Since taking down my page at My Space, I've gotten so many messages from you all saying that you'd miss my personal ramblings too much.  First of all - thank you!  I had no idea so many of you enjoyed my crazy rants :)  I've decided to do a journal here on my site, where I'll periodically update it with my personal thoughts, etc.  Read on for my current entry...

Journal Entry, September 2008

"Well, right now my life is all about the Ren Faire!  The Michigan Renaissance Festival to be exact.  That's where we have a shop that is open for 7 weekends - we're right in the middle of our show now.

Despite the economy, we've had a record breaking year.  Part of which I owe to the new side of our booth which features all the cool jewelry and wearable stuff that is selling so well - woohooo!  Of course I owe it to the lovely people who come there to find me each year, and the new customers who stumble in looking for some shade, only to get enchanted! :)

Speaking of faire, I just learned yesterday that they are starting to film a new Jack Black movie at our festival - and right now!  I guess they kept it quiet until the last minute to avoid a rush of Jack Black fans.  But, I'm hoping my little shop will at least have a cameo...and hey,  maybe me too!  I'll try to behave myself!

And while we're on the Hollywood topic, I have some way cool news.  A while back, I was contacted by the art director of an upcoming Richard Gere and Diane Lane movie called Nights in Rodanthe.  They wanted to use my artwork to decorate parts of the house that the movie is filmed in.  Of course I said YES!  I also asked if that meant I could meet Richard, to which they said a polite "sorry"...lol.  But, I recieved a letter from them stating that my art did indeed get hung on the set and that I will be seeing it soon when the movie releases.  I've been seeing ads for the movie, and my husband and I plan to go, and when the camera pans past one of my paintings, Josh plans to jump up and yell "that's MY WIFE!"...hehehe.

Back to the business side of things, you probably have noticed some changes made to my site.  I've added a Clearance Section which I will use to discontinue products I no longer wish to carry.  I've also added some new Coming Soon product categories.  We're madly working behind the scenes to get those new products ready for release in the next couple weeks.

And on a personal note, my little girl started Kindergarten last week.  I am so happy for her, but a little sad too.  Of course this probably means I'll get a little more painting done ;-)

That's all for now.  Thanks for listening!"

- Jess

Journal Entry, August 2008

"Oh my, I just had the absolute worst air travel experience of my life.  After what I've been through, I honestly feel lucky to be home, and safe.  I wanted to write about it here though, because this fiasco...which I've named "101 Reasons I'll Never Fly With Delta Again"...caused me to miss my appearance at Faerieworlds this past weekend.

Long story short...myself, my husband and my daughter Julia set off on our trip from the Detroit Airport on July 31st.  We were to take 3 different planes to get us to Oregon because it's such a long trek.  We made it as far as our first stop - Atlanta.  Due to a weather issue, all planes were forbidden to land in Atlanta for 2 - 3 hours.  So, our first flight was 2 hours late, which caused us to miss our subsequent flights...all with Delta airlines.  Once in Atlanta, we were put on another flight which would have just allowed us to make it to Eugene that day...except that plane then had mechanical problems and incurred an hour delay which ruined everything.

At one point, while standing in one of many lines trying to get help, I looked around and saw people sobbing, yelling, pacing...and realized that by far, I was not the only one being effected by this.  However, with that said, the various Delta airlines employees I sought help from in Atlanta and Detroit, were so unbelievably rude, unhelpful and cold, that I have decided that I will never fly them again.  And I fly often - and I mean often.  I know full well that you have to be willing to go with the flow.  But when the told me that since we had missed the flights through no fault of our own, that they simply could not get us to Eugene until Sunday evening, I realized that there is something seriously wrong with the state of our airline industry.  Things got even more interesting when they managed to get our luggage to Oregon, and then couldn't quite figure out how to get it back.  In fact, when you call Delta's baggage claim service, it rings to India.  I know this well, because I've been calling them every other hour for three days.  Thank the Gods our luggage finally arrived at our home last night after 4 days in Oregon.

First, I want to apologize to everyone who missed me at Faerieworlds.  I truly did everything in my power to try to get there, but it wasn't in the cards...and I am more bummed than any of you - I assure you!

Second, I want to thank Kim from Faerie Magazine for picking up the stuff I had shipped to the show and selling it all for me...and sending me her show recap e-mails from the hotel every night.  Kim - you are such an awesome lady - I love ya.  Robert - thanks for being so nice about me missing the show.  I know you heard the insanity in my voice as I called you from the Atlanta airport.  And Jacqueline and Nedda...thanks for all the pix and text messages you sent from the show - I missed you guys too.  And Amy, the universe is just not ready for us to meet in person yet...maybe too much faery ju ju energy in one spot - lol.   And last, thanks to my hubby Josh and daughter Julia, for holding my hand, giving me hugs and telling me it didn't matter because at least we were all together when I was on the verge of tears in one of the many Delta help lines.

Now, onto something positive.  I missed having my event prints at the show, so I'm now pleased to open up sales of my piece The Oak Prince & The Moth Queen on-line.  Some people did place orders at the show in my absence, but I now have many of these prints available.  They are found in my New Releases gallery.  And, regarding my Oracle Deck which was to make its debut at this show, we have them in stock here and for sale on-line!  The wonderful folks at Llewellyn overnighted me a nice batch of them and I'm offering them to my customers at a special introductory price of $25 (normally $26.95).  They are for sale and ready to order in my Oracle Deck gallery.

I am also thrilled to let all you budding artists out there know that I have started work on a manual offering advice, tips and tricks to fantasy artists.  I'm going to self publish it and offer it for sale through my site very soon.  I'm also busy preparing a new section of goodies for my site including coloring pages, cross stitch patterns and fabric squares for those who love arts and crafts.  Look for all this to be ready in the Fall.  I'm nearly finished with a new piece as well, and will be releasing that in the next week."

Much love to all,

- Jess

Journal Entry, July 2008

"Well, I'm smack dab in the middle of my crazy travel season....but it has been so much fun.  A few weeks ago at INATS in Denver, I looked around at the big group I was with which included, Jacqueline Collen-Tarolly, Linda Biggs, Annette Coriale, Robyn Lannen, Dennis Terai, Nedda Shishegar, Wendy Kathleen, Brigid Ashwood, Joe Tate, Lisa Steinke and Robert Gould, and realized that these people are sort of like my "on the road" family.  And oh what a fun family!  Seriously, I usually have sore face muscles from laughing so hard.  It's really hard to be away from my home, hubby and children, but these awesome people and the others who I see at shows really make it bearable, and actually pretty dang entertaining.

Below are a few of my favorite pics from this show...

From left: Me, Joe Tate, Brigid, Lisa & Robert, all
doing our best Stephen Colbert immitation.

Jacqueline & I hanging out in the Add An Accent booth.

Me and the fabulous Linda Biggs.

My soul sista, Lisa Steinke, and I.

Robert Gould and myself.

My girls, Robyn & Annette :)

This weekend I'm off to do a signing for Munro Gifts at the Chicago Gift Show, and then Josh, Julia and I will be flying a really long ways to Fairieworlds in the Pacific Northwest, where I'm totally stoked to be one of the artist Guests of Honor.  I'm extra excited about this because I finally get to meet my girl Amy Brown...my long time e-mail comrade, often times phone buddy, and soon, I can call her an actual "in person" buddy :)

I've also been doing quite a bit of painting...it's getting harder and harder to keep my new works hidden!  I will probably release the new ones this fall, as I won't be able to wait much longer.

Speaking of painting, I managed to russle up some more painting time by closing our wholesale division and handing over the sales of my journals and embellished prints for the wholesale market to Munro.  They are taking my items, including our new jewelry line, all over to many many gift shows and the response and orders are amazing (oh my aching glittering hand on making all those embellished prints - which I do handmake myself!).

Well, I suppose that's all for now.  I hope to see some of you in person at one of my upcoming shows!  Bring anything you have of mine and I'll sign it!  Go ahead, see if you can give me a hand cramp! ;-)  Seriously though, I absolutely love meeting people who enjoy my art.  It never gets old...ever."

- Jess

Journal Entry, June 2008

"I have been playfully dubbed the Traveling Fairy Rock Star lately and that couldn't feel more true for me right now!  I've been all over the place, at a mall in Dayton, then in Baltimore for the Maryland Faerie Fest, in Columbus this weekend for a family trip with the kids and hubby, then to Denver for INATS, I could keep going but I won't :).  Anyhow, I want to thank everyone who has come out to see me, it's been an incredible and fun experience meeting the people who enjoy my art face to face.

The question I seem to be asked most in person is how and when I started painting fantasy and myth.  I always happily say, as soon as I could hold a crayon was when I started!  I'm not sure where the spark of interest comes from, as none of my family that I know of had an interest in such things (aside from my sister who is JUST like me about this stuff).  Anyhow, I did recently find out more about my Galbreth heritage.  The Galbraith clan (changed to Galbreth once in America) has Scottish roots, and even a castle that still stands!  So, maybe I'm pulling this interest from my ancestors, or even a past life - who knows.  But, my mom (who saves everything!) recently gave me one of my early drawings from 6th grade.  It features a witchy woman, beneath a twisted tree with a unicorn, a crescent moon faithfully hangs in the sky.  While it is a bit crude and amateur, it obviously is proof on paper that I really have been drawing this stuff since my childhood.  I thought you guys might get a kick out of seeing it so here she is :)  Good thing I kept practicing right!

On another note, I wanted to remind everyone to celebrate Fairy Day on June 24th!  Stores all over the country are having special events in honor of this holiday I created with my fairy friends.  Don't forget to honor the fae in some special way.  Visit the official site: www.fairyday.com for ideas!  My good friend Christina of Autumn Moon created a special Fairy Day candle shown below.  I think grabbing this candle and lighting it in honor of the day is a perfect way to celebrate.  It is for sale on her site at: http://autumn-moon.com/shtml/candles-fairyday.shtml

Anyhow, in between all this traveling, I have been working hard on new pieces in my new pencil and oils style.  I am so stoked, I finally feel so unbelievably proud of my style for the first time ever.  Can't wait to unveil them later this year :)

Thanks as always for listening to the ramblings of a crazy fairy artist :).  Until next time!"

- Jess

Journal Entry, May 2008

"Well, I'm still feeling the warm fuzzies left over from my first show of the year...the Faerie Festival at Spoutwood Farm.  This was my second time at this wonderful fest, and I appeared again as a guest of Faerie Magazine.  My best friend Heather joined me at this show, and we stayed with Annette Coriale, my ultra super star sales rep :).  Anyhow, After a very long, dark winter, it was so nice to rejoin the faerie community under the springtime sun.  I got to reconnect with so many beloved souls....Kim and all the folks from Faerie Magazine, including their other guests, Linda Ravenscroft, Brigid Ashwood, Ari Berk, Charles Vess and more.  I also had a long chat with Robert Gould about the future of my art and my new direction, which left me invigorated and inspired, as all my chats with Robert do.  I also got to spend some quality time with many other faerie friends including Linda Biggs (always a hoot to be around), Jane Starr Weils, Ina Spicer, CJ Randall, Shane the awesome mask maker and his brood, Joe Tate and more.  Other than enjoying the great music, wonderful shopping, beautiful costumes, talented artists and fun, what I took away from this show was most precious.  I realized how important these appearances are for me personally.  I feel that all of us (artists, craftsmen and fans alike) who attend these shows are deeply connected on a spiritual level.  I love to look into their eyes and see the glint of magic that we all share.  There is none of the ridiculous negativity that sometimes comes from on-line venues....there is no drama, no feeling of uneasiness, no jealousy....there is only warmth, joy and love for each other, because we all realize there is room for everyone in this industry, and we all realize how lucky we are to be able to live our dreams. 

Now, as I ride the wave of enthusiasm from this first show, I prepare for my next show - my first time at the Maryland Fairie Fest, where I'll be appearing as a guest of honor.  While it's hard at times to do so much traveling, it is worth it for me on many levels.  I'm especially looking forward to Faerieworlds this year, as I'll be accompanied by my wonderful husband Josh and my daughter Julia Rose.  My son is only 2, and not quite ready for a cross country trek, so he'll be home with family.  I'm looking forward to seeing what Julia, who is 5 now, thinks of one of these faerie festivals.  We're already planning her costume...I think she's going to be quite enchanted with it all.  I also get to meet an old friend Amy Brown for the first time.  How fun, I'm looking forward to sharing some laughs with her in person for a change.  And, I'll get to hang with my soul sista Lisa Steinke.  I made her a special crown to wear with her costume, and am looking forward to getting into some trouble with her for sure.