"When in doubt, take a nap."

Y'all know how depression goes...ups and downs...it's a constant motion. My up time has lasted so long this round; one of the longest periods of time where I have genuinely felt GOOD! I have been feeling a little slip these last few days, but I'm staying hopeful that it's not necessarily an impending down slide. It's probably a combination of things...allow me to list them please:

1. I miss my family terribly.
2. I miss my friends terribly.
3. I'm working more hours.
4. I'm trying to be the best wife.
5. I'm trying to be a best friend.
6. I'm stressing over finances.
7. I'm stressing over The Ro Fo Sho Art and Photography.
8. I'm about to start my period (sorry male readers).

I THINK I'M SIMPLY OVERWHELMED! I've loaded up my plate with goals and ambitions, and I've set my bar high, and I'm already fearing failure. Failure. There's that trigger! Anyway! Y'all don't need to worry about me; I'll be fine. It's important for me to share that not every day is sunshine and roses...we must keep pushing forward.

I feel stuck with my art business...I don't know how to price my pieces, how to package them nicely for presentation and archival purposes, how to get the best reproductions made...I don't know how to do any of this. It will take time and I need to be patient and keep researching...I know this...but I'm really so damn impatient! Agh! Sigh...it's going to be okay.

For now I'll leave you with one of my favorite A Beautiful Mess Happy Mail pieces and a quick Prisma Color Nupastel drawing from a few nights ago called, "The Blue Lady."

There it is, dear readers...just feeling a little blue these days...and ready for a nap! Happy Tuesday!

Hugs and love, my lovelies,
The Ro Fo Sho

Space for My Dreams

My surroundings are very important to my creative process...comfort and noise control are essential. I have trouble focusing these days in my old age (haha), and so I'm easily distracted. Plus, my head is constantly overflowing with ideas, and it can be challenging for me to sort them all out. A lot of times y'all won't see me on the blog for a while because I'll be sitting in front of my screen typing and backspacing over and over unable to write anything that makes sense. For the past five and a half years I've had plenty of alone time, distraction free...my husband (Tom) was away doing Navy Sailor business more often than he was home. My dining room was my work space of sorts with my nice big table that served as a kind of mini office/art studio. These days my husband is home pretty much all the time now...shore duty in the Navy life doesn't take him away as much, and I'm truly grateful for that. However, I no longer had my own space for creating. You see, my beloved does not have a man cave; the living room is his zone...he's a gamer...and the living room shares an open space with the dining room. My handsome gamer does the online thing where he's playing with people all over the country and they're all talking to each other on headsets...being loud and talking shit to each other...being boys...it's very distracting...totally disrupts my concentration. I love it though; I love how much happier Tom is these days, and our relationship has improved greatly this last year. But, back to the story! We have an extra room, but we've had roommates since we've lived in Florida; they were a much appreciated big help to us financially! Now we are trying it on our own; no more roommates; and an extra room...all for me!!! The Ro Fo Sho Art and Photography officially has its own space...and it's time for me to get back to work, dear readers. Today I will be taking photos of all my original pieces with my DSLR camera, and I will be researching the best way to get prints made. My goal is to start offering originals and prints for purchase by the end of this month. Then I will focus on organizing my photography. I should probably add some "To Do" lists to my "To Do" list haha! Anyway! I'm going to try and take and share a little video of my new space...there is still work to be done as far as more organization as well as decor for inspiration...but I already love it in here...I will grow my business from here. As always, thanks for sticking with me, dear readers, and hugs and love, my lovelies.

Love,
The Ro Fo Sho

Also, please follow me on Instagram at Instagram.com/amyrofosho and like my Facebook page facebook.com/amyrofosho...please :) And always feel free to email me if you have questions or need to talk to someone about depression; remember, this little corner of the internet is where I share my art and my life with mental illness - amyrofosho@gmail.com