A Little Perspective...

Lot's of things are happening around the Jewett household these days, not the least of these (to the contrary a monumental thing in fact) being that my daughter, Lucy, turns 10 years old today... no, this is not going to be a "Man, I'm old..." entry but rather a glimpse at how beautiful a reminder it is to take every moment as the best moment of your life.

Sara and I weren't supposed to have kids... there were issues, complications... and a lot of the doctors were very careful to not get our hopes up too high. We had tried to have kids on our own for nearly 3 years and watched in silent agony as people around us got pregnant, one after another. We were convinced that God intended us to be parents but were puzzled as to why it wasn't happening for us... you can allow some pretty dark thoughts into your head during times like that, but we did our best to encourage one another and had a few key people who came alongside us to hold us accountable and lift us up when we needed it. I can say without flinching that there were many nights we cried each other to sleep. But, God...

We were given the name of a specialist in Fort Wayne and started another leg of an already incredibly humbling (and exposed) journey to have a kid of our own... privacy was the furthest thing from reality but our desire to be parents outweighed any petty embarrassment we could have felt. To put it simply... it worked. We were still "high risk" for the entire pregnancy and I admit, I often prayed myself cross-eyed pleading with God to give us the desire of our hearts and that Sara deserved this child more than any woman I had ever met.

December 16th 8:46AM... we met Lucy and our world (and yours) was forever changed for the better. We named her Lucy because we both loved the name (and I happen to love Peanuts/Charlie Brown/Charles Schulz)... but the name means, "light" we also gave her the middle name Grace, which means, "undeserved favor." Listen, I'm a selfish git... a lot of the time, I can even be completely petty when I want to be... I find myself getting wrapped up in the poor Andy nonsense more than I care to admit and my conversations with God are not always cordial... but real talk... when I can shut up long enough and look at Lucy with something akin to the eyes I used to first welcome her into this world... all I can say is... God is good, I am blessed.

Perspective is good. God is good, I am blessed.

PS... We have 4 kids now (let no one tell you that God doesn't have a sense of humor).

Always changing...

I'm sure this is not a new concept for artists... but, I am almost never satisfied (completely at least) with my work... and that includes my website. What's the best way to present what I am doing? What are the best pieces to show what I'm doing at the moment and also my highest quality work... that can be an interesting balance to strike since it can be relatively subjective at times. Love to have feedback... check out the site, check out the work and feel free to give me your impressions. Thanks, pals!

Jewett!

Welcome to the future home of UDOG™ STUDIO

I am super excited about the fact that I found studio space for all my freelance and comix projects... Really anxious to see what kind of work I'm able to produce because of this... keep an eye out.

Inspiration is exhausting...

As an artist, I'm always chasing after inspiration... the fuel that will drive a project's direction or just that thing that strikes me as absolutely needing to be created. Sometimes that can be a real struggle and at other times it can come out of left field.

Those times that inspiration seems to fall in my lap are great... when the puzzle pieces just fit and everything is working. But, more often than not, I'm searching for what the right direction to run is (maybe even forcing at times).

I'm in awe of those artist friends of mine who can see their visions so clearly and make them come to life... making it seem almost effortless, process-wise. My perfectionistic tendencies can sometimes block my ability to finish the projects I have in mind to tackle.

My job at the church has been amazing because of the need to work under tight deadlines and yet perform at a high level design wise. I have enjoyed almost complete artistic freedom here, which is totally a first (career-wise) and has been so refreshing... the only caveat being that I'm usually so creatively exhausted by the time I arrive home that the idea of spending more time on personal projects is a difficulty at best. I am ok with this at times and at other times driven almost mad by the frustration of feeling like I should be farther along as an artist than I am.

All this to say the last 2 years have included a grand amount of breakthrough artistically... maybe you will all see some of it soon... maybe.

ARTDUMP STRIKES BACK: What have you been up to?!

Some more of the logos/graphics I have been able to design for the church I work for...

ARTDUMP: What have you been up to?!

These are just some of the logos/graphics I have been able to design for the church I work for...

An Explanation for the Radio Silence...

Give me a minute... the last couple months have been great. I started a new job at my church as their Tech/Media Director. I love what I am doing but the transition is still a bit taxing and I'm doing all I can to keep my head above water and learn the things that I need to learn to be effective.

This has left precious little time for illustration and comics work. I'll be back once I get my feet firmly planted beneath me and figure out my routine/schedule. Thanks for your patience and thanks to those who have supported my art and shown an interest in me personally as an artist over the  years. Hold tight.