This year was a whirlwind of activity. I’m already forgetting plenty of it, so I’d better start writing things down!
NCS Fest in May
This event was so much fun. You know what, this is the only time I’m going to say that, because all of these events were a total blast!
NCS Fest is an international festival celebrating comic art, and I had the pleasure of representing the Huntington Beach Art Center for the organization’s first ever event in the U.S.!
Downtown HB is such a busy place full of dog-lovers, I was swamped with work. The energy was great, and I got to meet so many amazing artists! Definitely grateful to have been invited to table at this event.
Pier Plaza Art Afair in August
After NCS Fest, I realized that doing 1-hour watercolors was not time-efficient. I wanted to test my abilities with alcohol markers! I signed up for the weekly local art market by the HB Pier and got to work.
Downtown Huntington Beach came through once again with dog lovers galore, and I got plenty of practice!
San Gabriel Valley Humane Society in October
A friend from college reached out when she saw that I was doing these events. Coincidentally, she now manages the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society. She graciously invited me to have a table at their 95th Anniversary event! This was my first event I’d done outside of Huntington Beach, and it went great.
HB Arts Fest in October
This one was a big change of pace coming off a dog-centric event like the SGV Humane Society. This visit to Downtown HB was much less busy. Still, this was a nice event.
Long Beach Howl’oween Parade in, you guessed it, October
Two events in one month was a lot, but this one was super worth the extra effort. There were more dogs than people, and everybody was in a costume! Maybe I was just tired from the busy month, or I was “in the zone” with my drawings, but this event seemed really laid back.
Plus, there was this giant mob of children helping everyone set up and take down. They were like little 12-year-old elves.
The Howl’oween Parade was one of my favorites.
Irvine Animal Care Center Home for the Holidays in December
The last leg of my vendor-booth-marathon got rained on, but not too badly. Enough people attended to generate $32,000 for the adoptable pets at The Irvine Animal Care Center! Seeing all of the newly adopted dogs and cats was a fantastic thing to see on an otherwise gloomy day.
To sum it up,
I think my top 3 favorite events for this year would have to be
- NCS Fest, because it was such a unique and exciting experience
- The San Gabriel Valley Humane 95th Anniversary, because it was my first event outside of HB
- The Howl’oween Parade, because it was so tremendously fun!
Going forward, I’ll be putting most of my focus on dog-related events (I’ll be at Goldie Palooza 2020!) and maybe some niche art events. I just loved the atmosphere at NCS Fest — streets closed to cars, every booth full of exciting art!
Looking ahead to the new year, I’m so excited to launch The Artful Armadillo Newsletter! It will be a quarterly mailing (less clutter for you, less work for me.) First edition drops January 1st. It will contain a secret word that you can say when you see me next year to get free goodies! Sound like fun? I’m excited. Sign up here.
Whether you had a great visit to the first show or you missed it, you’re in luck. Because as Yoda once said, “There is another.” And it’s going on right now, yes RIGHT NOW at the same location. All this week, in the run up to the start of Hanukkah, which also happens to be Christmas Eve, the shop is open from 10a – 8p, and on Saturday, 10 – 4 (gotta make time to set the cookies out for Santa, you know how it is.) See you there!
I don’t know about you, but this is about the time that I start to get a little jittery if I don’t have a gift at least planned for my loved ones. Lucky for us, there’s a cozy little craft fair starting tomorrow where you’re sure to find something cute, something fun, something unique to give your friends.
I have little wood pins – flying pigs, rocket ships, ufos, pizzas, and some silly surprises to boot. And speaking of wood, I teamed up with my Papa ‘Trozzi to make a couple of really cool bird houses, candleholders, and in an experimental fervor – PVC pipe bird houses!
Artful Armadillo 