Tag: Gemstone Goddesses

The Goddesses of Spring Enamel Pins Have Launched!

The moment we’ve been building up to for almost a year has finally come.  The campaign for the final set in my Birthstone Goddesses enamel pins has launched on Kickstarter!

This launch almost didn’t happen, however.  In uncertain times like this, I was very afraid to push the button!  Does anyone have time for art right now?  Won’t everyone be saving for other things?  It felt almost irresponsible for me to do this.  After some thought, I realized that it was ok to do this.  Art is there for us during the dark times to bring us a bit of shine and beauty.  If people connect with my project and want something to help bring that feeling to them, they should be allowed!

And honestly right now with all of my conventions canceled for the year, I’m grateful for any support that comes my way.  I almost cried during my livestream of the launch after seeing the enthusiasm of fans in the chat and the fact I raised so much during my first minutes of support.  It means a lot right now to me!

(Watch the launch’s livestream recording here)

Thank you all for your kindness!  Especially those of you who have continued your support here on Patreon as well!  It truly helps and warms the heart.   I understand if anyone must drop their Pledges for financial purposes right now and doubly appreciate anyone who chooses to stay! 

Before I get all sappy again, here’s the Press Kit of images and links to help with sharing my project!  Ya’ll are my biggest fans and your voices are always the loudest when I run these campaigns.  Share away, my lovelies!

Links to Share!

Remember to add your own commentary, if you have the time!  People love to know what you think.  Did you enjoy your last pins? Do you have a fave Goddess you can’t wait to see as a finished pin?   Let everyone know!

Downloadable Images

(16:9 aspect ratio Cover Photo)

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(Cover Photo – Square for Instagram)

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(Cover Photo – Facebook Cover Size. Feel free to snag this to use for your own Cover!)

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(March’s Pin – Square for Instagram)

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(March’s Pin – Rectangle for Facebook)

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(April’s Pin – Square for Instagram)

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(April’s Pin – Rectangle for Facebook)

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(May’s Pin – Square for Instagram)

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(May’s Pin – Rectangle Facebook)

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(Selected Reward Tier Images)

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Thanks to everyone who has been cheering me on through this project. It’s been a year of pushing and creating something grand with these pins (and more years before that for the paintings)! I can’t wait to see all of these lovely designs together soon.

I hope these beauties bring you all a bit of light and happiness today!

Stay safe, friends!

♥ Ang

Jan 2020 Wrap Up – Spring Goddesses & Plans for 2020

Wow did January fly by or is it just me?  I’ve been managing a lot of stressful situations this month, including my husband launching a deer into the stratosphere with his car (he is thankfully uninjured, but the deer was not) and many production woes involving my pins.  So that’s meant a new car payment for us and dreaded Kickstarter production delays!  

I’m especially grateful to my Patrons who have stayed with me through the holidays, as I know things can be tight during the holiday rush.  Welcome to the new folks who’ve hopped on board this month when many are still recovering from the holiday expenses!  The support is definitely helping us during the extra stress this month.  For those who had to leave, I still appreciate your support during the time you were here and totally understand that life happens (Boy howdy does it. Hello, teleporting deer!).

I’m grateful that all the Kickstarter Backers have been so understanding of delays thus far as well!  I’d much rather the factory workers be safe during the coronavirus outbreak, as my pins are not worth more than people’s lives!  I’ve written an update about how this situation affects shipping and safety here for the curious.

Meanwhile, I’m marching ever onwards and have started designing the Goddesses of Spring pins!  There’ll be a Secret Sketchbook entry showing off the creative process behind these designs within the next week or so.

I’m starting to see the finish line that’s coming after a year straight of Kickstarter projects and that feels GREAT!  I love how successful these campaigns have been, but I’d be lying if I said I weren’t also pretty exhausted from doing them!  I’ve learned exactly what my tolerance is for stress and project management and plan to never do this many in a row ever again (hopefully not famous last words!).

I’ve started to ponder what’s next after the Birthstone Goddesses wrap up, which could be a whole blog entry on its own!  For now, I’m focusing on finishing the Birthstone Goddesses  pins and the wall calendar in 2020 and then we shall see what happens at that point!

I can tell after 5 years of working on this endeavor, my muse is starting to meander with Witcher OCs and other distractions and that’s a clear sign to me that I may need to temporarily switch gears when I get to a good stopping point.  But to what?  I have many thoughts which I will save for a later entry once I’ve wrapped up my current queue!

New Rewards Added in January

Posts You May Have Missed In January

I’m keen to see what amazing beginnings and endings happen in 2020!  Thanks for being along for the ride.

♥ Ang

New Art! Little Gem Goddesses of Autumn

Happy Friday, all!  In anticipation of the Goddesses of Autumn enamel pins Kickstarter launching on Monday, I wanted to share the chibi sticker designs of the Autumn gals I did since they’ll be making their debut as Stretch Goals for the Kickstarter project (and eventually as freebies here on Patreon once the pin Kickstarters are complete!)

Little Gem Goddess of September

One of the fun things about doing multiple angles on these gals is that I get to show off design elements that weren’t clear in the main paintings!  September’s chibi shows off her dual-colored eyes and parti-color dress so well.  Inspired by the red and blue color of Sapphires!

Little Gem Goddess of October

Funny how she was not my fave from the main set, but this chibi version stands out as one of my fave of the chibis!  Her pose came out with such perfect flow and I love all of her little spirit friends.  It feels like she has a stronger connection to them in this version.

Little Gem Goddess of November

This gal never ceases to steal the show in any form!  Her flowing veil and dress made a wonderful design element.  Having her floating among her butterflies also ties her more strongly to their ghostly ethereal nature (and also looks cool). 

Designing these cute versions of my asture Goddesses presented a fun challenge for me!  Plus, chibi versions of overly serious things will never cease to make me smile.  I was able to bring a bit more of a magical fantastical touch to these than even the main series and that makes me happy as well!  I’m slowly, but surely, bridging my way over to more fantastical art topics, which is the art I truly adore making!

If you’d like to watch the recordings of the livestreams of the creations of these chibis, you can watch them here:

Have a great weekend, all.  I can’t wait for Monday when the next enamel pins launch!  Are you excited? I am hyped after how beautifully the last set came out!

More soon!

♥ Ang

This was a meticulous article to write, but I love talking about the nitty gritty thought process!

A discussion of my process of troubleshooting my painting & visual exploration of problems & solutions complete with visual aids.

Accessible to all paid tiers or grab the individual post for $3 without needing to sub.

Find the article here:
https://www.patreon.com/angelasasser/posts/secret-cassiels-164355650

Re-branding the Ladies of the Months + Project Roadmap!

My astute fans may have noticed I’ve begun referring to my Ladies of the Months intermittently as Birthstone Goddesses over the past few weeks. I’ve had some major revelations happen while prepping my project for a wider arena (ie. Amazon).

“Ladies of the Months” as a title was getting a lot of strange looks!  Some of the misunderstandings about the title have led to some interesting questions, including, but not limited to:

  • Does this have to do with menstrual cycles?

  • Does this have to do with erotic coloring books?

  • Does this have to do with erotic calendars?

Silly, you may say, but if the title of a project requires a lot of further explanation, doesn’t make a good impression, and is too generic to be easily found via search engines, there is a problem!  This is why I have opted for a couple of changes.

Re-Introducing the Birthstone Goddesses!

From this day forth, the LADIES OF THE MONTHS will be called the BIRTHSTONE GODDESSES.  Each individual Lady will still be the Lady of January, etc., but the set of birthstone ladies as a whole will now be referred to as BIRTHSTONE GODDESSES so that it is easier to understand and put out there in the world.

Who are the Gemstone Goddesses?

I’ve had a great number of requests for Art Nouveau styled Ladies who do not correspond to any birthstone, which got me thinking.  Why limit this series to only birthstones?  I have renamed the entire series to Gemstone Goddesses so that at some point in the future I can come back and add more without restricting myself!

Wouldn’t you like to see a Lady of Sunstone or a Lady of Moonstone?  I know I would!

The BIRTHSTONE GODDESSES will now be a subset of the GEMSTONE GODDESSES series as a whole!  Wherever you see the Lady of Eternity pictured above, she now represents both of these series who are now ALL part of the same endeavor to bring the beauty of Art Nouveau to the world through these thematic creations!

Where to Find this Project?

Now that my project has been undergoing some title changes, my social media outlets dedicated specifically to this project have been changed to match.  Please update your bookmarks:

Where Do We Go From Here?

Now that we have a brand new name and a whole ambitious set of items on the horizon, it was time to get this project organized!  Check out this roadmap I’ve created for the rest of the Birthstone Goddesses project in Trello.

(Click here for a closer look at the Birthstone Goddesses roadmap)

The biggest change to the agenda is that the wall calendar has been moved up to next year so that I can create some of the fun add ons like Enamel Pins that can be bundled with it.  I also wanted to make sure my Kickstarter launches were reasonably spaced out so as not to overwhelm everyone.

This Roadmap is subject to change, but we have a good place to start to make this huge endeavor more doable.   We’re going to make great things this year!  

Are you excited? I KNOW I AM!  I’m especially hyped to get these pins out (I’ll have some sneak peeks of the designs I’ve been sketching soon!).

Coming next – I’ll be announcing the new streaming schedule so you can drop in on me while I’m working on making all this magic happen!

Thanks for hanging with me through thick and thin, Patrons and Followers.  You are the best!

♥
– Ang

Ladies of the Months Book Sketch Collection I

I haven’t shared new art in here in what feels like forever!  Kickstarter, the holidays, and doc appointments have kept me busy and I profess to having more than a little bit of art block that’s been getting me down.  Nothing I was drawing for myself was coming out the way I wanted!

But the life of a working artist must go on, regardless of art block!  It seems all that I needed to break the dry spell was to let go of my high expectations and let the muse be carried away by the spontaneous nature of the keyword sketch prompts of my Limited Edition coloring books.  Each LE Backer provided two keywords that would dictate the subject of the drawing that would go in the front of their book.  

I present to you a collection of the first 10 of 50 drawings from the books!  Each one has a little bit of flash fiction to go along with it. It seems my writing muse wanted to get in on the action as well!  Each was drawn with a combination of Micron and Tradio pens.

1/50 “Wise Wildlife”

The Great Owl, guardian of this sacred space. He holds the key to the knowledge hidden beyond. 

2/50 “Angelic Angel”

From the grace & fury of smokeless flame, she came into being with the splendor and beauty of a thousand eyes and a thousand wings, taking shape only so our senses could comprehend her.

3/50 “Angelic Eclipse”

Between the darkness and the light, she exists to make sure neither element falls out of balance. She is both and she is neither all at once.

4/50 “Garden Tarot”

With knowledge as old as trees and wisdom of the deep forgotten things, the cards will bring the wind of things to come from beyond the reach of the Grove’s roots.

5/50 “Star Song”

In ages past, the Elves knew a song that could sing worlds into existence in the mind of all who heard it. Such songs, if you heard them, will be remembered until your dying day.

‪6/50 “Forest God”‬

‪They called him the Green Man, the Horned God, the Kindly One. For all the names, he welcomed visitors with the same smile. Be kind to the woods and the woods be kind to ye.‬

 7/50 “Flower Angel”  

As each fleeting bloom dies, so does her breath brings life to new buds. Splendor and decay walk hand in hand in the cycle of a flower, always dying, forever beautiful if you know where to look.

 8/50 “Forest Fairy”  

Falling free amongst the seeds, a forest fairy guides every tiny soul. Infinite as the leaves on the trees and the stars in the sky. 

 9/50 “Veiled Woman”  

If you seek answers, there  lives a seer who can only be sought by moonlight. As the Cereus flower blooms, she can glimpse endless knowledge. However, beware her price, for it is steep! 

10/50 “Angelic Valkyrie”

For those who die in battle, she prays. Their cries become each blade in her wings, their strength the mettle of her sword. They will never die as long as she carries them.

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That’s it for this first collection!  As more of my Limited Edition coloring books find homes via my coloring book Kickstarters, I’ll add more here.  I also think some of these will make excellent coloring pages worth adding to future releases!

I think my favorite is the “Flower Angel” for all her delicate details.  What’s your favorite?

PS.

I shared most of these as I finished them even earlier via my private Patreon Discord server. If you haven’t connected your Discord account to Patreon yet, you should try it!  It’s my first stop for sharing art, tutorials, inspiration, and chatting directly with my Patrons!

Ladies of the Months Art Book Tease

This year is going to be an exciting time!  With the main set of paintings now complete for the Ladies of the Months, it’s time for me to move on to the next phase of this project I’ve been looking forward to for a long time!

The Alternate  Ladies

When I was first creating my main paintings for the Ladies of the Months series, there were a lot of concepts I had to ditch either because they didn’t fit the Art Nouveau style or there were just too many concepts that I had to choose something different!

Now, the Ladies of the Months art book I’m planning presents me with an opportunity to indulge these ideas and break the rules of Art Nouveau!  I’m planning several alternate pieces for a few of my Ladies that are going to be darker, more surreal, more conceptual, and more painterly in nature.

For example, when I originally thought of Lady of March‘s concept as the Lady of Resurrection, I thought of her connection to water, her power over life and death.  I got the image of this Lady submerged in water, with her reflection showing her connection to death.  This was incorporated as a very subtle skeleton in her original painting, but in her alternate, I’d like to make this theme even stronger.

Lady of March’s Alternate Painting Thumbnails.

This is just one example of how I’m going to push the concepts of the Ladies to be something even more conceptual, more dark and beautiful, and frankly more of the kind of art I want to be painting!

Supplemental Art

In addition to these alternate paintings, each section of the book dedicated to a Lady will feature spot images tied to her theme.  I want each section to be a sacred devotion to Her and the spiritual aspects she represents and to highlight her associated stones and flowers.

More to Come!

I’ll be revealing more of this art as the project evolves, with more creative notes being shared exclusively with my Patreon Patrons.  

I hope you all are as excited about this ambitious endeavor as I am!  It’s going to be the capstone of this project and I can’t wait to show you more!

Introducing The Ladies of the Months ART NOUVEAU Series!

Watch a quick intro of the new series of paintings and masks I’ve recently launched here on Patreon!  You can already make your Pledges today over at the Ladies of the Months Patreon Page if you’d like to get in on Lady of January themed Rewards.  

Remember to check my Rewards comparison infographic to see what the difference is between pledging here on my main Art account as opposed to on the series page, instead.

More soon!