I love that song

This is just a bit of an update on what I've been up to and maybe why I haven't been very productive here for the past couple of months. I've spent most of that time looking for work, applying everywhere in order to make some money and tie me over until I found a real job to do with my field (graphic/multimedia design or something of that sort). I found a few good looking design jobs and either didn't hear back from them or withdrew my application after the interviews confirmed to me that the work wasn't what I was looking for. My biggest problem seemed to be that I had very little industry experience and businesses were looking for 2-3 years at least. Another problem was that my illustration at the end of my portfolio was putting employers off as they felt they couldn't offer me any work of that kind. So I was feeling sorry for myself and the hundreds of other fresh graduates who also weren't being given the chance to get the experience they needed to break into the competitive field. I started to realise that despite 4 years of education I was going to be looking at entry level, bottom-of-the-barrel positions in the design industry.

Meanwhile I found a job as a "check out chick" at Woolworths (a large supermarket chain) which got me down after becoming sick with the flu and fever within the first week and being treated like crap by the odd customer with sand in their underwear (the staff were nice though). I found myself counting down the minutes to each break of the day which seemed to drag on and on. However, it did give me a boost of motivation to find a decent full-time job and get the heck out of there.

After about 3 weeks I was still applying for every job that sounded remotely relevant, including a full-time one posted by a recruitment agency for a position designing jewelery, products, packaging and gifts for a company and its gift shop. After an interview I found out that it was the Perth Mint (there are only 2 mints in Australia, the other is in Canberra) and part of the job was designing and illustrating collectable uncirculated coins. The mint was impressed with my portfolio and I was offered the job 2 hours after the interview. I took it and now that's where I'll be for a while, I think I'll enjoy it because it's one of the few positions where illustration really matters and I'll be doing it a lot, not to mention I'll be doing them on the A3 wacoms and they'll end up on solid silver, gold and platinum coins . There's also creative thinking and problem solving involved to come up with new products and I love how varied the position is- I was dreading going to a mass producing print agency (believe me, I was interviewed by a few). I like the fact I can be working on an illustration one minute and then pulled away to do a photo shoot of some coins or the building the next. It's also great to be working in an open office with other people, as oppose to a dead quiet and secluded one.

Anywho, now that I've found a stable job (I hope), I might have more time for art. We'll see, I've already done my first sketch in a long time so I'm feeling optimistic. I've also got 2 more ball tickets coming up so they should be in my gallery soon. I'm open to small, fast comissions at the moment if anyone is interested as well