04/15/2021
Hi everyone! I want to apologize for being MIA the past two months. My last three posts were for Valentine’s Day, which seems like an eternity ago. I took a break after v-day to prepare for a move that was happening on the first of March; that small break turned into a longer break when I hit a rough patch with my ADHD. After that was dealt with, I felt myself becoming very uninspired. In that, I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching, a lot of healing, and a lot of growing.
My goal is always to be able to contribute to community through both artwork and mutual aid; I have not been feeling pride in my creations lately, and I have not felt able to meet my goals of community contribution. Given these things, I am implementing some very big and sort of intimidating changes to this page, and to The Artful Activist as a whole!
These changes start with this update, and with my taking an (intentional and mindful) hiatus starting today. After taking a step back and reassessing, I’ve come to the decision to stop my current methods of production. As you may know, I print my work (shirts, etc.) using heat transfer vinyl (HTV), which was a wonderful jumping off point for myself and my work. However I’m no longer happy with the quality of my work (especially my t-shirts) using this method, so I will be making a switch from HTV to sublimation. Sublimation is a much more permanent and adaptable form of printing, which will give me further creative freedom and make my printed items hold up better and longer!
Sublimation is a large investment and it will take me a while to get there financially, so in the mean time I will be offering a blowout sale on all of my current stock, as well as some of my supplies. Keep an eye on my grid and my stories for that!
I am also reconsidering my use of resin in my art and the paths I want to take with things like jewelry, so although I do not know exactly what direction I will take with that, rest assured that there will be changes in all aspects of my work.
I intend to be continually transparent in the midst of these changes, and I promise that my passion for mutual aid, art, and activism, will remain central throughout. -cont. below