When I was getting back into drawing and art making as an adult, I developed a cluster of characters and a story book while living overseas in New Zealand from 2011-2014. They were adorable kittens wearing mittens going on an imaginative adventure in their living room fort. This project helped me to grow artistically and taught me about the business aspects of being an artist via my self-published 2016 book. It was called Adventures in Tea Time and was a grand experimental learning curve (the book is now out of print). This book launched my professional art journey and I used it to secure my earliest opportunities and found my LLC in 2018. This project allowed me to connect with my community and grow my self-esteem.

The cover of the book was a whimsical hand-made watercolor and color pencil artwork on thick watercolor paper featuring two cats on rose-wrapped swings. I splashed it with tea to create natural movement. It was my masterpiece. I had very few technological tools available to me to make prints for raffles, displays, and sales, so I used Fed Ex Copy and Print self-services.

I distinctly remember bringing a folder of my original artwork to a FedEx by a highway in Dallas to make prints. I believe Ieft my masterpiece on the screen on the copier when I was finished around 2017. I had the prints, but not the masterpiece. I called the store and they could not find it, plus they had a policy that says they have to shred anything left on the copiers at the end of the day. That FedEx no longer exists and has been turned into another store. I hope an employee, or another customer, lifted the glass, saw the beautiful artwork, and took it home for their gallery wall or nursery. I’d like to think there is a child somewhere whose been looking at those sweet kitties and tea splashes since the cradle. If it was shredded, at least it was recycled!

I remember another moment, in that same year, when I gave a copy of my masterpiece, framed in matboard, to a nice pregnant lady at my job who was having another daughter. Maybe I gave her the original as a mistake? I tend to put my originals in frames and matboard to preserve or showcase them. Lastly, my mother could have swiped it for a keepsake. She has a tendency to keep mementos without permission.

This heartbreaking saga has taught me a valuable lesson and I started acquiring my own equipment to make copies in-house. I was so grateful to have digital images and prints of my masterpiece and that I was able to share it with the world before it found it’s mysterious, new home.

Have a Pleasant Day!
-Rae