I decided to start making short artist talks and virtual showings of my original paintings. This is the first one focusing on the Penitent series and "Penitent I" in particular. As always, what it means to me, doesn't dictate what the art has to mean to you. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQVH...

This weekend Oct 11-12 I will be at MMoCA for their Art Market! I will have a significant number of orig paintings as well as open edition prints. General public admission is free on both days: Sat: 10 AM – 4 PM Sun: 12–4 PM **227 State St, Madison, Wisconsin**

Penitent IV 9x12" oil on board. This is the final (for now) painting in a series of work honoring and mourning endangered or threatened species. This is not art of a specific saint, but represents humans who are being forced to watch the destruction and desecration occurring around them.

Penitent III 9x12" oil on board. This painting is part of a series of work honoring and mourning endangered or threatened species. This is not art of a specific saint, but represents humans who are being forced to watch the destruction and desecration occurring around them.

Human artists, use one piece to convince people to follow you

Someone told me last week that I could use AI to send email newsletters. But why? If a newsletter or email is worth someone's time to read, then it is worth the time & attention it takes *me* to write it. If it's not worth my time to write, then it's not worth reading, & it's disrespectful to send.

So if I'm reading this right, the value proposition of AI is that it doesn't work and doesn't make money, but it can kill you now and kill you later.

Still remember one study where they had "AI" look at photos to diagnose cancer and it had like a 98% or 99% accuracy... ...except all the photos of actual tumors had a ruler next to them for scale. And the algorithm just got really good at spotting rulers in a photograph.

Oh yeah- I hear a certain con is pushing a non-compete clause on vendors. And, while venues, galleries, publishers and conventions are very important partners in making a living off of art, it's important to read agreements & make decisions that protect your interests.

Spent an hour gently washing the leaf fungus off my cherry tree, one leaf at a time. Bc apparently I didn't so much change my lifestyle as deorbit it. Just ablating danger & excitement off my life like it's the discount heat shield on a boeing capsule lol here's hoping lil tree friend makes it tho

New art: A smaller oil painting on panel "Sigil of the Heron" 6x8". Occasionally I take little breaks from my bigger, more realist work, to do these. They're rooted in the style of linework found in Pictish carvings, lots of swooshing lines and spirals, but have more detailed/complexity

"Penitent II" 9x12 oil painting on board ($450 USD). The second in a series of paintings mourning the effects of climate change and increasing waves of extinctions. Open edition art prints will be available in the near future.

You can't tap into the energy of cruelty & greed & have your soul, or often even your body survive. The cycles used to last longer between f-ing around & finding out with that sort of thing- but the modern era for all its many many drawbacks has surfaced & democratized the delivery of "finding out"

Amazing: MIT researchers revealed how ChatGPT etc are destroying our brains and booby-trapped the report to expose those who want to use AI to ostensibly summarize the results. t.co/JXeTALBPds

"Don't give a narrative to this asshole who will just make up whatever narrative he likes as it suits" is as bad advice for protesters as it is for domestic abuse victims. You can't one-weird-trick dangerous liars into behaving honestly.

So the wordpress plug-in system that my website runs on has basically just self-destructed. I've got it limping along, slowly, and I'm starting to work on a more permanent fix. That'll prob take a bit tho since computers and I seem to have a mutual loathing.

New art: "Penitent I" (9x12 Oil paint on board $450). Prints coming soonish.

i've never gotten into short form video or chatgpt and im so hyped to eventually be one of the last remaining people with attention span and analytical skills, i think it's really going to increase my value to enterprising warlords during the water wars

Art is valuable bc it creates an environment that is sustaining to live within. To try to justify it with nonsense about "helping student test scores" or "boosts brain health" or other magazine level BS is to miss the basic reality that art filled environments sustain people on the most basic level

Now with alt text

Side effect of ai bullshit is to make actual, real, skill & ability far more valuable. And in 2-4 years, if not sooner, there's going to be a trend of ppl trying to pick up real skills to make up for having cheated themselves w/ai.

When I rescue a firefly from a spiderweb, I am a god to the firefly & demon to the spider. Neither can fathom how, or why I would interfere, & to them I am an unknowable, eternal, force. & a spider/firefly philosopher would prob never think: "firefly sparkle = happy" as the rational reason for it.

New art - "Fate's Bargain" an 18x24 inch oil painting on a cradled wood panel. Prints will be available soonish, but supply costs have- of course- gone up. So there might be a little bit of a delay.

No, it’s like saying “don’t use Quora as a source”. Because Quora is 90% people who sound like they know everything when actually they know shit, and 10% who have actual knowledge, but you are on your own to gauge who’s who.

*looks up from painting* oh? Copy that, more nude paintings on the waaay..

So desperate that you try to befriend your auto-complete. Trying to make the expression of the literal statistical average of any given input into your friend.

Hi #PortfolioDay I'm Leah, an oil painter based in Madison WI working in a dark art or imaginative realist style. Website link page here if you're curious: www.leahmacleod.art/link-in-bio/

Lot of fantasy talk around working in a factory and, as someone who did that through high school, I can tell you that there's far more enjoyable ways to pick up soft-tissue/back injuries. Just go check out the USCSB youtube page for more of an idea about what the vibes are like in manufacturing.

*roulette ball bounces into red* "oh I am SO sorry sir, you're not retiring after all." This is, I think, the 4th market crash of my adult life- at least. "The market always goes up over the long term." Too bad human life is short term.

I don't want to say that I'm procrastinating my taxes, but my gmail inbox is *sparkling* rn.

Heyyy if you'd like some occult imaginative realist art in your life- but don't have original oil painting money just lying around- I have open edition prints in my etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/LeahMacLeodFineArt (or DM me too) 5x7 are $10 9x12 are $30 (original oil paintings available via email)

New painting! "Divine Mercy" 9x12 oil on board. ($450usd) There is no greater expression of the divinity of creation than nature deciding to be merciful. This painting is also distinguished from the rest of my art by not being 90% blue pigments by volume lolol.

"Messenger" 18x24 oil on panel. (but smaller prints are available)

Ran the gauntlet of etsy uploading to update my studio print store with both 9x12 inch and 5x7 inch prints. So if you're in the mood for dark, surreal, occult-ish witchy art then you're in luck! etsy.com/shop/LeahMac...

so is Avowed actually bad? or is it just a case of it not living up to the reputation of New Vegas and being priced about $20 too high? Seems to be a consensus developing that it's bad but y'know how that can go.

I write art statements like "I create artifacts for the present, that connect the viewer to the past, in order to face an uncertain future" Bc: "I'm trying to rip open the fabric of an exploitative present to open a doorway for an ancient energy to kill your TV" might scare the nice normal ppl

The art prints for this painting came in and ended up looking incredible. Having your omens delivered via owl is great, but I prefer mine to come via the traditional mystical white stag. I have both 5x7 mini prints and larger 9x12 size prints on my studio etsy page www.etsy.com/shop/LeahMac...

If you see this, post something RED 🎈 "Red" 9x12 oil on panel, from 2022.

Them: "you should pick up another language, it could really be important given how bad things are getting." Me: "Learn old English, gotcha!" Them: "A *useful* language Leah, omfg."

Had fun at the art show on Weds & met a lot of cool ppl- despite the 7 inches of snow. WI doesn't let a little thing like a storm dropping a half foot of snow keep them from shows. I still have plenty of prints, so let me know if you're interested or check out www.etsy.com/shop/LeahMacLeodFineArt

"Fledgling" in progress art process from sketch to finished 9x12 oil painting. I paint in thin layers and glazes on a wood support, which allows the light to bounce warmth up through the finished work.

Ran the gauntlet of etsy uploading to update my studio print store with both 9x12 inch and 5x7 inch prints. So if you're in the mood for dark, surreal, occult-ish witchy art then you're in luck! etsy.com/shop/LeahMac...

QRP with your wings #art! "Pictish Dreams" 9x12 oil on board (2024)

If you see this, quote with your Night/ #Darkart "Cantica of Deep Time" 18x24 oil paint on panel

A new painting "Messenger" 18x24" oil paint on panel. The white stag is often a messenger. Sometimes it comes as a good omen and sometimes simply as a good warning- it's up to you to figure out which. This will be available as an art print soon.

OpenAI is furious that DeepSeek might have stolen all of the data OpenAI stole from all of us www.404media.co/openai-furio...

you never really know how good a printer is until they need to fix an error. I order prints like once a month at least- so it's inevitable that there's going to be a mistake Well an error finally happened! & their cust service was awesome. Totally endorse Mixam for their quality/price/service.

So I've come down with a cold, and also managed to somehow lose a thumb drive that I use to edit painting pics and catalog all my in-progress work etc. It's not, like, a disaster or anything- that stuff should all be backed up in at least 2 other places... but it's kinda the last straw for today lol

My absolute fav place to be is in a recertification seminar wherein an entire room of medics diligently pretends absolutely no one has anything but academic experience with drugs & alcohol. The vibes are so forced, & the acting is so bad, it's just the greatest type of comedy lol