Candice goes back to work! (sort of.)

"Okay Candice, you're not a new mom anymore - time to get back to work!" said nobody at all to me.

But still. I kind of wanted to explore the possibility of going back to work, without having to give up my role as primary caretaker for the kids. It helped that baby Logan was much more easygoing than baby Arden, and I actually got breaks throughout the day (even just being able to put Logan in front of some toys for a minute was a luxury I didn't get with Arden until she was a bit older).

Anyway. Sometime around last fall, I started brainstorming ways I could transform one of my creative hobbies into something with potential to grow into a side job.

I dabble in a bunch of artistic areas, and therefore my skills are a bit mediocre. I write and record songs (if I had to pick one thing to do for the rest of my life, it would be this). I make videos, vlogs and montages, which I also write and record the music for. I sometimes write copy and articles for magazines and other publications. And I occasionally draw and paint whimsical and weird stuff. Education-wise, I have college degrees in general music and journalism. And absolutely no credentials for visual art.

So naturally, I decided to make visual art my current primary side-gig.

To be honest, visual art was always something that intrigued me, but for some strange reason I never seriously studied it. My last formal art class was in middle school, but from high school on I was steered towards the world of music, and all related extracurriculars (piano lessons, piano competitions, choir, more choir, musicals, orchestra, more orchestra and I really should have joined jazz band but I stupidly didn't why why why). I don't regret my studies of white patriarchal music, but I do regret not making room for other ventures during my adolescent years, especially visual art.

Flash forward to my post-college years in Fort Lauderdale and Seattle, where I dabbled in sketches and whimsical creations. Every time I showed something to a friend or posted a project on social media, people would either say, "what the heck is that?" or "that would look great on a t-shirt."

Flark = "Flying Shark" - pretty sure this was given to Ben as a "2-month dating anniversary" present. which should tell you what kind of mental state I was in.

inspired by moving day at the old Sunset House

In the 2010's I went through a quarterlife crisis in which I bought a huge pile of canvases and acrylic paints and decided to paint something for family members and friends and my boyfriend's family members and my boyfriend's friends (I also had a boyfriend in case I didn't mention that). Among many random things, I painted the Scooby-Doo van and a menorah made of cupcakes and a baseball field and an ugly Christmas sweater and I wasn't good at painting AT ALL, but I loved how acrylic canvases were sturdier than my former medium of sharpies and used dinner napkins.

mirror image running shoes. I have no idea what I used behind the paintings to prop them up but the more I look at it the scarier it seems so don't look at it too much okay

this cultural appropriation holiday tree took a while, but it looks cool

I forget what holiday I painted this for

I wasn't kidding about the ugly Christmas sweater... (I hope you guys still have it.)

...or the cupcake menorah...

...or the Scooby Doo van.

all the places I've lived (before Melbourne, obvi)

For our wedding, I also did a series of drawings I lovingly titled "Wedding-Con" - portraits of Ben and I dressed up as our favourite pop culture characters. I took photos of them and used the classy kodak prints as table number signs at our reception, much to my mother's delight.

Ben and Candice as Gambit and Rogue

Ben and Candice as Spider-Man and Venom, who was almost female in the comics (!!)

When we moved to Australia, I recoiled at the high prices of greeting cards (obviously I hadn't yet discovered the $2 card section at the grocery store) and decided to make my own personalised birthday/holiday cards for family using watercolours and sharpies, to which people would always say upon receiving them, "you should sell these" or "that would look great on a t-shirt."

this is my specialty/default - random stuff inside shapes, usually hearts.

sometimes numbers too.

more cultural appropriation holiday decor!

they don't sell Thanksgiving cards in Australia for some reason

not even Australian-themed ones.

I appreciated the compliments/suggestions of mass produced art, but at the same time... the idea of mass-production always stumped me. How did a drawing on a sheet of paper end up on a t-shirt? Did people scan their drawings and paintings and order them from a print shop? Take photos of them? Send them to a digital artist to render digitally? Nobody could really give me an answer. And also, part of my gimmick was personalization: people liked my stuff because it was usually a surprise present for someone that incorporated part of their personality or interests. I loved taking the time to create things specifically for people, but my designs aren't necessarily for mass appeal.

a more recent project: a birthday present for Ben that now sits in his empty office where nobody has set foot in months.

When I finally decided on making visual art my primary business, I had no idea where to start. Initially, I planned to paint acrylics and watercolours again and post them for sale individually, possibly on Etsy. I started making stencils of things so I could paint them several times: heart shaped designs filled with icons of cities I'd lived in. I began slowly working on them. But then...

It wasn't a viable setup. In our small apartment, I couldn't keep a proper art space - I needed a designated area where I could leave canvases out to dry, my paint supplies set out, and also where my curious kids wouldn't accidentally ruin anything.

my Melbourne heart stencil and a few "mass-produced" acrylic projects, on the stovetop and kitchen counter.

I used the same stencil for this watercolour

I also needed longer chunks of time because it took so long to set things up. Sometimes I would try using Logan's naptimes to work, but by the time I set up my workstation (the kitchen counter) and got ready to dive in, he'd already be awake, or close to it. And paint is a time-sensitive thing - it's not always easy to quickly stop mid-stroke and later pick up where you left off, because sometimes paint dries too quickly, or you need a minute for watercolours to get just the right consistency. Or something (like I said, I've never actually studied art!).

Finally I did some research and discovered the world of digital drawing. I had no idea that drawing tablets existed, and that this was how billions of people were designing t-shirts and such. I first tried downloading and playing around with a program called GIMP (a free alternative to Photoshop), then I shopped online for lower-end drawing tablets... but I caved and bought a new(er) iPad, an Apple Pencil, and an app called Procreate. And suddenly, mass-produced art was finally within reach.

So far, this is a great setup. I can work with interruptions, mistakes can be undone quickly and cleanly, I can work from anywhere (although portability doesn't really matter these days, does it?), and everything I create is easily uploaded onto merchandise sites. Digital art has some really cool advantages, such as using different layers for sketching and mapping out designs (no more eraser marks!), a wide array of virtual brushes, easy ways to make clean and symmetrical lines, and the ability to copy and paste between projects.

being a "working mom." kind of.

Digital art isn't the perfect medium for me. Many artists can make amazing works of art with Procreate and the Apple pencil (just look up #procreate on Instagram and see for yourself), so I know these tools are capable of incredible artwork. But I'm still fairly new at this, and I feel like my digital art lacks the soul of any of my watercolours or acrylics. Also, nothing beats the feel of real, physical mediums - water swirling with watercolour and bleeding imperfectly into itself, mixing acrylics to make the moodiest shade of olive green, painstakingly using the edge of a square brush to try creating a clean edge. Our world is becoming more digital everyday, but there's a magic in the analog and physical realms that can't be replicated in binary.

So far my business strategy has been to use print-on-demand websites (TeePublic and Redbubble). The sale margin is fantastically low (I get maybe a few dollars per purchase - or in the case of smaller items, a few cents!), but these companies cover every detail from printing, shipping, customer service, returns, and exchanges (basically, the stuff I don't have the time or space to deal with right now). Customers can choose from a wide variety of merchandise (mugs, a variety of shirts, baby onesies, bath mats, journals, tote bags, pins, magnets - I think they're making face masks too!). And from what I hear, the exchange policy is really good. A friend ordered a t-shirt one size too small and they received a larger size for free (and got to keep both shirts!), another noticed a printing error, and also received a replacement shirt at no cost. Also these websites have headquarters in both the US and Australia, so all of our families and friends can order within their own country without having to pay astronomical shipping costs.

stickers of my "Seattle Love" design

stickers of my "Melbourne Love" design

Currently, my designs have featured the aforementioned heart-shaped city icons, a few fun holiday designs, some of my old creations in digital form (the Flark and the happy-furniture drawings are both available), and I'm currently working on reviving an old series: a mashup of Chinese zodiac animals and the western astrology signs, which has absolutely no commercial appeal... but I'm determined to make those 144 drawings and nobody can stop me!

a mug featuring my "holiday heart" design

I've sold a few shirts (mostly sympathy orders from family and friends - thanks guys!), a few stickers, and during our most recent USA visit I ordered some of my own merch to give out as holiday presents and host gifts.

a tote bag featuring my "West Michigan love" design

these cards turned out really great!

My new hobby has ticked off a few boxes for me: a pathway to earn a tiny bit of extra money (and also in a more passive way, as I still need to be around 100% for the kids - especially since Arden no longer attends childcare, thankyou Covid), a fun new artistic/creative outlet that doesn't get catastrophically interrupted by the kids, and most importantly: an answer to "that would look great on a t-shirt. Have you thought about making them?"

I have. And you can buy one here or here!

some weirdo modelling my "Melbourne Love" design on a hoodie

CK

global pandemic.

There's... a lot going on, to say the least. We're in the middle of a global pandemic, and it's been a very surreal, strange, sad, scary, confusing and crazy time to be abroad right now.

In case you're reading this from the future and have no idea what I'm writing about (I mean, hopefully that's the case, right?) - I'm referring to COVID-19, a coronavirus first identified in Wuhan this past December that has been spreading rapidly throughout the world. Melbourne had one of the first reported cases outside of China back in January, and even though some locals were panicking about it back then, things kind of tapered off in the news here... until a few weeks ago, it seems.

It's been really strange to be going through a huge crisis at the same time as our American friends and family (and the rest of the planet). Usually something crazy happens there (school shootings, major elections, the Superbowl) or something crazy happens here (bushfires, plebiscites, the Hiddleswift), and it's all overwhelming, but separate. While the coronavirus situations in Australia and America are different, we're still facing the same terrible threat, and similar precautionary measures.

Our personal situation is fine and convenient. We are very grateful to be together as a family, for the privilege of being able to stay home as much as possible, with multiple grocery options within a 5-minute walk from us. We acknowledge that many people are in terrible situations right now, and we're trying to help some of our local friends in need (I can't imagine bringing a baby into this world right now... and yet, a few of my friends will be doing just that within the next few weeks).

At the time of writing this, Melbourne has now closed gyms, pools, libraries and other places of interest (museums, art galleries, etc). Schools will probably follow soon (although it's a topic of debate here, whether or not it might make the problem worse somehow?). Large gatherings of over 500 people are discouraged, and many events have been cancelled.

I am privileged to only fall under the "slightly inconvenienced" category (my only personal cancellations are an upcoming 15k race and a concert in April - and obviously as a "stay at home" parent, I just need to keep... staying at home), but many people are facing larger headaches and heartbreaks - stressful work and alternate childcare arrangements, small businesses closing, canceled family reunions, weddings, expensive travels, conferences, funerals, and so much more. Some of our relatives and friends work in medical fields, and are horribly overwhelmed (to say the least) to be on the front lines of all of this. We were also supposed to meet up with my mom in July for a short visit to Bali, and our tickets were already booked, but that trip will probably be canceled or amended in some form. I'm grateful that we were able to do our big USA trip with baby Logan earlier this year, as that would have been a real bummer of a cancellation.

It's crazy to think that if something terrible were to happen to family in the States (virus-related or not), we probably wouldn't be able to travel there anytime soon (at least, not easily) and vice versa (at the moment all visitors to Australia need to isolate themselves for 14 days). This is something that's been way at the back of my mind ever since we moved here - that if a global crisis ever happened, it would be really hard to be away from our loved ones.

And even though we're taking "precautionary measures", let's not forget that over 7,000 people have already died from this thing. These people are more than figures and numbers, they're like you and me - people just trying to get by. Even if we don't know them personally, even if they live on a different continent or speak a different language or believe in a different religion, even if other horrible things kill more people in total and this is a supposedly low statistic - the coronavirus is already a tragedy.

So, families and friends, and everyone else around the world - please stay healthy, safe, and at home/away from people as much as possible. We love and miss you all.

CK

a holiday-filled holiday in Washington.

We got to spend the winter holiday season in Washington this year, and it was a wonderful visit.

We had just come from a three-week visit to snowy Michigan, so the Pacific Northwestern weather felt refreshing and not quite as frigid as we had been anticipating (but still cold!). 

It can be challenging to schedule enough time with family in Washington, but since our visit was three weeks long (and over a few public holidays), we were able to do a lot of fun things with everyone. We had a large family photoshoot, went on walks around the neighbourhood, and took our older nephews (ages 9 and 11) to see the latest Star Wars movie while Ben's sisters watched the younger kids (thanks girls!!). We reserved a week to spend with Ben's dad's side of the family, and we were able to catch up with Ben's paternal grandparents as well. Ben's older sister organized a huge family gathering for the extended relatives on his dad's side of the family, so we got to see lots of aunts, uncles, cousins and their children.

"Rise of the Skywalker" with our nephews

Kortlever/Mooney reunion 2019!

official family group shot by Starla Tercero Photography

a walk around the neighbourhood on New Year's Day

visting Ben's grandparents

yep, that's goose poop.

visiting the cabin that Grandad built

We loved being able to introduce everyone to Logan, especially since he's a very easy-going baby and actually let other people hold him (Arden's memorable first visit to the States was at around the same age, but she would burst into tears whenever anyone so much as smiled in her direction...). 

The cutest thing was seeing Logan interact with his cousin Laney, who is just three weeks older than him. Both babies were very excited to meet each other, squealing and flailing their arms around happily. Laney had just learned how to crawl, and Logan was very impressed (but a little frustrated with himself). She also taught him how to raise his arms in the air while being prompted with "How big are you? Sooooo big!"

Laney and Logan

Arden especially loved spending time with her cousins, grandparents, uncles and aunties. Even though she only sees everyone once a year (or in this case, it had been almost 20 months since our last visit..!) she has a strong connection to all her extended families, which is wonderful and special. On Christmas Day she was more excited to see family than opening her presents (but obviously she was excited about that too!), which was really sweet.

Christmas morning

all the cousins on a festive couch.

My cousin Evett and her family live in Vancouver, and every time we're in Washington they drive down from Canada to meet up with us. This year we went to a children's museum, and the kids had a good time doing museum-y things. Little Chris is about a year younger than Arden, and baby Carly is only a month older than Logan. It was fun seeing the kids interact, and we got to trade stories about sleepless nights and second-child experiences.

Canadian cousins!

Carly and Logan

One of my favourite highlights of our trip this year was going up the Space Needle. I used to work at the restaurant and the cafe (it was my one and only job during my four years living in Seattle), and many iconic memories were made at this tourist trap (including: my first sort-of date with Ben, lots of discounted meals at the fancy revolving restaurant, and countless meet-ups with visiting friends and acquaintances, as I was able to take up to 8 people up the Needle for free at any given time). This year an old co-worker of mine contacted me when he saw that I was in town, offering to take us up for free. I hadn't been up since late 2013, and totally jumped at the opportunity to revisit the past a little.

obligatory green-screen photo. I have an entire photo album of shots like these, of various visiting friends and family 

It was surreal and a bit cathartic to be back up there, this time with my little family. Arden loved the revolving glass floor and the glass balcony (the Needle went through a massive renovation from 2016-2018, and now it's more terrifying but also very cool!) Even though the restaurant is no more, a few of the former servers got jobs at the cafe and wine kiosks, so I got to see a few of my old coworkers while we were there. It was fun to catch up a little, and introduce my charming children to everyone. Massive thanks to my friend Alan for the free trip up the Needle (and down memory lane)!

where the restaurant once was

definitely miss this view!

Some of our good friends drove up from Eugene, Oregon to Whidbey to spend a weekend with us. We had a great time with them exploring Coupeville, enjoying an amazing lunch at Whidbey Pies Cafe, and we had a gorgeous hike at Ebey's Landing.

We also have many local friends in the area, and to save time we usually try to host a few casual parties closer to the city. It was hard to organise these get-togethers this time as it's a really busy time of year (also Facebook is our primary way of contacting friends and unfortunately it's become less and less reliable for communication purposes...) but we had fun with the friends who were able to see us. A big thank-you to the Washams and Hartmans for hosting us this year, as well as the Yoakums (who just had a beautiful baby girl a few days prior to our gathering..!). My cousin's daughter (who just moved to Seattle recently!) also stopped by one of our gatherings, and Arden had a blast playing with her and her partner Dan.

While it was a great visit, parts of the trip were a bit stressful with scheduling and logistics, even though every year we try to improve our scheduling strategies. We are blessed with tons of people and places to visit, and there's a lot of ground to cover on Whidbey Island alone, not to mention the greater Seattle area. It felt like we spent half our trip in vehicles - either driving, ferrying, parking, or sitting and waiting for the baby to wake up from a nap. No complaints - at least this baby sleeps peacefully in a carseat! - and it didn't feel like wasted time because most of our vehicle-travel was with at least one family member (usually Ben's mom), so it was still part of visiting family. At times it was quite comforting driving around rainy Washington, listening to holiday music while sipping on seasonal flavoured Whidbey Coffee. And traveling by ferry is still super cool, especially when it's daytime and you can see gorgeous mountains in the distance and wildlife in the water. Arden loved going to the back of the boat and watching the "bubbles" (the wake).

watching the "bubbles" behind the ferry

We'll always tweak the way we approach trip-planning in Washington, especially as the kids grow up and some of the logistics aren't so complicated (car seats, naptime, bedtime... etc). It'll be nice to have a bit more flexibility when the kids are older, but for now we're just grateful that our kids have been able to adjust as well as they have.

All-in-all, it was a really nice visit and a great opportunity for everyone in the family to meet Logan and see Arden again. Even though it was pretty magical and nostalgic to be around family during the winter holidays, we plan to eventually return to visiting in the summer (when it’s winter in Australia).

A huge thank-you to our families and friends for hosting us, visiting, spending time with us, for helping out with the kids, and for all the warm holiday memories to cherish forever. We miss you lots and can't wait to visit again soon!

CK