This is one of the reasons why -being an artist myself- never charge upfront when I'm taking a commission. Yeah, you run the risk of getting ripped of by the client, but then again, I tend to work mostly with returning commissioners (who thus have a positive track record) myself. Life really tends to throw a spanner in the works at the most inconvenient times, and dates will slip all the time. If one has already received money for the work, it will put stress on the client (as they will fear they've been ripped off) and will also add stress to probably an already stressful situation for the artist -at least that's my experience.
And this is also the very reason why I'm not on Patreon either; to keep the content mill running continuously is just another burden I'd not want to take on.
The fact that the artist ghosted you is just bad, unprofessional practice on their part. As an artist, I always try and keep the client updated, and reply to messages/email within one or two days. That's only fair, especially if they've taken the money already.
