September 2018

I can't really say too much about September that wasn't already said in August, apart from the weather gradually starting to get cooler, not to mention a lot wetter too. Here in Connecticut, we got the remnants of what was Hurricane Florence, and to say that we got lucky is an understatement. Wishing all the best for those in North and South Carolina, and the Bahamas, that were affected by the storm.
Still no luck with the job search, I'm afraid. Work is work, as always - and this month marked a year since I started my job, and having a permanent job has been quite the adjustment in a lot of ways. I've certainly had to change quite a lot of my habits, that's for sure. However I think the biggest change to come out of this job is becoming confident enough to be able to stand behind a counter and interact with people, I certainly never thought I would ever be able to pull that off, and I still don't think I'm perfect at it, but it's safe to say that I surprised myself there.
This month wasn't all about work though, and in my opinion no month should be. Or year, even. How about your entire life? You have to be able to play too, otherwise what's it all for?
September 28 marked 6 years of me and my lovely wife as a couple, and every year it's always strange yet humbling to look back on all that we did in the years past, especially all the hoops we had to jump through to get to this point in time. We celebrated it with a trip to Bridgeport, mainly to visit the many animals at Beardsley Zoo, but also for a walk down the beach at Seaside Park. (I recommend it for the view of Long Island Sound.)
While we're on the them of anniversaries, I also want to give a very special birthday shoutout to my dear grandma, she turned 80 on September 25, and I am happy to say that she is still going strong. (Love you and miss you very, very much.)
On the artwork front, I've completed a couple more Fyfe & Sparkplug comic pages, as well as some of my regular short comics. I'm still having trouble getting back to working on my website, so I really need to get cracking on that one.
I'll leave you with an example of one of my scenery pictures - doesn't looking at this waterfall make you want to dive in for a dip? See you at the end of spooky season.

December 2017

Another year has come and gone, and as I seem to say every year, where did that time go?

This month became very wintry weather-wise, but it certainly didn't dampen Christmas one bit. In fact, we actually got some snow on Christmas Day (it's been a long time since that's happened), which just added to the spirit. Me and my wife spent this Christmas much like we did last year, opening presents, watching Christmas films and building gingerbread sculptures with the in laws. I was also able to Skype with my family while they were having their Christmas get-together too. Hopefully one day me and my wife will be able to celebrate Christmas with my family again - I miss them always, but this time of year makes it all the more poignant, especially this year, as December 3 2017 was the 10th anniversary of my grandad's passing - I still miss him very much, and while I'm also sad that my wife never got the chance to meet him, I like to think that he's with us in spirit, always.
There were also two other anniversaries this month - December 28 marked 2 years since I swapped County Durham for Connecticut, and it goes without saying that a lot has happened in that time (more on that in a bit). Also, December 30 marked 3 years since I popped the question to my lovely wife, it almost feels like that moment was a lifetime ago.


Looking back, this year has been very eventful, much like 2016 was, and not always for the right reasons. However for me personally there were a lot more highs than lows, and a couple of really important events happened this year - in September I finally landed a permanent job, which is still keeping me busy despite a bump in the road. And just last month, me and my wife moved to our new house, which we are now pretty much adjusted to do, and it's safe to say that we love it so much better than our first place. Hopefully 2018 will see lots of memories being made in this house.
My personal highlight of 2017, however, was back in May, when me and my wife flew down to Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL for our honeymoon. For a few days we got to explore the parks, go on rides, be kids again, and celebrate our marriage. I can only wonder highlights 2018 will bring.

I'll leave you with some festive artwork - carrying on my tradition of festive group shots over on DeviantArt, here is this year's edition.
I also have some potentially exciting news regarding artwork - but I'm going to save it until I get the green light. It'll be a great way to start off 2018 though.

I would just like to end this by saying thanks to everyone who's read this blog, checked out my artworks or just supported me in any way this past year - wishing you all the best for the New Year. See you in 2018. :)

September 2017

Well, it was about 15-16 years later than it should've been, but I had a major development this month, a bit of good news that I can now finally tell you...I got a job!
I say good news, though it's also bad news in some respects too. Admittedly in all the years I haven't had a permanent job, I've gotten set in my ways - having lots of free time to be able to do artwork, music and travelling. There are a lot of things I've been able to do which I probably wouldn't have if I'd been in continuous employment since school - some might say I've had it too good. I also have to admit that I will miss having all that time, and I worry that having a job means that I won't be able to do the things I enjoy anymore - including spending time with my wife. It's a huge adjustment for both of us.
This needed to happen though. I've had jobs before, but none of them were permanent, and they were all through temporary government schemes, which didn't make me very fulfilled at all. This job is my first permanent job, and while any new job is nerve-wracking at first, I'm slowly getting used to it. All I will say about the job is that it's retail, and it's hectic, but productive. I've also had to come out of my shell quite a bit for this, as part of the job involves working on the till/cashier and dealing with customers. I'm not perfect at it, but I seem to be getting the hang of it - so I must be doing something right.
My new job wasn't the only cause for celebration however - September 28 marked me and Nicole's 5th anniversary of being a couple, and it goes without saying that a lot has happened in those 5 years. I still look back and recall how I had no idea back in 2012 that circumstances would change the way they did - but as we all know, life has no script, you have to take it as it comes.
Aside from working, I've been enjoying the  spell of unseasonably warm weather this month, getting as much of my outdoor/beach fix before the colder weather starts to kick in. And despite working now, I am still pressing on with my artwork when I'm able to, most notably the Fyfe & Sparkplug comic (21 pages complete as of this blog). I've also been working on a feature length Bob & Flyer comic, which I'm aiming to have ready by next Spring, so watch this space.
Speaking of artwork, I'll leave you with something a little different - a conceptual piece inspired by a recent Jamiroquai song. Until October, everyone.

June 2017

From highs to lows this month - I think that may as well be the tagline for all of my blog posts, as that seems to happen every month.

I think June was a bit of a comedown from the high of the honeymoon in May. Unfortunately I still don't have a regular job, though I did manage to get a couple of interviews. Still waiting on the second one, but the first one I obviously didn't get, and it may have been because of my location (it would've been a 2 hour commute). Back to the job search.
As many of you will know, there were some horrible events that happened this month. Such events seem to happen every day unfortunately, but these two hit home on a personal level because they both happened in my home country. What kind of monster walks into a packed arena and causes so much destruction and cold-blooded murder? The same for those who walked into a London street and started knifing people to death.
My family live nowhere near where those attacks happened - but it chills my blood to think that it could easily have been their lives lost. And I can't begin to imagine what must be going through the minds of those who did lose a loved one in those tragedies. I find myself thinking, "where does all this madness end?" I just hope that those who lost their lives can find some peace now.

Life goes on though - on a brighter note, the warmer weather has meant that I've been biking more, as well as getting some beach time too. I've also been busy on the art front, scripting a new Bob & Flyer story comic as well as starting colouring Fyfe & Sparkplug #1. I've also had an influx of commissions this month thanks to holding a half price sale, I've been pleasantly surprised by that, and I'd like to give a huge thank you to everyone who commissioned me, it really does mean a lot.
There was also a very important milestone for me and my wife this month - while our legal wedding anniversary is February 20, our wedding ceremony anniversary is June 12, and this month it was a year since that special day. We marked the occasion with a romantic meal and a revisit of the place where it all happened, the indoor carousel at Lighthouse Park in East Haven. It was bittersweet to go there and see the hall empty and lifeless instead of bustling and lively as it was on June 12, 2016, but we were able to relive it through all the videos and photos from that day.
It meant so much to us both, even more so because of my family flying over from the UK just to be there. It's now been a whole year since I last saw them in person, and I really hope it won't be much longer until I'm able to see them again.

As always, I'll leave you with some artwork, and what may be a future scene from the Fyfe & Sparkplug story, the dragon duo taking on a troll (no, not that sort of troll). 

Wishing everyone a safe and sunny July.

February 2017

Well, this February was definitely not uneventful, I can say that for sure.

You already know my thoughts on the political side of things, as I discussed in last month's blog, so we'll just move swiftly on.
I have a bit of news that I've been hoping to say for quite a while - I finally got a job. The school where my wife Nicole works, they needed someone to help set up the tables, chairs and food for their monthly staff and board meetings, and my name came up, so I agreed to do it. The twist is, it's only twice a month, but I am getting paid for it, and it's experience too. Like any job, I was a little overwhelmed on my first night, but hopefully over time I'll get used to it. Nicole is also helping me out with the job initially, I can't thank her enough.
Obviously, February saw another Valentine's Day come around - in the past, it hasn't really been that much of a special day for me, but of course this year, much like last year, was different, as I got to spend it with my lovely Nicole. Have a guess where we went for our romantic weekend - a certain seaside town in Rhode Island that I keep mentioning a lot - and needless to say we had a great time.
That's not all though - on February 20, we celebrated a very special milestone, the anniversary of our marriage, I can't believe that it's already been a year. It's been quite a transition, getting used to married life and all the responsibilites it brings, but it's also already provided lots of memories too. We marked the anniversary by revisiting some of the places that we visited on our wedding day, most notably Branford Point, where we got married in front of our family and friends. I certainly won't forget the sight of Nicole walking up the hill in her wedding dress.
Last but not least, on the artwork front, I've recently made some changes, that I mentioned about making in my last blog - my good DeviantArt friends Granitoons and TopperHay directed me to a website called Tapastic, which is a place for hosting webcomics, with the added incentive of possibly making money from ad revenue. I've taken the plunge, and from now on I will be hosting my comics there instead of DeviantArt. Don't worry though, as I said before, I'm not leaving DeviantArt, I will post links to the comics there, as well as my non-comic art as always.

That's not all - back in December, I started writing a script for the first in what will hopefully be a series of comics for my dragon characters Fyfe & Sparkplug. I finished writing the script this month, and I have started illustrating it. It will be quite an undertaking, but I really want to make it happen.

That's that for February - as always, I'll leave you with some artwork, a special sketch to mark me and Nicole's wedding anniversary. Peace out, and remember, show your significant other your love and respect every day, not just Valentine's Day.

P.S. Check out my Tapastic page here: https://tapastic.com/BluebottleFlyer
Check out Granitoons and TopperHay's Tapastic page: https://tapastic.com/HRAM

September 2016

This summer was certainly an eventful one, and while I'm sad to see the end of the nice warm weather, this month has also seen me begin to experience Autumn in the US for the first time - up until this year, I had experienced every season but Autumn across the pond.

The immigration situation has progressed somewhat this month, I finally had my background check a few weeks back, and now I am waiting for them to send confirmation that it's all clear. Our lawyer also sent me my work authorisation papers, however because of an admin error I haven't been able to get those completed. It's little hiccups like that which have made this process so frustrating, as I well remember from this time last year.

And where did that year go? Many times this month I've found myself thinking back to those few months, going down to London to do my medical, seeing the sights of the city, wondering whether my move to the US would pan out. It feels strange looking back.

I also have some news regarding the children's book that I'm collaborating on - the pictures for the first book are all finished, now I just need to stop procrastinating and get them all sorted into a PDF file. I get easily distracted, after all.

It wasn't just a Stateside Autumn that I was getting to experience this month, either - the 28th September marked me and my lovely wife Nicole's 4 year anniversary of becoming a couple. Now I know couples don't usually celebrate that particular anniversary, but this was different, because this year was the first time we were able to celebrate that anniversary together in person, not through a Skype chat, and it was wonderful being able to do that. Memories like these are what remind me that making my move and beginning a new life with Nicole is what it's all about.

The new local bowling league season has started this month, too - last season was my debut alongside Nicole's dad and close family friend Steve, and I was amazed that we finished second place in the league overall. This time, I'm bowling alongside my lovely wife, and so far it's going really well.

The artist's corner this month is also a shoutout to my good friend Chris Clews from Australia - we collaborated on a comic, featuring a few of our characters - you can check it out right here.

Bring on the pumpkins and Autumn leaves - till next time.

September 2014

September usually isn't one of my favourite times of year - it's that time where summer ends and things turn very autumnal, and of course in the past it was also the month where the summer holidays ended and I had to go back to school and get readjusted to being in a different class and having a different timetable, and all that jazz - and the way things have gone this month is not too dissimilar.

Last month I mentioned about being put on a training course that turned out to be refreshingly bearable...well, I've now been put on something else by that certain place I keep mentioning, and this time it's definitely not bearable - for 6 months, I'll be doing a 30 hour work placement, which will be in a charity shop, along with having to attend a 4 hour jobsearch session at a training provider every week. The problem is that I don't get a wage for this, just my unemployment money every fortnight as normal. As it stands, I don't have the placement yet, the training provider is apparently trying to sort one out for me, however if they can't, I have to attend their jobsearch session every day and do nothing but jobsearch for 30 hours a week. It's all BS, I know it is, because I've been in this position before, and the only reason they make people do 30 hours of jobsearch is so they can keep tabs on them - as I mentioned, this is only designed to massage the unemployment figures and put money in the pockets of the organisations concerned, and I have no choice but to go along with it, for if I choose not to attend, I'll get my money stopped. I'm really not happy about being put in this situation at all, and I find myself worrying that I won't be able to have much of a life outside of this placement/jobsearch deal - I know that's how it would be if I had a permanent job, but at least I'd be earning money to justify it. I just feel like I'm being used as cheap labour at the end of the day, and other than work experience I fail to see what I can get out of this. Obviously once more happens, you'll hear about it here.

That's the bad stuff out of the way, now onto the better stuff.

Since around 2008, when I flew on a plane for the first time, I've had a big interest in planes, more specifically commercial airliners - at the back end of August and most of this month, I've been taking that interest a bit further. You see, I like to planespot, just watch planes flying up above, and it just so happens that where I live lies right under the flight path of air traffic flying in and out of Newcastle Airport, which is great. By taking it further, I mean that I've now been logging each plane that I see, and obviously if I've logged a plane already I don't log it again. This also harks back to a hobby I had when I was a kid - me and my brother would walk around the streets and write down the make and model of all the cars parked in the street and tally them up. Funny how things come full circle.
This also ties into the other good part of this month - on the 28th, myself and my lovely Nicole celebrated our 2 year anniversary. Sadly we couldn't be physically together for obvious reasons, but we still made the most of it via Skype - I sent Nicole a home-made greeting card complete with cheesy words, plus two packets of her favourite Aero Bubbles chocs, and a little gold clock that I came across a few months back - I thought of Nicole as soon as I saw it, because even though we're separated by distance and time, there's also not that much time until we do get to physically be together again (December). So it just seemed right that I buy the clock for her, as a reminder that time isn't always against us.
I said this ties into the planespotting - Nicole's present for me was a model plane, and not just any plane, but a British Airways Boeing 747, just like the ones that have flown me to the US to see her on three occasions now, and what will be flying me back there again in December - and it goes without saying that I can't wait. Too bad we can't just skip over October and November, I'll especially want to this year.

I'll sign off with some artwork, as always - a group shot of the cast of my comic series "A Monster Thing", and speaking of that, I've gotten back to making my series of cartoon blogs on my YouTube channel - go take a look at those and more if you're interested.

Sayonara for September.

PS: One last mention - many congratulations to two good friends of mine, Andy and Hayley on their recent marriage - all the very best for you two crazies. :)