I just received notification that I have my first bit of income from this site! I appreciate that! The kind person's account name looks to be random generated, so I have no way to thank by name. (Sept 11 update, never mind. It was a random encounter... the donor messaged me with a question, I answered. Today, I saw the donation was cancelled. Weird, could be due to the fact that the account hasn't been approved by SubscribeStar yet. Oh well, it was still a reminder to post some content.)

This is certainly a reminder that it's time to post something, after faaaar too long! I have plenty to share, but I do that mainly on Instagram, where I actually DO post regularly. I also joined Stimulus a couple of years ago, it's a social network created by Sticker Mule. I post regularly there as well, but the content isn't as in depth as on IG, and it's more chatty, sort of like X. Here's my Stimulus referral link (if you'd like to join, we each get a $10 credit).

Here's a 6" square scratchboard I finished a couple of months ago. "Leaf It" is on an Ampersand Scratchbord: scratched with a #16 X-acto, colored with watercolor. To frame it, I mounted it to an 8" square Gessobord that I customized with ink & orange color-pencil scribbles. Framed in an Ampersand Duoframe.

The video below shows the "all scratched" stage, compared to the finished drawing. The last photo shows the framed piece. 

Well, here's a big dose of reality: I can only do so much and parts of my big plan for "Pivoting" didn't pan out. It's been yet another year since I posted here... I will keep this account and maybe some day I'll be more engaged here. I'm still posting regularly on Instagram (@annranlett), and keeping busy with pet portraits and other projects. Currently, I'm working on some illustrations for my former veterinarian (he moved out of state), who's putting together a book of his experiences as a vet. I'm also in the middle of the long-term process of image clean-up (scans of scratchboards) and page layouts for an artist friend's book.

Keeping two local galleries stocked and working shifts at one of them is an ongoing part of my life, studios tours are in the mix, and I'm creating a number of miniatures for a show at a local hotel. Springhill Suites Auburn is kind enough to provide pedestal and wall space for members of the North Auburn Artists' group to show work on a regular basis. And in a "stars align" situation, 3 of the drawings for the vet book will go to this show, which runs September 1st through the end of October.

Acorn Woodpecker is going to Springhill Suites. I think I'll have about 15 mini pieces of art in total. This one's on a 2.5" x 1.25" Ampersand Claybord Art Tile™.

Raccoon is another piece for Springhill, it's ink & watercolor on a 1.5" square Ampersand Stampbord™. 

Llama #1 is one of 2 llama drawings for the vet's book, it's pen & ink techniques on Claybord, also going to Springhill.

... and this is why I changed from "some subscription content" to "it's all free, subscribe if you feel like supporting me anyway" ... I haven't posted anything since April, which is really sad. I post regularly to Instagram, if you'd like to follow me there: annranlett

I've been doing creative things though: always working on pet portrait commissions, creating a bunch of miniatures, a mini show of miniatures, an interesting collaborative piece featuring a raccoon scratchboard & plasma-cut steel, scratchboard demos ... All of these are on Instagram.

Here's one of my latest miniatures, a 1.5" square drawing on Ampersand Stampbord of a stuffed-cheeked Eastern Chipmunk. (affiliate links -->) I used Pitt Artist Pens, Micron pens, and a little bit of scratching for this mini piece of art.

I made the mini easel myself: cut it out of 300-lb watercolor paper on my Cricut, then painted it to match. I'm pretty proud of that component, if I do say so myself!

I made an Instagram reel for the easel process, watch it here.

I've been having a lot of fun with reels on Instagram! Most recently they feature my miniature art (see previous post for more mini art) on Ampersand Claybord Art Tiles. Here's a reel I posted the other day, showing the many markers & pens I used on a tiny 1" square tile.

(affiliate links below)
The majority of the pens used for the tiny bunny are Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens (the colorful ones), but I also used Micron pens in black & 2 shades of gray, and a Stabilo 88 pen. The knife was used for scratching detail and blending colors. It's an X-acto #16 blade. 

Audio in the reel is "Wait... What?!" by CBL

Earlier this month, I put a collection of my very small works in the Burnett Way Mini Gallery, a truly mini gallery in Sacramento CA. I won't repost all the details here, since there's a blog post on my web site that you can read. Suffice to say, I think the show looks really cute and the mini gallery is a fun and creative idea!

👍Thanks to the team at SubKit for contacting me for a short interview about my art business! I really appreciate the opportunity 💕