Hello from Ragonia! (Patreon)

Hello Patrons, Art Town Residents! It's been a long time since I've updated!

My true apologies for those of you who've been expecting monthly updates. Somehow this year I have fallen off HARD in my routine of writing a Patreon update every month like I've done for... is it 5 years now? And by that I mean I haven't shared an update in all 6 months of 2023.

But I wanted to pop back into your internet space to say that your patronage hasn't been going to waste, I'm still out here making art. The way that I share about it has just changed. I've been livestreaming on Twitch almost every Wednesday, hanging out with a lot of you while I sketch, experiment, and work.

Sketches from a livestream a few months ago.

I've also been sharing my sketches and new art in the Ragonia's Studio channel of the Ragonia Discord. The Discord has really been my absolute favorite place on the internet to see art, talk about art, and share what I make lately, as places like Instagram have for me become places of distraction, shame, and pressure. If you've been missing seeing my art, I highly recommend joining the Discord! It's been seriously fun. But I will also aim to be better about posting my new art and other updates to this Patreon. Because you deserve to get extra special treatment as my Patron!!

My table at Vancouver Comics Arts Festival - my favorite yet.

Besides streaming this year I've been thrilled to be returning BIG TIME to tabling at conventions, and it's been going better than ever!! This year so far I've tabled at:

• Emerald City Comic Con - Seattle, WA
• Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo - Chicago, IL
• Vancouver Comics Arts Festival - Vancouver, BC

And reserved for later this year I have:

Ghosts of Summer PDX - July 29-30 - Portland, OR

Seameow Con - August 12-13 - Seattle, WA

Rose City Comic Con - September 22-24 - Portland, OR

Geek Girl Con - October 7-8 - Seattle, WA

Lightbox Expo - October 27-29 - Pasadena, CA

And I was waitlisted for New York Comic Con so.... cross your fingers for me that a table opens up!

I moved my shop from Etsy to Squarespace this year, and to be honest I have had miniscule sales from the internet this year, and no client projects. I'm grateful for the support from conventions because otherwise I'd be looking for other work right now.

A lil throwback to my first ever table in 2018.

So far just from my first three conventions and Patreon I've made $25,000 gross... so I am very hopeful that this will be my first year that I reach my goal of making a $40k salary!! Having this little bit more of financial stability has helped my creativity and mental health immensely, and I appreciate your part in that so much! :)

An advance copy of the book I illustrated for!

Another update I'm happy to share is the book illustration job that I worked on and hinted about from 2020-2022 is now available for preorder AND my editor just sent me an advance copy!

One of my favorite spreads - Frida Kahlo.

It's surreal to see something that I worked on for so long starting 3 years ago finally printed and in real life. I think I should have a livestream talking about the process of working on the book, what do you think?

Steering a lil catamaran in Antigua with my sister - I did listen to the Sea of Thieves and Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack while we were out there.

I've also been enjoying traveling to new and old places - like to Chicago for C2E2, Atlanta to celebrate the wedding of some good friends, and Antigua to celebrate my grandfather (and Patron!) Larry's 80th Birthday with family!

A mock up idea for our wedding outfits, with our venue in the background.

Not to mention planning me and Zach's own small wedding for later this year. After much back and forth I finally found my wedding fit in the form of a 1930's wedding dress from a thrift store! After deep cleaning the old rayon satin and replacing the heavily frayed lace, I've got a super cool dress that cost less than $100.

So much more fun stuff is coming this year, and I'm going to be much better at sharing it with you Residents. It's been a really lovely year, I've often thought my favorite year yet. And I can genuinely thank my friends, family, psychiatric medication, light daily exercise, and you supporters of artists for that. Babies, I am feeling GOOD lately, and I am loving it. Thank you. :)

Back again soon with more arty goodness!