Change, Challenge, and Oppertunity
I just realized I haven’t posted since last spring. Apparently Spring is the time I actually write blog entries.
Part of why I have been gone is because of how fast things have been moving with my Shield-Shop. Last June we went to Ragnorok, the biggest event in American foam-fighting Battle Games, and this event was a great experience.
At Ragnorok I taught “The Art of Plastidip” class and got to meet fighters (players) and artists from all over. We delivered our first curved shield as well!
In the Fall of 2015 I decided to not go back to teaching for the year in order to focus on building our shop. This is great for the business for sure, but damn do I miss the kids! I love teaching art and will definitely be doing more of it in the future. However, that will have to wait as the shop just gets MORE, and MORE busy.
The Winter of 2015 was a time of turmoil for me. I moved the shop location 3 times. My personal and business partner, Seth, decided to take a step back from production in order to focus on his other career, and this meant taking over the manufacturing side of the business, in addition to the art, media, press and accounting. Ultimately this decision has been a great one, but shortly after we started to make the transition we had two deaths in the family on either side of the holiday season. Lets just say, I was ready for this new year.
January of 2016 we started making increasingly ambitious shields, and continued to make custom orders a priority. With the new official partnership of my awesome Mom and Dad, we are now working on streamlining the manufacturing of simple plasitdip shields to try and get into retail stores this fall (more on that and the exciting partnerships in store later!).
From just talking about it 4 years ago when we first moved to Portland, to now actually running and actively growing my own art-business, it has been a WILD ride. I am energized about the Portland Makers community and am humbled by the support of the Belegarth, Dagorhir, and Amtgard fighters, as we move toward making personalized medieval sports equipment a true creative market. Thank you.
I can’t wait to see what this season has in store.
All the best,
-Shannon
Shannon Cramer Art 