#redwoodcurtain — Public Fediverse posts

I had a genuinely great experience vending at our local Humboldt County Obon Festival.

It was a cultural event that was a celebration without being about a party with alcohol and two-fisted drinking. It drew a much more mature, balanced, respectful crowd that was there for the tradition of honoring family and ancestry instead of an opportunity to cut loose and lose themselves.

I made more sales there than all but one of the Friday Night Markets where I set up my booth every week all summer, and had genuinely valuable chats with customers. The Obon Festival is one of my favorite vending opportunities in Humboldt County, and I deeply enjoy the experience.

I'm finally starting to have the capacity to be a bit more selective regarding where I choose to sell my work. The population of this area is aging significantly, and there's less of a desire for opportunities to indulge in getting high or drunk and go even more deaf listening to loud music.

So many fairs and festivals are marketed as "parties" and they all feel the same. The Obon Festival was very different. And I think we need more purpose-driven events in Humboldt County.

#HowIhumboldt #RedwoodCurtain #RedwoodCoast #IndieArtist #Fair #Festival #ArtistLife #Artist

Tonight is the last Friday Night Market of the year in Eureka, CA. it'll shift to a nearby town 10 minutes north called Arcata, where it'll continue for the next month.

I made the event posters for both Markets this year. They're a paired set, meant to mirror and reflect each other. One features a Night Heron, the other a Marsh Wren.

Eureka's event was near the waterfront and the Night Heron was a secret nod to the evening event for those in the know. Arcata has a famous water reclamation marsh and wildlife refuge, where the Marsh Wren is a common sight.

https://www.fridaynight.market

(All of my work is made by hand in Procreate, one stroke at a time. I do not use generative nonsense at any point in my process.)

#art #MastoArt #Poster #IndieArtist #HowIHumboldt #RedwoodCoast #RedwoodCurtain #HumboldtMade #HumanMade

Dropped off some prints and greeting cards to the Clarke Historical Museum here in Eureka, CA.

I put together a collection of cards that feature regional birds, as well as some local-oriented limited edition prints that I’ve illustrated recently. I’m beyond happy with them—they’ve done well here, and two of them sold off the wall at the recent Redwood Art Association Fall Exhibition. I’m really hoping they do well at the Museum and appeal to visitors.

We’ll see!

https://www.clarkemuseum.org/

#art #ArtistLife #prints #museum # birdart #birds #RedwoodEmpire #RedwoodCurtain #HumboldtCounty #NorthernCalifornia #NorCal

Did my first vending event without the hubby to assist. Arcata’s Friday Night Market has a slightly different vibe than Eureka’s, but it’s all good.

Still meeting wonderful people who I want to converse with, but tonight it was challenging because I was the only one working in the booth. I think I lost a lot of sales because my hubby wasn’t there to be a second salesperson. There were moments when the booth was quite crowded and the conversationalists seemed to be unaware I needed to pay attention to others besides them…

I need to figure out how to politely excuse myself without offense. still working on it.

But it went well, and I proved to myself that I could do it by myself. I loaded and unloaded the car myself, got all the setup done in 1 hr 15 min, and takedown in 45 min. Then reloaded and unloaded at home. So that was a huge deal for me: proving to myself that in a pinch, it can be done. I feel tired, but it’s a good tired.

#ArtistLife #Streetfair #vendorbooth #IndieArtist #FridayNightMarkets #Arcata #HumboldtCounty #RedwoodCurtain

Tonight I set up my booth for the first time by myself. I had to do it eventually, so now’s as good a time as any.

it’s a lot of stuff, and while I usually have my husband helping me, he can’t tonight. So it will take me double the time to set it up and take it down. I’m sure I can do it, I just expect it’s going to be a long night. Haha!

Wish me luck!

https://www.redwoodnews.tv/local-news/new-arcata-friday-night-market/article_59d5d09d-4244-402f-87ee-906cea69e625.html

#art #streetfair #IndieArtist #Arcata #Humboldtmade #RedwoodCurtain #FridayNightMarkets

Vending at #FridayNightMarkets in Eureka, CA again tonight, where I can interact with people and check in with reality. It’s a lovely day here at 65° with lots of sun. I’m hoping that means people will step out and enjoy the street fair.

I have a new Pelican piece to share as a greeting card, and I want to buy some of my neighboring booth vendor’s tea that she grows and blends herself. I think it’s going to be a good night!

https://www.fridaynight.market/

#artlife #artist #artistlife #EurekaCA #RedwoodCurtain #artbooth #artfair #HumboldtMade

I’m vending at the Arcata Fairy Festival for the first time tomorrow. It’ll be a totally different demographic than I’ve experienced thus far, with lots of kids in tutus and tiaras.

I’m pretty excited—I’m two booths down from the homemade mead booth. And the organizer already purchased two of my prints and says my birds will do well.

I’ve never experienced anything like this festival before, and the music they’ve got scheduled sounds amazing! Lots of photo ops, luxurious booths, dancing, and elf ears!

I made this limited edition, signed and numbered print run of 15 greeting cards specifically for the event using the Osprey image I made last week. I hope it’ll appeal to some folks there! When they’re gone, they’re gone!

Wish me luck! It’ll be the longest event I’ve done thus far, clocking in at 7 hours. I hope I have enough stock! Ha!

https://www.arcatafairyfestival.com/

#Fairyfestival #fairy #Osprey #Birds #Birdart #HumboldtCounty #RedwoodCurtain #IndieArtist #Princess

It took me three weeks of livestreaming to get this image done (six 3 hour sessions) because I made two Raven images to import as assets into this third image.

And after a bit of additional offline tweaking, It’s finally complete!

“Raven Raven”.

It’s available as a greeting card here:
https://goimagine.com/raven-raven-bird-greeting-card-5x7-with-envelope/

Here are the three speedpaints:
Raven #1: https://makertube.net/w/xqGRrtEuddQfD6t451uipB
Raven #2: https://makertube.net/w/hyFjTw3UZA6qK51MsVqx99
Raven Raven: https://makertube.net/w/6mGFJVxbWeNN5G765Ng3rH

I use Procreate to draw these, so they’re all #HumanMade. I print them out on my own high-end studio printer and then package and post them myself.

Here are my links: https://coreyartusimageryinfo.carrd.co/

#art #MastoArt #FediGiftShop #Raven #Birds #Birdart #HumboldtMade #RedwoodCurtain #IndieArtist #GreetingCards

I’m returning to Friday Night Market tonight, and really looking forward to it. It will be nice to interact with real people again, since last week it wasn’t held because of Independence Day celebrations. I’ve been living in my head for a while and breaking out of it has been challenging… This will be a good opportunity to do so.

I’m selling prints for the first time tonight. I’ve never offered them before. I’ll be selling limited edition, numbered, signed, & certed 11x17” prints tonight. We’ll see how it goes. I’m not expecting much, but it’ll be nice to show off my artwork at a larger scale than just greeting cards.

Alrighty. Onward!

https://www.fridaynight.market/

#artistlife #HumboldtMade #RedwoodCurtain #Prints #ArtFair #Fair #FridayNightMarket

Tonight I do another Friday Night Markets event here in Eureka as a stationery purveyor.

The novelty has not worn off, and I’m excited to once again share my stuff. If I don’t think of it as a “sales” event and more of a “meet and greet” event, it’s a delight! Compartmentalizing the pressure to sell stuff is really tough, but I’m getting better at crushing it down into a little golf ball deep into my subconscious. It helps my hubby is there to support me, and we have a great time!

I’m taking a bunch of new locally-themed stuff with me tonight, and hoping it’ll go well! But regardless, it will be fun. And I’m learning I have to actively put myself in situations where I’m not online and dwelling on horrors. I have to be purposeful about it. And this is one of those methods I’m using to make myself let go and just be in the moment.

I dunno if anyone from Humboldt County, California, is actually here on Mastodon and even goes to this event. But if you do, I’ll give you a 10% discount at my booth if you mention Mastodon. Jus’ cuz I can!

#FridayNightMarkets #EurekaCA #HumboldtCounty #RedwoodCurtain #IndieArtist #HumboldtMade #Artist #Artfair #IndieArtist

I’ve been making local-themed pieces lately, referencing #HumboldtCounty. There’s a lot here that makes it unique: the number of rhododendrons everywhere, the redwoods, the ocean, the victorian architecture… There is no lack of visual inspiration!

https://goimagine.com/beaches-and-rhododendrons-single-illustrated-greeting-card-5x7-with-envelope/

#HumanMade: Painted, printed, & packaged by me—no POD or drop shipping.

Here’s the first part of the livestream recording when it was made, with links to the second to parts in the description:
https://makertube.net/w/32fMacxy263qkebhVCF1AB

#RedwoodCurtain #EurekaCA #ArtNouveau #GreetingCards #IndieArtist #Art #MastoArt #FediGiftShop

I’ve started using my style to make locally-inspired pieces that I’m going to try to sell here in my new home region. I’m pretty excited to be leaning into these—it’s one thing to make work based on a story, and another thing to make pieces referencing the visual flavor of a location… This is out side the box for me, and I’m enjoying it!

https://goimagine.com/a-humboldt-feeling-single-illustrated-greeting-card-5x7-with-envelope/

All my stuff is #HumanMade I paint, print, and package it all myself. No POD or drop shipping.

#IndieArtist #MastoArt #GreetingCards #Redwoods #RedwoodCurtain #HumboldtCounty #HumboldtMade #FediGiftShop

A long time ago, I was doing landscapes. I focused on waterfalls, and fell in love with the green and the water.

I used what I learned making these to do more projects, including a landscape calendar (of sorts) in 2023.

Every time I look at these, I remember the calm I experienced making them. And perhaps that’s part of why I’m so happy amongst the trees here behind the #RedwoodCurtain.

https://goimagine.com/illustrated-waterfalls-greeting-cards-boxed-set-5x7-with-envelopes/

A playlist of speedpaint videos of the creation of these images can be watched here:

https://makertube.net/w/p/2BEwAij9RULVGnQpkAKMUJ

#art #illustration #greetingcards #FediGiftShop #IndieArtist #playlist #speedpaint #ShopSmall #Goimagine

Going to a HumboldtMade mixer tonight, meeting other makers here in the region. Mostly food-makers (good good food!), from pierogis to hot sauces to ciders to chocolate… It’s amazing what’s local here behind the #RedwoodCurtain!

I met another artist who is doing that I want to be doing at last month’s gathering, and just the chance to hobnob was great. It has been so fun to meet new folks!

https://www.humboldtmade.com/

#humboltMade #HumboldtCounty #shoplocal #shopsmall #indieartist #redwoodCoast

Going live on Twitch and Moonbeam today 5/27/25) from 1-4:00pm PDT (UTC-7). I'll be starting a new image inspired by the local flora and fauna here in #HumboldCounty behind the #RedwoodCurtain in northern California. Trying my hand at some regional art, given that it's so frickin' beautiful here!

Join me for tea, soft music, and chill chat!

https://www.moonbeam.stream/pr/arts-and-crafts

https://www.twitch.tv/coreyartus

#livestream #art #MastoArt #ArtStream #Twitch #moonbeam #Procreate

I turned in three pieces to a local art association's gallery for an upcoming Artist’s Choice non-juried show coming up next week. It’ll be part of a big event called “North Coast Open Studios” that happens here once a year.

I didn’t get settled in time to participate on my own, but turning these pieces in today makes me feel like I’m still part of it.

The artists I met there volunteering for check-in were delightfully friendly and welcoming, and I am so looking forward to getting engaged even more. They are regularly looking for docent volunteers every week, so I will be doing that soon.

I can’t wait to see the show when it’s all up! I’ll post pics!

https://www.northcoastopenstudios.com/

#art #gallery #HumboldtCounty #RedwoodCurtain #EurekaCA #artistlife #IndieArtist

Met a local digital artist living here in Humboldt County for a bagel this morning. He’s not on Mastodon, but his website is here:

https://tedhsuart.com/

It was so invigorating, validating, human, and inspiring to meet someone in my field who was able to offer me advice about moving here and finding my footing. He was a consummate professional, kind, friendly, and deeply earnest about sharing his experiences.

I learned SO much. And I left feeling more optimistic than I have in months.

It was good getting out, meeting someone in person not just online. It restored a bit of my mental health. I needed it desperately!

#art #artistlife #HumboldtCounty #RedwoodCurtain #artlife

Went on a nice walk in my city park today, among giant Sequoia trees and cool shade.

It was so restorative to be among the green. I can’t even begin to tell you how much of a mental reset it is to indulge in this experience, less than a 5-minute drive from my home.

Touch grass sometimes. Please. It’s worth it.

https://www.eurekaca.gov/631/Sequoia-Park

#SequoiaPark #EurekaCA #HumboldtCounty #RedwoodCurtain #Green #trees #nature #forestbathing #redwoods

Today, I saw something I'd never seen before.

Art made of compost.

It’s hard to explain... But it deeply inspired me. So much so, I had to write a blog post about it:

https://www.coreyartusimagery.com/musings/some-fun-organic-art-in-the-park

I will never look at mandalas the same way.

#art #EurekaCA #HumboldtCounty #RedwoodCurtain #artlife #compost #mandala #MakerApron