Knoxblox's Re-Animated Blank Canvas

[knoxblox]

I have a few other paintings to gather from my salon owner friend, who went to see family further south and ply her trade elsewhere when super inflation hit the last few months and the weather turned crazy. She should be back soon, and I can get access to her salon and retrieve the completed ones I had been hanging on the wall to dry/cure.

[knoxblox]

The hard part is over, now that I have good likenesses. The green area is all grass, but I will create more texture and variance in shading once I get the bodies completely filled in, so it looks more realistic in atmosphere rather than like a coloring book. I’m shooting for tomorrow or the next day.

[knoxblox]

So…sorry about this, but one more “desperation post”.

As I’ve stated before, I am finally “out of the hole”, but not quite “out of the woods” yet. I’m in need of roughly $1300 (2 paintings), but right now, $500 - $650 will do to make things right until July 1st (but I need the rent TODAY).
Debts are paid, but this is about health and well being for myself and the cats.

The list:

1. I still owe June rent, and would also like to pay July rent on time. The Mexican peso is gaining ground against the dollar, so rent has risen from 400 to around 435 because of market forces.
2. I have a split molar where a decades-old amalgam filling fell out. I can feel the nerve ending with every bite. I must get this tooth pulled right away. Maybe $100.
3. Hygiene – bar soap, razor blades, toothbrush, etc. I am smack out of bar soap, and deciding whether to use dish liquid or shampoo when I get in the shower next.
4. Spay and neuter the kittens Charlie and Ripley so I can adopt them out and reduce my care costs. The veterinarian on the corner has given an estimate of around $125 for the two of them, including antibiotics.
5. Medicine – Albuterol and Fluticasone for my asthma. I am maintaining well right now, but if I want to prevent fatigue and keep working I’ll need some Fluticasone in the next week or so, which would cost me probably $25.
6. As always, cat food and kitty litter. Hopefully, I can get Dulce and the kittens adopted soon once they are spayed and neutered and cut those costs in half.
7. I need to mail out some paintings, so $100 would cover that.

My goal is to continue at this rate so I can completely clear the slate of work by August 1st. This will give me room to create some more one-offs in preparation for the Christmas season, and hopefully gain myself some more recognition in social media. As long as I could sell two paintings a month after that, I’ll be doing fine, though I could still survive by other means if necessary.

As before, I am willing to accept partial payments, donations, whatever you want to do. PayPal is working for me at my email knox672000@yahoo.com, though I am still waiting for news from GoFundMe about resuming access to my account.

Any business or help is greatly appreciated. Tell your friends!

[knoxblox]

I borrowed my partner’s electric bicycle from my partner today to go get some things to sell, and the the first trip out I got a nail in my inner tube (in the side, so the Tuffy liner didn’t help and the hole was too big for the Slime to work), 5 1/2 miles from home. I had to walk it back, fully loaded, which really did a number on the tire.

Now I have no bike for the time being, no cat food, no nothing. Whenever I try to fix things, I get double punished.

ETA: Oh, and I forgot to mention. Coming back was uphill.

ETA: It’s my partner’s bicycle now. It’s my partner’s bicycle now. It’s my partner’s bicycle now.

[knoxblox]

I have launched a new GoFundMe, in hopes that I can gain a few more commissions and finally get this period over with. Two commissions gets me out of immediate hot water, 10 more in the future can make sure I don’t have to do stuff like GoFundMe anymore, because I do have a way to earn money if I just had the capital to do so, whether I sell more paintings or not.

The link, if anyone could help me out and spread the word…

Help Kelly Hicks -- Artist Seeks Commissions, organized by Kelly Hicks

ETA: Just FYI, I want this recurring need for GoFundMe to be over with as much as I believe all of you do. If I can get 2 commissions now, and the other 10 soon, I have the firm belief I will be fine from here on out.
This will also fill my dance card until the end of the year, so you might want to mention to folks that Christmas is only 6 months away.

[knoxblox]

Running late this morning, but GoFundMe be damned I need to make 50 bucks by Wednesday. Some paintings are being mailed, but I still need to pay my phone bill and mailbox fees!

I know my normal rate is $650 now, but I’ll sell this one to you for $50 and mail it Wednesday with the others if you can help me out.

[mick129]

I can send you $50 via PayPal today

[knoxblox]

It’s a deal. I sent you a PM.

[knoxblox]

My painting of @armozel 's beautiful fish. Thank you for allowing me to use your photo!

ETA: This one’s available for purchase – not a commission. If anyone knows someone who might like to buy it, please let them know. I’m in great financial distress, and need to feed the cats and change their litter, as well as catch up on rent.

I’ll have a couple more older (now finished) ones like the hibiscus and a couple new ones to post tonight and over the weekend.

ETA: And SOLD to @FloridaManJefe ! This must be my fastest sale on record.

[howaboutthis]

Donated to your GoFundMe.
I don’t need any artwork ATM… just trying to help out. I recently went through a couple very rough years financially. Man, that bill-juggling shit sucks, but no matter how cheaply I was eating, at least my cats were fat & happy.
I’m rooting for ya’.

[knoxblox]

I really appreciate it. There’s several small things that need taking care of, and this helps a lot.

[FloridaManJefe]

@howaboutthis

no matter how cheaply I was eating, at least my cats were fat & happy.

heard!
when i was struggling with a small boutique letterpress studio a long, long time ago, i made a promise to my cat Miss Inclined (or promised myself) that she would get fed before i.
i kept that promise and we both survived some cold nights in that old Seattle loft (couldn’t keep the heat on…)

[knoxblox]

@FloridaManJefe

i made a promise to my cat Miss Inclined (or promised myself) that she would get fed before i.

[knoxblox]

A repair-paint of @Brainspore 's dogs, no longer “ghost dogs”.

Some of you are aware that my kitten Ripley died recently from infection after spay surgery. One of the problems I was having while trying to help her is when Charlie cornered her and sliced her ear so badly that blood kept pooling in the wedge and she was shaking it out all over the apartment. This problem, as well as some rain damage a few paintings received when Tropical Storm Hilary came through has forced me to do some re-painting to deal with blood, water spots, and/or dings created when I snatched up the paintings in the dark when the rain came in.

I’ve been working extra to deal with the damage, but her death as well as other things beyond my control (like hurricanes) have really got me down and put me behind on my finances. Rent, cat food and kitty litter are at the top of the list right now, and I’m working on finishing the hibiscus flowers I showed above on post #24. Probably will be finished by Wednesday, as I need to take care of some things today outside of the studio, but if anyone would like to purchase it that would be great.

NOTICE: I have a little credit coming my way next Monday, so anyone I’ve advised that their paintings are coming, YES – YOUR PAINTINGS ARE COMING. I took the leap and obtained a little line of credit just so I can get these paintings out in the mail by the beginning of next week. Of course I’ll have to pay it off in a month, but at least the work will be in the mail.

I figure it’s time for a discount sale, so I think I’ll offer 20% off for anyone who would pre-purchase a panel. That’s $650 minus $130 = $520.
Even if I only sold 10 panels for the rest of the year, this is enough to give me capital to generate income in a steady manner outside of painting. If there is anything in this world that would help me get out of this cycle of desperation it would be to take 10+ orders within the month of September and I’d be equipped to handle most smaller emergencies that come my way without having to beg anymore.
The money I could generate would cover rent, cat needs, and I’d still have enough saved for income growth, so to me this is the most important sale since the “don’t evict me” sale I had last time.

If anyone can help out by spreading the word – Facebook, Instagram (I’m at lazypossum1), or TikTok, you name it. No GoFundMe this time, because I figure folks are going to wish to help those who are underwater instead of merely treading water.
I’m accepting PayPal or Google Pay (knox672000@xxx), and there’s also my Patreon if anyone would like to add to my monthly cyclical tip jar.

Please help me make it to 10 pre-orders this month, and ensure that I am REALLY, REALLY done with needing to beg and annoy folks so much.

ETA: I’ll post more later, but I really need to sleep and then go run some errands today. Even if I can’t buy cat food, I can at least get them some canned chicken or salmon with my EBT card.

[knoxblox]

Well, my cellphone service has already billed me for money I don’t have and sent an email about “autopay processing error”. I guess I won’t be getting the low price anymore.

Also, here’s where the ceiling panel fell down during Tropical Storm Hilary. Yes, that’s daylight coming through my wall/roof. “Chabuduo” exists in Mexico, not only China.

[Brainspore]

I see you were able to paint out all the distracting parts of the original photo. Nice work! Can’t wait to hang it.

[knoxblox]

I was waiting to post this when I finished – either tonight or tomorrow – an openly available painting (not commissioned), but I need kitty litter very badly right now. The stench is appalling in this heat, and I’m positive it’s not doing the cats any favors, either.

I need to buy a couple of boxes of litter, and 50 bucks would cover it and the cost of taking the old stuff to the landfill (the trash trucks here won’t carry earth, and I cannot dump it just anywhere).

If anyone would like to lay claim to this painting, I’ll be done by the weekend. I just need the money now.

The “finish up” part is mostly the pistils of the flowers, some leaves there along the right-hand border, and sharpening up a few shadows.

[knoxblox]

This is a post that I will most likely cross-post to “Are You Okay?” and also to my InstaGram “lazypossum1” today, about how things are not okay. Please note that this is not a personal attack on folks here at BoingBoing, but simply a summation of how – despite a couple of windfall payments – I’ve been experiencing a slow downhill slide since the end of pandemic unemployment pay.

For the 2022 tax year, I was able to claim an annual income of $5,849 – far short of what I would have made as a minimum-wage PART-TIME employee in most any entry-level job in San Diego ($17,212). Despite a couple of windfall payments this year, I am still tracking at LESS THAN HALF of what I would earn as a minimum-wage part-time employee for the 2023 tax year. As a result, I am struggling at trying to maintain a semblance of normal life and dispense with the financial issues for which I am responsible, and it’s only been tracking downward.

I have been out of the “jobby-job”, “working for the man” part of employment for far too long to go apply somewhere and expect to even be considered for any entry-level sit-down work, and my respiratory/asthma issues no longer permit me to do any work that’s strenuous, so “day labor” is not a possibility.

As it stands, I have a supplemental alternative to making enough to live but which would require paying Capital Gains Tax for my tax bracket but would still not be gambling or speculation in sketchy markets like cryptocurrency. I have engaged with it before, and could earn almost the same amount as a full-time minimum-wage job, and would not require me to do distasteful things like say, be a landlord or a day-trader.

For the most part, the only thing that is holding me back is lack of capital. If I were able to take orders for 10 paintings in a very short time frame (like, the rest of September), I could make a slow and stable but profitable climb into being able to support myself without needing to beg for handouts anymore. 15-20 paintings would allow me to jump right in and earn the maximum I could and be financially stable sooner.

I need to make it clear that selling one or two paintings a month does not accomplish this goal. It only keeps me stuck in a position where I can survive poorly and never advance. I need to earn enough capital to be able to make a decent amount of interest, and that requires at least 10 paintings worth.
I would even be able to clear my slate without taking on any new work until it’s all done.

I could get off EBT food support.
I could be able to save money.
I could be able to work on my own art projects (after finishing what’s on my slate, of course).
Most importantly, I wouldn’t have to beg anymore.

I also already have some passive income projects meant for print-on-demand, but for now I must finish promised work before I can tackle that. It’s part of the “my own art projects” category.

Okay, screed over. Thanks for reading.

ETA: There are some folks who have been waiting for me to send out their paintings. I just got approved for a low-limit credit card, but it’s enough to get those folks their paintings shipped. It was sent out on the 2nd, so I expect to receive it no later than the 15th, register it, and then mail out the packages.

[knoxblox]

I have about 8 hours to come up with $500 TODAY.

The landlord was hovering this weekend, and I had to promise I’d have the rent on Monday afternoon. Plus I need a few things I can only buy in cash nearby.

JUST FOR TODAY, I am offering a “pay what you can” model for folks who want to help out and who wish to buy a commissioned painting. Risky, I know – but I need to pay the rent.

As for work, the bicycle chain on Samantha’s bike broke immediately after I replaced the brake pads. I have to wait until Saturday to get the new chain, so I have nothing to do this week but paint. The hibiscus should be posted this evening as long as there are no interruptions.

ETA: I got my new card. I will set out for San Ysidro tomorrow to mail out some paintings.

[knoxblox]

Despite the broken bicycle chain, I will attempt to get to the post office tomorrow using only electric power and pushing the bike when I encounter a hill. I think I should set out very early, like 5 am. I can keep all these paintings protected in a plastic bin strapped to the cargo shelf.