wells street art festival recap + thoughts on the future of kate zitzer art

Thank you so very much to everyone who came out to Chicago’s Wells Street Art Festival on June 11th and 12th. As usual, I was completely blown away by the positive response I received. Your enthusiasm for my art means the world to me, and I truly appreciate your support! If you’re reading this after seeing my booth at the fest, hello I’m so happy you’re here! Feel free to order from my Etsy shop, and I’m also available for custom paintings or local pick up so just shoot me an email or comment below if you’re interested. I did over 75 transactions throughout the weekend and sold one of my largest pieces to date – 24×36 Crazy Pineapple. It was great to see all the city paintings go so quickly. I had Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Miami, Boston, Nashville, Austin, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Portland, Atlanta and Rome. I am also happy to report that some old favorite original paintings sold – Home and I Love My City. Other items that were a big hit – Crazy Pineapple prints and 11×14 I Love My City framed prints. It was really nice to have so many friends and family visit and pitch in to help. At 27 weeks pregnant, this fair was definitely a team effort! Sunday night we broke down my booth, packed up and went straight home. I was exhausted but so happy! Thanks again to everyone who stopped by and for all the kind words about my art. Art fair season is over now for an undetermined amount of time. I’m just a few weeks shy of bringing a new life into this world, and I’ve been thinking a lot lately about who I’ll be after I emerge from this experience. Some of the questions I keep asking myself are – Can my goals and dreams coexist with baby? Will there be any time at all for painting or creative projects? Will I be able to keep my art business running? I wish I had a magic 8 ball to look into, but I don’t. As some of you may know, I’m a project manager by day so I work on my art in the evenings and on the weekends. I’ll be taking a maternity leave, but I plan on returning to work full time after the new year. Being a working mom will be hard, emotionally and physically. I think it’s going to be a matter of priorities. I imagine there will be a lot of “plate spinning.” But art is part of who I am so I know I will weave it into our lives in some way, I just don’t know how yet. I’ve decided that I will not put too much pressure on myself to make new artwork, which is why you may see a few weeks (months?) pass without anything new. Please stick with me as I navigate this new life as a mom and creative business owner. I’ve come to believe, after speaking at length about this with so many women, that you need to do whatever makes you happy and healthy, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and let go of any guilt or worry that you’re not doing enough. So I’m going to try my best to live by that advice. Bottom line is I want to be the best version of myself for this little baby and teach him or her that women can be and do anything they want. Thank you for your support and for letting me be vulnerable, scared and excited about this new journey! And if you’re curious to know what I’m up to in the meantime, I will be posting some updates over on Instagram so please visit me over there.