I'm SO excited to share that some of my best girls and I are heading to Wonderground Gallery in the Downtown Disney® District at Disneyland next month! Mark your calendars for January 16 & 17 (first long weekend of the year, thanks to Dr. & Mrs. King!). I'll be featured in the Artist Showcase that weekend, and will be there in person for signings 1 to 4 p.m. each afternoon.
This is a big life dream come true for me; I've been a fan of the gallery since it opened in 2012 and I can't leave without picking up something from there so I'm incredibly honored to be a part of it. Hope to meet ya there!
EVENT INFO:
Artist Showcase
Wonderground Gallery
Downtown Disney® District at Disneyland
Saturday January 16 & Sunday January 17
1–4p.m.
Check out the Disney Parks site here for more info!
Ann Shen x Casetify
Hello friends!
So much has been going on lately that I've barely had a minute to sit down and update this space! Thank you if you're still reading here! In a world where social media dominates, things seem to speed by so fast that it's nice to take a moment to reflect on all the things going on. For now and for posterity.
I'm dropping in today to share that my collection for fabulous tech case company Casetify is now live! If you've been looking for the perfect phone case for your mermaid life, then look no further than shopping this link right here.
It's great to be able to share my work across so many platforms, so you can get as many options as possible to affordable art. After all, art is what makes life worth living, right?
Let me know if you get one! I'd love to see you & your stylish phone out in the wild.
P.S. Oh and because Casetify is so egalitarian, there are cases for every phone!
California Love Pop-Up Shop!
Hi friends! I'm so excited to share that I'll be part of a one-day pop-up shop at the super cute Shout & About in Echo Park, Los Angeles!
I'll have my complete collection of prints, paper goods, and gift goods -- including stuff that isn't even up on my online shop and new exclusives! Blue Elf Succulents will be there with darling potted gardens, Shout & About will be hosting with pink lemonade, mini donuts, and California mimosas* (*a term I just made up for pink lemonade mimosas).
Hope to see you there! Here are the important details:
California Love Pop-Up Shop!
Sunday, October 18
10am – 2pm
@ Shout and About
1547 Echo Park Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90026
The Crafted Life & Tiffany Han on The Crafted Biz
Photo courtesy of The Crafted Life
If you're anything like me, you might love reading business articles on entrepreneurship and people doing it for themselves. So I'm super excited to be working with Rachel of The Crafted Life and business coach extraordinare Tiffany Han on their new column, The Crafted Biz. For the next six months, Tiffany's serving up a monthly column on how to craft a business you love. I'm hand lettering a free printable quote from each post that you can print at home and hang on your wall to remind yourself that you've so got this (in the words of Tiffany herself). Sounds like the perfect six month kick-in-your-pants dream team to help you get to your best business self. Read the first post here on Knowing Your Why!
Where The Wild Things Are
Hi friends! Long time no write; I'm chalking it up to the fact that I'm in intense book research & writing mode. I cannot wait to share more about it next year, but in the meantime here's artwork I can share right now.
I just painted this piece, That Very Night A Forest Grew, for the Maurice Sendak & Shel Silverstein tribute show Small Adventures curated by Supahcute at Leanna Lin's Wonderland Gallery in Los Angeles. It's still available for purchase here. You can see & buy the rest of the pieces by a coterie of amazing artists in this show here.
With that, Happy September!
Happy 20th Anniversary, Clueless!
Happy 20th Anniversary, Clueless! I had to make this painting to celebrate one of the greatest movies of all time. This film taught me so much about life – like don't bother going out at night in the Valley, don't wear suede shoes to a party, and the value of an Alaïa.
Also, thanks for teaching me the best insult ever: "You're a virgin who can't drive."
Wonderland Art for Animals Show
Happy Saturday, folks! Here's a new piece I painted, entitled I Brought You These Because I Love You, for the Wonderland Art for Animals benefit show at Leanna Lin's Wonderland in Eagle Rock, California. Curated by Supahcute & Leanna Lin, the show opens tonight at 6pm and you can get tons of amazing original art for $100 & under! All net proceeds benefit the North Central L.A. Animal Shelter.
There's nothing I love more than helping pups!
Working On My (Mental) Fitness: 4 Things
Happy Monday!
Today I'm sharing my pursuit for good mental health while being a self-employed creative – something that is much easier said than done.
When I first started working for myself full time, I was super pumped. I was also jumping from client project to client project, starting an endless number of personal projects, redesigning my website, migrating my blog, along with invoicing, reviewing contracts, having client meetings, negotiating, and other miscellaneous admin work. I just wanted to work, and I jumped in head first and I totally loved it.
Then it started to wear me down. I started having more existential moments of "what-is-it-all-for" and "what-am-i-doing-with-my-life". Have you ever noticed that there are thousands of books, articles, and podcasts about how to quit your day job and follow your dreams? There's not so many about what happens when your dreams become reality, and how to handle life after the leap. Jumping in full steam, like I had been doing to get this career started, wasn't going to be sustainable as a business in the long run.
So I'm exploring through that realm now, figuring out how to manage myself, my time, and my business, so that I can have a long, sustainable career (and life). Here are the four major changes I've made that have helped me feel more clear-headed and less stressed:
1. A MORNING ROUTINE
One of my favorite tools has been Todd Henry's Accidental Creative podcast. His podcast on the importance of a morning routine has been one of my favorites that I keep referring back to over and over.
My morning routine, modeled slightly after his suggestions, includes:
10 minutes of meditation (using my favorite app, Headspace)
20 minutes of challenging/business reading
10 minutes of fun/pleasure reading
10 minutes of planning my day/writing lists/to-do lists/goals/etc.
I try to do this all before even checking my phone for email or Instagram updates (this is very hard). I find that on days when I can fit in the whole routine, I feel calmer and more productive for the rest of the day.
2. REINVENTING THE TO-DO LIST
A big change I made in the last couple weeks was my to-do list. I'm a pretty organized creature of habit, and I really love making lists. So I usually make a daily to-do list in my planner, and then struggle with getting it all done and referring to the list each day. Turns out, these lists are a bit unreasonable because I'm just writing down everything I want to do and not taking into account how much time I actually have to do everything.
At first I tried using Jessica Hische's Ultra Schedule as a new model for my unstructured days, but that was too vague for me. So I modified it so that I actually make my to-do list in my calendar, as blocks of time. I also keep a running list of illustration work/client work/personal work/personal life to-do's so that I don't forget anything, but my new calendar to-do list has been revolutionary. I have a better idea of how much I can get done in a day – and actually do it all. It keeps me more accountable for how I spend my work time. I'm working on shutting off by 7pm nowadays, and also only responding to email twice a day.
3. GETTING THE OFFICE IN TOP SHAPE
It should also be said that I finally got a new computer after a good long run on my MacbookPro. That laptop went with me through design school, 3 internships, and 3 years of freelance work, and it was worse for the wear. It was like my life was buffering! I finally made the investment to get a desktop set up, and I love my iMac so much I don't know how I did without it. So she must get some props for my newfound productivity.
4. WORKING OUT THE MENTAL HEAD SPACE
And finally, I'm also working out 3x a week in the evenings. I find that helps release a lot of stress and anxiety, especially at the end of the day.
What do you do about your mental fitness? I would love to hear what you've found helpful!
Floral Series & Some Life Updates
Happy July!
I'm excited to share that I've finished another #30for30 days project, where I stick to a subject and make a daily(ish) painting for 30 days, and then sell them on Instagram for a super special low rate of $30. It's a fun way for me to share my work, and reward all of you for supporting my paintings!
For the month of June, I decided to take on florals so that I could expand my portfolio of flower and botanical paintings. It nicely coincided with my growing hobby of turning my house into an indoor jungle. More about that later. For the florals, check out my tag #30for30florals on Instagram to see the rest; or see a selection of my favorites in my portfolio.
I'm going to take a little break from doing a 30 day series in July as I focus on big, exciting freelance projects (can't wait to share those) and working a ton on my book!
Now that we're halfway through the year, I took a little time to reevaluate my January goals/resolutions. I'm happy to see that I've made good progress on checking off half of my resolutions list. Now I'm focusing on health – both physical and mental health. It's been a change for me to really focus on defining work/life balance for myself. But in order to have a sustainable, healthy life, I have to start making changes before I turn into an anxious, gollum-y creature hunched over my Cintiq as a permanent state of being.
Ryan and I signed up to go to the gym and work out with a personal trainer 3x a week, and we've already been 4 times in the past week. That's more than any form of exercise I've stuck to in the last...oh, 9 years. I'm also trying to make some changes in my diet, and that part is especially challenging now that I work by myself in my studio. I'm tackling a little change at a time, from drinking 80oz of water daily (I just fill up my tumblr 4x a day), to meal prep for lunch for the week, and now adding in working out!
I'll update ya on how it's going as the summer progresses. Any health tips or thoughts appreciated!
P.S. I started writing more about mental health balance as well, and then the post started getting so long I decided to split it into a second post. Look out for that on Monday, and have a great long holiday weekend!
Go To Nature
I've been doing a lot of researching, reading, and writing as part of my work lately, so I wanted to warm up my lettering with a fun little piece this afternoon.
"Go to Nature" was advice from one of my teachers in school, for when we felt stuck and uninspired. I'm not a huge go-to-nature kind of person; hiking a few hours or being on the beach is the extent of my comfort in the outdoors. But something has shifted in the wind for me this year, and I've planned a road trip that will take us through Yosemite at the end of summer.
I'm ready to marvel at the majesty of all that is wild and free (allergy pills in hand, of course).
Please leave a comment for me below if you have any recommendations for places to stop and see on this road trip!
