Happy February!
Did January fly by for anyone else? It was a busy month, and I have a lot of updates for you. But first, welcome to all new subscribers! This is the Monthly Newsletter where I share updates about the past month. It’s also great when I get to hear about your month, so feel free to leave a comment at the end of the newsletter :)
What I have for you this month:
An updated shop:
I updated all my product photos with mock-ups, and I’m really excited about how it turned out! Check it out here and let me know what you think.
I’ve been having a lot of fun getting back to some traditional materials like the gouache in the floral birthday card below. I hope to create more of these hand painted designs for you.
Commissions
Commissions are on hold right now… because I potentially have an exciting project that will take a few months (fingers crossed!) Don’t worry though — you can sign up here to book a future spot, especially if you’re thinking about a custom map for a wedding or other event. I once did an illustrated map for a 50th wedding anniversary, which was very sweet since it highlighted all the places in the couple’s love story.
February Zoom Meet-up
This month’s meet-up is on February 8 at 11 AM EST / 4PM London. Everyone is welcome to join for an hour of sketching and chatting. I will be preparing a sketching activity again, which I’m already very excited about. The zoom link will be sent closer to the date.
Freebie
Thank you for showing so much love and support to my art. Here are two coloring pages for you, one for Black History Month and one for Valentine’s Day:
Updates on last month:
I left my teaching job…
I have been in the classroom for nearly a decade. I taught second grade, fourth grade, and was also a reading specialist. My last day was very bittersweet. I had been at this school for six years and watched so many kids grow up. It was strange to walk out the door on the last day, so I am focusing on the beginning of this next chapter as an illustrator. Now is the time to give it a real chance.
Some of you have been here since the first newsletter and/or the first post on Instagram. You have believed in me and pushed me to get to this point. I believe that I can make this “art thing” work because I feel so supported. Truly from the bottom of my heart, thank you. And to those who have just joined this community, I’m so excited to grow alongside you—we’re in this together!
Portfolio Submissions:
I submitted my portfolio to 10 agencies for representation. Now it’s just a waiting game, so in the meantime I’ll be busy creating new pieces, drawing more cards, taking classes, and adjusting to life as a somewhat full time illustrator (I also work part-time as a museum educator).
Classes:
Anyone else taking some courses right now? I’m taking two: Watercolor at the MFA in Boston and Portfolio Bootcamp with Make Art That Sells. It has been so rejuvenating to take an in-person class and use actual paint. It’s a beginner class so we started by testing and mixing colors, and now we’re on to painting fruit.
The first assignment for Portfolio Bootcamp was to design a journal cover. I experimented with a floral + architectural mash up. I want to tweak a few details, but I need to let it sit for a few days since I just finished it yesterday. What do you think about it?
Weekly Artists Newsletters:
Remember you can subscribe to the Weekly emails, Monthly emails, or both. Adjust your settings by clicking “unsubscribe” at the bottom of the newsletter.
Here are the Weekly Artists Newsletters from January:
Happy Pets Week:
A super fun and adorable challenge happened in January: Happy Pets Week! Check out the hashtag #happypetsweek2023 to see tons of adorable dogs, cats, and even dragons. Here are two of my entries for the challenge:
Your Monthly Pup-date:
As we’re talking about pets… here’s Auggie! He was very patient for this photoshoot despite wanting to run in the sand.
And that’s it!
See you next week for the another
question!Katie
Sounds like quite an eventful month!
I hope you hear back from the agents I like your work.
Of course I'd love to join the zoom meeting :)
Firstly,Congrats on submitting to 10 agencies! I absolutely love your journal cover!
I would love doing an in-person class too..everything is virtual now!
looking forward to seeing the updates!