Hello,

I am Stephanie, but you can call me Schiraki on the web.

I am a traditional artist from germany that loves animals and living things. My favorite themes are Fantasy- and Animal-Art in nearly any media.

I love to meet new artists and people who are just interested in art. :)

So if you are interested in getting in tough with me, dont be afraid to write me, I dont bite.

(watch the video>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfmXK6iws2g&t=2s)

Between a whole mountain of work, which has accumulated before and after the Con, I now try to sit down and tell how my first Con abroad was like.

From February 28th to March 4th, the Nordic Fuzz Con took place in Stockholm and I wanted to be there!

At the beginning a few problems stood in the way.

First there was the thing with the luggage ...
We had decided to fly and a suitcase weighing a maximum of 23 kilos was all I could take with me.
All my pictures for the Artshow + frame, as well as all prints, presentation stand, wall, tablecloth, mouse pads, sketchbooks and co, had to be brought there a la Tetris and under no circumstances were they allowed to weigh more then those 23 kilos.

When this hurdle was over, I learned the day before departure that my parents, who wanted to drive us to the airport, were both seriously ill and unable to drive us.
On top of that, my husband had spoiled his stomach the night before and I had to make all preparations on my own, as well as arrange a ride.

To our great luck, a good friend of us lend a hand and so we went on 27th to Frankfurt airport.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly and we arrived in Stockholm. We shared a taxi with a nice artist from Spain (Licantrox) to the hotel.

The hotel ... people the hotel ...

Who has seen my video knows what I mean.

The hotel maintains a huge jungle in the lobby ,with a stream and kois.
When I sent pictures to my parents, they first asked if they were from inside or outside.

At winter, -12 degrees and several centimeters of snow, the question was not serious.

The location was extremely convenient, with several restaurants, a supermarket, pharmacy and zoo business in spitting distance (so we could bring our cats also something from Sweden). ;)
The food was accordingly varied and to our great pleasure also cheap.

Unfortunately, far too late, I realized that there is also a sauna and a pool in the hotel. : / Meh, next time I think of my bathing suit.

To the Con itself: It was cuddly.
I can hardly describe it any differently because the Eurofurence has been my only Furry Convention so far and this is a lot bigger than the NFC.

That did not make it any worse, just ... cute.

There was a really fond Opening Ceremony, in which they had almost made a small stage piece for the presentation of the events.
Also, I have to say that I find the mascot, a little black mouse, adorable.

Unfortunately, I was barely able to attend panels or other events because I spent most of my time at the Dealers Den, or did the commissionsI had accepted there, but what I've seen I enjoyed a lot.

Among other things, I missed an arcade room, a bouncy castle and various Suiter events. : /

So, now we come to the part that was almost the whole con for me: Artshow and Dealers Den.

There is not much to say about the Artshow. As the setup times of Artshow and Dealers Den are almost identical and I did not have time for both (for reasons to come), fortunately my husband dropped and hung my pictures there.

We discovered my drastic mistake number one.

You know, at the Eurofurence you apply for a fixed area in the Artshow and if you have it you have to see for yourself what and how to install there.
On the NFC, on the other hand, you give notice in advance about the pictures you want to bring with you and they give you the place you need.

I in my all-embracing wisdom, of course, had stated the dimensions of the images WITHOUT FRAME. Yes, you can facepalm now.

Of course, my pictures did not fit anymore and everything had to be repositioned. Somehow, my husband and the Artshow team finally made it.
I apologize once again for the inconvenience. : ')

Let's get to the drastic mistake # 2.

I had packed a box during my suitcase tetris, there were all the things you need to build up your table, the screw of my display stand, the black cornerthingies for the plug-in wall, safety pins for my banner, price tags ....
Now that you already have an idea where the journey is going: I left all that at home.

And I noticed it while setup.
Or rather, when I realized that I could not setup.

So my husband put in a sprint to the Bauhaus, which was within easy reach and provided me with ductape, cable ties and a screw, as well as a painter's crepe.

People, no matter what you forget:
Ductape can fix it.
This stuff holds the world together.

After we had improvised the table together, it was already time for opening, we finished extremely close.
And then it was a three days, wild ride.

I have drawn more than 18 sketches at the con, I have sold many prints and even orders at the con! It was bombastic! And the fact that the Con was so small I had the feeling to be able to remember many more names and faces.

It was especially funny when you tried for five minutes to talk in English until the person you speak to recognizes the accent is German - just like him.

In the evening I once dared to go to the dealers party and met many great people there and actually talked to them!
I can not remember when I socialized so much the last time. XD

Another evening, I was in the Artist Lounge and sat down with other artists while working on my commissions and talked. We have laughed a lot and it's always so nice to talk to someone about their passion.

By Saturday evening it was exhausting, but also amazingly great.
Unfortunately, the Con should once again come up with a low for me, this time one that I had not been my foult.

First, the Artshow.
I had put a picture in the Artshow, which should go away for 100% charity. Right on the first day there was a note that this picture (since it was pure Charity) would go in the auction.
I was very happy, unfortunately it did not happen.

What exactly went wrong, I do not know. In any case, I took the picture back home, which I think is a pity.

I assume that due to time constraints, they took some pictures from auction, which of course is understandable, but somehow sad for me as an artist.

Likewise, I gave an A3 print in the Charity Lottery, of which I do not know what happened to it, because it was not distributed as a prize.

So about the charity (which was therapy dogs, a great project!), I'm a bit hesitant, somehow it felt like my contributions where not welcome. But that can just be a chain of unfortunate circumstances?

The next downer was Artist Payout.
Two of my pictures had sold in the Artshow. Unlike the EF, the artists on the NFC receive the money directly from the buyers. For this the Dealers Den is cleared, the artist gets his pictures and the buyer picks them up there.

If he shows up.

First, the whole event moved back 1 hour to 20 clock. Then there were technical problems and it was 10pm until you could even let buyers in the room (in which we have been waiting for 2 hours). My black panther was then actually picked up. I do not know if the buyer wants to be named, but I already know him from the EF.
Therefore, greetings and thank you anonymously. ;)

The second customer, who actually bought my Blue Jay, did not show up and after 11pm, we gave up.

Actually, I wanted to use the last evening to celebrate, which I had never done before, since I had to work. Unfortunately I wasnt in the mood for celebrating after that.
After we gave up and collected my pictures together, I was hungry, dog-tired and frustrated.

That someone didnt pick up is picture from me, never happened to me before.
In retrospect, however, I must also say: The buyers were waiting just like us all the hours in front of the door.
Maybe he just gave up eventually?

Well, I definitely did not feel like partying any more and crumbled me to bed.

The next morning we had to clear the room quite early, but allowed us a leisurely breakfast at the buffet.
Actually, Sunday was half a conday, but since we already had a slight post-con gloom, we decided to leave early and drive to the airport.

We arrived germany without problems.
My parents still could not pick us up, so I booked a Flixbus the night before to take us to Kaiserslautern.

But thanks to a stubborn passenger, who really wanted to take her bulldog in the passenger compartment, we arrived late at the airport.
Time was running out so tight that I was sure we would not be able to make it to the collection point in time.

But after a sprint that blew up my bronchi, that I tasted blood and then coughed two days later, we still made it: Because the bus was too late!

Now I'm back home, the suitcases are unpacked and the first commissions started.

It was a great experience and a great con with great people.
Thanks to the dealer den team (Sithy!), I felt very comfortable and welcome.

I still do not know if and how it will work out again, but I would like to come back.

Thank you that I was allowed to be there! The Nordic Fuzz Con is definitely a wonderful convention!