so long little shop! (for now)

It’s been a wild 4 years. Well actually, it’s been a quiet 4 years with a little spike of activity around 2021. You’ll notice a lot of creatives close their doors over the festive period. However, I wanted to be ahead of the curve and shut my shop completely!

I feel as though I should rephrase this. I didn’t want to close my shop but the little voice of doubt has been increasing in volume for quite some time now.

Of course I had to make a brief video to explain myself (my last video was posted in August so you can see how things have been hard to maintain by just checking any of my socials)

I toyed with the idea of using a miserable expression for the thumbnail of the video (youtube baiting?) but it just wouldn’t have been honest. I’ve pushed down the thought of closing my online shop several times. Each time the thought came up, I already wasn’t feeling positively about myself in general (so to act on the impulse of closing it felt really irrational)

Just because I’m closing it next Monday (9th Dec 2024) doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. I’m enjoying participating in art markets and getting a feel for which artworks of mine people gravitate towards. I’ve also met plenty of fellow illustrators and dino-enthusiasts through doing it. These things are just as valuable to me.

If we want to get into specifics, I made more GBP this year doing art markets than I did from my online store’s best year (2021). Each came with their own expenses of course, but something about in-person events feel extremely fulfilling.

I hope you aren’t too disappointed, especially if you live outside of the UK and can’t visit me at an art market! Just know that I’m still online and the shop isn’t on a boyband-esque hiatus xo

- Phoebe

<3

my post-academia woes

Admittedly, I was one of the art students that pursued the first idea they had brainstormed for course projects to the final piece. Some projects lasted 1 to 2 weeks and some lasted months…

I would also add ‘potential idea’ sketches to my coursework in the final days of the project before handover day. I’m still of the opinion that British arts courses are graded mostly by the tick-box method. I hit the criteria though, didn’t I?

Conducting projects now is amusing for me because I definitely see the value in making lots of sketched out ideas. The projects I’ve completed after finishing school have been way more successful because of this. Who would’ve thunk…

With self-led projects, every tiny aspect is determined by your actions alone.

• You don’t have a solid deadline

• A vague final outcome that doesn’t need to be graded at the end - It doesn’t even have to be seen by anyone.

• The choice to abandon and start again is all yours. Yes, sunken cost fallacy will nibble at you but only as much as you let it. Everything is an opportunity to learn more about yourself and how you like to work.

• Chances are, unless you’re a full-time artist, you’re going to be faced with choosing how much time you spend each day on the project. How much time out of your leisure time are you happy to put in?

• No course leader/tutors to mark your work and provide feedback at different intervals

• Your planning phase has no time limit - annnddd breathe

Phoebe's Prehistory Volume 2 - this video documents the packing and distributing of the book following my Kickstarter Campaign

All of the points I listed above are both blessings and curses with regard to how I’m conducting this current project

The roster of Celestial Creatures (Celestialsaurs) is steadily growing but it will be coming to an end in order for me to move onto the next phase of the project

I won’t be revealing what this body of work is going to culminate in just yet. You may be able to guess with various context clues I’ve been dropping here and there..

There are currently 10 finished illustrations, I’m aiming for 12 - 14 illustrations overall

Below are some pictures of what I’ve been making recently - taking on the challenge of Peachtober wasn’t the brightest idea for me time-wise but it really helps exercise my drawing muscles. Most Mondays I go to Life Drawing sessions and now I have Peachtober illustrations to add to my free-time art practice.

I brainstormed plenty of ideas for each prompt before October but honestly I didn’t know whether I would commit to taking part until a few days before! We’ll see how far I get - the only year I successfully completed Peachtober was 2020… I wasn’t busy that year.

Even in previous years I’m proud of the work I made despite not completing every prompt - part of the real challenge is balancing it between work and leisure time.

Putting together videos for Youtube has been tricky recently. I’ve really struggled with my biggest anxiety peak in years so sharing things via the blog/instagram is what’s manageable right now. Thank you to my 10 viewers for sticking by me ;P

- Phoebe

<3

3 busy months and a shop update

I honestly thought I’d post more regularly than this but here we are, almost halfway through 2024 with blog post no. 2… No doubt there’ll be videos on my youtube channel to accompany this but I’ve summarised March, April and May below :)

I didn’t think I’d be chosen to hold my stall at the first Common Ground Art Market. Imposter syndrome strikes again (and proved that I should close my ears to it more often)

By the time of writing, *I have completed six Art Markets. A couple days were missed, simply due to there not being enough vendors available.

After a full weekend appearance at the James St Tavern Art Market I was quietly glad to miss a few days here and there. I’ve found it quite beneficial to book a day of my 9-5 off in advance of any Art Markets. Selling art and socialising with everyone from 10am-5pm is great fun but sucks a lot of energy out of me!

*Jam and I really…she is my rock and my fabulous art market assistant!

We popped home to visit my family in April, Toby turned 3 and kept his cake hat on for all of 5 minutes. Jam and I also celebrated our 5 year anniversary together~

The rest of the month was relatively quiet, I continued working on pieces for my Summer Shop Update and I jumped in last-minute to fill an empty slot for the James St Tavern Art Market (27th April)

When I decided that I would try Art Market vending, I challenged myself to have at least one new product made for every market I took part in. April was the exception but I had two new prints produced in March so it all worked out ;) All of the products I prepared for each market are going to be making their online debut in my summer shop update!

After well over a year, I’m finally adding more products to my online shop! For much of 2022-23 I was experiencing a slump when it came to designing things for my shop. After the release of my self-published book back in 2021, I felt like I’d trapped myself in a box of the themes I was allowed to explore in my art and subsequently, the products I felt I could offer.

The anxiety around my art and getting used to living independently with Jam in Oxford, forced me to retreat from taking any more art-business risks. It wasn’t even until a year in that I decided to make 3 sticker designs (and that was Feb 2023!)

Speaking of stickers…I now have a Sticker Mail option for both UK and International orders! More information can be found on my FAQ tab.

I feel like I lost a lot of creative momentum from 2022 to 2023 but I’m feeling positive about the future of my art and my shop! I worked really hard to pull this update together so I hope you can forgive the rather long wait for new Phoebe Ginger goods!

New youtube videos had taken a back seat in addition to my blog updates but hopefully now you understand why. If you haven’t seen my most recent video yet, worry not, for I have popped it below - the link opens in a separate tab…I know, I know, I’ve thought of everything ;)

See you here on the 25th May! (and maybe the 9th June at LDN Queer Mart < click to get your ticket!)

- Phoebe :)