So, if you've been watching my vlogs on youtube, you are probably aware that I have been preparing for a small local craft fair. It's happening on the 27th, and I think I'm pretty well set up now. Just a few things left on the list! This weekend I've mostly finalized my pegboard display - which was a slice of pegboard, framed with some thin lengths of wood for support (pegboard is kinda bendy otherwise).

This is not high tech. Here's a closeup of the ugly feet. They are random pieces of 1x4", fastened to the board using wall brackets. Strength is a high priority for me on this, so I'm giving it as much foot as it wants. The back of the feet will be held to the table with a large vice grip, just in case. I'm hoping to place another board of some kind over the front feet in order to a) hide them and b) regain a level tier to place baskets in front.

Here it is, disassembled, painted and leaning in my rough attempt to fit everything together. This is such an important step because most places only give you an hour or so to set up. There's no time to regroup when something doesn't work, or you had more stock than you thought, or a display piece needs repair/customization. I discovered that I have too many handmade books.

The hardest part is hanging art on this board. Gallery walls are NOT a strength of mine! And this small panel is so limited. I think the old hoops would be well suited for a casual craft fair, but I have so many paintings that I love dearly that would look good on this wall and I can only bring a few of them. How do you decide?

Pegboard hooks didn't work in this instance so I had to get clever. For the lightweight items, I used short pieces of wooden dowels that fit through the holes. This will work very well and I can move them around easily.

The glass framed paintings though? Terrifying. I worried that they would just slip off and crash. Instead of dowels, I used some old bolts. The head of the bolt will keep the frames' wire from slipping off. There are locking nuts on the back just in case the bolt itself wants to slip out. The tension and the length of the bolt makes it seem unlikely, but better to be safe about it. It's holding well and looking kind of nice!

Details about the event:

Crafty Affaire Spring Market
Saturday April 27th 2019
10am - 5pm
Ocean Park Community Hall
1577 128 street, Surrey BC

Come check it out!

In my neighbourhood, April is poetry month. that means I should really be ramping up production in my found poetry journal I guess. I'm getting close to feeling "prepared" for Crafty Affaire, so maybe I will have time soon. Of course, it also begins another fresh month of Sketching Club... The theme for April is Fungus Among Us! It's a mushroom theme.

Above is a sneak peek at what I sent the chrysalis tier in the mail. An original sketch is guaranteed, but I also like to add random scraps of things I've been working on recently. Or anything lightweight that looks interesting.

I spent an awful lot of time building sketchbooks out of a big pack of coloured cardstock. Rainbow journals!

I'm also putting together a few pretty framed faux butterflies...

Before the craft fair though, this weekend is the artist reception for Just Gates, a gate themed juried exhibition in Surrey. Come check it out! I will be there, and usually there are brownies.

Just Gates Artist Reception
Saturday, April 13 2019
Newton Cultural Centre (72 ave at King George)

This week I had an extra day off (YUSSSSSS!) in which I began the process of a million different things I wanted to do, yet didn't finish them. Except I made pins of all the polymer clay I had left, I finished the 54 cards for the swap late last night, and I folded 200 sheets of cardstock in a rainbow of colours which are now sitting on my desk teasing me with their beauty. Journals are coming.

March 25: How it's made

There are very few things I do these days that aren't accompanied by video footage. Don't forget that I have a youtube channel where you can watch my experiments and playtime come to life!

March 26: Self Care

My first instinct is to consider food - I seem wired to be food-centric and few things strike me with such intensity as the MIGHTY NEED for a java chip frap on a summer's day. HOWEVER, I have to concede that gardens are my self care. I take such joy in watching a thing grow right in front of my eyes. I'm kind of lousy at it, so in the winter/late summer I have to search out other gardens to find my peace. It's almost bug season! :D

March 27: Anything goes

Here's a sneak peek of next week's ATC video. They're not extravagant, but there's 54 of them! :O A few different styles. Above is a small batch set. It's usually better to cover a large piece at one time, and then chop it up into card size later.

March 28: Packaged

I don't really "package" things in the sense that this prompt was intended. For these individual trading cards that we're giving away at the Crafty Affaire, I'm using these super thick card holders, of which I accidentally got TOO MANY. But that's because they are being put into swag bags. For online orders, I will use bubble mailers or photo mailers, and there is usually a thin layer of plastic for protection from rain, plus a postcard with a little note on it. Maybe some random stickers thrown in if you're a repeat visitor. MAYBE I will wrap something in tissue paper if I think there is no harm to it. Otherwise, I'm pretty plain jane. Even recycling doesn't fend off consumption-related guilt.

March 29: Most Difficult Make

I think anytime I wander out of the comfort zone of watercolour paintings, I run into frustrating snags. Luckily, I am fairly successful with most hands-on projects right away. Nonetheless, I have difficulty accepting limitations, such as, making zines but with a really lousy printer. Trying to work around streaks and paper jams. I made a bunch of pins which went fairly well right up until the part where I wanted them to be water-resistant. Suddenly, it becomes impossible to achieve my vision and I have to compromise. The line between Beautiful and Functional is a big, fat paint stroke and it makes me feel helpless and out of control sometimes.

March 30: Support

Here's a shoutout to the people who so regularly pop into my comment feed with their own personal life stories! I may not be able to remember ALL the tiny details, but I love hearing about real people.

Shoutout to the few people I've met on Twitch and have since all but abandoned (lol)! This work schedule has been harder on me, and I feel bad about not streaming when I get the chance. We somehow always end up talking about anime.

Shoutout to the sketching club of course! Ayla, Claudia, Brenda, Karen, Katy, Livia, Lorna, Mariah, Sena, Valerie, Tarin, and everyone past and future - you've probably had the biggest impact on not just my productivity but also my willingness to adventure.

Shoutout to my closest friends! Real life is relatively lonely, but it's nice to have a few people around who just Get You, accept the flaws, even if we see each other nearly never lol. In particular, having a real life art friend is next level and I can't wait until the next couple of Art Weekends coming right up!

March 31: Product in use/wild

Selling my own art is pretty cool but doing pet illustrations? What a WILD EXPERIENCE.

Goodbye smarch of 2019, you were unusually good to us with this incredible spring weather.

This week I've been staying up too late trying to finish the Milo zine, although I'm not sure if it was time well spent. My list of things to do is acres long.

March 18: Mistake/Lesson

I'm a very risk-adverse person generally, so really, putting my artwork out there full blast is the riskiest thing I think I've done. In 2010, I opened an etsy shop to sell my artwork, but I was woefully unprepared for it. Like most people, I discovered later that I needed to be licensed to do this legally, and so I had to shut down. 

It was a devastating and embarrassing moment, and yes, I did have a lot of people who told me that I was either too small to worry, or to be noticed and caught, so just go with it! It's so easy to find the answers you want, and tempting too. Instead of quitting (or circumventing bylaws), I struggled through the process of getting myself registered and licensed, and it kind of sucked. I still don't make enough income to justify that cost, but it was a mistake I needed to fix. And I'm lucky that I didn't learn that lesson after a $10,000 fine, either.

March 19: Dream Collaboration

I don't have anything specific (I have no sense of future, remember?), but I guess I get excited about being part of something outside of myself. I could see myself as a storybook illustrator, which sounds like an intense collaboration to me. It's the finished product that is so rewarding. Unfortunately, I have no idea how this process officially works, but I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with meeting writers and drawing pictures for them, as one would imagine (and is what happened here). It is a mystery.

March 20: Design process

Consider this a huge flaw in my work, as my design process is pretty underdeveloped. I don't live in a place that has advanced art classes in school that stress the importance of planning and developing. It's not something I've been exposed to. I admire it though. The time artists take to collect ALL ideas, to research them, to flesh them out into sketchbooks, to make many copies in many colour schemes and from many angles until everything is finally carefully laid out onto a canvas. I'm more fly by the seat of my pants. I'm more get this down before I forget. I've started doing sketchy thumbnails, and SOMETIMES, I will practice drawing a thing in different poses first. But I have a short attention span I guess, and I lose interest too quickly.

March 21: Throwback

Awww yeah here's a totally randomized throwback to a collection of ATCs I made for a large 52-piece trading card swap. It feels like yesterday! I thought this was appropriate because I'm doing it again! 54 artist trading cards, due to the USA by the end of next month. I know a lot of you don't think it's worth it in the end, but I am a SUCKER for surprise mail. Wouldn't you want 54 tiny pieces of art in your mailbox? Yeah you would.

March 22: Proud of
Yeah, I dunno. I got nothing.

March 23: Top Tip or Advice

Yo, listen up. I'm 33 years old and have little to show for it, so don't take my advice. My biggest soapbox was always the determination to Have It All. To Play it Safe. To have a paycheque from the day job and the satisfaction of making art overnight. You can be financially secure AND creative! After all, that's how big youtubers got to stay home and practice their craft - they did both until the creative work paid off. What I've learned? Creative work doesn't always pay off. The day job goes from "just a paycheque", to "time stealer". It's so much harder to appreciate a day job when you straight up Resent it with a capital R.
On the other hand, I really do get to be financially secure AND creative, so maybe it's not the worst piece of advice out there.

March 24: Customers/feedback

I know this spot was meant to showcase actual customer testimony, and I have no shortage of incredibly sweet messages that give me way too much credit (thank you so much!). Check them out if you're interested.
I want to take this random opportunity to highlight a message someone out there wrote to me back in the day. Probably back when I was posting stuff on Deviantart, before selling a single piece of art. I don't remember who it was, or the context. But it's such a generous thing, this thoughtful message of encouragement, that I had printed it out onto copy paper and tucked it away into a folder or a book to randomly stumble upon from time to time. I hope by reposting this, someone might pull a little inspiration or strength from it like I once did.

I can't say that I'm any more innovative about earth care than putting paper scraps into a recycling bin and pretending that it all doesn't just go into a different kind of landfill. But coincidentally, I had an opportunity to take my small pile of misprints and reuse them for a fat stack of ACEO to give away as swag at Crafty Affaire.

March 12: Hands at work

I really love how these cards turned out, so keep an eye out for the video on my youtube channel. If you want a chance to receive one of these cards for free at random, come check out the Crafty Affaire event in South Surrey next month. The first 25 people in the door get a free swag bag and one of these cards will be inside!

March 13: Photography

I like to give the existence of the patreon group a lot of credit for keeping me productive, even if I'm not always able to give 100% to every sketch. I would LOVE to take a vacation with my sketchbook, for instance. I would get so much down if I didn't have so much arm pain from work every day.
But other than drawing, patreon has gotten me into taking SO MANY photos that I would otherwise not. I'm building a huge database of reference photos that I can use in my art. When will I need a photo of a bee, or a fuzzy flower, or a weird duck? Maybe not today, but someday. You just have to start.

March 14: How I learnt

Oh, now it's getting into origin stories. "learning art" is so divisive and I've mostly been against the notion of being "self-taught". It's very dismissive of people who have helped you along the way.
That said, I consider myself to be a fast learner. I am a curious sort. Before Internet, the most I learned about art was in high school, even though it was the same class every year with the same teacher and the same assignments (hey, it wasn't a rich school). I have to give credit to high school teachers for giving me fundamental skills.
College was a bust - not much to gain there. Not sure how anyone can be snobby about art school to be honest.
Post Internet, the 2nd most I've ever learned about art was from you, artists abroad. See art, ask questions, find answers easily. I've tried so many new techniques from youtube that you might as well be charging me for it. I wouldn't go all out and say I feel proud to be someone to whom and artist would search for answers, since most of my videos are "first tries". But! I hope in my small way I am alerting people to fun things that Exist, and will continue existing as long as there are people seeing them and saying "oh yeah, that looks fun, I want to try it!" 
Yes, try it.

March 15: Motivation/Goals

This is the hardest thing for me, as I've always held a certain blindness to my future. I'm always in the state of mind that today, or this month or this year is all that I have left to get through so planning is my weakest point. I see people who have the exact life I wish I could have, but they are different and good by nature and deserve to be there. The best I can do is to pretend to be someone else and hope it just magically happens someday. It's not a great strategy, but like I said, I could be gone tomorrow anyway.

March 16: Workspace!

Ooh, I'm a nester. Apart from being a youtuber artist living off my art, plus having friends, plus doing whatever whenever I want, I also imagine myself in a perfect modest home with an in-home art studio, and a TOTAL HERMIT. I would go out every day to exercise and watch bugs, sure, but otherwise I would never leave. I would have space to properly display all my favourite media at arm's reach and in sight (not out of mind). Because also I prefer tidiness and the only way to keep a workspace tidy is to have a home for everything that doesn't involve opening/stacking boxes. I'm always in some minor battle between my paintbrush jar and water jar because they are both exactly in mine and each others' way and you wouldn't think something like that would be disastrous, but it is because I'm in the constant state of stressful "ticking-clock" impatience. I don't have time for your shit, Ink Bottles That Keep Falling Over.

March 17: What I'm working on

I've been committing more time than I probably should on this sudden zine I wanted to do, which is pretty much just recreating Milo's facebook group onto paper using this incredible deep-red lineart with dusty rose marker combination. I want it to be ready for Crafty Affaire, because I've wanted to make zines for YEARS now but never had a solid idea.

I hope it prints okay!

This month on the blog I wanted to take advantage of an instagram trend: #marchmeetthemaker where artists post on the theme of self reflection and sharing. Instagram is too clunky for me to use every day so I'm gathering what I would have posted here!

March 4: Tools & Materials

Yesterday, I was outlining this cat drawing (I'm thinking of making a zine for Milo) with this Copic multiliner. And while I was online shopping around for an art supply swap (!!) I'm doing soon, I realized that this pen, which I think came in some sort of mystery box, somehow costs sixteen dollars.
Maybe it was from a very expensive Inktober box and I just repressed it, but this pen has been sitting off on the shelf, only occasionally used because I have a varied selection of random black pens and this one is a bit less comfortable than most.
I wouldn't have spent sixteen bucks on a pen, had I the choice, and certainly not to just pass over it again and again. BUT! Apparently it's because you can buy new nibs for it after it wears down, and refill it after it empties, so it's meant to be a lifelong friend. Oh, well hello friend.

March 5: Detail

Here it is, a detail. I love these photos more than the full-art photos. They're the only ones that actually capture what I love about what I make, and why seeing art in person is such a different experience than seeing it on a screen or in a.... well, photo. I really hope you take the opportunity to see it if you get the chance and here is one coming up:

March 6: Full or Part-time?

I am yearning for spring, my favourite season! Ahhh to be able to open a window, watch my plants grow and my cat napping on the balcony again. Also, I'm doing the first craft fair I haven't done for a long while! Please come check it out! I believe entry is by donation, and my last experience with this particular show was super rad.
You know the topic of full/part-time is such a contentious one for me, because it's something that comes with the illusion of having no control. Someone else makes my schedule and that makes me crazy. I would love to be full-time and free, but I know that I don't have the powerful social skills that make up at least 80% of what it takes to run a business, I swear. Otherwise, I would have made it by now. Which brings me to:

March 7: Less Glam Side

Being human kind of feels like sharing one body with two people: one small voice in my head is rational and chill, but is overpowered by the other half that just panics and flails 24/7 and somehow managed to lock itself in the control room since 1990 while the rational half shouts muffled instructions under the crack in the door with little effect.

I lost my point... Oh right. I know that my life is pretty easy and good. I do pretty well at whatever my day job is at the time, I live in a visually interesting city, I eat a lot of food, I make a bunch of art. It will probably never be enough, even if I was able to make a living doing what I'm meant to. It doesn't sound like a lot to ask in a philosophical way, but also in a privileged first world kind of way. It's hard to ignore the numbers in a world that only values numbers. I am ungrateful.

Moreover, editing sucks. Yet I wish I could have all day, every day to do it. People are weird.

March 8: Product Range

BUT WHAT ARE YOU TAKING TO THE SHOOOWWWW?
Omg it's been so long! I have too many things! I have too many paintings to rehome. I have tiny versions that are very very inexpensive. I've been making a few copies of zine-like things, and I've got a Milo-themed one ready to draw up. I am JUST ordering some HOLOGRAPHIC stuff from Catprint which is the most exciting thing I could think of but might be too out-there for a South Surrey crowd, I dunno. I'm still making sketchbooks even though I can't source the kind of paper I prefer. I'll be bringing the handmade clay pins. It's going to be so dazzling, you'll have to wear shades. Seriously, 8x10 HOLOGRAPHIC prints.

March 9: Story behind name

I chose "yellowmelle" for silly reasons I guess. Business names are often hard to choose and are uninspired. "Melle" is how my friend would address me when we were younger and I didn't really consider how many people would say it like "melly", which is weird to me because so few english words that end with E are pronounced that way??? Heh. So I do regret choosing this name and I usually don't make banners with it or anything. I should have just been myself. I blame etsy for thinking I required a name in the first place XD

And yellow is just my official answer to favourite colour.

March 10: You

Listen, I don't take pictures of myself, no one takes pictures of me, and I'm just a disembodied voice in my videos, so take this super dang old photo of me from several years ago because I don't ever change that much anyway. Switch my glasses, add a few inches to my hair and photoshop in a couple of zits (probably) and bam! Brand new me.
Also, please don't.

And come to the craft fair in april so we can have an awkward social experience together.

Well now, we're getting two posts this week! I wanted to take part of #marchmeetthemaker but instagram is too fussy to use every day.  My phone just isn't that functional. So I wanted to do as many as I could here!

(Also I hate typing on my phone b/c I am an old person who can't efficiently text)

March 1: Favourite to make

I'm a huge fan of variety! I love the patreon sketchbook process, I REALLY love my found poetry art journal. Sometimes I like making sketchbooks by hand. Sometimes I like pulling out the gouache and the acrylic paint, and other crafty kinds of things. I'm just scratching the surface of polymer clay.

But I always fall back on watercolour paintings on paper - shimmery metallic details, repeating patterns where they might not make sense, plants plants plants. But most of all, I love the transformation that happens after attaching paper tole pieces on top. I love the surprised reactions after showing someone a photograph of a painting, but then showing up with this painting in hand with extra DIMENSIONS that cast shadows. I even surprise myself when I pull out a painting I hadn't seen in person for months and months only to fall in love with it again.

March 2. How you started

Honest insane opinion: I don't feel like I've ever gotten started.

I don't even know where I am now. Life since the age of 20 has felt like nothing more than an undying treadmill - it's a lot of exhausting work, sometimes uphill or sideways, but it doesn't actually go anywhere.

I worked hard to get back into a habit of painting, and by that I mean I went to college for a few years for no reason other than to be forced to paint regularly until I could find a sweet spot. Something I liked. It's the creative equivalent to hiring a personal trainer!

I found Etsy in a tiny magazine article. I somehow forced myself through business registration. I've been in a few juried exhibitions. I've sold a ton of things. I've done a few craft fairs. I've had a few commissions come my way. I got into youtube videos even though they terrify me still and I think about quitting every week.

It's been a decade! I'm still a lonely person with a day job I hate going to, I still can't survive off of my art, I'm still practically non-existent in the local art scene, I still don't get regular paychecks from youtube, I have no network. I'm in this awkward position where I can't call myself an Emerging Artist anymore because it's been too long, but I can't call myself Established Artist either. I've avoided some local arts proposals specifically because I can't check an official category for someone like me. A licenced hobbyist? I don't know, but I'm sure I'm not the only one out there.

March 3: Flatlay

Bless everyone who was confused enough by this prompt that people came out of the woodwork to explain what the heck it means. It's an instagram term for a collection that lays flat and photographed from above.
There isn't any prompt for talking, so I don't know what you're supposed to infer from this scene that helps you get to know all the artists out there, but here it is. Those pins really do look better in photos... Also, a peek into a new sketchbook I'm going to try out on youtube.

Join the fun:

Ahhh Saturday is my preferred "adventure" day. What I love to do in particular, is head out somewhere less familiar and wander around. Walk a lot. Look at creatures. Eat food.

This weekend was Fanexpo in Vancouver and I never wanted to go because I'm not a "fan" of anything! I mean, I used to be a big fan of sailor moon... in 1995. I was a reasonable fan of the x-files... in 2001. I still appreciate those things, but those days are long gone.

We ended up at the convention centre anyway, waffling for what felt like ages to decide whether or not to go into fanexpo, just to see what all the fuss was about. It was $45 per person.

So what do you get for $90? You get to enter the convention. You can listen to men talk about their fandom if you want. You can spend extra money on things. You can use a bathroom, but NOT ALL BATHROOMS. Some bathrooms are special and require a VIP pass, which is kind of funny to me. XD

Meeting with celebrities was extra and I don't know how much extra because I wouldn't have recognized most of them anyway; I don't like superhero movies at all, which made up at least 80% of the representation there. I was surprised (but not really) that there wasn't much sailor moon stuff, which is the only anime I think I could still get excited about. John's a sci-fi nerd, who also likes superhero movies and some of these recent comic reboot tv series, and he didn't find much interesting to do either.

I DID however finally get the opportunity to embarrass myself in front of Baylee Jae, which was a surreal experience because a) she looks exactly as she does on video, except it felt like I was getting a 3D upgraded version which is surprisingly weird and b) it's hard to know how to greet someone who has never seen you before, even though you know way too many personal details about them. The dynamic is strange, on both sides.

I wouldn't say it was worth $90 though. I experienced at least three moments of socially awkward panic and didn't learn a thing from any of them. 4/10, wouldn't fanexpo again.

But that's because it's not meant for squares like me.

After that, I ended up in a Muji since I heard that there were two locations in vancouver this whole time and this one might have been bigger? I decided to finally get this cute sketchbook, now that I have learned that the stamp section is not unmarked merchandise but rather a spot where you can customize your purchases???

First of all, that's brilliant. Second, there's practically no signage explaining this concept and everyone who goes there is confused by all of these kids seemingly stamping random products like little vandals. You can see how quickly I can lose control around several trays of loaded stamps.

So what else is happening? I'm trying to build up a bit of STUFF to take to the upcoming craft fair I occasionally forget about. I fixed up this Happy Tails zine so that the layout looks better. It's too autobiographic to reasonably expect anyone to want these, but they are cute enough to try I think. Just... printing them at home has proven itself to be a HUGE headache and I've only done three copies so far.

I'm still really uncertain about the polymer clay coins. They are quick enough to produce, that they wouldn't cost as much as an actual mass-produced enamel pin. The cold wax finish seems to be working. The silicone glue for attaching pinbacks seems to be working.

I like the number three better, so I made up a third option with this moon shape. They all look a bit better in photos than they do in real life, though. So I'm not sure if I should put them online or not. Shipping is a huge deterrent. What would you do?

Oh look, a visual representation of myself! Ho ho ho!
I haven't gotten measles yet, but it's been pretty close. We missed an exposure by 24 hours on the train home. I'm fairly certain I'm fully inoculated, but I'm super NOT interested in measles in particular.

Here's a painting that I did for the "slow" video on patreon, where I let the footage go at a slower speed so you can actually see what I'm doing. Perspective gets tricky on such mathematically precise structures. I'm not a perfectionist, though it's good to practice. I don't think I will ever stop drawing cityscapes after this month is over.

Something has clicked and made me appreciate the city in a real way. It used to be that I didn't understand why anyone would want to live here. My family gradually exiled themselves, and I just didn't have a specific reason to follow.

Now, there's just so much to look at. Too many conversations to accidentally overhear, too many places to wander, too many architectural details to record.

Gosh what have I been up to lately? Maybe a lot! A lot of small things. Knowing that my current day job isn't going to last forever, I am going out every weekend. Turns out, I feel awful if I go even one day without walking for 3+ hours. Above is the end of a chinese new year parade JUST before several inches of snow fell and surprised all of us.

A few weeks ago, I filled this sketchbook. It may have taken me a year to do so. I don't do a lot of general sketchbooking anymore, at least since I started a separate patreon sketchbook. And I haven't started a new one yet. Just making notes and doodles on paper scraps.

Speaking of patreon, I've sent off envelopes of random stuff I made last month to the mailing tier. I know it says I send out a 5"x7" sketch from the sketchbook, but I also like to include any flat, paper item of interest... sometimes it's ephemera to use for crafting, sometimes it's something I made. Like these colour wheels I didn't know what to do with, and some painted penny art. Next month, it might be a tiny zine. Who knows! It's a surprise.

Last week, I was marveling to myself about how we've been wandering outdoors almost every weekend through the whole winter season so far! I wondered: why did we never adventure like this before? Well last weekend, it was hovering around freezing and I quickly realized how less fun it is to wander for several hours with frozen toes! It was still worth it for this wild, bougie affogato pictured above. Yeesh! Parts of Vancouver are fancy!

Today we went downtown, as usual, and were interrupted by -7C snowstorm! It was pretty great, however chilling. Not that we weren't prepared, exactly. I wore two pairs of socks, two pants, and three shirts, after all. :D

Coming up: A mixed media canvas painting, some polymer clay coins (pins maybe??) and framed watercolour butterflies.