I'm Taking Myself Seriously Enough to Open an Online Art Shop

On Friday, Feburary 16, I am opening an art shop here on my website. There will be prints (framed? unframed? your choice!), tote bags, notebooks, phone cases, original paintings, and more, the digital renderings of which you can click on and put in your digital shopping cart and get the real physical forms delivered to your home. Pretty cool, right?

It's taken me exactly one year, from when I first floated the idea of an online shop, to actually figure out and feel ready to do it. There was a lot of figure-outing, especially as one who does not identify as a very tech-savvy person. And, even more difficult than the technical challenges, there were the emotional and mental blocks.

This internal battle raged inside me, as my new roommate Chloe (who is also an artist and has ran an online art shop of her own) dragged me into a drop-shipping website and made me upload my art files as she single-handedly set up my site with a store feature. She listened patiently to my moaning about my fears (what if the quality of the products suck? what if I make them too expensive and everyone hates me?) as she picked out a design template and made mock-ups of my art in frames.

"Damn," I said, "that looks so...official."

I squirmed seeing the grown-up font she picked out and reading the sample description she wrote of my "Light Tree" piece. I felt like I was cosplaying as a "real" artist. Like I was obviously just pretending to be legit. But as I kept looking, my initial resistance settled into pleasure. It looked good. My eyes enjoyed seeing myself and my art in this new way. Not the only way, just a way, I thought.

And then, as I started putting my various pieces onto products on the dropship website, there was that slow build of visual pleasure again. This stuff looked cool.

But maybe it's not actually that cool in real life, I admonished myself. So I ordered samples - a print, a notebook, a tote bag, with more on the way.

When the boxes came and I unrolled the print of Light Tree, and took out the War is Over tote, and felt the Divine Align notebook in my hands, I wanted to cry with relief and joy. The colors were vivid, just like the real paintings. The details came through crisp and clear. And- holy shit, my art is on a tote bag!! I can carry it around!! I can wear it anywhere.

^not even at my own house

I texted some of the product photos to my friend/soul sister Ariel and she said, "omgggg this is my dream come true!!"

I decided then and there that if these art products gave both me and one of my dearest friends delight and joy, then that was enough of a reason for them to exist, and to be offered to whoever else in the whole wide world that wanted them.

And then I realized: by opening an online art shop, I am taking up more space in the world. It's not just my art in my house and my friends' houses anymore. It's my art wherever people go with their phones and bags and shirts and etc. My friends could decided to gift my art to their friends, and then it would be in their homes too. Someone on the internet could see it and then actual strangers would have it too. I am growing my ability to shape the world. And I think that's something to embrace.

See you on Feb 16th - I'm stoked to share these new offerings with you all. I hope you'll love them too!

PS: I'm starting an email newsletter too - sign up on the homepage if you'd like monthly news/stories, early access, and freebies!

---

hugest shoutout goes to Chloe Van Vreeswyk, the best roommate in the world, for all her help making this possible - it DEFINITELY wouldn't exist without her generosity and badass design skills.