The more things change, the more they stay insane.

(Left) Andrew Sloan with one of his last collaborative works with artist Heather Gottfried. (Right) The "Dre" character based on him in Pagan Zoetrope.

The last three weeks have been a blur and a hell of a lot of stress, peppered with a significant amount of sadness, change, and abrupt things happening.

I was struggling through trying to find my feet with work and creating stuff for an upcoming show when just a few days back, I found out that one of my best friends, Andrew suddenly had passed away.

I sat out in my backyard watching the birds at the feeders hanging from my tree, and felt a loneliness and sadness creep over me that was just haunting, and I thought and later wrote down...

Death has escorted my dear friend and fellow artist, Andrew Sloan, to the lands where I cannot venture.

I know not what lays beyond this world, except for an old stone bridge I once glimpsed as a youth before being brought back from a serious drowning incident in New Mexico.

Wherever you are my dear friend, I will miss your humor, your view on the world, and the meet ups we had talking about the corporate bullshit of companies, and your love of your children the many times we sat at Crown Center.

Rest in peace, and may all the colors of your desire be at your fingertips so that you paint the sunset tonight in a defiant Angry Irish way that only you could.

I first met Andrew in illustration class at CMSU (UCM now) in Warrensburg Missouri, and we had a mutual love of Warhammer, video games, history, pirates, art, brunettes, and heavy metal music. Always a fellow of serious seeming outset, he had a seriously bizarre humor to life and was one of the toughest and most hardcore dudes I have ever known, with a heart of gold that came to full fruition with the birth of his two children some years later.

Our paths touched over the years as we did gallery shows together on occasion, played games, and eventually both ended up working at Hallmark at various times. But he ever stayed a friend, tried and true.

I thought long and hard about actually retiring his character of Dre from the stories of Pagan Zoetrope, but I have decided otherwise. Andrew had a lot more to say and do in life than he was given time to do in the 40 years he had here on earth.

There is an old saying that so long as names are spoken, then people are never really dead or forgotten. Rest in peace wherever you are buddy, I will keep telling your stories.

Mandy and Melanie. Mandy with headphones.

Thanks to those of you that reached out to me and asked how I'm doing. I'm breathing. I'm still fighting, learning, and working on art. Nothing really stops that. In some weird ways, my creative push for working on news issues of Pagan Zoetrope has reignited in a series of ways that I had not anticipated, but will be sharing over the coming months.

Of course, when I feel down, I sink into side hobbies on occassion, and Pokemon Go! (which I did a recent podcast about), has been a good mental sidebar for me to cling to.

I know it shows level 9, but I just today hit level 17,

I know the game has been getting a lot of heat recently from a good portion of it's players, because of the radar aspect, and some other glitches in the game, but for me, it's also been a wild social experiment to observe from not only a marketing standpoint, but how overwhelming the demand for a vastly popular app can be on server strain, demographic grab, and handling a legacy IP like Pokemon for new and old fans alike.

It's something that as I began working on my own game designs and concept artwork for some of my own ideas, I've allowed to swim in my head. Hey, if you can, learn from the movers and shakers when it comes to not only triumphs, but tribulations as well.

Concept game art, featuring a cameo of the Tourbillion ship from my wip novel, Gauge and the Emerald Children.

I got to working on the game I have in development, using this insane game engine platform program called BuildBox, and the trial was just amazing. It's one of the next goals I hope to save for and use my Patreon income towards.

Last version of the side scrolling game I was working on.

And of course, I am getting ready for KCCC, and will be there, once AGAIN, on a corner booth (I don't know how this keeps happening to me at shows, but I like that. I like it a lot.), with some of the newest art I have featured in my illustration portfolio area, as various sized reproductions, as well as a few new wood panel originals for sale as well.

For any of you looking, I will have a giant banner with Artisan Rogue and Mandy on it, and the table will have my logo on it, and the walls will be black carpeted panels, and I will have art you will want on your walls and if you've not read Pagan Zoetrope, there will be graphic novels and issues of it available for you to purchase (and each one comes with some extras as well).

Be sure to check Twitter (@theartisanrogue) and follow me on there to see where the hell I am in the show, because like the elusive Nessie, no one but people with blurry cameras, can ever seem to find me.

Expect photos and updates galore after the dust from KCCC has settled, but while you wait, check out all the rest of the great streamlining I've been doing to the site here. Including the new page for ICWXP!

Until next time, support your local artists, call up that friend or family member you've been meaning to, be kind to your fellow beings, and always take the path less traveled!

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Podcaster, Writer, Toy Collector, and Animal Rights Activist

www.theartisanrogue.com