I’m incredibly excited to have gotten into Sakura-Con for the 2024 con season! It’s my first time back to this event since the pre-pandemic show in 2019, and this time, I’ll have a ton of new artwork as well as a charming helper. Matt and I will be here all weekend peddling my wares. We hope to see you there!

I’m so pleased to return to my seventh GeekGirlCon, and my first time back since the pre-pandemic 2019 convention! After a busy and stellar year at Pike Place Market, I’ve decided that since I’m always 50-60% prepped for a show at any given moment, I should do more conventions during the off-season.

Post-show write-up: GeekGirlCon 2023 turned out to be a chill and relaxing (read: slow) affair; the show floor had expanded significantly to include twice as many vendors as before. I got to know several of my talented neighbors, all of whom opined that sales were slower than in previous years. I was fortunate enough to be situated next to the food court and resting area, so while sales weren’t exactly booming, the event was still well worth my time. Local shows at the Seattle Convention Center are exceedingly easy for me to attend since I live downtown, so I hope to do more shows at the SCC next year!

Matt was my helpful assistant all day Saturday, and he kept me entertained and well-fed throughout the day. All in all, I had a great time and I’ll be back again next year if they’ll have me!

When I first discovered Hyphen in Belltown, I was struck by how beautifully curated the space was, a celebration of Asian culture and food. The owners Youn and Takeshi have created a charming shop complete with a taste-testing station for their plethora of Asian condiments, books, stationary, and art-covered walls (which is where I come in!). I’m thrilled to have my artwork featured for the entire month of July, and I’ll also be selling my work in person on July 14 from 6-9PM for a special pop-up event!

As an official Craftsperson at Pike Place Market, I set up my own “daystall” each week among a group of dedicated artisans. You can find me in the Crafts Market, usually in the roofed area across the street from Le Panier.

Year-end write-up: Following my lay-off at the beginning of the year from my game studio job, I sold more days at Pike Place Market in 2023 than in all of my previous years. After a slow start in the spring, I enjoyed record-setting sales in the summer months and again during the holidays (throughout December). Sales were higher than expected and I felt extremely fortunate to set up shop each day at such a world-famous tourist attraction, where my work reached thousands(!) of happy customers per year. In 2024 I plan to sell even more days (shooting for 150!) and focus on having a larger product selection of original paper-cut pieces, stickers, and postcards in addition to the poster prints that make up the majority of my sales.

As an official Craftsperson at Pike Place Market, I set up my own “daystall” each week among a group of dedicated artisans. You can find me in the Crafts Market, usually in the roofed area across the street from Le Panier.

For 2022 my Market hours have been cut short because I got a full-time game studio job! I will try my best to be at the Market each Sunday from 10-4!

End-of-year write-up: I ended up selling a mere 10 days in 2022, having spent the better part of the year working full-time for PerBlue, a mobile game studio. For whatever reason, I truly believed that I would have the time/energy to set up and break down a craft fair booth each weekend, but once work started up that proved to be untenable almost immediately. Ah well, live and learn!

It feels so good to have conventions back again after such a long pandemic! I will be in the Artist Alley section, come look for Wendi Chen Art! Hope to see you there!

Post-show write-up: I had a wonderful four days at ECCC, connecting with con regulars I’ve befriended over the years and meeting new friends as well. Initially, I was very worried because Thursday attendance/sales were extremely slow, but things picked up on Friday and I ended up having an excellent show sales-wise. Attendance was definitely lower than previous years due to the pandemic, but sales were excellent and nearly at pre-pandemic levels, so I really can’t complain. My talented friend James Doppelhammer was my assistant for all four days and I really appreciated the help! With his help, things went very smoothly and I was well-rested and well-fed for the entire show. This was probably the smoothest con I’ve ever had, and I’m so thrilled to return to the convention scene!

For my last show of 2019, I’m very happy to be returning to Geek Girl Con for the 6th year in a row! This show is consistently great without ever being overwhelming (unlike the 4-day Thunderdome that ECCC has become), and it provides such a wholesome, safe environment for its attendees. I’ll have a bunch of prints that I’m retiring this year, so if you see something you like, be sure to grab it before it’s gone. Hope to see you there!

When my friend Johnson Do invited me to table at ACE Comic Con Seattle, I was initially a bit hesitant because I had never heard of it before. That said, the show boasted an impressive roster of celebrity guests that rivalled that of SDCC - Marvel superstars Chris Evans, Josh Brolin, Zoe Saldana, and Jeremy Renner were all schedule to come. More than a little bit starstruck, I decided to spring for a full 8-foot table in the Artist Alley.

… After which, I promptly made an impulse purchase for a Photo-Op with Chris Evans and Josh Brolin. :> Since I had a profitable Spring convention season, I figured I deserved to treat myself to a couple’a Hollywood hunks:

My last show of 2018 was IllustrAFest, a local art market started by Bunny. This turned out to be a very well-planned and chill show that gave me the chance to reconnect with many familiar faces. Solid way to end the year!

This one-day event dedicated to Steven Universe was SO. MUCH. FUN!! I went in with zero expectations, and was met with decent sales and a giant bouncy gym. A giant indoor bouncy gym during an art show, you say? But why, you ask? Why NOT, I say!

So yeah, I spent an estimated 30 minutes hopping around inside the bouncy gym. At one point I dragged in my friend Rhodora to join me in the bouncy gym. I am a professional artist, please take me seriously.

I’m so happy to return to Geek Girl Con for the 5th year in a row! It’s crazy to think that I’ve been selling at conventions since 2014. So much has changed since then, but what remains is that Geek Girl Con is one of my favorite shows for how relaxed and inclusive it always feels. My dear friend Yuuki Jia assisted me at my booth this year, which happened to be located in the best spot on the entire show floor! I felt so lucky and I hope to keep doing this show for years to come!

I had such a blast attending Anime Expo for the first time and visiting friends in LA/Burbank! Special thanks to the amazing Betsy Bauer for the tour of Dreamworks Animation - the studio campus seriously looks like a five-star resort! This trip was SO much fun, I hope to be back next year!

This year I was invited to join Raw Artists, a network of independent artists from across the globe. They were holding an event in Seattle called “Magnify,” a curated exhibit highlighting visual artists and live dancers/musicians. Sign-up and pre-show organization was smooth, so I was keen to give this show a shot despite its steep entry price. 

Post show write-up: When I arrived, I discovered that the venue was a tiny bar/club blaring incredibly loud stage music throughout the program. The live musicians and dancers were clearly the main draw, and many of the artists (who had overpaid for their tables) tried to complain that the noise level was not conducive to chatting up customers or making sales. It became clear that the visual artists were placed there as an afterthought, for set dressing. I personally found this to be unacceptable for an event that charged hundreds of dollars per table, on par with exhibitor’s booths at ECCC… which has a massive targeted audience and is hugely profitable. I definitely won’t be coming back.

Lost-Boy was my ride and helper, and he valiantly helped me make the best of a dud show. Fortunately all my other shows this year have been solid, so I recovered quickly!

I’m proud to be tabling at the very last Mahouto Market, a fantastic show curated/planned by a talented team of local female artists! Thank you all for making this show amazing for so many artists!

I'm very excited to be returning to the Artist Alley at Sakura-Con 2018 with my good friend Yuuki Jia as my helper! It's been a couple years since I've done this convention, but it remains one of my favorites!

Post show write-up: Holy moly. This was my most profitable show of all time - nearly hit $7K in sales! I don’t know what it was about this year (location, maybe?), but I was super busy all weekend, and I almost sold out of everything! Last month’s ECCC was phenomenal as well, so that makes two back-to-back shows with record-setting profits. Just wow!

I’m so immensely grateful to my friend Yuuki for offering her table to me. I pretty much never get into this show on my own, so I had resigned myself to not doing it this year. So when Yuuki got a table and wasn’t able to go, she gave her spot to me, and brought me a bunch of drinks/snacks during the show! TwT She’s the best!!

I'm super excited to be returning to ECCC 2018 after a 2-year absence, and I'm especially excited to be sharing a booth with the Comicon Islanders, a coterie of talented local artists curated by my friend Ken Taya!

You can cycle through the images above to view everyone's ECCC profile badge, designed by Ken! All of us will be at Booth #502 from March 1-4 at the WSCC, so stop by to visit our multi-artist group:

• Wendi Chen - website

• Ken Taya / Enfu - website

• SPFY Tees - website

• Nick Southam - website

• Bunny Tokki / S2Heart - website

• Vanessa Jacob - website

• Mike Uziel - website

• Isaac Hannaford - website

• Akio Segawa - website

• Milton Cadogan - website

• Shi Kai Wang - website

• Rooster Monkey - website

• Genuine Haha - website

• Corey Lewis - website

• Luis Yepez / Trixels - website

• Suzanne Kaufman - website

• Yuki Yoshida - website

I'm excited to be selling my work at the Holiday Mahouto Market, which takes place at Nagomi Tea House in the International District! I'll have all kinds of cute and seasonal art, so stop by to do some holiday shopping.

Post show write-up: As usual, I had no qualms about trusting that the ladies behind Mahouto Market would put together busy and well-run show. Attendance and sales were solid, and I had a fun time seeing friends and doodling MHA fan art at my table!

I had a blast visiting Burbank for my 3rd time attending the CTN Expo, hanging out with LA friends and chatting with my art idols! This year I applied for the “Raise the Bar Recruiting” program and even scored an interview with Disney Animation, which was such a lovely compliment!

I shared a hotel room with my friend Hannah Viera, a super talented storyboarder/animator from Portland. After CTNX was over, we stayed an extra day in Burbank so we could see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. I had such a blast and I can’t wait to come back!