Blog

Is this thing on?

Oof. The first sentence is always the hardest—I feel like I’m college again, desperately trying to choke out an introductory paragraph to a term paper.

Wait a minute. My first sentence was “Oof.” Great, way to set the bar low. Can we start again, please?

Ahem: my name is Chandler O’Leary and this is my blog.

Not much better than “Oof,” but it’s a start. It feels a little strange to type that out loud, actually. For a couple of years I kept an anonymous online journal (blown to smithereens now), but as the posts dealt increasingly with my work, and less and less with anything else, it seemed silly not to go public. And since I get a lot of questions about my work process, why not keep an ongoing record?

So for the most part I’ll leave personal stuff out of it (this blog is intended for shameless self-promotion professional updates), but I’m sure the occasional Other Thing will sneak in. Therefore, to continue a tradition, anyone not publicly “out” in the art (or art blogging, or internet) world will be referred to by a pseudonym. Just sayin’.

Anyway, here I am. I run a little illustration/lettering/letterpress studio called Anagram Press. Almost exactly eight months ago my husband (referred to from here on out as the Tailor, because he makes his own clothing) and I packed up everything we owned, crammed engineered it into a 26-foot moving truck*, and moved to Tacoma, Washington. I quit my day job as a graphic designer and transformed Anagram Press into a full-time career.

It’s a little terrifying to be one’s own boss (and assistant; and account manager), but every day I’m reminded that this was the right decision. I’ve fallen head-over-heels for Tacoma, and so far, at least, the studio has hit the ground running. Besides, I’ve got my favorite t-shirt for a healthy dose of perspective: it reads “I draw pictures all day.”

Welcome.

* Like Tetris, except the boxes didn’t disappear when we filled in a row.