Please Read If You Have Wondered Where I Have Been

Hey everyone,

My life has been such a crazy roller coaster ride for the past year in a half. I just wanted to apologize for not being on DA as often anymore. I promise to get to all the comments and things as soon as I can. It seems not as many people are on DA anymore. Probably because of how easy it is to post on other things like IG, and Facebook, but I want to continue to show my work here, and give back to a community that has given me a ton.

My life and my family’s lives were hit by a major hurdle Oct. 2014 when my father was diagnosed with brain cancer. He has a tumor called a Glioblastoma, which is a grade 4 tumor. This type of tumor is a very aggressive growing tumor, and currently has no cure. My father has always been the bread winner in my family, very athletic, and hard working. He was always pretty healthy. The news of the cancer was sudden, and completely out of nowhere, and brought shock waves to my family, and friends. My father who was the guy everyone relied on, now was no longer able to work, drive, and now had to rely on others. That caused him to become very depressed, and in return caused me to as well.

The doctors initially gave my father just six months, and started him on multiple levels of radiation, and treatment. For the first few months it seemed he wasn’t getting much good news, and finally when the doctors wanted to put him on a new treatment that sounded evasive with a very low chance of success a friend of mine called me and asked if my father wouldn’t mind talking to a Brain tumor research center, The Chris Elliott Foundation, and see if possibly we can come up with different options. Chris Elliott was the best thing ever for my father. We switched medical teams, and started him on a new clinical trial. Since he has been on the trial we have been getting good news. He hasn’t had any new tumor growth since, and he feels less depressed. I owe so much to that dear friend of mine, and to the Chris Elliott Foundation.

This year and a half has given me other hardships. My girlfriend and I broke up. It has been super hard for me. I still think about her daily and it’s almost been a year since we broke up. She is an amazing woman, and I truly wish her all the best in the world.

I completely understand that everyone in life faces extremely tough things, and I am not in any way trying to say my life is harder than any others. I just thought I would share the reasons I have been absent from Deviant Art for a bit. The depression really took its toll on me, but I am happy to say that my feet are more grounded, and I have taken steps to keep my head a float, and to not drown in depression. I promise I’ll really try and make an attempt to post, and keep up more here on DA.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I truly appreciate anyone who takes the time to view my art, and appreciates my craft.

I really do love this community, Thank you for what you have given me.

-Josh