Commissions: OPEN.
Trades & Requests currently CLOSED.

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope it brings new beginnings and new inspirations for everyone, as well as all the happiness and healthiness one could wish for.

My biggest resolution? Quit smoking...it's so hard to give up something I've been doing for about 20 years. I've given myself a list of positives, like saving money and not feeling like my entire life is controlled by the evil scourge that is the Nicotine Monster. I can only hope that I'll kick it in the ass, because I have this feeling it's going to be a long, hard road that'll start out realllly grumpy.

Also hoping that the New Year brings me a new van...mine isn't doing all that well after 5 years of being nothing but reliable. If I didn't have a family, I'd drive it until something big breaks, quirks and all, but my son needs something safe and reliable to ride in. Which means something newer. Unfortunately at the moment, all the vans I see for sale that are actually ones I'd look at are 50 miles (or more) away. I'm hoping that when we're ready, the right one will crop up a little closer to home.

And above all, an extra dose of happy and lucky wouldn't hurt.


New Year, and therefore I guess I need new Commission FAQ/info for those of you that are interested.

COMMISSION INFO

All prices are without backgrounds and are in US dollars.

Full Color Portrait/Headshot, single character - 8.5" x 11" - starting at $25.
Full Color Full-Body, single character - 8.5" x 11" - starting at $35.

- Larger work (usually up to about 14"x 17") is also available.

- All work is done in Prismacolor pencils. I've been using them for over 15 years. All my paper is either Strathmore ArtAgain, cardstock, or something heavyweight. I rarely work on white paper; most of my art winds up on something earth-toned. If you'd prefer white, however, please let me know.

- Sometimes I have finished originals for sale; I'm not known generally for selling originals, but if you see something you like, please feel free to ask me.

- Your commission will be shipped Priority mail; you should get it within 2-3 days of my getting it out. Outside the US, standard non-priority shipping is an additional $12. Allow up to 3 weeks for international shipping.

- Your commission will not be shipped until I receive your payment. In the case of checks, it will be when your check clears. If you have no intentions of paying me, please don't commission me.

- At the moment, I can only accept checks and money orders. Send cash in the mail at your own risk..

- How long does it take? Generally, so long as I can work relatively uninterrupted, once I have an idea going, I'm pretty quick about going from sketch to finished. However, while it most likely won't take that long, please allow me up to 6 weeks to finish your commission. This allows me some breathing room in case, well, life happens. Being a Mom means anything can happen, and it often does.

- Unfamiliar with what I do? I am a self-taught artist. I've been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil. I have no formal training, no art school, just simply observation and imagination. My main concentration is Anthro characters and Equine art, but I also do pet portraits, and animals in general. I regretfully decline to do people, because I honestly don't enjoy drawing them. My style leans towards the semi-realistic; please decline from asking me to do anime or cartoonish things. I will not do copyrighted characters, unless of course, they are copyrighted to YOU. Also, no pornographic artwork, and no violence/gore. Tasteful nudity, however, is ok. I have the right to refuse any commission; whether it's because I think it's over my head artistically, or I disagree with the message it's presenting.

- If you're interested, drop me a note and let's talk! Give me as much detail as possible as far as what you'd like - references are also appreciated for colors/markings, etc. - especially characters with complicated markings. For pet portraits, a good, clear photo (or several) is appreciated. If you'd rather give me a generalization of what you'd like and let me run with it, that's fine too. If you'd rather drop me an email (especially if you don't belong to deviantART), you can send it to: ladydmnfyre@yahoo.com. Please mention "dA Commission" in the subject.

Commissions: Open!
Trades/Requests: Closed.

Well, Winter finally decided to show up here, after having no real Summer at all. The snow is finally falling, my Xmas tree is up, and I've generally been curled up with my cat at night trying to stay toasty warm!

Sorry I haven't been around lately. Between the holidays and the Winter blahs, I just haven't felt all that motivated lately. That and I've been sick on and off (school-age children bring all sorts of wonderful germs home with them!). Not exactly what I'd call a good two months! The only art I've done lately is a portrait of my mom-in-law's cat, who sadly had to be put to sleep recently after being ill for some time. I thought it was at least a way to make her smile. I'll be posting that as soon as I get a chance!

While I'm here - I'd like to give you all a great big thank you for all the favorites and wonderful comments I find when I log in here; they always make my day, even when I'm having a bad one.

I'm on Facebook, if anyone is interested in keeping up with my day-to-day nonsense, and sometimes I'll put up a piece of art that I don't post on here. Drop me a message there, if you'd like, I check in there a few times a day. (BTW, look me up under my real name, not LunarSymphony.)

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Happy Halloween, everyone! And a Blessed Samhain for all of my Pagan/Wiccan friends.

Anybody doing anything fun for Halloween? I have a pumpkin all carved out and I'm going to take my little guy trick-or treating after dinner.

Commissions: Open.
Trades/Requests: Closed.

Bleh. I've been so busy lately, I don't know what to do with myself!!

I started taking pain medication last month for my back. It's great, but it's taken me that long to stop feeling like an absolute zombie. I think I'm finally used to them; I don't feel like sleeping all day like I did. Whew. I still get drowsy, but I'm able to ignore it most of the time.

My son started Pre-K on the 10th of September; it's kind of hard watching him get on the bus and having to trust someone else to take care of him for a few hours during the day. I'm always afraid someone's going to lose him between here and there. He is, afterall, only 4. But he absolutely loves school! I'm so glad. I was expecting this big, dramatic tears-and-screaming deal the first time I had to put him on the bus. Nope. He almost forgot to say goodbye to me, he was in such a hurry to go up the bus steps. I'm so proud of him. Every day he comes home and tells me what he had for lunch, and what story they read, and all sorts of other things that made an impression on his day. Today, apparently, he was digging up little dinosaurs out of a big box of sand. I get such a kick out of all the things he tells me every afternoon.

Also got myself "new" bedroom furniture, which has caused me to turn my whole house upside-down in order to get ready for it. Apparently my brother is getting new furniture, and he was getting rid of the stuff that my Mom had made for the two of us years ago. I mean, we're talking sturdy, brick sh*thouse kind of furniture. Forever furniture. (Unlike some of the stuff I currently have, which is oh, circa 19060's - 1970's and isn't quite, um....lasting that well.) I just couldn't say no.

First they wanted to ship it up here via moving company. That is, until they quoted them this completely ridiculous amount of money just to travel 230 miles. I moved my whole house & family from Florida - 1200+ miles - for way less money than these people wanted. So my hubby had to go down and get it - and drive a moving truck back here with it. Easy, right? HAHAHAHA.

The stuff wouldn't fit out my Mom's front door. I about had a hernia when I heard that. My hubby and my brother wound up dragging 3 HUGE pieces of furniture through my Mom's house, up the back stairs, through my grandparent's house, back down the front stairs, and then into the truck. It sounded like an absolute fiasco from my end of the phone. I'm SO glad I wasn't there to see it. I couldn't have been any happier to see that truck finally get here. Of course, in an odd twist of irony, it took all of 10 minutes to get it upstairs and into my house.

So...in the meanwhile, all the contents of my bedroom are in my dining room. I have SO much cleaning to do. I can't find my table, or most of my floor in there. Doesn't leave a lot of time for anything else, but I'm trying to fit in stuff here and there. Bear with me, I swear I'm not hibernating. Really.

Commissions: Open.
Trades/Requests: Closed.

Well, after 4 years of being in agony all the time with back pain, I finally lost my mind and went to the doctor to practically beg for some relief. (I hate taking medication, and I really consider it a last resort.) But 4 years of not really sleeping, and slowly getting into a depressive funk about feeling lousy every day kind of takes its toll. So I basically made myself go yesterday, hoping that I'd come home with something.

I've had another doctor swear up and down that I need back surgery immediately. When I told him that was out of the question, his answer was to begrudgingly put me on narcotic painkillers. Great for a while, but eventually ineffective. That and it's hard to watch your kids when you're well, all wacky on those things. I've had acupuncture. Works great, but can't afford it anymore, and my insurance tends to not want to pay for alternative medicine.

My doc looked at an MRI that I had done a while ago, said I was right to refuse surgery, but that I shouldn't feel like I have to walk around afraid to ask for medication (it's become a sad trend that because of people who abuse prescription painkillers, people who need them have a hard time getting them). So she tells me about this painkiller that's narcotic-like, but not a controlled substance, and she thinks I'd do good with muscle relaxers too. So of course I'm suspicious because nothing seems to work on me. She writes me a small prescription for both in case they don't work. So I go home and take one of these painkillers.

Wow.

I can get through most of a day on ONE. It's pretty amazing. The muscle relaxers actually made me sleep last night, something I haven't done real well in 4 long years. I can't take those during the day, because they make me uncontrollably sleepy, not to mention, well, floppy. So maybe this is a good thing. Maybe now I can actually sit down and do some artwork again - it's been too painful to do anything lately.

*crosses her fingers that she has found the magic "Pain Be Gone" Potion*