10/31/24

Happy Halloween! This year I'm celebrating by getting a CD in the mail from a new Idol Group called Phantom Siita. Their whole vibe is vintage horror and it's a delight. If you want some catchy but spooky tunes for the evening, give them a listen!

10/29/24

Well! Things have been pretty hectic! Did a lot of prepping for a local show, which involved assembling packaging for candles I've made, working on a few original pieces, set pieces etc. It was tough, but I think I made some things I'm proud of! Here's photos from the show~

Hex N Holler is an artist collective I'm a part of, along with my partner and close friends. We focus on a (US) southern horror vibe. I made three new original pieces for this show that you can see in the gallery! As well as a risograph print illustration I made of Baphomet, which I've talked about here before. I'm really happy with how it came out,and with how it reacts to a black light! Not to toot our horn too much but I think we really stood out for our use of black light reactive colors in our offerings~ Genuinely though, seeing both adults and children delight at our setup and our offerings is one of the best feelings in the world. Live shows are tough, especially outdoor ones, but seeing people's faces light up at our display and talking excitedly to us makes it worth it. We'll have one more show this year in the beginnning of december, and I'm excited to see how that goes!

10/09/24

It's halloween month, so I wanted to share a fun little halloween themed music video from a kpop group I've recently fallen in love with. I'm not over all in the kpop fandom, but I really love SKZ for their sound, how much of their work is self made, and their over all message and desire to be a positive force for all the little weirdos out there. They recently performed at the AMA's and it seems like that's brought them a lot of new positive attention, which I'm happy for. I think they're incredibly talented. Anyway, enjoy this song! I think it's really fun. :)

10/7/24

I haven't done a larger, more ellaborate stand alone illustration in a while but here we are, taking a swing at it again. I'm working on a piece of Baphomet, with plans for it to be printed via risograph. The level of neon tone and saturation of color riso gives is just unparalelled in any other printing format. I want to make an image depicting Baphomet more serene, as they are a symbol of perfect balance. Baphomet as a symbol definitely has a convoluted and condradictory legacy. But I find it fascinating how it keeps returning to relevance over and over.

For me, Baphomet is one of the few occult symbols and concepts I feel like I can actually connect with, as someone who is queer and non-bianary. So much of modern (and typically white) witchcraft/neo-paganism is heavily gendered. As someone who does not care for nor participate in any form of gender roles or presentation, I've struggled to see myself in it. But Baphomet, being both male and female, light and dark, spirit and material, this I can relate to. I do think that there is also a draw to Baphomet from growing up in a largely Christian environment. Baphomet is treated as a direct one-to-one for the Devil by the average Christian. I'm sure the fact that both the Satanic Temple and Church of Satan have their personal depictions of it is no small part of that. And Baphomet does have an allure to it because of that, I will admit. I think to me as a kid/teen, it came to represent "forbidden knowledge". As someone who would be scolded for asking too many questions, the idea of a representation of knowing all was appealing. Especially knowledge that was not as acceptable in my general environment (this being things like challenging Christianity, paganism, magic, queerness etc). The transgressive nature is part of the draw. As someone who is visibly queer and only getting more so, I think there is a kinship feeling now, between myself and the image of Baphomet. I don't have any desire to "pass" or be an acceptable queer. I know this will bring negative attention to me on occasion. But I'm at peace with it, because I know it's also what makes me feel the most balanced.

10/3/24

Jonathan Drake/Reuters

This is not a fun journal post.

And honestly, it may be me talking to ten people. But I want to use whatever vanishing internet presence I have to keep talking about the damage hurricane Hellene did to Appalachia. I live in a state that shares this mountain range. I've been in her mountains often. I have friends and family from here, some still living there. The Appalachian mountains are one of the most beautiful places in the world. They are also the oldest mountain range in the world. It is also the cradle of so much American arts and music culture. The larger country attitude is to treat folks living in this range as backwards, uneducated, hateful. And that well, these are also places that voted red so who gives a shit. But as someone who's lived in the American South the majority of my life, who sees the difference between the actual people living here vs what politicians go to Washington, that's bullshit. This kind of narrative erases all the black, queer and indigenous people who call this area home. All the labor rights fighting, anarchists and mutual aid groups invisible. There are amazing people doing amazing work in this patch of land. Did you know that the creator of the trans flag lives in Marietta, Georgia? Please, don't reduce the amazing, diverse culture of this region down to who ended up in office. Gerrymandering and voter registration purging are a son of a bitch. But also, something that is being fought against successfully! There are so many brilliant, compassionate souls here.

What Can You Do

The Mutual Aid Disaster Relief org is on the ground helping, delivering supplies, acting as an info hub, etc. They have several Amazon wish lists you can contribute to. They also have an Instagram if you want to help with spreading info. There is not yet a need for people to come in to these areas to help with cleanup as far as I'm aware. It seems like right now, the priority is rescuing people who are stranded, and getting the population stabilized with power, supplies, shelter etc.

This is a wound on this region of the country that will be felt on a physical, emotional and spiritual level for decades. There are people whos entire lives have been washed away, no recovery in sight. There will be bodies unearthed and disovered for months. I don't think I can over state the damage done here. But every day folks are also doing their damnedest to help each other through it as well. It's been heartening to see the speed in which people have been acting to help their neighbors, to clear roads, to feed each other. Mutual aid is not just waiting for the local 501c3 to come in and distribute goods. Disaster preparedness isn't just having supplies for yourself in an emergency. It is having the tools, supplies and skills to help your neighbors and loved ones. To help your community. We keep us safe.

9/23/24

In honor of saying I'd use this journal for more casual life stuff and not just art updates, I'm posting about a show I saw last night! I saw the Bebop Bounty Big Band, an absolutely stellar group of musicians who play music from Cowboy Bebop live. I've been listening to the music from this show in one form or another for easily twenty years. Getting to hear a real band play it in a theater was an absolute delight. The group was immensely talented, I would definitely reccomend going to see them if you like jazz, Cowboy Bebop or both!!

9/22/24

Gallery is up and running, though still very bare, mostly due to the fact that I just....haven't drawn many illustrations this year. I'd like to eventually make specific galleries (sketchbook, projects, finished stand alone images). I'm going in to a bit of a project crunch mode here soon, as I prep and help prep for a few shows in Oct. I have been doing little hobbies, so maybe I'll post about those until there's work to share, haha.

9/13/24

working on a new zine! For any depiction of myself in it, I've made this little bat character. I'm excited to work on the topic of this new zine, and excited to share it with folks when it's done! For now, I hope yall can also enjoy this Little Guy.

9/13/24

Journal! Here we go. Going to be basically blocking in each page in a simple format here to get the walls up before I start getting fancy/breaking shit. I've found a fair number of folks from Cohost on here, which is exciting! Looking forward to this new phase of my life on the internet.

This page in specific will largely be for basic life updates, garden updates, projects etc. Where the bulk of my yapping will go.