AC2011

So another Anthrocon come and gone, and it was a pretty good one for me.

The days when you’d make expenses in the first three hours are, alas, gone with the Great Recession, but I did better than last year. Table sales for me were so-so, but the art show was great (which was the direct opposite of most of the people I talked to, who did okay at the table and badly in the art show.) A lot of that was because of one big piece that found a buyer, who told me, quite touchingly, that it reminded him of his childhood. I was delighted that he was able to take it home. (Me, I was just delighted to win this piece in the auction. I also got to take home one of Tyrrlin’s awesome instrument-birds, and a couple of pieces by an artist I really admire whose handle I cannot for the life of me spell.)

Meanwhile, I had a great time—got to go to the Aviary with Kevin, Diana, and Heather, where their friend Julia works, and we got to pet a penguin! (They are very soft under the chin. Who knew?) It nibbled on Kevin and nearly crapped on his shoes. Typical. I also learned that penguins are very horny little animals, and that video that went around of the penguin being tickled? Yeah, um. Let’s just say that the penguin in question was undoubtedly enjoying it, but probably not in the way that the legions of viewers quite thought. We live and learn. They had some great bird shows, too, and trainers who worked well in adversity when a couple of their stars started misbehaving. (I think we went through on the day that many of the birds got stage-jitters. Turns out that getting a Marshall eagle out of a tree is quite a job.)

Great con in general for hanging out—got to see Miss Monster, Miss Monster’s Hot Friend (who has a name, but who will forever be emblazoned in my mind as such) Laura and JT, Sue and Phil, the Sofawolf Crew, The Many Faces of Blotch, Dave & Diana, the cadre of artists we know and love, and many more. Spent a fun evening hanging with artists and laughing uproariously, met a really fascinating woman who was a crow behavioralist who told us all kinds of amazing and illusion-shredding things about crows.

Great to see the fans, as always, one of whom gave me a totally rockin’ Digger plushie that has gone on my bookcase. The final volume of Digger debuted at this con—it’ll be online soon, expect announcements. (Actually, I suspect that may have accounted for some of the reduced table sales on my end—even the most devoted fan will likely consider a full set of Digger to be more than enough cash spent on one artist at one time. I do not begrudge this in the slightest.) Did not get that many commissions, and it occurred to me finally that I don’t think anybody KNEW I was taking them, so we’ll fix the sign for next time.

Thinking of offering badge commissions ahead of time in the future, but I’m not sure what to charge. They’d be digital because I can’t hand-letter to save my life. I kinda like the badge format—it’s so neat and compact and uncomplicated, but I’m never happy doing them on the spot because of the lettering and the poor paper and all that. Also tempted to try a couple of generic species badges—fox, otter, chicken, etc—and see if those sell. (This grew out of the idea to make a “Designated Sherpa” badge because Kevin is totally my sherpa, and it occurred to me that other artists have people to carry their heavy objects, and something like “Sherpa” or “Minion” might sell, except that “Sherpa” is obviously a yak, and if there are any yak-furries out there, I would like to meet them.

Mind you, I still want to do the yak badge…

Annnnyway. AC left me full of great ideas and completely devoid of the energy to do them, but it was wonderful to see everyone! And Kevin gets back from his trip to Seattle tomorrow morning and I miss him and will be glad he’s home.

 

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