Artist for Hire on PNN

All about where you live...

Impeccable resume? Check! Attended a great university? Check! Have experience? Check! Have great references? Check? Live close to the job? What?

Yes, in that whirlwind high demand of the employers out there, this is the NEW requirement. Not only are you supposed to have suck up all your economy to attend a decent school. make sacrifice, eat Top Ramen for months, work for free for a while to gain experience, but now, you are supposed to commit to move next to the job if they hire you.

For me, this is non-sense, but the sad reality. All my life, I bear a long commute to drive to school, then to internship, go to a good medical facility when needed, and so on. I don't mind driving; I am used to it. But obviously, the employers don't believe in that.

I was wondering why I never received answer from my resume for a while. Yes, it might have been too long (was a 2-page resume and now, cut to one-page). The reality came to my face yesterday when I got denied an interview for a 70K/year job... because I live too far. C'mon! One hour commute? I did way more in the good old days.

I should have been interviewing for that nice job today and instead, I am home being mad at that employer. It leaves me no option now: I am getting a mailbox in a central area where I will use that address on my resume. The employers will be fooled I live closer than he/she thinks but who cares really? At the end of the day, if you can be professional and do the job, this is all that counts. But obviously, that guy today didn't think so...

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New Entry for IllustrationFriday

I believe I told you about this wonderful website where you can submit an artwork every week. You have to follow their weekly theme and this week was Poof.

I did this illustration super quick as I had a crazy week shuffling the kids around, going to that useless Temp Agency open house, and that job interview this morning. The submission is mostly typography but got inspired by these stupid infomercials we see on TV. We all know someone in our family or neighborhood who got that belt that supposed to melt away the fat or the fishing pole that guarantee you will catch the biggest fish ever.

Well, what about a Poof Wand that make disappear anything you want. Wouldn't it be cool? I would never use it to have it disappear jobs but what about these bad recruiters or the ladies I encountered in the Temp agency's waiting room. Anybody with a bad attitude = Poof!

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Temp agencies: Good or Bad?

As I was mentioning in my last blog entry, I went for an open house to a temp agency near my house. The smartest and most experienced applicants knew to get by the doorway by 5:00 PM sharp, when the open house started. Well, I wanted to show up a little later to look good but faced about 20 other applicants in there. Next time, if there is another next time, I'll know...

The ad said "come meet our recruiters." Well, they had a typo because as far as I am concerned, there was 1 recruiter on the spot. You had to either wait in line (which means probably 1 hour and a half starring the other applicants and nibbling on some cheap veggies/dip tray you get at Safeway) OR you could go home and have a phone interview the next day. Guess what I did?

While the receptionist was very nice at that agency, I got paired up with a "flaked" recruiter. She did call (later than she was supposed) and was supposed to send me templates for a resume by emails. She claims my resume doesn't work. Maybe she is right. Actually, all June and July, nobody called me for a job interview. As of today, I am still waiting on these darn templates...

I may sound like bitching but temp agencies were such a heaven place in the mid-90's. Jobs were plentiful and actually, the recruiters were nice. What happened to these recruiters? Also, I never had problems to meet new friends in the waiting room. We were all there to get a job but people were so much nicer then. Monday, I tried to start a conversation with two women and got the stare of death. Chill out people! You are looking for a job and I am too! Your bad attitude won't get you anywhere ladies...

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Finished Logo

Above is the final logo I have been working on during my week. I also worked to integrate the logo into business cards and eventually, a website. I am busy and I am still job hunting.

I have heard from one guy (yes!) but he was concerned I live too far from San Francisco. Darn! Plus that company was in the mobile business, a direction I was seriously contemplating. Good luck followed by a bad spell.

Monday, I am heading to a Temporary Employment agency. More on that next week. We'll see if they are more efficient for me than Craigslist.

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Cool website to post your art

You know sometimes you go online and you just want to go to one website but end up following links and after two hours, you wonder what in the first place you were looking for?

Well, a few months ago, while finishing my degree, I discover a gem of a website, designed for artists. This site is Illustrationfriday.com. Like it is mentioned, the moderators (Penelope Dullaghan and Brianna Privett) of the site post a word or theme every Friday and invite artists from around the world to post their work related on the theme. I am having fun looking at what artists from other countries come up with artwork. I will probably talk more about a few of them in this blog later on.

While I was still in school. I craved to be done with these stupid and useless school assignments so I could join the gang and illustrate something every Friday. Now, my blessing has come!

I decided to give it a try last Friday. This week's theme is "Canned." I invite you to check out the site. You don't have to be a pro to submit an artwork; just the desire to draw and be creative.

Above is the illustration I submitted this week. Happy Creativity!

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Creation of a logo

Today, I have worked on a logo for my husband's company. I started doing some thumbnails and as he will be back tonight and will be able to direct me more of what he wants.

Basically, he wants a tower with some waves. I will do the final product on Illustrator and will probably animate the wave in Flash. This will be a nice addition to my online portfolio.

The jpeg with the rough sketches is posted above this article. More to follow with this logo in the coming days.

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Art Prodigy?

I got interested a year ago with the so-called "children prodigy" phenomenon. Being the mother of two young children, I can relate to these moms who rave about their talented children.

About a year ago, I was on the roller coaster final descent to get my BFA in Animation/Illustration. One of the last classes that was required for my degree was an illustration class taught by a great artist, Barron Storey. During the semester, he had an assignment about illustrating a person about to become famous. While researching, I discovered the enormous publicity a little girl from the East coast was receiving. Her name is Marla Olmstead. I decided to do my assignment about her.

Her talent and sudden fame brought a lot of controversy. They even made a documentary about her ("My kid could paint that"). She started painting at age two and acquired international fame when The New York Times featured her first major exhibition. Marla has made several TV appearances.

Most people wonder if she is really painting her art or does she gets help to achieve her beautiful paintings? It is also important to question ourself that if one of our children would have such talent, would you put your child in the spotlight? What would be life with paparazzis? How would you explain to your other children that it is OK to be in the shadow of their prodigy sibling? I am not sure I would like one of my children to get all the attention while the other one would just try to have a normal life.

If you are curious about Marla or haven't heard about her, here is her website:

www.marlaolmstead.com/.

I am posting the painting (acrylic) I did about Marla. I tried to depict the fact she loves painting but at the same time, she is still a little girl who probably enjoy playing dolls. I chose to have a bird-eye view so it shows a vulnerable Marla.

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Paying to find employment: is it really worth it?

If you are currently looking for employment, you have probably received emails asking you to join a website that will search jobs for you. They are so promising. You click on the link and here we go! After spending at least 15 to 20 minutes to fill out all the information, you then click next to bring you to the surprising page: they ask for a payment. Now, you are either pissed off (because if you are unemployed, you probably don't have money to waste) or you really wonder for a moment if it is worth it...

I caved in a month ago with the site IHireCommercialArt.com. The site said that it is always free to candidates but you can upgrade to the premium membership for $30/month. Now, here is the deal...

You can fill out and upload your resume all for free but once you log in and search for jobs, they get you. You can either see the full job description and contact info by paying them $5 a pop or you have to give them your credit card for the 7 days free trial. I believe they hope people will forget to cancel after 7 days but if you are a smart one, you won't. Make sure to copy the info for canceling the membership otherwise they will charge you a nice 30$/month without asking you.

I paid attention of what I was doing when I registered. It looked like there were a lot of jobs listed (and yes, there are). But here is the other catch... Once you have given all your information and credit card, you are able to view the positions and the original date they listed the job. Whoever is maintaining the site is either a smart one just there to collect fee or a lazy webmaster who doesn't update the job listing. Most jobs are really old and these jobs are not available anymore. Beware of where you spend your money to find employment...

I've tried many free sites so far and no companies have called me. Do these jobs really exist? I don't know. But let me tell you, everyday, there is at least another company trying to either recruit me to be a sales associate or convince me to join their free website to find employment.

Am I tired to fill out these online forms? You bet...Now, what about you, folks out there? I would love to hear from you, either good or bad stories. Are these job websites really working? I guess, as long as they are free, it doesn't hurt to advertise ourself...

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Blogging: New Art job requirement?

As amazing as it may sounds, blogging is often a requirement to be considered for a job opportunity, especially in the art community. I believe that was the first incentive for me to start blogging.

As far as I understand, a resume will describe your work experience and skills but a blog is a tool to show potential employers that you possess excellent writing skills and expertise in your field. A blog that is related to your field of expertise is an excellent marketing tool. A potential employer will get to know you better by reading your blog than reading your resume. Still, you will need a resume, but adding a professional blog can't hurt...

On another note, I want to broaden a bit this blog by researching other artists and see if a little publicity on this blog will help them attract more customers/clients. I know there is thousand of talented souls out there and will start researching artists that are worth our attention. I will put a link to their online portfolio so you can also enjoy their work-of-arts.

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More Art Opportunities this weekend

While responding to a job ad, I had to build a career profile on CareerBuilding.com and got more interesting ads from there. I had people contact me, but not for art opportunities. This is the weekend so we'll see if the employers posting on that site are more serious than the other site I mentioned before.

Look like blogging is one of the requirements for many art job opportunities. So, folks, start a blog! If I can do it, you can do it also.

Have a good night

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An example of ID design

I thought I would post a pull-up toy I designed in one of my Industrial design classes. I loved this assignment. I had to do all the correct measuring, including a profile viewed on four points of view. I took this class to help with my perspective drawing and would recommend to anyone to try out some industrial design classes once in their lifetime.

This is a short posting for now as it is bedtime already. Hope you like the drawing. I'll post more drawings later on.

As of today, I am still job-searching. Meanwhile, I am just working on my art skill so it doesn't go to waste.

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Welcome to my Art blog!

Hello everyone! Thanks for reading my blog. Even though blogs have been around for years, I am a newbie to this.

Even though I love writing, I never had time to start a blog. Why? I guess family responsibilities as well as going to school. Speaking of school, I just graduated with honors in Animation/Illustration from a local university. Yeah! And now what?

It has been now almost 2 months and after countless resumes sent, mainly from ads seen on Craigslist, no bites. And I thought I had talent...

Welcome to the 2008 bad economy! Most people I know who are looking for work received no acknowledgment that, the supposed companies that post on Craigslist, receive their resume.

This blog is not intended to complain but to look avenues to find work for artists and help each other. I will post my work and would love to hear from all of you out there, who are artists. It has been a childhood's dream to become a professional artist and I intend to become one even though it might take a long time to find decent employment.

Before I leave off that first post, a bit about me: I am originally from Canada, was a graphic designer/typographer for over 10 years before I went back to college in USA. Besides having art as a passion in my life, I am also a full-time mother of 2 kids (age 8 and 7). Yeah, I am a fairly busy individual! :-)

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Past Articles

Welcome to my Art blog!

6 Steps To Fame

1. Write something interesting
2. Send it to 5 friends
3. Add it to del.icio.us
4. Favorite in on StumbleUpon
5. Add tags to everything
6. keep writing!

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