Well it has been a while with a pandemic of never ending proportions. I have to pay my dues for being allowed into the middle class for a year. I moved into a sweet vintage trailer (1964 New Moon) on the edge of town in Ashland, OR. I was working at the what I considered to be the top of my field painting and dying costumes for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I had a great year from September 2018 till March 2020. I made the most amount of money in my life and did the most amount of traveling. I was flying high on the hog.
In November of 2018 I went to Thailand and saw a beautiful country and beautiful people. I should have just stayed there! I drove across the country to get the dogs to Ashland. The vastness of the dessert and wildness of Wyoming, so awesome. My wonderful friend drove back with me and we stopped in Santa Fe and saw a 365 degree sunset. We also stopped in San Fransisco and I had the best crescent of my life.
I learned so much my first year as the only painter/dyer at OSF. I used a large format vinyl cutter and mastered the airbrush, did some screen printing and designed fabric digitally to be printed. So much that I had only touched on in the past of my theater work. I was just starting to really feel in control of my work environment when all of theater was shuttered in March of 2020. I went from $24 an hour to $29 and hour with in a month of working after I realized that the company had hired me to do all of the work and there was no else to learn from. I was doing the job description for the higher paying position (When I applied I thought I was applying for the lead painting and dying position as there where two positions listed in their website.) The job descriptions where unclear and of course the pay amounts where not listed and I was douped. I hate not being in Union and having to fight for yourself all of the time....but here we are?Sweet, Sweet America...
