picture of a mouse... too long ago to remember.

6. What is your favourite type of art to create?

At the moment, crochet. That counts as art, I guess, I've made a variety of things recently. Not posted any of it on here yet though.

7. If you could instantly master a different art style, what would it be?

Sculpting has always intrigued me. Or oil painting.

8. What was your first favourite?

I have absolutely no idea.

9. What type of art do you tend to favourite the most?

Animals; either anthro, cartoony or realistic, and anything where the colours really appeal to me.

10. Who is your all-time favourite deviant artist?

 I've been inspired by several but I don't currently have a favourite...

11. If you could meet anyone on DeviantArt in person, who would it be?

 Acorntail for sure. I finally met BR3VITY last month after being friends for years which was awesome

12. How has a fellow deviant impacted your life?

Acorntail is my best friend who has definitely saved my life more than once this year. Can't get more impactful than that I suppose

13. What are your preferred tools to create art?

At the moment, yarn and a crochet hook. For digital art, my Intuos tablet has never failed me.

14. What is the most inspirational place for you to create art?

My conservatory/craft room. It's very peaceful in there.

15. What is your favourite DeviantArt memory?

Although I'm a couple of weeks late, thank you all

(As I write this I am, for the first time in ages, attempting to finish a drawing of Sapphire. So I may have reached a turning point in regards to doing art again.)

Also; anyone here on Flight Rising? I'm very addicted to that website at the moment.

Admittedly I am not very active on here any more. I check in about once a week for a couple of minutes, and that's it. But I noticed that I have a build-up of notes asking how I'm doing. So I thought it easier to make a journal response.

Short answer - not good.

I have been signed off work and have my first counselling session at the end of the month. I managed to stay strong until the middle of March, but with juggling the bereavement, my family's problems, feeling inadequate at work and trying to sort things out for a house move, I now seem to be on the verge of collapsing under the stress of it all.
Artwise I have completely lost the ability or motivation to draw - when I do get a moment of inspiration I can manage about 5 minutes before finding it too draining to hold a pencil. (On the plus side I have taken up crochet and I find that very therapeutic!) But yeah... it means I won't be posting anything new for a long while, and unfortunately I still cannot bring myself to unstore my gallery... it still brings back strong memories of last year.
I only ask people to be patient with me

I know I said I would bring back my gallery in the new year... but I don't feel like doing so yet.

I haven't revealed exactly how hard the past 6 months have been. A lot of the artwork I did during this time now holds bad memories for me.

My dad was on a steady decline all year. We didn't know the cause until September. From what I can tell from what doctors have said, it's incredibly rare for an anuerysm to cause pressure in the brain and cause symptoms of the severity he had. It pretty much drained the life out of him until the day it ruptured. I really hope no one I know has to watch this happen to a loved one... although at the same time I wish there was more information available. I would go into more detail on the symptoms, but it's really impossible to describe unless you're there watching it day by day... maybe one day I'll write something up which could be useful to anyone going through the same thing.

Anyway... new year, new start and all that... I may post new artwork before reinstating the rest of my gallery... but I'm still not really up to drawing. We'll see.