Happy December holidays!

How you'll benefit from MY new year goals

Want to learn more about my Snowseasons art? Please click here.

Owls, in particular

Last weekend I was suddenly invited to show my illustrations — especially owls — in an art fair inside a bungalow. The fest took place in a different city the very next day, so I knew I couldn’t have my pieces ready. That said, the suggestion jump-started my interest in showing work in the new year.

Since then, I’ve been thinking about reaching others in an analog way. Some connections have included:

• Giving my bird and other art stickers to colleagues at a holiday party. There’s no expectation for this to result in sales, but it was a fun way to connect; many of my friends at work didn’t know I made these things. Also nice: talking with a coworker about her paintings. On the back of each sticker, I wrote my linktree link (which goes to my Redbubble sales and this newsletter); one colleague followed the link on her phone and called it out to the rest of us, which was also cool.

• Sending my illustrated cards to people I’d like to work with in art. Although I expect to continue working in fundraising and communications, I also want to build illustration connections and income.

• For a limited time, offering my Substack newsletter at a price that is 40% lower than the general price.

• Hand writing messages on my illustrated cards and including my Linktree. This feels better than typing, frankly, and reminded me of a Norwegian study that found that writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning.

New Year’s goals

All these things also charged up my plans, which include:

• Reaching out to creative directors and others about retail licensing contracts for illustrations.

• Working on nonfiction book illustration projects that I have in mind.

• Doing other marketing of my art work.

• With paid subscribers here on Substack, sharing the chance to work with me on screen on your projects as I work on my own.

Which brings us to:

What you (or someone to whom you gift this newsletter) will receive as a paid subscriber

• Free cards and stickers of my illustrations.

• Early notice about the 2026 calendar of my illustrations that I’m planning!

• Tips about art and building income as an illustrator or newsletter writer.

• Free Draw Together sessions.

Free and paid subscribers: I hope you’re having good December holidays if you celebrate them. Happy Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa. Hip-hip-hooray for Solstice. Thank you very much for your support. It is valued. As some authors have said recently about their readers who write Amazon reviews, essentially, everything you do to share or say positive things about my work (or that of another artist or writer) is a little voice saying “Continue what you are doing.”

With that in mind, have a happy new year and I hope to see you here.