Hi All,

I've been absent for about a month now since my father-in-law passed away. My husband and I, with the help of his sister, have been taking care of everything, from the funeral arrangements, the finances (or lack thereof), to the sale of the extremely run-down house, and care for their mother who is mentally ill. It's been quite an emotional and busy time. Hardship definitely brings family together, so for that I'm very thankful. And, now that some time has passed, I'm happy to say that things are starting to feel like they're getting back to normal, at least day-to-day. And I'm hopping back into my artistic saddle again.

So! Yesterday I posted a book cover WIP in my art blog, which will eventually be a big oil painting (yay!). I'm also really happy to announce that I've started a collaboration with Aaron Sikstrom [link]. It's actually my first real collab ever, unless you count grade school, hehe. Aaron provided me with a beautiful sketch of Peter Pan & Wendy (one of my favorite stories ever) in Mermaid Lagoon. So far it's going really well and I'm excited that I'll get to share it soon.

In conclusion, I've always been slow at responding to comments, but if you've left me any questions in the last few weeks, please forgive my absence; I will try to get back online more frequently!!

Back to painting!
-Cynthia

"The purpose of art is to provide what life does not." -Tom Robbins