I finished up these two cuties on Saturday. I'll be making some prints and a new card design with them. I think they're pretty cute!

I'm hoping to have prints of them by the end of the week!

I'm also slowly adding some new versions of some of my prints to my Etsy shop. These are giclee prints printed on canvas and stretched on stretcher bars.

They came out really nicely!

I'm not quite sure how many of these I'm going to make just yet. I think it depends on how well they sell. I feel like my Etsy shop has been in need of a somewhat new kind of product and I think this is a good direction. I think one of the most important things about running an Etsy shop, or any kind of business, is keeping things fresh with new products and designs. 

So, hopefully these sell really well and people really like them!

You made it! It's Friday! Whoohoo! Here are the things I've been working on this week.

First my friend Tony's portrait. 

This is the photo I'm working from. So far, I really like how it's turning out!

I also completed this raccoon watercolor painting a couple of days ago.

I'm trying to work on both my personal work as well as cute animal stuff for the big Crafty Wonderland Holiday show that's coming up in December. Lots of stuff going on. I'm excited and really enjoying the work I've been doing this week.

Hope it's a good weekend for everyone!

I've been dreaming about having my own amazing studio space for the past week. If there were any a time for me to dream big, this is the time. 

I had a studio space that I shared with a number of other artists a few years ago. It was great. There were a few drawbacks but being able to get out of the house, make a mess, and leave were all great things. I really enjoy working from home but I do get lonely and sometimes I feel like I really need to get out more. I get a little stir crazy. I can always go to a coffee shop to get some work done, but have you ever really worked in a coffee shop? It's busy, loud and can be really distracting.

I'm not totally sure that I can afford a studio space right now. Especially with the current rent situation for both apartments and work spaces. It's getting ridiculous in Portland. I read an article by Portland artist Carye Bye this morning that really hit home for me. It's in this weeks Willamette Week and in it she discusses how although she loves Portland and it's been her home now for 15 years, she simply can't afford to be a working artist here anymore. Her rents have gone up by 60% for both her home and her studio space. 

I know, I know. It's the same old story. Artists move in and a few years later they're forced to move out because banks, high end condos and Lululemons are needed more. (I'll be honest, I do love me some Lululemon.)

Supply and demand, supply and demand. Build more, build more, build more buildings that half of the people who live in this city can't really afford. It's a heated debate on both sides. All I know is the city that I came to love is looking a lot more like California every day and sometimes it really bums me out. And please don't tell me it's still affordable than most major cities. It doesn't make the rising rents and the forcing out of artists, and other low income people, any less hurtful.