Meet Quicksilver Rain | Travelling Shopkeep

We had the good fortune of connecting with Quicksilver Rain and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Quicksilver, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
If I’m completely honest, I would say my parents and brothers. They’re the ultimate enablers and do everything they can to help me out, up to and including taking part in a 24 hour marathon trip up to Grand Junction to pick up some notebooks I needed for a convention the next day.

I also have to shoutout my wonderful friends Noodle_Rae, who is fully responsible for getting me into the AZ convention circuit and selling my art in general, Mr_Quackers_Artistry, who is my partner in crime at a couple of the larger cons we do, and SatineLaBelle, who is right up there with my parents in terms of enabling my more unhinged tendencies.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Oh jeeze, so I started out selling my art because Noodle_Rae needed help tabling at Saboten Con here in Phoenix and said I could make some merch to sell with her.

I made up a bunch of stickers, which didn’t do especially well right out the gate. Which is fine! I definitely feel like conventions and other adjacent events don’t always have a 100% guarantee of breakout success every time, so it’s really easy to get discouraged if you don’t do well at every one you vend at, which is fully understandable. I was also super lucky to get into the local Convention Circuit when I did. Inflation sucks.

That said, everything about vending at conventions is genuinely fun for me and I was in a position to be able to stick with it despite my first event not being super successful. At the beginning it was honestly really easy to get so far into the grindset that I’d forget to, like, enjoy myself. It was another year or two before I found my people—the capable, good-looking, and illustrious return Adventurers that come to see me at conventions—and since then, it’s been a lot easier to just enjoy myself, which I think has definitely had an impact on the successes I’ve achieved.

Once I’d decided that this is who I am, my friends started to joke that I have no chill and after the first few times I hopped into the Group Chat with a new piece of merch, I started to suspect that perhaps it wasn’t a joke anymore. Seriously, I went from stickers to notebooks and zines to a full tarot deck—honestly one of my highest achievements—over the course of like a year and a half, with no signs of stopping. I’m writing a novel. I’m making a post card booklet of mythological places. I’m illustrating a children’s book. I genuinely have no respect for my own limits and I’m surrounded by nothing but enablers. What could possibly go wrong?

Anyways, one of the current projects I run, which I think a lot of people recognize me for nowadays, is a Mimic Rescue Foundation. I have a whole speil about it, but for the sake of my word count, I’ll just say it’s a fun way of saying I make trinket boxes in the style of little critters you can adopt.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh man, so hilariously, one of the brothers I mentioned earlier is actually a friend from Poland I met on the Internet and aggressively adopted almost a decade ago, whose been threatening to visit for the last few years, so I already have a nebulous itinerary ready to go.

First of all anyone visiting Phoenix should do so in the fall/winter because the summers here are unbearable and I would not wish to inflict them on anyone but my worst enemies.

With that caveat, I would definitely be dragging my boy to the Desert Botanical Gardens. They’re beautiful any time of the year, but they put out luminarias in October and have some local artists put up ofrendas for Dia de los Muertos. They also do a Chili and Chocolate festival in November that’s always a fun time.

We’d also probably go on a trip to Boyce Thompson Arboretum, which isn’t LOCAL local, but my family is really big on going on little adventures, so I think it would be really fun to go there and like, Prescott or Jerome and places like that.

More locally, though, we’d be making trips to the Art and Science Museums and the MIM, because I was a weird little nerd child and think the only reason anyone should visit a place is to see how cool their museums. We’d definitely have to make a stop at Spooky Shops and I’d absolutely try to swing tickets to a concert at the Crescent Ballroom or the Van Buren.

As far as good food recommendations go, I’m gonna give you my top 5 in no particular order with my reasoning:

La Piñata- I judge all Mexican restaurants on their carnitas and they’re always 10/10

Ramen Dozo- I once went to a ramen shop in LA on a high school trip that was so good that I spent the next seven years chasing that high. Ramen Dozo fully knocked that memory out of the park and now whenever I want the best ramen I’ve ever had, I just go there.

Kare Ethiopian Restaurant- My friend invited me to Kare on a whim a few months ago when we went out for dinner and is such a genuinely wonderful experience. The food is great and the owners are some of my favourite people.

Kettle Black- my dad and I go to a lot of concerts together and KB has become our beloved pre-concert dinner spot.

Duck & Decanter- honestly I just love the vibes of this place. They do an incredible sandwich and have all the components of a truly decadent charcuterie board if you wanna be bougie.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I think I’ve already answered this question, but aside from my parents and the Group Chat, I would be fully remiss if I didn’t mention the beautiful and gracious Adventurers that come by my table to chat with me and peruse my wares time and time again, y’all occupy a special place in my heart and I’m always jazzed to see you.

You guys are amazing and I’m honestly touched by y’all’s support.

Website: https://quicksilverrain.storenvy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicksilver_rain/

Other: https://ko-fi.com/quicksilver_rain https://bsky.app/profile/quicksilver-rain.bsky.social

Image Credits
@SatineLaBelle (instagram)