Good morning all! So much has been happening and so much is in flux, I wanted to make a nice post here for you Patrons to re-cap everything. I’ve sort of divided up the news into categories below so you can jump to anything you are interested in specifically =)
***SAD NEWS***
Starting with the bad. Apologies again for quietude on my end, it’s been a tough couple of weeks. On a personal note, my Grandma Griffith passed away a few days ago. I was very close to her and loved her so much, such a large part of my life. She was 94 years old and had an incredibly long and fulfilling life, and while her death seemed sudden it wasn’t unexpected, but my heart has been hurting =(
I’ve been ill myself for the past week or so (just dealing with persistent nausea, ugh) and it’s been difficult to get stuff done, feeling better now though.
More sad news from Kansas City – unfortunately earlier this year (probably a couple months ago, it’s difficult to determine) our building (downstairs public gallery, storage unit, kitchenette, shop and living quarters) at the KC RenFest was burglarized, vandalized and generally trashed. Significant structural repairs are needed (and stolen/damaged peripherals & inventory) in order to get everything up to code in time for our 2020 autumn season. It’s a large two story building, a proper house really with my family’s living quarters on top with our bedroom, kitchen, etc. in addition to being my shop & gallery at the RenFest and requires a lot of repair to make everything safe & pretty again. As Matt and I are currently stuck down in Florida we have to wrangle the construction and repairs remotely, which makes it more complicated. Speaking of, if anybody happens to have any information regarding the criminal issue, please email [email protected] – you can remain anonymous.
***NEW GOALS***
Because of the latter, and the time-sensitive nature of the repairs needed (basically they will have just these summer months to fix everything before the festival re-opens on Labor Day), I’ve made the “KC RenFest House Repairs” into my next official “Patreon Goal” (the little financial goal thingies that Patreon has us set up).
This also ties in with some of the good news! Previously my next Patreon Goal was to produce the next Strangeling Vinyl. BUT – I’ve recently been contacted by a company (a big one, not gonna name it but they are pretty famous for vinyls, lol) who is interested in creating Vinyls from my work on a mass marketed scale. Which is great news, because that will make everything a lot easier. Much more smooth process to order, regular new designs, distribution in stores, cheaper, and won’t cost me $$ out of pocket, hehe, (as I did with my first vinyl where I just did it myself and it cost a fortune). If they end up licensing me, I would not be able to (nor would I need to) hire a factory to make them myself, and this means I no longer need to have a Patreon Goal set up for vinyls. Perfect timing! I will keep you all posted as the new vinyl project progresses, assuming it does, cross your fingers for me =)
***DIAMOND PAINTINGS***
This could be the BEST news for some certain ones of you! For years, y’all have been asking me where you can buy “diamond painting kits” of my artwork. For years the industry has been dominated by illegal pirate companies out of China that never license images, that just steal my pics and sell them on Alibaba or Wish, lol (I know that it’s even confused some of my fans who have bought them not knowing they were knock-offs). It’s been frankly a nightmare and costs me tens of thousands in legal fees to even try to keep most of the bootlegs shut down. BUT finally there is a company that will ACTUALLY licensing my pictures for genuine kits with my licensed artwork for diamond paintings. I’m still in the middle of doing the contracts (a licensing agent is handling it for me this time, as it’s a pretty large deal, so I don’t know much myself yet) but should have information soon, they’re the first USA diamond painting company and they will be available worldwide. In the meantime please don’t buy the illegal diamond painting kits on Wish or Alibaba. Real ones are coming soon that you can feel good about buying 😉 I will post as soon as I have more info!
***PINS NEWS***
For those of you Pin Collectors, we have exciting pin stuff coming up – here’s a cheatsheet:
*June Pin of the Month is “Elephant Friend”
*July Pin of the Month is “Pearl Mermaid” (will show off design shortly)
*July will also bring “Albino Alligator Girl” which will be the new Patreon Exclusive Pin, not for sale, will be included automatically for all Patreon Pin Collectors in their July shipment
(Psst, not yet the Pin Collector Tier yet? Upgrade or join now – https://www.patreon.com/jasminebecketgriffith and you’ll receive all three of the aforementioned pins automatically as part of your membership!)
*July will ALSO be bringing another special pin – “Crimson 20 Sided Dice Fairy” – every year for the month of July at Strangeling.com we have an “Anniversary” pin celebrating a new year at Strangeling. I started my website in July of 1997, so this year will be my website’s 23rd Anniversary! To celebrate, for the entire month (while supplies last) we will be including a “Crimson 20 Sided Dice Fairy” pin automatically with any Strangeling.com order (over $25) free of charge. No limit, anywhere in the world, starting at midnight EST on the first of July. This will be the only way to get “Crimson 20 Sided Dice Fairy” pins and is our git to you as part of our 23rd Anniversary celebration.
*Mini Metal Pin Set Five (featuring dragons!) will be the fifth set of Mini Metal square pins. As these are incredibly sought after, I will be making a Patreon-only post regarding the specific date/time when this set of pins will become available, to make sure my Patrons can get to them first. They really do sell out within a few minutes, so I’ll definitely give you time in advance to set up any phone/calendar reminders so you can plan to snag one if you wish.
***PAINTINGS UPDATE***
I’m still wading through recovering from cancer and a subsequent auto-immune disease response, things have been up and down. I am feeling ok though and am doing great at my physical therapy and am getting back into painting regularly for a while each day. Mostly I’ve been finishing up custom work and commissioned projects that have piled up over the past eight months, but I will be starting soon on some brand new paintings!
Most of the original work I’ll be doing in 2020 and early 2021 will be destined for the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles. My solo show “Enigma” will open the evening of Saturday February 27 – I will be there in person at the gallery for the opening – and it will hang for five weeks, through April 3, 2021 – open to the public. I will be posting a lot of sneak previews here at Patreon of course!
I’ll also be doing the occasional small piece(s) throughout the year and will be sure to preview those first here at Patreon as well. We will definitely be putting some minis and some sketches & other small works up soon in the “Patreon Only” section up at Strangeling.com soon.
***DISNEY STUFF***
The parks at Disneyland & Disney World are currently still closed but will be reopening mid July. Disney Springs (including the Pop Gallery) has re-opened (with precautions of course) here in Florida.
At some point, Disney will be releasing my paintings from the earlier Epcot event – “Villains Group Portrait” and “Pinocchio and the Blue Fairy” at the WonderGround Galleries and other themepark locations. I don’t have any info about this, we’ll have to wait & see 😉
That being said, Disneyland in Anaheim will no doubt have me come out later this year to do an autograph signing at WonderGround Gallery at Downtown Disney in California, and Disney here in Florida will have me doing some events on property / Disney Springs as things re-open here too. I’ll keep you posted. I am currently immuno-compromised and public events for anybody right now are pretty tricky, so bear with us!
I can’t divulge the specifics yet, but I do have several new contracts from Disney featuring some of all of our favourite characters, so there will be a lot of new Disney stuff from me coming out over the next 8 months or so 😉
Whew, I think that’s all for now – what a long post! Just wanted to fill you in, explain the “goal” changes on the “Patreon Goals” page, and more than anything I wanted to thank you all for your support, kindness and most of all your enthusiasm over the years.
Love to you all,
x
Jasmine
