This past summer I was graciously invited to show my work at Mishka’s cafe, a beloved, 90s era coffee shop in Davis, CA for the month of July. I went out on a creative limb and decided to frame all nine of my fine art prints with a custom, colorful frame and custom, colorful mats. It took many weeks of planning, scavenging for the perfect frames, ordering fine art prints in large sizes, and researching where to find colored mats and the correct picture framing hardware in my city. Everything came together, and I’m so glad I decided to go bold with my vision.
In September, I was a featured artist at the Women Lawyers of Sacramento’s annual ArtFest! Participation included donating an art piece for their live auction, in which proceeds would go towards scholarships for women in law school, and local community grants in Sacramento. As someone who also was able to attend grad school with the help of scholarships (back when I was in the education field), I was glad to participate for such a good cause. My custom framed, archival quality print of Softness and Rage raised $250, as well as 10% of the proceeds from my sales from my table that evening.
Most recently, I wanted to create a new illustration that celebrates Sacramento and its rich history. I decided to focus on our official city flower, the Camellia, of which there are over 50,000 Camellia trees that exist within the city. I garnered a lot of information through the Camellia Society of Sacramento, a nonprofit organization founded in 1941 that is primarily made of passionate community members of Sacramento. Did you know Sacramento has a sister city in Japan that also shares the same city flower? And that we used to throw an annual parade, a Camellia ball, and crown a Camellia Queen? My illustration, which I turned into a tote bag and accompanying bookmark, highlights four varietals of Camellias, including the Ferris Wheel Japonica, Party Poppers, Kramer’s Beauty, and Professor Sargent varietals. I also included a stamp highlighting the sister city of Matsuyama, Japan, and the Camellia Grove in the California State Capitol Park.
A portion of my sales from both my tote bags and bookmarks will be donated to the Camellia Society of Sacramento, which will be holding their annual Camellia Society of Sacramento show on March 7th and 8th, 2026! Check out the city’s best blooms, buy a camellia plant for sale, and listen to guest speakers on all things camellias! I’ll also be in attendance as a vendor if you’d like to come say hello!
