Happy Gnollidays!

It be clocking out time. I’m one of those people who is just… a work-a-holic (yes I know it bad) but I opted to take the week between holidays off to maximize my vacation time (I generally work a 4 day week). I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself for 11 days. I don’t know how to chill.

4 broken needles, 3 pricked fingers, 2 Michael’s runs, and a felt auk for my Christmas tree

Finished gluing the last of the mosaic I was working on to the substrate tonight…. And there is a moment of “IT IS DONE!” Only to discover my frame is not a true 8” round despite the fact it says it’s for 8” round canvases. :/ :/

Why is it all the colors of glass I want to use are upwards of $25 dollars a 8x8 inch square? -cries- some are $50+ Pinks, reds, and purples/violet are the worst… (It’s all about what metal oxide is needed for the color… red and some pinks use gold).

Just have to get through the next few days and then I’m off for a while. So ready for the break to just chill and maybe let creative brain percolate. I’ve been fighting art burnout so long…

Beacon A little light in the seeming darkness… Older piece but fitting for the Winter Solstice and the returning of the Sun. Done back in early 2020 when the world shut down.

Beacon A little light in the seeming darkness… Older piece but fitting for the Winter Solstice and the returning of the Sun. Done back in early 2020 when the world shut down.

Happy Winter Solstice. I’m going to go do something I haven’t done in a long time. Beloved Woods here I come! But first! I have to find my incense.

Finished and framed stained glass mosaic. The first mosaic I’ve ever done. Learned a lot. And it won’t be the last. My inspiration for this was 100% the Aurora photos I took earlier this year. 8x10 inches. Glass on acrylic sheet in silver aluminum frame.

Flowers and more Flowers. Finished the other mosaic and am waiting on the frame for it. My plan is just a general idea of what/where things go, nothing more Learning as I go. It’s fun.

2025 is the year that keeps on f-ing giving. 🙃

That was a fun phone call lol. Things sorted, answers had. Now it’s just wait for call back.

Preparing for a telephone fight with my Health Insurance provider tomorrow… Open enrollment for my workplace supposedly started today. I got the presentation, but can’t add benefits/make adjustments and did not receive a separate email saying enrollment was open.

Why is it that a cut from paper/cardboard hurts more than a cut from my fricken stained glass sheets and tile? Like why? Ow my poor finger.

One life eclipses another; Smilodon takes down a whitetail deer. Inspired by petroglyphs, cave art, and ancient Scythian art. It's weird to think that the whitetail deer survived the ice age and made it to the present but many of its predators did not. #art #smilodon #paleontology #rockart #deer

Part of my burn out is because of generative slop machines and their rise. That was the tipping point for me art wise. The need to create is still here, but not in the mediums I knew and loved. And certainly not presented in the way I once did. The joy is gone.

There’s nothing that boils my blood faster than the US capitalistic hellscape that is healthcare and the cost of meds. I know I am not the only one.

This guy has wildly escaped containment and I love that people like it, but to reiterate: 1.Yes you can get it as a tattoo. 2.No you cannot sell craft patterns or merch 3.I appreciate the mistake and yes I do have the personality of a morose victorian poet, but this is from 2024 and under copyright.

gonna go ahead and repost this one for my art feed 🐓 my dragon seal character, Kelp. from 2019. colored pencils on cardstock.

Went to the neighbor’s to hang out with their corgi, while they’re on a night out and man this little guy is a riot. He’s super sweet, but there’s also a Tasmanian devil hidden in that cute exterior. :D I firmly believe he would rule the neighborhood if given half a chance and opposable thumbs

Ahh, yes, it’s #deercember - weekly warmups will be easy for a few weeks #illustration #art #darkart

You can always ask about art medium questions or how I did the thing. If I can help I will.

I haven’t had a lot of time to work on this, but having a light workday on Friday is always nice and gives me extra time.

Not my English Springer/Clumber mix who’s supposed to be on rest for a back sprain vaulting over the 32 inch dog gate because my Dad showed up. Why Magnus why?!

I don’t know if anyone else has this relationship with their art or if I’m just silly… I want people to see my art and enjoy it But… I do not want to be perceived.

Nothing like ordering a shoe, that’s for a wide fit, but because you have a thick foot not just wide you can’t get your foot in the shoe. Back to the drawing board-it was for glass work- gotta protect feet too! And I don’t want my tennis shoes or slippers with shards.

My dog has managed to pull his back again, but this time a different set of muscles. Meds and rest should do the trick. He’s a spaniel, they don’t know how to rest.

Vet appointment at 10:30 am. My vet and his staff are awesome. Not looking forward to the chaos of X-rays and the cost of this visit. This could also be arthritis, the start of IVDD (all spaniels have this marker) or even a weakness left over from Blasto. Who knows! Hopefully we’ll know soon.

This year couldn’t just let me be with the dogs could it? Beginning of the month Magnus pulled a muscle in his back- we got meds and he had crate rest. Today out and about, he missteps, and rolls himself into the muddy sump pump water outlet. I bathed him immediately. Cause MUD.

Welp- today I was working with a piece of glass that I guess is more prone to shards and slivers than any I’ve used before. It honestly is like the most annoying paper cut ever. Enough to make me consider cut resistant gloves or something to that effect.

A day off? Let’s finally get some glass down and a mosaic started. Wheeee!

The big day job work project is officially APPROVED. And that means it’s off my plate and I’m back to my regular work schedule. I can sleep soundly tonight.

I miss having access to a glass grinder. It’s legit the biggest thing I miss from the local place’s courses. Putting that on the holiday wishlist. They aren’t ridiculously expensive- I just don’t know where to put it. (Local studio is no more sadly…)

I lucked out with my ankle. It just needs strapped up, iced regularly, and some anti-inflammatories.. oh and Rest. Yay RICE method. I might just lose my mind with the rest part though. I do not do that well and the glass sitting waiting isn’t helping. :/

Today has not been my day. Water heater replaced (yay hot water). Got the glass stuff out- was having a grand ole time. Chair gave way (no loose bolts- the wood failed) and dumped me on the floor. My left ankle (that I broke last year) and knee took the brunt of the fall.

And the water heater saga continues! They are sending someone out today to look apparently, so maybe hot water tonight or tomorrow? Love it when things in the house break. It’s the roulette of “is it a 80-200 dollar expense or a 1000+ dollar expense??” Both suck, but one is so much worse.

Maybe tonight when dogs are settled I can glass prep. I at least have a plan and linework now so hopefully I’ve stepped beyond the white canvas paralysis part of getting started.

Aaaaaand the water heater has just crashed on the house. Lovely. What I wouldn’t give to install a tankless heater or the instant geysers family has in the UK. Can’t afford that though. :D Wheeeeeeeee! Today’s plans have been derailed.

Maybe… maybe, considering my day tomorrow is light work wise, I might get the glass stuff out and start nipping some scrap for a mosaic or something.

Oh the white canvas overwhelmed paralysis is strong tonight. :/

Started our behavior modification training with Ruby today (she is possessive of toys and only toys) and by the end of the session she was willingly offering up the toy for the trade game. And now she is doing the “exhausted from play but fighting rest” bit.

🔶EMERGENCY COMMISSIONS OPEN🔶 Will be out of work at the beginning of December so in addition to frantically looking for a new job I am also open for commissions! SFW/NSFW 🔹FORM HERE: forms.gle/L9dsJtQxMYrt... Unlimited slots currently, will reach out within a couple days when you submit a response.

We went back to training to be unfamiliar people and dogs for Canine Good Citizen training. And SURPRISE! The trainer opted to use Magnus for the ‘passing an unfamiliar dog’ part of the test. And he was absolutely perfect in class, and I am so so proud of him.

Ahahahahha my glass supplies have been found! They were buried in a closet at the back with a whole bunch of other stuff piled in front. Now the issue is, where in the house is a safe place where dogs won’t risk shards in paws.

The relief of a large project moving from you into the next phase is something. I am exhausted, but other than minor revisions once it’s through proofing? It’s done. 3 weeks. Last year it took 3 months.

Actually decided to be a “good photographer” and charged the big camera and dug out the tripod just in case round 2 of the Aurora shows up tonight. Forecast suggests it might, and it’ll be a test of the big camera since I haven’t attempted any moon/stars/sky photography with it yet.

My neighbor text me like “hey! The Aurora is outside!” And sent me a photo, so I went out in the back yard in 26°F and froze my butt off… I could See them without the camera!! I’m super far south so… this made my night!

I spent all night last night rendering some rocks on a ridiculously large canvas in Procreate because apparently that is what my artbrain has deemed it wants to do. Art Burnout is weird.

Ugh. :/