Friday Thoughts (Ep. 51)

Greetings and salutations, Patrons and friends! It's Ragon again, typing atcha from Seattle, Washington on this sunny and (dare I say it) slightly humid Friday! The sun is shining outside, Pumpkin is napping on the coffee table like a weirdo, and a peppy Classic Oldies playlist is boppin' out of my iPad. 

Before we get started I wanted to say welcome again to our 5 new patrons in the last two weeks.  Jocelyn, Mariana, Christina, Claudia, and Mallory, welcome to the Ragonia Patreon! Thank you so much for your support! xoxo

So, now for the Friday Thoughts. It has been a busy time in Ragonia lately, with a lot of Business seeds coming to fruition at the same time, and I'm excited to share that fruit with you!

Seattle Storm Game Day Poster!

This project has been a pretty long time coming; my game day poster for the Seattle Storm women's basketball team. Back in March I was designed this poster for the team as part of their new charity initiative, they sell 50 local artist designed posters at each game and the proceeds go to a local youth art charity.

Each artist was paid with $200, a signed copy of the poster, and two tickets to their game day (mine was the special Kid's Day, and there were so. many. kids.)  

They also brought me on to the court before the game started to say thank you for the design! Zach and I aren't big sports people, and I'd never been to a basketball game before, but it was such a fun new experience! Basketball feels fairly simple to follow, which was good for us.

I'm really glad I got to experience this, but there are a still loose ends that I'm working on finishing up with them. They still haven't paid the artists yet (they said payment would be sent on June 1st, and another artist contacted me to check if I hadn't been paid yet either.) They also for some reason had me pose with the signed poster but then took it away after, so I asked if they're going to mail it, because I definitely want it! They also shared each poster on their social media, but didn't credit the artists until someone asked. I think this is all happening because it's a new program, but it's still a bit of a bummer. Big clients are infamous for taking a ridiculously long time to pay their artists, so I guess this is my first unfortunate taste of that. Don't worry, I'm continuing to follow up! I will get paid!

UPDATE: As I finished writing this I got my check in the mail! Only a month and a half late, but still paid!

West Elm Pop-Up!

Thanks to a super helpful recommendation from artist, patron, and generally amazing person Jennifer, I had the joy of tabling at the Seattle West Elm store last Saturday. I'd never had a pop-up at a furniture/home decor shop and I was so interested to see how my work would sell at this kind of venue. If anything, it was really satisfying seeing my art in such a beautiful shop.

The pop-up ended up being really fun! Prints were definitely the top seller here, which is unusual for me. I suppose people were in an interior decor mood if they were shopping at West Elm. All of the employees were very sweet and supportive, and I was even blessed with a visit from my patron Jennifer and her husband Aaron!

I highly recommend you check out your local West Elm to see if they do artist pop-ups. Or even just contact local stores that you like and see if they'd be interested in doing an event like this.

Peddler Brewing: Keep the Pint Night!

Another event that's been in the making since spring coming to fruition! A local brewery does an amazing monthly event where they sell a limited number of pint glasses designed by a local artist, and invite the artist to come and sell their merch. I go to this brewery all the time because it's in my neighborhood, has an amazing vegan food truck, affordable beer on tap, and a huge awesome beer garden.

The event was absolutely amazing! I was visited by another wonderful patron/artist/super rad person, Kaila, and met her husband, friends, and cutie greyhound Greer. I also met some super sweet people who follow me on Instagram, and so many wonderful, supportive, and enthusiastic new friends!

 The Peddler team told me that this was one of the busiest Keep the Pint nights of the year. They sold out of my glasses early in the afternoon and had to start selling the last month's designs. 

Meeting and seeing all these delightful people and friends, selling out of my glasses, getting a free beer and vegan Philly Cheezesteak hot dog, and selling  bunches of merch (including one of my original Rabbit paintings!) means this was one of my absolute favorite pop-up events of my career so far.

Part of the success came from contacting the vegan food truck to see if they would promote the event a little extra, and tell their followers that I'm a local vegan artist! Vegans love supporting other vegans! Basically, I used my niche to my advantage! 

Mox Boarding House Wholesale!

My second wholesale order came Mox, a local game shop/ restaurant/ bar this month. I asked an employee for a merchandise coordinator contact, then emailed that contact with my portfolio and shop link to see if they'd be interested in stocking any of my art. They responded in a few hours with an order for 20 of my handmade cat pins!

I'll swing by when I can to take a picture of my art in a real shop for the first time!

Noissue Paper Collab!

I received my order of custom tissue paper from Noissue this week, and I wanted to give you all the first sneak peek! The paper is so much bigger than I expected, and the color and quality is absolutely beautiful. I'll be wrapping all of my shirt, tote bag, and other soft apparel orders in this tissue paper instead of plastic bags.

As soon as I got it I had to quickly test it out and wrap a t-shirt. As part of the collaboration Noissue requested that I share some nice photos of the paper on Instagram. I'm so excited to add another layer of branding, fun, and eco-friendliness to my packaging! What do you guys think, am I lookin' profesh yet? Maybe if I don't say 'profesh'?

Drawing, Preparing, Whew!

In addition to all these markets, collabs, and events, I've been working on some new letterpress greeting card designs and my last portrait commissions until October. I decided to close portraits until the holiday season to allow myself some free time to make new products for... the holiday season.

Busy times, you guys! Just what I wanted last year during all those big slow periods. I keep thinking things are going to slow down but... Maybe they won't. Maybe I'll just adjust, get used to a busier schedule, get better at handling it. Most importantly, hopefully I'll learn to create some space between when I'm working and not.

I'd love your suggestions: how do you create boundaries between 'working' and 'not working', especially when you work from home? How do you create room for yourself to do anything besides working and life maintenance (groceries, cleaning, etc.)? I'd love any suggestions, resources, or thoughts.

Thanks for reading, supporting me, and listening to my little dramas. I wish you a rejuvenating weekend full of joy, snacks, and sparkly beverages.

xoxo

Ragon