This is just one example of jacy’s amazing artwork.
Re-upping an abbreviated version of TaMara’s original bleg, because we’re *so* close…
Friend and fellow jackal jacy, as many of you know, has battled cancer and other health issues. She’s run into a bit of a problem and has set out a plan to get herself back on her feet.
Once she has it organized, she’ll be doing an art sale, which John or Betty will front page under our Artists In Our Midst series. She can do custom pet pictures…I’ve seen some of her samples and they are beautiful -, plus she has some beautiful things ready to go.
And finally, she has set up a GoFundMe, to help her get caught up.
Since having chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, I’ve had cognitive difficulties. It’s been very hard, because I run my own business and care for my children and my elderly mother alone. Over the past year there was an increase in my problems with fatigue, memory, and organization. An undiagnosed thyroid condition made things worse. I’ve been working hard with doctors and therapists to adjust to the problems with my brain and have developed strategies to make up for those deficits and I have new medication regimens. But while I was getting increasingly sicker I couldn’t take care of everything — including medical expenses and fighting for custody of my youngest child — and I got behind on bills.
Most of all, I think she can use some kind words of support.
Parmenides
I don’t know why this is but the site is but the site is rendering horribly for me on my home computer. It works on my work computer fine and works on my phone. I turned off both my add blocker and HTTPS everywhere, but that wasn’t the problem. I am on chrome, most resent update.
MazeDancer
Jacy has remarkable work, that is deeply under priced, IMHO.
Custom pet portrait for a hundred bucks? Cheap at twice the price. Recognizing not everyone has an extra 100, but a lifetime work of art gotta be worth $125 or $150 at least.
Get in on the bargains now. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Birthdays, Anniversarys, Holidays. Plan ahead and help someone out.
But please, jacy, when you have the art sale, raise your portrait prices. Also, consider “add-ons”. People ordering portraits might also like some nice matching notecards, mugs, calendars, even PostCards. You got the art, easy to “add-on”.
Mnemosyne
That reminds me, I need to email her the cat photo that she’s going to turn into wall art for me. I showed her Bixby piece to G and he said, “Wow, I love that!” so I know she’ll make something we both love.
WereBear
I love Jacy’s artwork. I’m on a strict budget at this point, so I can’t get any, but I have plans for the future.
In the meantime, just as I do with commenter satby, I promote their Etsy stores to my fans on my cat Twitter, and I also do the same for jacy’s book covers on my writing Twitter.
JGabriel
Lashe Pas La Patate! Get well soon, Jacy. Best wishes for you.
la caterina
Love your art, Jacy! I’ll pick out something to buy when the art sale is posted here. Til then, Johannes and I have kicked in to the go fund me. So glad to hear the good news re the custody issue and your son’s fabulous new school. Hugs from us and our kittens.
jeffreyw
jacy now has calico and tuxedo cat mugs! Buy two of each!
HinTN
@MazeDancer: I agree! I’ve ordered the Breath and Shadow tee shirt. Please, jacky, recognize the strength and quality of your work.
zhena gogolia
Best wishes for you jacy. I’ll do some shopping later this weekend.
la caterina
Help! I’m stuck in moderation.
Sloane Ranger
Pulling for you Jacy. Keep on fighting. Am now going to investigate the etsy page.
HinTN
@HinTN: Damn autocorrect…
jacy – and the edit function just went to a black screen. So it goes.
Bex
Need something for Mardi Gras? Check out Jacy’s Louisiana collection. I bought the “let the good times roll” art print.
laura
Is it just me, or is the link borked?
Cermet
Of course I’d contribute! Best of luck, too; I too fought a bitter custody battle (95% with the State that automatically took the side of my ex for no reason but my gender) and understand how draining that is when fighting for one’s life (unfortunately, been there and had to do that at the same time.) Thankfully, the judge and eventually, family services agreed 100% with me and I won full and sole custody. My daughter grew up happy, well adjusted and recently graduated from a top university with a physics degree so the battles are so worthwhile!
The link worked fine for me.
Vidya Pradhan
Done. The etsy link doesn’t seem to be working.
schrodingers_cat
Your art is beautiful. You have captured the essential catness in the picture above.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
Jacy, you’ve got all the positive energy I can send.
I’m heading off to shop, also, too.
imonlylurking
For the record, the pictures don’t do her work justice. They are GORGEOUS in person. Also, I just discovered photo albums sized to hold 5×7 prints. If you’re been holding off buying because you don’t have a space to hang anything, start a photo album.
Schmendrick
Jacy,
I am glad to hear about your positive outcome with your custody situation. I hope that and the support from your fellow jackals gets you back to living your best life sooner, rather than later.
Just used the GoGundMe link and it worked.
Schmendrick
imonlylurking
Also, too-jacy, please make a tote bag with that frog print.
joel hanes
@jeffreyw: @jeffreyw:
Thanks for the heads-up.
Two of those cat mugs are perfect for my sister, and will arrive just before her birthday.
joel hanes
both the etsy link and the gofundme link worked for me.
jacy
Gosh, I go off to run errands and come back to this. Thanks, guys. I have no words. I haven’t added everything up, but I think I’m close to having enough. Three weeks ago I was hopeless — as hopeless as I’d been during the last five years, and that’s saying something. And now I can have my kid back, and keep my house, and I’ve found that I can keep myself sane by making art, even when the rest of my brain won’t work quite right. I feel like George Bailey, I’m the luckiest guy in town. Thank you all so much. I’m literally in tears here.
jacy
@imonlylurking:
I can do tote bags! I’ve found a printer. I’m going to paint my cat, Mouse, and print myself one. He keeps looking at me wondering why I haven’t made any Mouse art……
imonlylurking
@jacy: Well, put one on your website with the frog so I can order it already!
MazeDancer
@jacy:
FYI – Zazzle does great printing. On eveything. And when they have 60% off sales, you can stock up. Cheaper than wholesale.
Now, I know you don’t want to be handling inventory, but it can pay well.
They print gorgeous PostCards and notecards – a natural line extension which people would enjoy and give as gifts. A set of 10 for $15 would clear you $10 if you could stock up. Don’t have to spend much to test.
You can put your stuff on Zazzle and feel good about the quality, but they have sales all the time, so you don’t clear much. Still, you got the art, you can choose the categories, it’s passive income.
Or perhaps your printer could do notecards, too.
Oh, and I’ve ordered totebags from them. Look great.
LivinginExile
Delurking for the first time to wish Jacy the best. I love your Etsy Store. Two of our cats are black so I had to have a black cat mug. Your print of “Be the person your dog thinks you are” hit a chord and will hang in a prominent place to remind me to do just that. My significant other of 35 years is from New Orleans and she liked your Mardi Gras posters and prints. A big thank you to the BJ front pagers and community. For years you have been my home away from home, my coffee clutch. and my saver of sanity while living in the red neck wet dream that is West Central Illinois. Good Luck and Thanks
Luciamia
Jacy, the magazine Granta is looking for art submissions. I think your work would be a good fit.
zhena gogolia
@jacy:
A tuxedo cat tote bag would be perfect for my husband!
Eljai
Just put in an order. I love Mazedancer’s suggestion above to add matching notecards, especially of the cat prints. Jacy, though I don’t comment a lot, I do enjoy reading your comments. Just after the 2016 election, your advice was so thoughtful, helpful and uplifting during those dark days and I thank you. I’m so happy to hear that things are going your way. Sending you lots of good energy for continued blessings. You deserve the best!
Kathleen
@jacy: Glad things are working out for you. Loved the picture I got. Sending you more light
WaterGirl
@jacy: Very happy to see that you are so close to getting the money you need!
I am so relieved — you must be over the moon!
Gin & Tonic
I’m not good with words of moral support, and don’t really need more art, so I just added to the gofundme, because I see you’re still not at your goal. I know things have turned around for you recently, and I’m very glad for that. Good luck.
jacy
@MazeDancer:
I’ve looked into Zazzle (I’ve ordered stuff from them before) I really want to do cards. I have some specific card designs I’ve worked on, but art gets shoved into the spaces not occupied by the day job, so it always takes longer than I want. And when I have trouble organizing, being confronted with too many choices or decisions (what to print, how to do it), I kind of blank and have to step away. But it’s definitely on my list of things I want to accomplish.
jacy
@WaterGirl:
I owe you an email — I just haven’t been able to get all my emails answered the last two days!
HinTN
@jacy: I couldn’t stand just to have the tee shirt so I just ordered the 12 x 16 print. It’s such an amazing piece!
Martin
Ok, I don’t know how I didn’t know about jacy’s Etsy work (I do know – my social skills are terrible) but we’ll be hitting that this weekend.
jacy
@imonlylurking:
Done. I’ll put up some more later. But anyone who would like a piece of art in some form that’s not already up on the website can just send me a custom conversation and I can list it. :)
zhena gogolia
Just ordered a tuxedo T-shirt for hubby.
TriassicSands
@jacy:
You wrote on your GFM page:
I think everyone here would agree that refunding money would be both unnecessary and a bad idea.* You are in a potentially precarious position. If you get extra money, I’d say put it away just in case. And taking just a little to do something nice for yourself that goes beyond mere survival sounds like a good idea to me. I hope others would agree.
By this time of the month my discretionary funds are always gone. I’ve saved the websites for after the first of March. If the GoFundMe account is closed, I’ll try to buy something as a gift for someone else.
Life is really not fair. It piles on good people like Jacy and gives a pass to monsters.
*Unless that is required.
Pogonip
@jacy: We’re on a strict budget at my house, but I like your stuff & we’re rooting for you!
cleek
Donated. Hope it helps!
Schmendrick
@TriassicSands: I agree. As someone who threw a few coins in the plate, I hope Jacy keeps any excess money for a future rainy day, and if she is is not comfortable with that, pay it forward.
Johannes
Jacy,
La Caterina and I agree with TriassicSands; no need to refund if you surpass your goal as far as we are concerned.
Every good wish!
CatFacts
Just wanted to offer a few words of support from a fellow jackal!
WaterGirl
@TriassicSands: Could not agree more!
citizen scientist
Thanks for the reminder AL. I don’t have the scratch for any art right now, but I added some coin to the gfm. I will definitely check out jacy’s art when I get paid next. Jacy, really hope you’re feeling ok and getting the medical things figured out.
TriassicSands
@TriassicSands:
Forget that.
Screw discretionary funds.
Screw this time of the month.
Screw March first (who says I’ll still be around in two weeks).
That’s what credit cards are for, right?
Not much, but something for the time being.
Jacy, I hope this puts an end to the worst of your financial problems. My guess is that as long as B-J exists you’ll have a place to turn for help if you need it.
Your artwork is beautiful. I hope to be able to buy something as a gift. I’m at the point where I need to be subtracting from not adding to my own possessions. It’s amazing what one accumulates over the years. I have more art than I have wall space and even rotating barely makes a difference.
All my best. Heal, mend, and keep making art.
EL
I had to have it once I saw the “Home is where the cat is” mug. Thank you for creating things we’re bound to love and celebrating the pet obsession among the BJ community. I hope things go better for you this year.
dexwood
@TriassicSands:
Co-signed. Keep any extra, jacy, you never know.
jacy
@TriassicSands:
That was really just in case the mortgage company was going to let me refinance instead of making the balloon payment — then things might have been way different. I wasn’t going to keep a lot of money if I only ended up paying a couple thousand dollars. But after much negotiation, they did not let me refinance, so it’ll be the full amount.
WereBear
@jacy: Bastards! What’s it to them?
satby
@WereBear: that’s so kind, thank you!
@jacy: I’m tapped out this minute (woke up to a pending balance of $-53 ?, but it’s all balanced now), but am sending some scratch when I get my moochers check Wednesday. And I wanted to ask you if I could get a picture of the cover art on one of TaMara’s books that you did. TTYL about it!
WereBear
@satby: I blitzed your Skinluvvers products in the lead up to the holidays: angle was “Every purchase helps rescue animals!”
Glad to do it: Social media is also a voracious beast, in need of constant feeding :)
jacy
@WereBear:
I think, but I’m not sure, that when the valuation came in higher than we thought, they figured they could make a decent profit by just taking the house. The good thing is, when the dust settles I’ll have a lot more equity than I thought. I don’t know how some of that works, but they didn’t deny my petition until after the valuation was logged. But I don’t care, as long as I can stay here until the kids are out of school! That’s really all I want out of life, is just a safe place for the kids until they are able to fly the nest. :) After that, the boyfriend and I can run off and live in a lighthouse somewhere with just our critters.
jacy
@satby:
Yes, I can make you a print of the cover — with or without text?
And that reminds me, I need to make an order for shampoo bars, soap and oil. Its the only thing I use, and I’ve gotten spoiled. :)
oatler.
Ken Nordine RIP
satby
@WereBear: my mortgage company wouldn’t renegotiate my mortgage either after the tree fell on my house. $30k worth of damage on a house that was at least $25k underwater in the market. I mailed in the keys, and the mortgage company dumped it on HUD for the amount I was trying to get it to. It dropped another $30k while HUD was trying to sell it as is. And everyone but me got to write off the losses. Our tax system encourages screwing over consumers.
satby
@jacy: I’ll hit you offline!
imonlylurking
@jacy: please don’t wait until the last day. Pay the day before-I will make up any difference you need- and then confirm on the last day that everything is posted. I don’t trust your bank.
jacy
@satby:
They hadn’t done a valuation on my house since the Great Floods of Baton Rouge. Since I live in one of the two little islands that had absolutely no flooding, my house shot up in value apparently. So there’s that. I just need to squeak through 4 more years until the youngest kid turns 18, and then the world is my oyster. Or whatever portion of my oyster I can drag the boyfriend to. I’m thinking New Mexico.
TriassicSands
@jacy:
Naturally, I’m overwhelmed by their compassion. I’m sure I speak for everyone here at B-J, our first concern was for the mortgage company.
I hope you can do something for yourself above and beyond surviving and just managing to pay the bills (not that those aren’t the most important things).
jacy
@imonlylurking:
I am going to wire the money four days early and then make them confirm on the spot that they have it and that it’s square. I don’t trust any institution!
jacy
@TriassicSands:
My first goal is to get the transmission leak in the car fixed. That, to me, is a luxury, but I’m a simple girl. :)
JanieM
@TriassicSands:
Seconded.
Jacy, I love your artwork and bought a piece as a birthday present for my daughter the other day. You’ve also done a couple of book covers for her, which I love. If I ever finish the book I’m endlessly working on, I’ll know where to go for a cover. :-)
Melusine
Ordered a couple of the prints. They’re gorgeous and I can’t wait to see them in person. Sending best wishes and hugs your way, and fiftieth-ing the comments above – who knows what else might happen. Don’t worry about refunds. Focus on doing what you need to do to recover. We’ve all been there at one time or another. You help other people when you can, and hopefully when you need help, someone will be there for you. It’s the only way any of us can get through the world. It’s also why we need a big social safety net. So people in a position to help can reach out to everybody who needs it. May you find your lighthouse some day soon. Your light already shines strong and true through your art.
Victor Matheson
My kids loved their Valentine’s Day prints of black cats. One got the breath and shadow picture above and the other a lucky black cat print. The fact that we have a black cat was, of course, the clincher.
Mnemosyne
@jacy:
Random advice that may not work for you since I am not an actual expert and don’t know your full medical situation: it might be helpful for you to page through a few of the books that give organizing tips for people with ADHD. A lot of ADHD issues are because of problems with working memory and executive function, so some of the organizing strategies may work for you right now. There are a LOT of apps and tools out there now to support those of us with working memory problems, so you may want to use some of them to come up with new processes. As I can tell you from struggling with undiagnosed ADHD for decades, beating yourself up for not being able to remember things doesn’t actually help you remember things when the underlying problem is medical.
Mnemosyne
Also, I agree with everyone else about any overage: stash it away for a rainy day and pay it forward once you feel like things are stable again.
WereBear
That sounds heavenly :)
Laura Too
Thinking good thoughts on your continued recovery and your plan for your life.
TriassicSands
@jacy:
So, getting a leak in the transmission will put a smile on your face. OK. I understand.
I didn’t see any note cards on your Etsy site. I would think a set of cat cards would be attractive and popular. And a set of mixed critter cards, too.
Steve in the ATL
Save any leftover money for a well-earned male hookers and blow binge
geg6
Got a lovely piece for my niece and her husband as a housewarming gift. They just bought a house and they are big dog lovers. Just have to get it framed. She’s going to love it. ♥️
imonlylurking
@jacy: Good. I got curmudgeonly the second I read that they waited for the valuation to come in before making a decision. The only part of my old job that I miss was getting to hold banks accountable to the fine print in the documents they signed.
P.S. Some of the animal tarot prints are not showing up on the animal tarot section.
debbie
@jacy:
Four days early is a very good plan. In fact, the earlier, the better.
Miss Bianca
Wasn’t much, Jacy, byt it was some. Keep the faith!
karensky
I contributed a bit earlier in the day so i wanted to check the total. Jack met her goal! Great jackal and great jackals.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
Gave my little bit even though apparently Jacy’s over the top by now.
Full disclosure: just got an instapot based on credit card points, so the $$$ that would otherwise go to the instapot are now available for jacy. Keep up the good work!
KJSBrooklyn
Well, the featured print is sold out, so that’s good too. Will buy it when it’s reprinted.
lurker dean
very happy to check this morning and see, as others have noted, that Jacy’s over the amount needed now!! great news!