Autumn Snooze
Oct 16th 2022
Eesh, I am so late with sending out this month's newsletter. Thank you for your patience! Justin convinced me that we needed a break from work because we've both basically been working 60-80 hours a week since April 16th. It's pretty safe to say we are absolutely exhausted. So we took a small trip to New Orleans and I forced myself not to work. It was one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do. But we had a great time and I am ready and itching to get back to work.
Anyway, who is ready for spooky season?! I know I am. I love when the leaves start to change colors, pumpkins are everywhere, there's apple cider aplenty, and we can start wearing our sweaters and scarves. I will take a cozy sweater over shorts any day. Plus, I absolutely love scary movies, though, I have to admit it's been difficult to find any good ones lately. Any suggestions?
With less than one full month of events left you would think things would start to slow down, but.....that's not the case. We're still hard at work to make sure everything is in stock. Plus, the social media management, updating the website (I've been terrible at lately), and trying to create new work when possible has kept me pretty busy. That's not even half of it though.
On top of running Alexandra Art+Design I'm also busy setting up Black Cat Cafe & Gallery. Did I bite off more than I can chew? Probably. Am I going to make the most of it and have it be totally awesome? Hell yes!
If you missed last month's blog post about Black Cat Cafe & Gallery let me tell you all about it! Simply put, it's my ultimate dream coming true. At Black Cat I'll be displaying and selling not only my own artwork but artwork from many other LGBTQIA+, woman owned, and/or minority owned local artists. Such artists include Cauterized Designs, Tori's Trinkets, Versal Goods, Blanchard Beauties, Wildflower Fields Forever, the Cashmere Pirate, Luna Beam Luxuries, Shaw Paw Prints, and more.
On top of selling artwork from so many lovely artists, we will also sell food and drinks. Having celiac disease and being lactose intolerant, I know just how hard it can be to enjoy a night out with friends when you have food allergies. That's why I want to provide a safe place for people to come eat, drink, and hangout without having to worry about their food allergies.
Since signing the lease in early September we have been busy cleaning up the place and filling out all the proper paperwork to take care of renovations, and etc. We applied a fresh coat of paint and have slowly been furnishing the place with unique pieces of furniture for a comfy, cozy experience. I'm even painting a mural! It is both exciting and terrifying.
There have been a ton of firsts for me this past month because of Black Cat Cafe & Gallery. I decorated my first window displays, I'm painting my first mural, signed my first lease, it's my first store... it's all kind of insane. This last month just does not feel real. It's like I'm living in a fantastic dream.
Anyway, back to talking about art accomplishments from September. As usual I made some amazing items for my patrons on Patreon. The theme was witches. Last month, I didn't post every item publicly so unless you're a patron you won't see the official designs. This month the theme is of course, more spooky stuff and I will probably get back to posting all of the designs.
I also created this fantastic piece. The best kind of bitches are boss witches.
I also started illustrating a custom pet portrait and oh my gods, I love it so much. The dog is so adorable.
Let's not forget this adorable card I made. I've been super inspired lately with all the excitement about the store and I couldn't wait to make this one. I have about a million more ideas rolling around in my head that unfortunately will just have to wait for a bit. They're mostly cat themed. :D
Lastly, I made these two pieces in response to another small business acting rather rude after my announcing Black Cat. It sucks because I thought we were friends. Guess not!
Here's the thing, there is plenty of room in this world for all of us to succeed. It is not a competition. We are all at different stages of our journey and we all make/create different things. Our businesses are as different and unique as we are and we should be cheering from the rooftops for every single one of these beautiful small businesses to succeed. When one of us succeeds it shouldn't intimidate other small businesses, if anything it should encourage us to keep going because their success serves as proof that we can all succeed. It makes me sad when a small business supports or claims to support other small businesses but then in the next moment they're attacking those businesses for succeeding. I know it's easier said than done to deal with imposter syndrome and feelings of jealously, I deal with these feelings too, the trick is to take a deep breath and deal with them constructively. So these pieces are my friendly reminders to not be a dick.
This month the biggest project I have going on is Black Cat Cafe & Gallery. The gallery will open on Saturday, October 29th, the cafe part of the business will open on a later date. I have a few new products I plan to surprise everyone with at the time of the gallery's opening so I really hope people come out for it. Other than getting everything together for Black Cat and finishing the commissions I have, I don't have too many plans this month. I'm trying really hard not to overload my already crazy schedule. Anyway, I hope you have a great rest of October and I'll hopefully see all of your amazing faces on the 29th!