A Fundraiser With Cool Perks!

Over the years I've done a lot of fundraising for other groups and individuals, mainly putting on Seattle Bach Choir's annual fundraiser, Bachtoberfest, for 13 years. Now I've reached a rough patch and need to have a fundraiser for myself. It's always embarrassing for me to admit I need help, so this is hard for me, but the good news is that I can see a light at the end of the tunnel if I can simply ask for assistance.

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I've been trying to make a go as a full time professional artist since September of 2020, and I've been able to survive this long, but it's been a tough run and soon I will likely need to get a regular job, and a virtual one so I can keep my dad and myself safe from COVID. To be honest I don't have a lot of marketable skills. For decades I've worked in food service, but now my body is telling me that it can no longer stand for eight hours a day, plus the virus is spreading faster than it ever has before. I don't know how to code, I have a phone phobia, and even the technology of my trade is still beyond me. If I knew how to use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator I could find a lot more virtual work in my field, but at the moment I am still a very analog artist.

But I've found something that can give me proper training not only in the technology but also in a field that can help sustain me as an artist.

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I am hoping to raise the money to enroll in Bonnie Christine's eight week surface pattern design  immersion course which starts on February 28. Surface pattern design is the design of whatever you might find printed on a surface, especially repeating patterns like you see every day on wallpaper and fabric. This course is fully online and teaches not only how to create repeating patterns but also how to reach out to potential clients and negotiate contracts for art licensing. I applied for a scholarship, but only eight people will be chosen out of thousands. I should know if I've been chosen on January 25, and will certainly let you all know too.

There are opportunities in getting art licensed for use on a wide variety of products: everything from stationary to packaging, fabric, bedding, wallpaper, coffee mugs, and more. My work relies heavily on patterned paper, both as a drawing background and as collage, but these are the patterns of others, either used with a commercial license or simply found vintage and antique papers, but I can take my art career to a whole new level if I could create my own repeating patterns and license them. I can finally see my own artistic visions working in tandem with a viable income stream. Imagine if I could use my own patterns as backgrounds, in collage, and even as image transfers in my shadow puppets!

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Of course it would be best if I could raise money not just for tuition but also for living expenses while I'm taking the course so it can be a true immersion experience. Here's a budget breakdown:

• $1297 for tuition
• $200 for a year long subscription for Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
• $4500 for living expenses while I take the course and create a portfolio of licensable work

And of course there are some very fun perks in it for you if you wish to donate!

• $5 - $49 gets you a personalized shadow puppet thank you video
• $50 - $99 gets you a velvet giclee signed art print of the owls shown below, and a personalized puppet thank you
• $100 - $499 gets you an original piece of my art of as close to an equivalent value as I have in stock and a personalized puppet thank you
• $500 and up gets you the same as the $100 level plus a yard of fabric from Spoonflower with one of my repeating patterns on it, but you will have to wait until I take this course so I can learn how to make repeating patterns.

This fundraiser will take place mainly through IndiGoGo, but if you don't want to sign up with them or use that platform I can also accept donations through PayPal or Venmo or in other ways. Feel free to contact me for alternative ways of donating (rotarybear@gmail.com). And I need to say that I am not a nonprofit organization, so your donation is not tax deductible, but you can still get some cool rewards for supporting me. You can also become a monthly Patreon donor if you want to continue your support of my artistic endeavors. Of course purchasing anything from my online store would help me too!

If I raise more than my goal the money will go toward other artistic projects such as:

• An April art show of drawings on pattern collage with an accompanying book that I call BirdCore Two
• The continuation of the Kurt Weill Project with Joe Mabel. Our February show had to be cancelled due to COVID, but we do hope to play in public someday soon
• A shadow puppet collaboration with Seattle Bach Choir where I'm creating puppets for three of Bach's motets to be performed with live choral singing in March of 2023
• A drawing series converting Bach's Well Tempered Clavier into color to create visual maps of his harmonic structures
• Many, many solo puppet shows
• Schubert tarot cards, and the continuation of a book series exploring his song cycles and inspired tangential philosophies through meditation

I'm hopeful and excited about the viability of art licensing as a supportive income stream for my creations, but I need help to get pulled up enough to make this happen. Thank you so much for your generosity!