I'm off to Rochester soon for the Association of Medical Illustrators annual conference, which is always one of the highlights of my year. They've announced that next year the conference will be hosted in Grand Rapids, and I'm not sure what my level of involvement will need to be as an AMI member living in the host city, but if nothing else I'm very excited about not having to travel in 2025. As I mentioned in last month's newsletter, I've been busy prepping for the CMI exam, which I'll be sitting for in exactly one week(!). I'm not feeling nearly as confident as I'd like to be, but it's time to just get it over with and trust that I've put in as much effort as I could to study and prepare.

In order to hold myself accountable and stick to a study schedule, I had two hours blocked off every day on my calendar. Since I'm not a monster I let myself slack if I had other obligations or wasn't feeling well, but for the most part I stayed on track. This got me thinking about what else I could learn if I set aside two hours every day for reading, skill building, or other professional and/or creative development. Perhaps it's a daily practice that I'll continue even after the exam.

I've been loving small merch items lately, and after an initial test run from Redbubble earlier this year, these pins are here to stay. I've got five different designs available (the purple "I Heart Science" pins and four different planets) and they're now being produced by Ohio-based company PureButtons. Get these directly from me at my online shop, or find many other pin designs on Redbubble.

Below is some interesting and illuminating content I've collected in the last month related to art, science, and visual communication. I feel like this section has been full of AI articles over the past several months, but it's a topic that has been heavy on my mind.

This was an extra special Places You Have Lived commission, illustrated as a gift for my in-laws' 40th wedding anniversary from their neighbor and lifelong family friend. It's always an honor to draw people's homes and other meaningful places, but it's even more significant when I myself have a personal connection to the place too.

See more of this series and other house commissions at studiohromi.com/places.

I'm taking an unintended (though not unwelcome) break from markets in August, but I've got two scheduled so far in September! At this rate it will be holiday market season before you know it. Visit studiohromi.com/events for more details and to learn about additional markets as they get added to the calendar. You can also shop anytime online at studiohromi.com/shop and Redbubble, and while supplies last at Scorpion Hearts Club and the GRPM Curiosity Shop in Grand Rapids, and Half Mile Handmade in Bay City. I'm currently looking for one or two additional local or regional spots to sell my wares, so if you have ideas for shops that would be a good fit please pass them along!

You can follow me on any of the social media platforms below, plus Tumblr, Threads, and Cara. I'm not very active on social media lately, but I pop in occasionally to say hello. Visit my Ko-fi and Amazon book wish list for even more ways to support an independent artist and small business.

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