Rethink

The past few years have been challenging, to say the least! First with COVID, which caused many small businesses to collapse or go deep into debt. I chose the latter thanks to Johnson’s ‘Bounce Back Loan’ scheme, which is now requesting unaffordable repayments each month. Then BREXIT happened and suddenly our shelves were empty and the cost of living sky-rocketed to say the least, which had the knock-on effect of triggering a rise in interest rates. Then the Tories had a cabinet shuffle, a new leader and a moronic chancelor, who caused the markets to crash, with his new budget in late 2022, which had the knock-on effect of freezing the UK’s spending, as the Bank of England rose interest rates AGAIN!

The end result of this clusterf**k was that I took no new bookings between October 2022 and March 2023, leading to much stress and concern on my part. I found myself in survival mode, selling my material goods, applying for menial jobs (to no response) and claiming Universal Credit allowance (£300 pcm) to put food on my table, while my debts rose and loomed heavier daily.

Meanwhile the caricature community swole and welcomed dozens of new artists to the business, thus depleeting available work even more. Fortunately for me, I somehow managed to go viral on Instagram, which saw my following grow from 2000 to 162,000, almost overnight! I quickly made use of my new audience, advertising my studio commissions to a hungry public, the resulting orders kept me ticking over until late 2022, for which I was grateful. My new-found popularity also lead to invitations from abroad, to draw and speak at European caricature events, in Zurich, Izmir (Turkey), Buzau (Romania) and Vienna, which meant a whirlwind of a summer in 2022 for me!

My trips abroad also found me new love and a future wife from Bucharest – Daniela Balan, who occupies my heart and my time, with plans for a future together, so 2022 had its hi-points to counter the lows of my country’s failing economy.

In October of 2022 we became engaged, to my great delight. Daniela has certainly becme the catalist I needed for change and my life is now flowing towards a very different future ahead. We have explored ways for us to be together, but thanks to BREXIT this has become impossible in the UK; a Spouse Visa costs around £5000 to apply for, plus inflated tax bills to prove my income, costing an extra £5000 before our application can be considered and possibly rejected. After 6 months of constant brick walls in my country, I decided our future had a better chance in a warm, welcoming country – Romania. I have decided to leave the UK and make a new start with my young bride in Bucharest, Romania, where Visas are simple and inexpensive, the cost of living is affordable and opportunities for work are plenty, in this blossoming European state.

So our challenges begin, firstly with our forthcoming wedding in Bucharest which itself saw many hurdles, including the procurement of my divorce papers from South Africa, but the necessary paperwork has now been sourced and translated, ready for our big day! Then we must apply for a Long Stay (spouse) Visa for Romania, so I can live and work there for upto 5 years, before becoming a citizen and applying for domestic status. But I am fortunate to have many new friends in Romania, all willing to help make the transition smooth, which makes me grateful. Our living situation is uncertain as yet, as is my work status, but I hope to register a new company and generate work by the beginning of 2024, working alongside my beautiful artist wife, Daniela.

Meanwhile, my business challenges at home continue, as wedding exhibitions flop and Google ads have limited resuts, I must assume the market here is either flooded or stagnant, as people hang on to their pennies and make entertainment their last priority. I occasionally receive requests for quotes, where I am competing with dozens of new, cheaper artists, for drawing jobs. But I had no work in January, February or March and May is also baron, so my future here looks bleak to say the least – not much reward for 30 years of hard work, championing my industry and teaching future generations of caricaturists. Always the survivor, I have channelled my skills into lectures and workshops, backed up by my first book (written during 2020 lockdown) which has given me the confidence to teach others and share my knowledge, knowing it is valued.

So I am rethinking my future, my role as a husband, a teacher and an artist, with bold new plans for Romania, while wrapping up my business in the UK. My days now are spent selling the contents of my home and office, which will have no place in Romania. This includes discarding my new advertising banners, 32″ monitor and advertising parephenalia, along with my book collection, my A0 drawing board and art materials, thus limiting my Romanian office to just a PC, printer and iPad. Its hard to dismantle a 30 year old business, but very cathartic at the same time – realising what basics I need to survive and put cash in my pocket. A large part of my future plans involve Passive Income – a trickle of cash from book sales, video sales (my lectures), Instagram income and online commissions. Its not a bad thing to plan ahead for a future where I can live in the Transylvanian hills, with my wife and children, surviving on passive income and workshops… Life could be worse 😉

As for the UK? I can no longer afford my inflating mortgage or my loan repayments, so I have successfully consolidated my finances and intend to rent my property out, while I build a new life in Romania. I must say, after 13 years of Tory rule, I simply cannot take any more selfishness or lies and I no longer feel at home here. Romania may be 30+ years behind the UK in economic and social development, but we could learn a whole lot from them when it comes to family values and community care. I feel welcomed and appreciated in Romania and I look forward to my new European family 🙂