Hello! It's the end of 2017 and this is my annual year-in-review post. (See also: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009.) This is a self-centric and navel-gazey exercise, but I keep it up because it
helps me keep track of my goals and remember what happened each year.
2017 Accomplishments / Highlights:
I've been at Disney for more than two years, and I've gone from an "apprentice" to a "story assistant" to, finally, a "story artist"! That's a goal I've had for a LONG time, stretching back to 2009, when I was making Between Gears and felt like I had missed my chance to become a storyboard artist because I chose a general education at a state school over going to an art school. It's still hard to believe and I don't take it for granted!
Took a big, exciting trip to meet my friend Mary in Berlin, then stay with my sorority sister Weronika in Prague, then meet my boyfriend's family in France (gulp!), then travel to Iceland and back to LA with le boyfriend. We saw the Northern Lights and visited the Blue Lagoon!!! And I spoke all in French with my boyfriend's parents for two days! ^_^
Made a 70-page autobio comic about moving to LA and starting in animation and found a publisher for it! It was a project that I cared deeply about and just wanted to make for my own peace of mind and on my own terms, but for whatever reason things turned out well, and I'm incredibly grateful for it.
(I got selected for a very exciting career opportunity I can't talk about yet...!!!)
I volunteered with Young Storytellers and went to the LA Children's Hospital with Disney to draw with sick kids
Volunteered at the Disney booth at CTNX, got to meet lots of awesome artists and students
Made it home to Oregon 4 times
Made it to a big family reunion we had for my mom's parents' 90th birthdays
Managed a weekend getaway to San Francisco and a trip to the Muir Woods
Organized a friend-vacation with some Portland ex-studio mates I don't get to see often enough
Went to Joshua Tree and Palm Springs for the first time
Got to go to Pixar with work and actually be in a story meeting with some of the people I look up to there...!
Kept studying film-making!
Moved into a great, big rental house with 2 friends. It even has an art studio in the back yard!
Used said big house to host 5 friends who visited LA this year!
Was a guest at Library Comic Con in Boise and gave my first-ever storyboarding workshop!
Went to SDCC, and for the first time ever, I actually took a day to get away from the show. Cat Farris and I went to the zoo, then bummed around the pool all afternoon with drinks and sketchbooks. Aaaaabsolutely recommend a non-Comic-Con day in the middle of Comic Con.
I gave up caffeine and meat this year, which I thought I could never do
Went to see a counselor for the first time in my life, learned some really helpful new tools for thinking about and processing feelings in a healthy way, and I'm feeling better more of the time now
Had fun with hair color~
I was pretty good about exercise this year! It's easier now that I have access to a free gym in the basement at work. Also went on new hikes around LA.
Read a bunch of books! Read the first two Discworld books, the third Passe-miroir book, and Madame freaking Bovary in French!
Started automatic payroll deductions to my 401k account
Started an automatic, weekly transfer from my checking to my savings account. That shit sure adds up quickly.
Took free watercolor classes, improv classes, and gesture drawing classes at work
Took a friend's recommendation and saw a new dentist - WORLD of difference
I've managed not to kill a large number of my houseplants
My roommates and I were thinking of adopting a cat, but I am SO glad we watched a friend's cats first, and realized it wouldn't be a good fit for us right now.
Started drawing with the iPad pro 2 (work gave me one for free) and I really enjoy it
Drove a moving van for the first time, didn't hit anyone
Drove a big stick-shift 4x4 all over the Icelandic countryside!
