Welcome to April, Adventurers! I’m back home from a whirlwind weekend at WonderCon in Los Angeles (LA) and I’m so grateful for everyone who stopped by or who I connected with this weekend!

Last year’s WonderCon was the first time I flew to a convention in order to participate in Artist Alley. I made a LOT of mistakes. But I learned from those and am so pleased with the changes I was able to make this year that led to a smoother flight, set up, and weekend all around – including learning some CAD to design my own 3D-printed modular, flat pack shelves! For my fellow artists out there, we’re looking at ways we can make these shelves available to others. They worked so beautifully during their first test run this weekend! Stay tuned!

The closer we get to the summer, the busier the year gets. Take a look below at what’s new, now, and next at Raden Studios!

What’s New: Shrinking Down Originals!

Nope, this is not an April Fool’s joke! In case you missed me in LA, I offered a few mini originals at this year’s WonderCon for the first time ever! Flying to a convention requires a lot of additional considerations (not the least of which is luggage weight and space) and I just can’t bring my regular framed original work with me right now for a con I’m flying to. Introducing these 4″x6″ charcoal drawings allowed me to bring some original work to the convention when I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to, and provided a little bit of a different format for some charcoal fun!

I only brought four of these little cuties to the convention this year, but most quickly found new homes! This is definitely something I’m going to consider for future events. TBD. But I’m pleased that this was a successful first foray into smaller original works, and I’m grateful to those who brought one of these originals home!

Happening Now: Enamel Pin Pre-Order

My “Con Adventurers” enamel pin pre-order store is still open for anyone who missed the crowdfunding window – but not for long! I’m tentatively planning to close orders and lock surveys on April 13, 2025. There are two additional pins that we didn’t quite reach during the initial crowdfunding campaign that we’re working to unlock through the pre-order store, and one is *very* close to unlocking. Take a look if you haven’t already!

Visit the Pre-Order Store Now!

If you did back my crowdfunding campaign during the crowdfunding window, thank you! Surveys are due soon, take a look at the last project update for more details!

Up Next: A Packed April (and a Peek at May)!

We’re fully in convention season, and April is packed! I’ve had a few last minute additions to my convention schedule. Take a look below at where you can expect to see me and/or my art this month!

• April 18-20 | Minicon, Minneapolis, MN | Dealer/Art Show
  Minicon has returned to the “Radishtree,” as it’s affectionately called in the geek community in Minnesota, and I’ll be tabling there for the first time this upcoming Easter weekend! I also plan to have work in the art show. Can’t wait to see you all there!
• April 25-27 | JordanCon, Atlanta, GA | Art Show
  I’m unfortunately unable to attend JordanCon this year, but best wishes to all my Wheel of Time friends! If you’re a writer and are attending, I *highly* recommend the writers track and visiting the author alley, as well! #ItISAprilNow
• April 25-27 | RavenCon, Richmond, VA | Art Show
  I unfortunately haven’t yet been able to attend RavenCon in person, but I am excited to return for the second year to the RavenCon Art Show and am grateful to connect with you all still in this way! I hope you all have a lovely convention weekend!
• May 10-18 | Visions from the Tabletop, Minneapolis, MN | Art Show
  This gallery art show will celebrate artworks inspired by the realms of high fantasy tabletop roleplaying games and will be running during Art-A-Whirl, a massive open studio tour and art celebration held in northeast Minneapolis annually, now in its 30th year!
• May 16-18 | Quantum-con, Plymouth, MN | Makers Market
  Not only will I have a table at Quantum-con this year, but this is also the third year in a row that I will have made official art for the con featuring the convention’s mascot, Quint the unicorn.

I’m planning on new work being available for most, if not all, of these upcoming events, so stay tuned! As always, please let me know if there’s anything else you’d really love to see or hear about in my newsletter, and thank you all so much for coming on this journey with me.

Hello, Adventurers!

I know I promised to keep posts/email updates to a minimum, and that remains true, but I wanted to let you all know of an important change. My news home has moved once again – if not for forever, at least for a good long while. After learning a little more about Substack and their values (after the initial move, but better late than never), I know it’s not going to work for me, and I apologize to anyone who got a bad taste in their mouth from the initial decision.

My new news home is on my own website, using WordPress tools in ways I haven’t in a long while! In the realm of silver linings, I found through this process that a blog-like news device that could also send emails was definitely more appealing to me than a traditional newsletter. And what better space to live than on my own website, rather than through a disconnected tool!

So here we are. I expect we’ll still have some kinks to work out as I learn to utilize another new system. But I’m looking forward to connecting with all of you here!

That’s all for now. Diving back into WonderCon prep, and you’ll hear from me again in April!

Storyteller note: Hi, Adventurers! This is a re-post of my first newsletter/blog post which had first appeared on Substack. I very quickly moved away from there to here, but didn’t want to lose this first post. The post below is unedited from the original.

Hello, and welcome to my new news home – and the very first Raden Studios newsletter!

You’re here because you either opted into receiving emails from Raden Studios or because you found me on social. You may have also noticed, after signing up for the mailing list, that your inbox remained mysteriously (and unintentionally) quiet.

My intention, for some time now, has been to create a monthly newsletter sharing what’s happening in my little corner of the creative world but it just… kept slipping through my fingers. Today, I’m working to change that.

I’m new to Substack and really just getting my feet wet, but what I do love already is that this feels more personable than your standard email. That’s really what I’m hoping to achieve with this newsletter! My goal is that this will become a space where we can connect a little more organically and a little more authentically on everything that’s going on.

Thank you for your interest and belief in my work (and me!) so far! I’m looking forward to continuing this journey together. Into the news, Adventurers!

What’s New: “The View from Up Here”

We’re just two months into 2025 but I feel like the number of “firsts” I’ve tried could fill a year – first ever dance classes, first crowdfunding campaign, first illustration commission in a new format, wrapped up my first official comics lettering work, first convention Art Shows of the year, and so much more!

Much of that is behind-the-scenes work, and I’m looking forward to sharing more about each of these as the year progresses. But I’m also excited to share my first charcoal illustration of the year!

“The View from Up Here” depicts a cat on a very tall stand of rocks, so high it’s almost as if they can touch the night sky all around them, with the moon looming just ahead and planets just a quick jump away. The original drawing debuted and sold at the Gallifrey One Art Show February 14-16. Prints will be available at in-person shows this month!

Happening Now: Enamel Pin Pre-Order

If you follow me on socials, you may have seen that I was part of BackerKit’s Pintopia January 23-February 13. My “Con Adventurers” enamel pin project did successfully fund but we didn’t quite unlock all of the stretch goals. I’m pleased to share that my pre-order store is now open for anyone who missed the crowdfunding window – along with two additional pins that we can still unlock if they receive enough support!

The pre-order store won’t be open for long, so don’t wait – especially if you’re interested in the two stretch goals. Take a look!

Visit the Pre-Order Store Now

If you did back my crowdfunding campaign during the crowdfunding window, thank you! You’ll receive surveys hopefully this coming week. Take a look at the latest project update (sent today) for more details!

Up Next: Classes, Conventions, and Comics

I’ll be heads down much of this month as I work to wrap up art on two short comics, along with prep for two March conventions AND a new-to-me teaching opportunity!

• March 4-5 | Young Writers & Artists Conference, Mankato, MN
  I will be presenting an interactive session on creating comics during the upcoming YWAC conference in Mankato, which is designed for kids grades 3-8. This is an entirely new experience for me, but I’m so excited to spend some time connecting with and empowering young creative folks!
• March 7-9 | MarsCon, Bloomington, MN
  I’ll have art in the MarsCon Art Show. My hope is to debut one new art piece, “A Midnight Stroll,” but as of this writing it’s not quite done. Either way, there will be lots of prints, metal bookmarks, limited edition gold foil prints, and more available!
• March 28-30 | WonderCon, Anaheim, CA
  I’m returning for the second year to Artist Alley at WonderCon! I’ll be near where I was last year, at table F-58, and will be bringing a selection of new prints, an easier-to-navigate display, pins, magnets, and even some small original drawings.

Whew! That was a lot for a first newsletter, but there’s so much more ahead. Let me know if there’s anything else you’d really love to see or hear about in my newsletter, and thank you all so much for coming on this journey with me!