Army of me...

I said when I started this thing that I wanted to design something fresh and new every day.

I want to make what I'd wear and wear what I make.

I am not another "me too", and I really wanted my creations to stand out. Granted, all I have available to me to do this right now is print-on-demand, but it's my work and designs...mixed with a little of this and that. I also wanted to incorporate a lot of my old art into my designs, after all, I have over a decade worth of it sitting in my "Ari's art folder"; each folder in my folder is organized by year.

See?

At last count, I had my own catalogue of over 40,000 bits and pieces that I had created over this period of time and over 200 Gb of data.

Over the past 15 years, that's about 7 pieces a day. My last daily creation average is 6.

One person: me.

So, how did I get here? Depression, anxiety and a whole lot of art therapy. 12 to 16 hour days over the course of 10 years gave me eye strain and back issues, but a monster portfolio, so, yes...it *is* possible and yes, it is all me.

I spent a lot of time creating 3d clothing and items in a virtual world to test ideas and to have a bit of a reprieve from the pain I was going through during the course of that depression. The goal there was to have a virtual store where people could buy things for their characters and have the option to purchase those same or similar items in the real world. I'm working on it. Some items I made back then don't translate well onto what I have available to work with, while some do.

Anyone who is familiar with my work over the past decade or so will definitely see some familiar things as they appear from virtual space to physical canvas and from flat prim and mesh to physical fabrics and items.

I wanted to use this blog to update daily on what I worked on that day, but so far, I haven't done that. I guess I felt that at the rate that I work, it might be a bit overkill to update every single day on every single item; however, after giving it some thought, it really isn't.

I don't make promos for every single item that I create, but I do for most of them, so I think what I'll do is "daily highlights", with the promos made or a screenshot of new items with the links and details.

As of today, I currently have 1,068 items available in the shop.

...and I have a lot more to create! I'm at no shortage for ideas or ambition, and luckily, I'm able to manage my time fairly efficiently.

Sometimes, I do get a little down - especially considering that this shop isn't "seen" as much as some other shops who have the finances to support major advertising campaigns, but I pick myself backup out of the feels, and keep on truckin.

Besides, if I don't save myself, nobody else is going to do it for me.

"Stand up. You've got to manage. I won't sympathize, anymore. And if you complain once more, you'll meet an army of me. You're alright. There's nothing wrong. Self sufficiency please! You're on your own now. We won't save you. Your rescue squad is too exhausted."

From nothing, nothing comes; but from nothing, all is possible.