Hi friends!

First off, thanks for being here.

Second, many of you are here because I’m releasing a pack of images for licensing! Last year, I created numbers zero to nine out of paper, and those ten images are now available for use on your brand’s social media! The images have been recently edited to be a cohesive set, and they’re looking pretty rich and LUSH, if I do say so myself (I do).

Here’s the link to get your own pack.

There are only 150 licenses available, meaning they won’t be sold at this price again!

Behind the Curtain…

As I write this, I have a big pot of soup on the stove (I like this recipe) as a balm for my nervous system, which I’ve been putting to the test lately. I’d imagine that the launch of this image pack seems fairly straightforward from the outside. My insides say otherwise.

My body has been giving me my-insides-want-to-flop-outside feels, accompanied by those pesky quick thoughts that try to deter, distract, and dismiss what I'm doing. They were out in full-force leading up to this release. Does this ever happen to you too? Here's what I found helpful:

It helped to think of past projects that have felt like leaps into unknown territory and where they have led me. I thought about how, in 2013, I created my first public-facing piece in the form of a holiday window display for 826 Valencia, and I subsequently created or co-created their holiday display for five years. Even into the third year, I predictably had an annual meltdown when the project was 70% finished, scared that this one—this one—just wouldn’t be a good one and every single person on the planet would agree. What I now know in retrospect, is that those windows are what led me to do shows, meet wonderful artists in the community, and ultimately start my trajectory to becoming a full-time artist.

In the past couple of years, I’ve been working on a perspective shift: I try to see most of the things I do as seeds that I’m planting that may sprout down the line into new opportunities, often in unpredictable ways. I expect good and great things to arrive (sprouts), and I do activities (seed planting) to enable them. 🌱 (Just a note here that the activities need not be "productive" in the way that many of us have internalized productivity. I've found my biggest "aha!" activity this year has been to have purposeless play time with my art.)

I’d like this newsletter to be a way to further connect with my community. So let’s make it a conversation. What do you want to see in this space? I’ve got ideas around project behind-the-scenes and sketches, things I’m learning as a person and as a business (like today’s), and Q&A. What do you think?

Thanks for inviting me into your email inbox!

Getting ready for a 72 hour nap,
Reina