Artemis Portraits
Artemis Portraits
> Yes, That Is Charcoal On My Hands <
The Artemis Blog: An ongoing series of informational and inspirational entries
> Yes, That Is Charcoal On My Hands <
The Artemis Blog: An ongoing series of informational and inspirational entries
Kindness spreads faster than disease if you do it right.
Charity Update - Uncertain Times Make for Unplanned Changes
Charity Update - Uncertain Times Make for Unplanned Changes
March 21, 2020
From the Artemis family to all of our fans, friends, family and the wide world out there: We hope you are safe.
This past month has been full of uncertainty and trying times. And people of the world are scared. Stores are running out of essential items, people are fighting over rolls of toilet paper. But there is good out there too. Look for it. Be it. Help those in need, give when you can, and most importantly be safe and stay a safe distance from people. Protect yourself and others. Prevent the spread of COVID-19.
We have had 4 conventions cancelled so far and are feeling the strain as a small art business that is still in its infancy. But Artemis is still trying to keep chugging along, and keep getting those portraits moving down the line. But with this worldwide epidemic striking hard, we have made a big decision with our charity fundraiser.
While the arts programs are incredibly important for kids, the world is in need of something much more. With great thought and discussion, we here at Artemis have decided that our portrait fundraiser would be benefiting a different charity. Please click the following link to learn more about our new beneficiary: Center for Disaster Philanthropy - COVID-19 Response Fund . This was a tough decision to make, in the sense that children's arts is an important cause for the Artemis team. However, we feel incredibly strong about the decision to change this. The Tippecanoe Arts Federation has been talked to about this choice and are on board with us. We are incredibly blessed that they are so understanding and will still be making a donation of our own funds to TAF's childrens' programs later this year. Thank you all for your understanding and heartfelt love.
If you wish to donate to the Tippecanoe Arts Federation, click here: https://tippecanoearts.org/donate
If you wish to donate to the Center for Disaster Phianthropy - COVID-19 Response Fund, click here: https://disasterphilanthropy.org/donate-to-the-cdp-covid-19-response-fund
Cheers!
Artemis
Oh, kids...
Working at Home with Kids in Your Business #MomPuns
Working at Home with Kids in Your Business #MomPuns
February 21, 2020
As you can probably tell by the title, this is not a post about my art necessarily. But it is a necessary post.
How do people do it?!? I don't know how my husband works from home every darn day and gets anything done! I have been trying to be productive while at home full time since the start of August... and I don't have any idea how to do it anymore. I used to work remotely when I was an insurance processor. But now that I am working for myself, I can't seem to get the knack of productivity down. Bryan has the good fortune to have a dedicated office, with a door he can shut and lock at any time. My work space is in the living room -- the main common area of our home -- where everyone gathers to watch television, play tablets, read books (sometimes), eat meals (most nights), and just hang out in general.
When I am drawing or working, I always have a movie or the television on. Most of the time they are NOT kid-friendly shows, or at least they are just not something that two 11-year-old kiddos are into. And so I don't have to pay attention to the screen too much, and can focus on my drawings, my genre of choice is usually horror or suspense. So this is how every afternoon goes in my house, when the kids get home from school:
*Hubs and kiddos enter the house.*
*Random mom show on the TV.*
*Kiddo 1 sits on the couch. Looks at TV, looks at me. Repeats.*
*Kiddo 2 sits at laptop behind my drawing table.*
Kiddo 1: "So... Can I play XBox?"
Me: "Am I watching a show right now?"
*Kiddo 1 looks at TV, looks at me. Repeats.*
Kiddo 1: "Sooo... When will your show be over?"
Me: "A) I don't know. B) You just got inside. C) There are a ton of other things to do besides using the one thing that I am using right now. And D) Hello to you too. Welcome home. How was your day?"
*Kiddo 1 and Kiddo 2 both stay where they are and stare at my show and continue watching it. Kiddo 2 still has her laptop on, but is not paying attention to it.*
Kiddo 2: "Whatcha drawing mom?"
*Both kiddos proceed to ask me questions and talk and chat while I attempt to work.*
Every dang day. Barely any deviation from this routine. How do people get anything done? I usually end up giving up working about 30 minutes after they get home and then continue my work after their bedtime. So my workday ends up being about 11:00am-4:00pm and then 10:30pm-1:30am. This is definitely not productive. The struggle is real!
Cheers!
Artemis
Time-lapse of the first charity portrait to whet your whistles.
Diving Deep into Charity Work
Diving Deep into Charity Work
January 21, 2020
Work is well underway with all of the celebrity portraits for the Artemis charity fundraiser!
I have gotten almost all of the compositions compete for everyone. Some are proving to be a bit challenging, but in a fun and exciting way. It's awesome to see them come together in my head though. And it's even greater to see them come together via strange digital collages. And now the hardest work has begun -- the drawings themselves!!! To keep everyone satisfied, here's a bit of a time-lapse preview of the first portrait getting started.
Besides the holiday festivities, not much else has been going on in the Artemis household. We have been getting other convention appearances lined up for the year and have added them to our calendar. We are hoping to add more vendor booths as time and money allows.
March 20-22 - HorrorHound, Cincinnati OH (attending)
March 26-29 - Gary Con, Lake Geneva WI (Bryan will be there with a charity piece for the Gary Con auction)
April 10-12 - Who's Yer Con, Indianapolis IN (vendor)
May 2-3 - LuciCon, Chicago IL (attending)
May 15-17 - Motor City Comic Con, Detroit MI (attending)
July 10-12 - POPCON INDY, INDIANAPOLIS, IN (CHARITY FUNDRAISER)
Cheers!
Artemis
PopCon Indy has become our venue!
Making Waves in Uncharted Waters
Making Waves in Uncharted Waters
December 21, 2019
It has been almost five months of me doing nothing but Artemis work and, I have to tell you, it is a new world for us here. While we still struggle to get our name out into the world and make a living off of my art, I am plugging away at commissions. I have just sent out the fourth and final holiday commission earlier this week and am taking a short rest before beginning commissions and work for the 2020 year.
Speaking of 2020, we have made big moves on the charity fundraiser and are excited to announce that we have a venue and dates for the celebrity pieces to be put up for sale! A huge thanks to PopCon Indy for putting us up for the weekend of July 10-12, 2020 at their convention in Indianapolis, Indiana! And now I will be burning through charcoal and bristol, pastels and canvas, to get some awesome art pieces done in time for the show and an amazing fundraiser! We are keeping our fingers crossed that some of our awesome and talented celebrity subjects will be able to make it to PopCon Indy too! We will try to work at it.
We will also be working hard on getting out to a lot more conventions this upcoming year too. We really do miss seeing all of the fans, celebrities, cosplayers and more. It's an atmosphere that we hold very dear and miss since the crashing fall of Walker Stalker Con. But to everyone out there in Fandom Land, happy holidays to you from our Artemis family. We love you all!
Cheers!
Artemis
gen-er-ous
(adj)
1: free in giving or sharing
2: noble
(syn)
open-handed
The Giving Effect
The Giving Effect
November 21, 2019
Since Artemis Portraits began, we have been a business built on giving. I have grown up with the belief that giving out good into the world will always come back around to you in one way or another. Not that that should be the motivation for being generous, however. I try to do my best to give out to others when I can, and I also do my best to pass this lesson on to my children. I started this company by giving personal portraits to the wonderful guest talent at the conventions we attended as thank-yous for their kindness and their support of my art. And I have built my business slowly but surely from there. Word is starting to get out in the Angel support groups, through my family members to their family and friends, and through various social media outlets now. And it's exciting to me. All born out of giving. And out of donating and charity. And I couldn't be prouder.
And this week, some of that good came back around and my daughter, Nori, got to be the recipient of it. We walked into a local music store, signs posted outside signaling that they were closing after 25 years. It was a sad time for them, to retire their beloved shop and see the store become empty of what had once filled their lives. We went in to see if they might have something for Nori to put on her holiday wish list, ideas to give family and friends. As I was on the phone with one said friend, telling him of the amazing discounts that I could unfortunately not take advantage of, the owners watched my daughter roam the store and admire the guitars and ukuleles and other instruments. I told the owners that she has a guitar for her guitar lessons, but it not ours. She wanted one of her own, so we were looking for one for her wish list but were not sure what size to get.
As I was ending my phone call, one of the owners asks Nori to sit on a stool and pulls out a guitar and hands it to her. As she holds the guitar, I hang up the phone. I tell the owner that it looks to be roughly the size of the one she has for class and ask what size it is. Without missing a beat with Nori, the owner asks her if she takes care of her class guitar. Nori nods. The owner tells her: "If you promise to take very good care of this one, it is yours." Guitar, case, strap, picks, capo, extra strings and even money for a couple lessons for when her class is over!
I am still in shock and awed at these owners' kindness and generosity! Selling everything in their store and they have such giving souls to gift my little girl with all of that still. This is what giving does. It makes others so overwhelmingly happy and grateful. And wanting to pass on that feeling to others! I hope you all pass on this giving effect this holiday season... and beyond.
Cheers!
Artemis
Angel Theory and Lauren Ridloff
A Social Stand #IStandWithAngel
A Social Stand #IStandWithAngel
October 21, 2019
For those that are wondering about the shirts I have been selling for the past week and a half, this is Angel Theory in her own words on her Instagram Live account (its only a partial video, sorry, and you have to click through several videos in a twitter thread). But, as a person with a disability myself, I do not stand for discrimination against others because of theirs. Even if I weren't disabled, what I have learned over the past handful of years because of my illness, there are struggles that able-bodied people do not understand that need to help advocate for.
James Frazier (the owner of the Walker Stalk Con/Fan Fest conventions) is an awful person. I have had my own experiences with him and have found him to be exactly what Angel calls him out to be in this video. He is two-faced, he is a narcissist, he is a false Christian, and he is an awful businessman who hides behind others. I have withdrawn any business relationship Artemis Portraits has with Mr. Frazier and refuse to do business with Fan Fest Events or Walker Stalker Convention as long as he is the person actively running the company. I welcome him to be the face only, but as long as he has any say in how the business is run, I will not be involved.
If you wish to help support Angel's cause, please stop by my shop at www.teepublic.com/user/artemisportrait and choose any #IStandWithAngel product (#IStandWithAngel or #IStandWithAngel Color). Proceeds from any Angel Theory product will go to support Dogs For Better Lives in her name. You can also check out our shop, because through the end of November 2019, 20% of ALL sales (including commissions) will also be donated to the charity in Angel's name!
Cheers!
Artemis
Pictured (left to right, top to bottom): Kirk Acevedo, Satine Phoenix, Bear Walker, Franz Drameh, Ryan Hurst, Xander Berkeley, Ross Marquand, Manu Bennett, Kiersten Warren, Lou Diamond Phillips.
Pictured (left to right): Kirk Manley, Odyssey Art, The Black and White Guy.
Charity Fundraiser Update
Charity Fundraiser Update
September 21, 2019
This charity fundraiser journey has become such an adventure! What started out as a made up game of "Twitter Tag" between Natalie and Lou Diamond Phillips has snowballed into so much more. Snow ball is an understatement. It's more like an avalanche at this point. Natalie has overcome great personal obstacles with her anxiety and begun exploring acquaintances and even blossoming friendships with many figures in various entertainment industries, and through this she has brought many on board her philanthropic endeavor.
We have begun the task of arranging a charity fundraiser to benefit the children's programs at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation. Specifically, ARTreach and the After School Arts Program. These programs provide much-needed access to the arts for at-risk youth and under-served communities in region around Tippecanoe County, Indiana. The entertainment personalities that have partnered with Artemis Portraits in this fundraiser are having portraits drawn by Natalie, which will be signed by each of them*! Bear Walker has even graciously added to his portrait donation by giving away a free Bear Walker original skateboard to the winner of his portrait! You can check out his shop by visiting our Links page. Other artists have signed on to participate in the fundraiser as well, and will be donating original artwork for fans to enjoy. You can see their art through our Links page as well.
All items are going to be auctioned/raffled off to raise money to be donated to the TAF children's programs. All the proceeds raised will be donated to charity. We are still working on pinning down a date and venue for the fundraiser event though we are shooting for Summer 2020, but we will definitely keep everyone posted! Big things are moving here!
Cheers!
Artemis
Artemis's Calendar
Artemis's Calendar