Many sincere thanks to everyone who’s supported the AQAB distro and my work under the banner of Post-Romantic Queerwave. I could never have raised so much money for various fundraisers and mutual aid initiatives without your purchases of my art.
A couple of months ago PayPal put a restriction on the distro’s account, I’ve tried everything I can to get it lifted but PayPal refused all my attempts. Most of the proceeds from the distro had already been distributed as intended, but there was a bit of money in there that I now can’t access. So I’ve been in the process of finalizing proceeds out of my own pocket. I have one more payment to organize and as always, receipts are available on request (unless you’re a cop).
Meanwhile I’ve closed the distro. I started the project with a couple of other people on board but in reality I’ve been doing all the work on my own including covering all the associated costs. I don’t have the capacity to keep doing it. I’m not living in poverty, but my only income is a disability pension and although I’m quite old, I have very little life savings (and no family inheritances!) My mental & physical health is shit and I also have some security concerns about the whole operation.
So for now, I’m focussing on sorting out distributing the last of the proceeds, total $50. I know it’s such a small amount in terms of fundraising, and I feel silly even mentioning it let alone writing a blog post about it, but I need to explain what’s going on with it all. I’ll post an update once it’s distributed and then I’m hoping I’ll have the space to make some new art, and depending how I go with that I might look into other options and platforms for selling my work.
I’ve been mostly offline (in particular off facebook) the last few months, while trying to manage my current health crisis and also be present for loved ones. But I’d love to hear from people so if you’d like to stay connected please email me at prqw@riseup.net !
Love & Rage always,
PRQW