I fell upon a sudden dry spell in my business. Understandably, most of my commercial clients put current and future work on pause. I was kind of sitting around for a few days watching tumbleweeds roll through the house and started to worry about the future of my creativity and viability as an illustrator.

What made sense – probably on a subconscious level at the time – was to offer something personal, rather than commercial to the masses. I did so, and Richard – Bicycle Crumbs – gave the project a little bump in his stories. What came next was not just a deluge of commissions, but a welcome reality check.

We’re all still connected, but in different ways, and we’ve adapted pretty quickly. I think folks in our community of cyclists saw an opportunity here to honor the important things in our lives: people, moments, love, and joy.

The commissions that poured in gave me a crash course in emotional intelligence. Request after request was for something precious to be captured. A pose, a hug, a race, a favorite riding partner, the smile of a lover… all these extremely joyful or tender or intense moments of human experience. I remember lying in bed processing messages and just shaking.

Like, “holy shit, this world is fantastic and full of love.”

I’ve been completely elated and honored to work on these – grounded and buoyed by the amount of love in this community. What’s also very uplifting is to think that this human bond exists in lifestyle groups beyond bicycling. It just so happens that cycling is what I’m dedicated to, so I’m getting to work deep within this community. Imagine all the folks out there who have their own tribe: tulip freaks, sock makers, RC airplane heads, etc… there’s a vast and unknowable network of support, enthusiastic about keeping one another afloat.

If you’d like one, hop onto my website and get in the queue!