I (Goldeen) will be bringing the Heliopause table to the 2023 Bend Women’s Expothis Saturday, April 8th, at the Riverhouse Convention Center right in my hometown of Bend, OR. It’s my first public in-person show since COVID, and I’m excited for it. If you’re in the area tickets are only $10 and it looks to be a fun event, and I would love to see you there!
I had hoped to be attending Further Confusion in San Jose this month, both in the dealer’s room and in the art show, but due to the ongoing surge of the omicron variant I am having to modify my plans—which may yet be modified further. For now, here is what I do know:
As of Jan 3, Further Confusion is planning to go ahead with an in-person event on the original dates, January 13-17.
Given the infectiousness of the omicron COVID-19 variant, and despite the con’s comprehensive prevention protocol, I cannot in good conscience attend a multiday indoors event with thousands of other people. My health, and the health of my friends and family (and all y’all) are more important.
As of Jan 6, Further Confusion has been cancelled/posponed. They are currently scrambling the details and my heart goes out to the staff and volunteers.
Here is what I am currently (as of Jan 6) planning:
I can put art in the art show, so if the con is worth the risk to you (and no judgement there, these cons are worth a lot!) you’ll be able to see my work and support me there.
I will also be in town (in order to hang my art!) and I may be able to arrange an outdoor visit Sunday afternoon with those mutually inclined. However I won’t be doing any public dining or socializing indoors, so be ready with those umbrellas if the weather looks wet!
If you would like to support me, but aren’t in a position to buy anything, sharing is caring! Whether it’s an RT, an email, or word of mouth, every little bit helps. Book reviews are also nice, on whatever platform is convenient for you. I also have some print seconds of books that I can’t sell, but would make wonderful lenders or additions to local Little Free Libraries. If you’re interested in being a Heliopause Ambassador get in touch and I can get you set up!
Best of luck to all who attend, and much love to everyone!
The online shop has been remodeled and is now accepting orders! You can peruse prints, books, cards, stickers and charms and order with your credit card, Google Pay and Apple Pay, and from now until March 21 (that’s this coming Saturday) you can get free shipping on any order, anywhere, using the code FORK-COVID . Happy browsing!
Also to note: my next confirmed convention, Biggest Little FurCon, recently announced that due to the pandemic they are rescheduling for Halloween weekend, October 29 – November 1, and I will be there! But if you were hoping to get something from me earlier, well—that’s what the online shop is for. I truly appreciate every order, however small.
If you’re not in the mood to acquire more material artifacts, you may consider joining my Patreon, where you can get access to behind-the-scenes sketches, progress pictures, and stories. You’ll also be the first to see new drawings from my Valdelluna series, and get new eBook releases as soon as they are available. Head on over to patreon/GoldeenOgawa to join.
But most of all, wash your hands, practice social distancing, and stay healthy!
After a lovely holiday season, Heliopause Productions will be kicking off the new year with a trip to California for Further Confusion in San Jose, January 16-20 at the McEnery Convention Center and Adjoining Hotels. I’ll have a table in the Dealer’s Room with my usual assortment of goods as well as three whole panels in the Art Show. This will be a special exhibit featuring the entire cast of my Planet Horse series, including two new ponies completed in the last month!
Program wise I am hosting a Physical Wellness for Creatives workshop on Sunday, 1p to 2:30p, in the Guadalupe room (Marriott), and I’ll be doing a reading on Friday, 3p to 4:30p, on something called the Hilton Stage/Almaden Ballroom which makes me think it might be a very large room so please everyone bring a friend I will do funny voices and a Q/A afterwards it’ll be great.
I’m bringing a couple new book titles and two new prints to the table this year, which will be a half table so hopefully everything will fit! I’m sharing with Corgilegs at table 76 in Dealer’s Room East, right next to my buddy Moth Monarch. I’ll have my full selection of prints, books, cards, stickers, charms and other goodies, and—yes—I’ll be open for at-con commissions, too!
In addition to Bouragner Felpz Volume III and Driving Arcana Wheel 2, I’m excited to bring prints of two new Planet Horses—even though neither of them are, technically, planets. Oh well.
Sol, the sun horse, will be available as a print from my table, and the original will be on display at the art show. However, it will not be for sale as someone has already claimed him.
Ceres, the miniature/dwarf planet horse, will also be in the art show, but you can bid on her if you like! And I’ll have prints of her at my table, too.
All in all I’m hoping for a fun show and a good start to 2020. Hopefully I’ll see some of you there!
It’s been a great summer here at Heliopause Productions: we had a fantastic AnthroCon and got to attend Comic-Con San Diego and we’ve just finished up our semi-annual “publishing week” in the brilliant, rain-soaked August. (Seriously, there’s been like one fire near us this year. It’s amazing.)
Moving onwards, we have two shows this fall. First is Rose City ComicCon over the volcanoes in Portland, Oregon. We’ll be in the Artist Alley at table R-09—same place as last year! Second is IlluxCon in Reading, Pennsylvania. It’s our first time to IlluxCon and we’ll be in the Artist Showcase Friday and Saturday nights.
Both events will feature a full complement of prints, charms, books and more, but IlluxCon will also get to see a selection of the interior illustrations for Bouragner Felpz, Professor Odd, and the yet-to-be released Lucena in the House of Madgrin.
And while they might not be ready for Rose City, Bourganer Felpz Volume III and Driving Arcana Wheel 2 will be coming out in eBook and paperback very, very soon!
For quick updates and announcements be sure to follow our Twitter, or join our mailing list by emailing heliopauseweb@gmail.com with “Join list” in the subject line. You can also specify which topics you want updates on by putting “Books” “Conventions” and/or “Commissions” in the body, or just say “hi” to get updates on everything.
Biggest Little FurCon was a blast—some of the nicest attendees I’ve ever had the pleasure dealing to—and you can read the full writeup over on the Goldeen Ogawa blog. I do hope we can go back again in 2020!
Even though it’s still weeks away, AnthroCon is looming large on my horizon. I have a few new prints and am working hard to get a couple new eBook cards ready in time. I think I will have a pretty strong table this year, made even stronger by the return of my Wonderful Mother as my volunteer muscle—I mean table assistant. But also muscle. Turns out swinging kettlebells is a great way to train for setting up a vendor table!
This year I have the pleasure of an actual mascot! Please meet Astrhopi, the Heliopause Chimera and the newest addition to my Kimaerhaic family. Astrhopi loves stories, art, and skipping around the theoretical boundary between the heliosphere and the interstellar media. I’ll have prints of her for sale, and she’ll be decorating my table in the form of a brand new runner.
I’m also bringing in some new (old) prints that I haven’t had in stock for a few years. First of these are my series of Elemental Horsies. Ignis, Aura, Aqua and Terra were originally done on commission, and I added Ligno (wood) and Ferro (metal) to complete the sextet.
For the first time as a true-size (9″x12″) print, I have my Lady in Black painting. This will be a metallic print, since I used metallic gold acrylics for the halo. I like to joke that this is my “woman in front of circle” painting… except that the woman in question is a California Condor. Condors are amazing birds and the Californians continue to haul themselves back from the brink of extinction. Atta-girl!
Another 9″x12″ mettalic print, Gildenvern was originally a watercolor with real gold leaf. The original sold long ago, but now you can get him as a true-size print—complete with a shiny signature.
It’s not just prints: I’ll have eBook cards for Driving ArcanaRotations Four and Five and Driving Arcana: By Moon and Star so you can get caught up on all the Arcana shenanigans. I’ll also have limited print copies of By Moon and Star for those who like something more tangible to hold.
I will also be accepting a limited number of both Artist Choice and Custom commissions on Friday and Saturday, with an Artist Choice special (TBA) on Sunday.
My prices for regular Artist Choice and Custom work, for at-con only, are as follows:
Artist Choice on a 9″x12″ sheet of bristol or equivalent Sketchbook:
Extra detail such as wings, complex markings or costumes, specific and/or complex backgrounds, and additional characters will raise the cost of custom commissions. Prices above are for a single reasonably simple character with little-to-no background. You can always ask for a free, no-obligation estimate!
Perhaps what I’m most excited about is something I’m doing more for other artists than for myself. I’d been thinking of doing a badge ribbon—like the kind people collect and stack under their convention badge like long, glittering trails—specifically for people who bid on art in the art show, for over a year now—and this year I finally got around to designing and ordering just such a ribbon.
You see, I love Art Shows in concept: we artists go hang our work, people buy it, and about a month later we get a check. The con does a wonderful thing by giving us display space and handling the monetary transactions, and people get an opportunity to buy originals.
Unfortunately, in practice I rarely sell anything through the art show, and while a lot of people have legitimate reasons for not bidding (such as, “I do not have that many dollars in my bank account” or “I have nowhere to hang that picture”) I’m always disappointed when people say “Oh, I would have loved to buy something, but I didn’t know there was an Art Show!“
This is the worst. I think there are some things that can only be fixed on the con-end (blazing neon signs posted at every doorway flashing the hours of the art show too much to ask? Probably too much to ask…) but I figured it couldn’t help to do a little bit on my end to promote the show, to encourage people to bid—and show my appreciation to people who do bid. So without further ado, let me tell you about the…
Named for the Florentine dynasty that promoted such artists as Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, and bankrolled the invention the piano, opera, and the construction of my favorite cathedral, the Santa Maria del Fiore, the Medici Achievement can be unlocked simply by bidding on a piece in the AnthroCon Art Show. To get the ribbon, all you need do is make a note of which piece you bid on (artist name and piece title) and the amount you bid (which you should do anyway) and present this information along with your badge number to either myself or my assistant at the Heliopause Productions table. You may be able to get one from other dealers/artists or even art show staff, but I have not made formal arrangements as of yet.
Fine print: only on ribbon per bidder per show. There is no official penalty for recipients who provide false info to fraudulently collect a ribbon but c’mon guys we’re artists we can get super creative with our methods of retribution do not test us.
AnthroCon will be held at the David L Lawrence Convention Center in beautiful (yes, really!) Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, July 5-7. I will be present behind the Heliopause Productions table located at D17 in the Dealer’s Den Friday thru Sunday, except for a break Friday at 4 p.m. when I go do my Mapping Your Imagined World panel until 5. I will also be holding a reading on Saturday at 9 p.m., with a brief Q&A to follow. I hope to see you there!