All About Creative Women Mini-Con 2019
/This year marks the 7th annual celebration of Creative Women Mini-Con. We've brought together some of the region's most creative women for you to meet. Naturally, we’re also celebrating with a storewide sale (details below).
Date: Saturday, September 28, 2019
Time: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Location: Empire's Comics Vault
The official event hashtag is #CreativeWomen19. We’d love to see any photos you take and post to social media, so please tag us or use the official event hashtag. And thank you for supporting Sacramento’s creative women.
What to Expect at Creative Women Mini-Con 2019
In this post, we'll share:
A list of this year's exhibitors
Sale details—and a bonus secret!
What to expect at the mini-con
Sale Details
50% off Back Issues
25% off Toys
15% off Trades
Members: check your September member benefit email for a sale power-up
What to expect at Creative Women Mini-Con:
Admission is free.
When you support an artist by making a purchase at their table, they keep 100% of the earnings. Pay the artist directly, not the store at the counter.
Art purchased from the Art Wall should be purchased from the store counter, not the artist's table. Special sales prices and discounts do not apply to pieces on the Art Wall.
The event starts at 11 am and goes until 5 pm.
2019 Creative Women Mini-Con Exhibitors
Alright, here’s who you’ll meet at this years mini-convention.
Rory Adams
Rory Adams: Rory Adams is a jack of all trades artist residing in Sacramento CA. Her focus is on digital illustration and acrylic painting but really enjoys hand sewn embroidery.
She spends much of her time creating murals and backdrops for children's charity events and institutions such as Project R.I.D.E. in Elk Grove.
Growing up in an artistic household, she began loving to draw at an early age. She takes inspiration from classic children's story books, comic books and 2D animated cartoons. She is a huge fan of the X-men, mainly the swashbuckling Nightcrawler, and 90's Disney Saturday Morning cartoons like Gargoyles and Darkwing Duck.
Kristine Balog
Kristine Balog: Kristine Balog is a Sacramento based artist, scholar, and author. She is an Associate Professor of Art History and a freelance illustrator. Kristine is an oil painter, with her focus rooted in sixteenth century classical traditions, but she also works in silverpoint, pen and ink, charcoal, pastel, and watercolor.
Kristine is the creator of Caravaggio’s Darkness, a comic book series based on the life of Baroque painter Caravaggio, in development for a two-volume graphic novel edition.
She is the creator of a series of adult coloring books titled Coloring with the Masters.
She has had both academic nonfiction and historical fiction works published and has been making appearances giving lectures on both her research and her books. Her first novel, Caravaggio: Of Oil and Blood debuted in May of 2017 and her second, Caravaggio: Of Iron and Steel was published in February 2018. Book three, The Colonna Conspiracy is slated for publication in the fall of 2019.
When Kristine began development on Alchemental: Rise of the Celestial Sphere, she quickly realized she was also plotting the course for a high fantasy series of novels, wherein she has completed the first draft of book one in this series.
This year, Kristine will have her fantasy trading card game: Alchemental: Rise of the Celestial Sphere available for purchase along with issue seven of her historical comic book: Caravaggio’s Darkness. For more information about Kristine please visit Kristine Balog.com and Alchemental.com. You may also find her on twitter and Instagram under @KristineArt and Facebook under KristineBalog/Author
Web: kristinebalog.com | alchemental.com | Twitter: @kristineart | Kristine Balog Facebook | Alchemental Facebook
Brittainy Barnes
Brittainy Barnes: Brittainy is primarily a watercolor artist, specializing in nerdy fan art, botanicals, and landscapes.
Her favorite fandoms are Harry Potter, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, and Lord of the Rings.
She is self-taught and does art as a de-stressor after rasing two children, working full time, and completing her Master's in Information Security Management.
Etsy | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
AJ Gala: Artist, fantasy author of the Nightwalker series, and owner of BuddyCo Publishing. The woman behind the budding world of Rosamar and the novel Nightwalker: Wish & Mercy.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | GoodReads
Andrea Garay: Graphic designer & photo enthusiast | CSU, Sacramento | Instagram
Kozispoon: Hiya! My name is Kassandra, but I go by the online handle 'Kozispoon' when it comes to anything comics and art related. I dig slapstick, hijinks and toons from the black and white Fleischer era of animation.
My work definitely reflects that and my comics. This'll be my first time exhibiting at CWMC. A lover of toons, dames and zany hijinks inbetween!
Sarah Rene Kraft
Sarah Rene Kraft: Sarah Rene Kraft is a fantasy-surrealist illustrator from Sacramento, CA. Best known for her emotionally poignant “ribbon” series, she’s never been one to shy away from vulnerable topics, exploring themes of attachment and isolation in her red and blue works. As an avid mythology enthusiast, she now aims to turn the conversation toward the path of mental wellness, utilizing her in-progress tarot series and upcoming tarot and symbolism podcast to tackle themes of illness, personal trauma, and the divine feminine as seen through the lens of myth and storytelling. In conjunction with fighting the stigma against mental illness, Sarah’s work has been featured locally as part of Retrograde Art Collective’s “Retrograde” and “Red Shift” art salons, Retrograde Art Collective and Menagerie Sacramento’s “Patterns of Disorder” progressive salon, and Artists of Sacramento’s “Hoping Strategies” event with Hacker Lab. When not on the comic convention circuit, you can find Sarah’s work at sketchykraft.com and Facebook/Twitter/Instagram @sketchykraft. And stay tuned for announcements for her art book now in progress!
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Etsy
Aaliyah Maharajh: Hello I’m Aaliyah Maharajh and I am currently 12 but at the time of the con I will be 13. I’m a sister of an older sister and a little brother. I love art and started around 3 yrs ago. I started doing art when I started to watch my aunty Kassandra drawing,making comics, and participating in the Woman’s con and other cons. I want to go to the Academy of Art in SF when I get out of high school. When I grow up I’m determined to become an artist.
Heather Merrifield: Heather Lee is an artist that enjoys to work in many mediums, photography, painting, and graphic design, just to name a few. In Photography she enjoys capturing everyday moments in an unusual way. When painting, she enjoys painting abstractly and impressionisticly. She enjoys mixed media work, and fantasy and reality often mix in all of her artwork. She enjoys trying new things in all artistic aspects of her work.
Website | Heather Lee Art Facebook | Photography Facebook | Instagram
Jen Monson
Jen Monson: From an early age, the pencil became a part of her hand. No paper could contain her, and she searched for other surfaces to create upon. Artists like Escher and Mucha moved her to draw. Nature, Asian, and Modern themes inspired her to keep going. She believes in her art to be unique, and is constantly distracted by new ideas. Trial and Error are her drawing buddies, as she builds upon things already learned. Although she enjoys many types of art, resin has become her medium of choice. She enjoys the challenge and discovery of learning through her own creative process, as she finds new ways to showcase this amazing medium. At a time when she has needed to battle against anxiety and depression, watching the elegant movement and design of koi speak peaceful feelings to her soul. Now whales, and other ocean creatures have been added to that. Her ultimate goal is to help others feel a sense of peace and joy. A smile on someone's face is the ultimate final touch.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
PTWO Palabrica: My name is Paulette i go by P as in the letter not the urine. Ive been doing 3d origami now for a few years. Started doing this as a stress reliever then it just turned into a hobby. I started off doing swans. I was actually looking for harder origami to do but found 3d origami and i folded over 100 swans. A friend of mine asked me "have you ever thought about doing super heros?" And ive been hooked since. Started with batman then wonder woman all the way to baby moana as a speical request to ariel for fun. I am currently working on the characters from Overwatch but have been filling peoples requests and orders in between.
Amber Rankin
Amber Rankin: Hi, I’m Amber! I’m a 2D animator & illustrator. I’m currently living and working all the way in Sacramento, CA.
By day I’m a Graphic Artist/GIS Admin. with a small archaeology company and by night I create freelance illustration and short animations. I contributed to two short films’ the award-winning Trevor Jimnez’s “Weekends” and in-progress Anamon Studios “Lets Eat!” as well as working on my own short film “Sybil Ludington” as my final MFA thesis project.
I love 2D animation (hand drawn & on paper but digital is good too!!) I particularly like working with characters and getting into their heads and thought process–I love creating characters that are ‘thinking’! I’m inspired by history and a good underdog story, as well as food, coffee, travel, and cats.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Peyton Schriver: Peyton E. Schriver, lives with her parents on a small farm in Rio Linda and began drawing at age five. In elementary school, she began learning to sculpt figurines with polymer clay from pop-culture, such as Dr. Who; and in 2015, at age 11, sold them on Esty.com. Going into 2016, she decided to focus on pencil and ink drawings to express her own artistic designs. Without art classes offered in school, she instead watched lessons on YouTube and Skillshare, and relentlessly practiced drawing hands, eyes, hair, faces, light, shadow, color, and figures at different perspectives; and while her portrait skills improved, her passions developed and pointed her towards character and creature design. So, with stylus in-hand, she commandeered her mother’s iPad and leapt into the digital art world. She experimented, teaching herself basic drawing programs with practice and more tutorial videos like Photoshop; her passion and efficiency in digital art evolved quickly. Peyton creates fanciful creatures and dramatic subjects from mythology, science fiction, horror, pop culture, and fairytales. Peyton’s art always expresses a detailed and authentic narrative; and she tries to research the cultures and time periods to incorporate diversity her art. She continues to study and practice different aspects of art to expand her knowledge and skills, but also to challenge her techniques and imagination. Her biggest rule is to always create something fresh and true to her vision, but with a purpose, so many pieces are sparked from skills exercises and you’ll rarely ever see the identical character repeated in her pieces. Being a huge fan of all things zombie and sci-fi/horror, Peyton hopes to work on her own graphic novel, but also is looking to find classes to expand her oil, acrylic and water painting skills. After graduating in 2020, Peyton plans on taking a sabbatical/trip abroad to study art, before attending art college. Her career goals include: creature design for sci-fi/horror films and games, author a book with illustrations, work on freelance projects, and be the Creator and Character designer of her own cartoon.
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Rachel Strum: Hi! ! I am a creative local here in Sacramento, California. My shop Citrus Atelier offers handcrafted whimsical gifts that range from fantasy wands and geek culture soaps to handcrafted witchy themed cosmetics. Citrus Atelier decoded is "a refeshing studio" and a constantly evolving source of playful creations, where my goal is to craft a bit of magic you can take home with you. Citrus Atelier can be found at many Comic, Anime and D&D Conventions in 2019.
Kelly Van Gassbeck: Storytelling comes in all forms. I am a storyteller who loves to use color, line, dimension to make these stories tangible. I am an accountant by day and a storyteller, illustrator, daydreamer, designer, explorer of the world by all means possible.
