Hi there d7mcfc, truly sorry to hear of your situation. And boy does that sound familiar, too.
I went freelance for basically the same reason. The architectural firm I was a designer for was starting to have money problems and I knew it wouldn't be long before they'd have to let me go. I also decided to get the jump on them a take the risk to go freelance, and very happy I did. It was definitely hard going the first couple of years, but again, it was so worth it in the end (if that helps any).
FYI, your timing might be pretty good here, as I'm going to start outsourcing some of my modeling work and will be looking for some quality freelancers. I've got quite a bit of stuff needing to be worked on, mostly large residential house (8000 to 40000+ SF monsters), and of course with a lot of detail. Looking at some of your work here you look like you've got a good eye for detail (which I find very important). So you could be the right person for this.
Here's a couple example of basically what I'm looking for...
http://www.thepixelartist.com/c2006005/ ... ndex.htm#1
http://www.thepixelartist.com/c2006005/ ... 1-1200.jpg
Here's one I've started on this last week (the 40,000 SF monster, lord help me...)
http://www.thepixelartist.com/c2006005/ ... ndex.htm#8
Anyhow, drop me a line if your interested.
Adrian Brown
The Pixel Artist Illustration
employment@thepixelartist.com
P.S. Anyone else interested, please feel free to contact me as well. I am also looking for full time help if anyone happens to live in the west suburbs area of Chicago (or interested in moving there). 3D modeling/illustration and also web/java/flash development person. (sorry, kind of hijacking your thread there a bit)