✦•┈๑⋅⋯Butterflies & Bonfires⋯⋅๑┈•✦
Friends, happy month of July and how weird to be here typing on SUNDAY but I’m hoping this will work out a bit better for my schedule! (And maybe for you too?!) This summer has been all over the place already. Did everyone enjoy their 4th of July festivities? Hopefully everyone has all their fingers still >ᴗ< ! Though celebrating our country while our country is tearing apart at the seams feels a little…redundant? I just decided that I was going to celebrate the incredible people that make up this country and honor the potential we still have as a collective. There are still incredible individuals everywhere you look. That being said… what the hell? Why is all of this being allowed? We’re not going there today, okay? We’ll have that discussion another time. So anyway, we celebrated with our newly made friends at the park on Friday. We had a bit of a cookout and then waited around for the fireworks show and had a really great time. Then yesterday, we got our kayaks out for the first time this season… and decided our 10-year-old was ready for her own kayak. We had a great time, the weather was perfect, and Nova caught on extremely quickly with her kayak! After we finished kayaking, we went to more friends to have a bonfire cookout and play cards! We are blown away that we have friends to do things with… it is very weird for us ˙ᵕ˙ But I love it & hopefully it will continue to blossom!
This week I sent out my piece “The Cactus Hollow Hotel” to Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Bedford, PA!!! I’m so excited to be a part of their Biennial exhibition and am hoping this means my foot gets a little more stuck in the door! My husband and I are planning a trip to see it hanging later in August. I’ve also been steadily moving along on “Pathogen”, though I will be honest I have been dragging my feet more than I should be. The edge of this piece took quite a while longer than expected but was well worth it! It has been difficult having my kids home and trying to balance painting, keeping up housework, and also making sure we do fun things! I know lots of parents know that feeling!
Photo Captions- Cover photo: Pretty dark wings on my canna leaf. Photo 1: Poolin’ at the campground Photo 2: We had one caterpillar and I checked our milkweed for more and I’ll be danged if I didn’t find a BUNCH-We now have 8 bbs. Photo 3 & 4: WIP Pathogen Photo 5 & 6: Our caterpillar changed and was let go ❤︎ Photo 7: ARTWORK BEING SENT TO MUSEUM!!! Photo 8: Bonfire party Photo 9 & 10: ‘yaking together Photo 11: Nova took this photo of the fireworks Friday!
I’m going to do something different in this section every time. I haven’t figured it all out yet. I like that this blog is forever changing so that it will always be what i want it to be. That was the reason for my leaving all other social media and beginning this blog in the first place. Since making the switch, I’ve noticed a LOT of positive changes and I feel hope blossoming where despair felt rooted. So, for TODAY this section is going to be a recipe share! I told you about the spinach artichoke wontons that we had at a date night recently… well I made them for both celebrations and they were SUCH a hit! And extremely easy to make so I MUST share it. The recipe I am sharing is also located here.
Ingredients
cooking spray
18 wonton wrappers
6 oz or half bag of frozen spinach (thawed and squeeze dried)
small jar of marinated artichoke hearts (drained and finely chopped)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
2 ounces of cream cheese (at room temperature)
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped/smashed in paste)
Preheat oven to 350. Using two cupcake pans, spray bottoms of 18 cups. Add wonton wrapper to cups, pushing down into the bottom of cup with edges sticking up. Spray tops of wrappers with more spray. Place empty wrappers in the oven for 5 minutes. Mix up filling well. Once the 5 minutes is up, use a cookie dough scoop and add filling into each cup. Bake for another 15 minutes! Boom. ENJOY! RECIEVE COMPLIMENTS! MAKE MORE! 𓌉◯𓇋 • ᴗ -
Okay, babes. I’ll talk to you next week! Until then— BEHAVE YOURSELVES. ദ്ദി˙ᗜ˙
xxx-Kanda ᯓ★
. ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡Pride Flags & Fried Snacks⟡ ܁ . ⊹ ₊ ܁.
Happy Friday to ya, friends! This week felt like a long one, I did a LOT of things and yet finished absolutely nothing, so it felt a bit like a dud. Not that anyone needs to complete anything to be accomplished. Just existing is an accomplishment and DON’T FORGET IT. Not to mention the weather has been bizarre, rainy, cool, and breezy, and I’m in some kind of funk at the moment. I’m also sitting here fighting for my life with the worst menstrual cramps I’ve had in a while. I told myself I wasn’t going to mention them in this blog but HERE I AM, literally unable to think of other things besides my body yelling in agony. PLEASE kick in, pain killers.
This week saw the beginning of my newest painting, Pathogen. This piece is actually based on a drawing of mine from 2018(?) of a large owl perched on a dead branch however, instead of a head, the owl is growing a large mushroom from its torso. This concept was inspired by the fungus Cordyceps or “zombie fungus”. This specific fungus is parasitic to many insects, infecting its host with mycelium that replaces body tissue. The infected insect’s brain is hi-jacked and is forced to climb to higher altitudes. Once the fungus is in matured and in place, the fruiting fungus fatally breaks through the insect’s exoskeleton where it may spore and infect more of the same insect. Because these fungi are so specialized, some insects even use them as protection as they don’t have to fear being infected (i.e. a drab stinkbug from East Asia uses cordyceps by placing them near their eggs to protect them from parasitoid wasps-which will be infected by the special kind of cordyceps the stinkbug harvests.) Pretty bad ass, right? I’m extremely glad that this occurs only in invertebrates… This painting is if it DID and I’m using a lot of real bright greens and yellows and oranges to make it feel extra toxic. As of right now, I have a gallery in mind to apply it to but I’d like to finish it first and see where I stand with ‘er. I also have a large space at the retail gallery that needs filling… Someone needs to get to work. •𐃷•
Photo captions-Cover image: cute Pride banner downtown Muskegon. Photo 1: The beginning of 18×24” “Pathogen”. Photo 2 & 3: I was given a small budget to spruce up the planter box that is in front of the Arts Council… I honestly did not even know it was there as I always go in the back but once I saw that it was a sad patch of dirt I HAD to come to the rescue. Now it’s FABULOUS! Photo 4 & 5: Our art supply rummage sale was last weekend and we raised $450 for art class scholarships!! I made this chalk sign for it and decided I needed to come back out and make another sign for this weekend… Once I was out there with my kids, using chalk, we got an art class that was going on to come out and draw too and it ended up being a sidewalk chalk party which was fun! If you’re going through downtown Whitehall, check out all the work! Photo 6: My forever date and love of my life. Photo 7: Some supplies I told myself I WOULD NOT bring home from the art rummage sale (ᵕ—ᴗ—) I should know better. I love art supplies and I LOVE sifting through other people’s weird shit. Photo 8: My favorite person and I on a date last weekend. Photo 9: We went to the SociBowl by Pigeon Hill and it was a super good time! I think I only won one of the games we played BUT I only took a picture of THAT screen so it looks like I won the whole night… ☑ Photo 10: I had spinach and artichoke rangoons and DeAr GoD, tHeY wErE gOoD!!! I’m going to try to make them for our 4th of July festivities. Photo 11: Earrings I made from my art supply rummage sale purchase. I was SO excited about these weird baby-faced, glazed ceramic medallions someone had donated that I had to make earrings out of them the second I got home! ( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡)
Staying offline has been SO rejuvenating. I have to say it is EXTREMELY hard in the beginning. The constant FOMO, missing the instant gratification that comes from sharing a photo, missing the connections I made with people from all over the world. BUT it has taught me to appreciate what is in front of me, to stop comparing my journey to others, to branch out and speak with my neighbors, AND go out of my comfort zone to make plans and follow through with them. I’m in a group chat with two other mom friends and I know that sounds like such a miniscule thing but I don’t think I’ve ever been in a group chat with just good friends. At least not since I was young. I’ve been dealing with toxic friendships my whole life. I was always the reliable friend that dropped everything and eventually it became very one-sided. It wasn’t until I married my true best friend that I realized the people I had in my life were not the people I could rely on. My “best friend” missed both my children’s births… she used my wedding reception as a pre-party to a regular bar night for her. It’s taken me 8 years to work on opening up to people again but also not being everything for them. I have a hard time not going all in for people and I tend to gravitate towards the people that exploit that, whether they are conscious of it or not. I’m working on cultivating healthy adult friendships! That sounds dorky as hell but hey, life is weird. Here we are. >⩊<
I’m changing the format of my beautiful blog. I hope I still have a few human souls reading my words but it doesn’t really matter if you are here or not... I’m still going to post. ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ I’ll be posting on SUNDAY’S from now on, Fridays have gotten too busy this summer so SUNDAY will be my new post day! I hope I see you then! I’m going to bring back a new ‘CORNER’ as well…. Stay TUNED! LOVE YOU BYE
xxx- Kanda ₊˚⊹ᰔ
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔Art Class & A Cactus:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
Friends, it is the end of the week! How are you holding up? Has your summer officially begun? This week has been a bit of a whirlwind with everything going on. I taught my first youth art camp of the summer, we are preparing to have a rummage sale at the arts council this weekend (which has taken a bit of work to set up) AND I’ve been trying to work on, both, my own writing and my newest painting. It has been helpful that my kid’s went to their grandma’s so I could focus on this busy week. Next week will slow down a bit, thank the lawd.
The youth art camp this week was a success!! I had such a blast teaching it and the kids were SO receptive to the ideas that I was throwing at them. This class was a “Artists Styles Exploration” in which we used a popular character and applied famous artist styles to them. The first day we learned about cubism, impressionism, and surrealism. The kids ZOOMED through the project (and, I think, really understood the assignment) so much to the point where I had to make a whole separate rubric for the next day BUT that allowed us to look at EVEN MORE styles and apply them to our art. The second day, we learned about Baroque style, expressionism, and art deco, and we chose a whole new character to apply these techniques too. I also was a huge nerd and made them tests for each day where they had to view a piece of art and decided which style it belonged to. They did AMAZING with those and we had a really great discussion afterwards. Kids are awesome.
I know, I know, I KNOW, I promised to give you a wee sample of my writing. I had PLANNED to sit down and work on a short story this week. I HAVE the idea totally finished in my head BUT I only have the first paragraph of said story written out… But I’m willing to share that tidbit with you and will be happy to share more later on…. So here goes:
In a small, desolate corner of the old country, behind achromatic rolling hills and the forests of skeletal trees, situated a bleak town with the only attractions consisting of a butcher’s shop, a tavern, a cornerstore, and a library. The infrastructures themselves were all very dated, their colorful paint having long been dissolved into a most unpleasant color of grime. The buildings seemed to be in a state of perpetual dilapidation and, though there were inhabitants of this town, you would not know it by looking at the numerous shingles that continue to fall from their setting, almost like they too were giving up on this miserable place.
I’m also very pleased to announce that my “Butterfly-finned Sharky” is in an online exhibition through Exhibizone called Kingdom Animalia and you can now view the piece (and the rest of the gallery) here. Please check it out if you have the chance, any traffic on the website is good traction!
Photo captions— Cover photo: The youth art camp I taught, these are our works we created imitating styles of cubism, impressionism, and surrealism. I thought they did amazing! ♡ᴗ♡ Photo 1: Supplies I ended up having to snag from our art supply rummage sale…. even though I said I wasn’t going to bring any home. (◉ _ ◉) IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA, the rummage sale is happening TOMORROW from 8-4 PM at the ACWL-Nuveen! Photo 2: The set up of my classroom before kids came in! Photo 3: My Christmas cactus is blooming this season!! Woot! Photo 4: Our caterpillar has decided it’s time! We collected it off our milkweed that we try to keep available for the butterflies. All summer long, I check them and if we find a caterpillar, we bring them inside until they are safely transitioned! Photo 5: BB deer!! It was at daycare since the mama wasn’t around! (And by daycare, I mean the bush the mama hid it in. >ᴗ< Photo 6: I bought STUNNING firecracker begonias for an absolute STEAL. I’m sharing the location here because if anyone is interested in getting more flowers this season yet, PLEASE hit up John’s Home Grown Market and Produce in White Cloud, MI! They have an incredible selection, really healthy blooms, AND ALL PLANTS were on sale, including 50% annuals!! Hell, I need to go back still. For Photo #6. Which was the cutest metal watering can planter.
I hope you all have a fabulous week. The weather has been mild but that seems pretty good ‘round here! We are moving slowly on our renovation and NEXT week I plan to tune in to working on my newest painting, Pathogen, and I will get you a lil’ sneak peek! Behave yourself, babes, and HEY-to all the dad’s out there: HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! I hope you know your impact is immeasurable and your presence is all the difference!
xxx-Kanda ⚞^. .^⚟
⫘⫘⫘Poolside & Starry Eyed⫘⫘⫘
Hi friends! To be honest, I don’t have a whole bunch of fun things to share today and I’m thoroughly exhausted from cleaning both my kids’ rooms this week. I basically told them NO SUMMER FUN was to be had until their rooms were cleaned. And although most kids don’t like cleaning, I think everyone can appreciate a nice clean room. Eventually they will be shifting rooms once our renovation is in its final phases, so this was kind of to prepare for that as well as for me to NOT have a heart attack every time I opened their doors. It was just so much stuff everywhere. For just my 10-year-olds room, we packed up and donated TEN garbage bags of toys/clothes/puzzles/etc. Where does all this shit come from?! And why does it make me utterly insane?!
Next week I will be teaching my first art camp class of the summer. This class, for kids around 8-12, focuses on artistic styles and an artist or two that was particularly well known for these styles and how we can apply them to our own artwork. We will be picking a character as a subject to work with as well! You can read more about it here. I also will have more time to continue working on my newest 16×20” acrylic painting, titled Pathogen, for another upcoming exhibition. More on this piece later! ♡
(Photo captions— Cover photo: My wee Tamagotchi whom I really loved for the first 3 weeks but now I really just want to run over the thing with my car. >ᴗ< Photo 1: I bought the complete edition of Sherlock Holmes for my personal collection. (and for summer reading.) Photo 2: My sweet idiot boy, Ozzy. Photo 3: My little dumplings cooling off last weekend at a friend’s pool!)
I promise to come back with lots more fun stuff next week. I’m even going to try to write a short story to share with you next Friday… but it has been a really long time since I’ve actually sat down to write anything so I’m scared of what might come out on the paper. Murder confessions? Psychobabble? Illiterate nonsense? We’ll see. ( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;) Until then, babes:
xxx- Kanda •ﻌ•
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺Neon Nails & the Rain༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
My sweet Kandarchists, how are we doing this week? Did we get all the things done we were supposed to? Did we do all the things we wanted to? Did we say we did something and forget about doing it? Listen, we are doing our best, right? Give us a break. The world is on fire. And not in a good way. BUT not if you slow down and join me: I’m outside, sitting on my front porch and listening to the noisy splats of all the much needed rain drops hitting my garden mulch. The birds are chirping their approval, and the breeze is just chilly enough that one needs a blanket to sit out here with.
Today was an exciting but incredibly tough day as it was the LAST day of school for my kids. I’ve got one that will be heading to third grade in the fall and MY OLDEST will be leaving her elementary school behind and heading to middle school next fall and I am NOT okay. I brought tissues to the assembly they had knowing FULL WELL I was going to be a mess. I swear, the principal INTENDS on making us cry. Not only was my baby celebrated for being on safety patrol this year (going in early + after school to help kids cross the streets), she was ALSO student of the month for her very last month at the school AND won the President’s Award of Academic Excellence for being so dang smart and keeping her grades the entire year! We are so incredibly proud of her AND of the amazing group of kids she is moving up with. It truly is gift to have a small, close-knit community that values their children and celebrates their achievements and character as a whole.
Photo Captions- Cover Photo: Our sculpture garden has it’s wild flowers growing and looks INCREDIBLE. They may be a little tall to view some of the art but… it’s hard to be mad at pretty flowers. Photo 1: My front garden looks oh so fabulous! Kindly, fuck off, deer. Photo 2. My baby (and her teacher) celebrating academic excellence! Photo 3: My current read: Queer Enlightenments. It follows the story of a select few social elites from the 18th & 19th centuries that have historical evidentiary proof of their gender nonconformity and is extremely insightful, scandalous, and, of course, sad as shit. Naturally, to be enjoyed with a little THC as well. Photo 4: Saved BB cardinal from Ozzy in our yard. It’s mom and dad did NOT like me picking it up, but the bb did not seem to mind, and I was able to get it to safety in time. (Also, peep my nails ツ) Photo 5: Nova and her bestie at their fake shop, “the Makery”, where they sold made treats, bracelets, and snow cones… and sold out of everything before the day was done!
Now that summer is here, I’m really looking forward to organizing my kids’ rooms (I know that is weird but they are a nightmare and it will be such a weight off my shoulders after they are cleaned up and put right again), finishing up our upstairs renovations + FINALLY being able to have a kitchen that is all in one spot, working in my garden and making my backyard as pretty as the front, teaching a couple youth art classes, AND of course, relaxing + enjoying the time I get with my kids. I always love when they get to be home with me. (I also love when they go back to school. ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡)
My “Butterfly-Finned Sharky” was accepted into an online exhibition! It is through ExhibiZone, a juried show called Kingdom Animalia. This online show will begin later this summer AND be permanent! I will share a link for that once it is available. I’m not sure what to expect from an online show as I have never participated in one but, again, I feel more visibility is better than none! I’m still waiting to hear back on the Small Works exhibition which I also applied Sharky too, this one being an in-person show. While waiting, I have begun a NEW work in which I am plagiarizing myself… and taking a drawing concept I’ve done before and turning it into a 16”x20” acrylic study! Wish a gal luck! And I’ll see you next week, babes! Behave yourselves until then. • ᴗ -
xxx-Kanda 𓆈
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡Tamagotchi & Fishing Rods⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
Hi, friends! I’m writing in the morning on my deck and it feels fantastic out! The sun is shining, there is a slight breeze, the air smells fresh grass, blossoms, and a hint of smokey campfire, and the birds are all singing. ˙ᵕ˙ I apologize for waiting until Saturday to post but I lost all motivation to do so last night. Yesterday was my kids’ field day at their school and I volunteered, running race stations and capture the flag. It was a very good time however, I had applied sunscreen in the morning shift and forgot in the afternoon and my shoulders are paying for it DEARLY. (ᵕ—ᴗ—)
I’m still patiently awaiting when I can send my “Cactus Hollow Hotel” piece to Bedford, PA for the exhibition. I have received (another) rejection letter for my newest piece “Butterfly-finned Sharky” for an exhibition but I took that in stride and have applied to YET ANOTHER gallery exhibition with him. (Fingers crossed.) He deserves to be seen. People be sleeping. I also have him applied to two separate online exhibitions… which I’ve never participated in before so have no idea what to expect from that. My ideology being: the more visibility I can get, the better! I buttoned up the GIANT canvas painting I was working on for the Arts Council that will be used in the outdoor event we will be hosting later this summer. The kraken/Cthulhu still needs a name and we think that we will have a fun competition so that the garden goers can decide on the name!
Picture captions- Cover image: The 5’x13’ canvas painting I did for the Arts Council, Photo 1: My happy little tree! I noticed these little faces where the leaves fall off the stem and OMG, they are so cute ˙ᵕ˙ Photo 2: Front porch swag Photo 3: My daughter and her class got to go to a local farm and pet all the animals, plus plant some lettuce and eat some fresh garden goodies. Photo 4: I made a snail tea shop on a rock… for no reason at all. ◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜ Photo 5: I have my own Tamagotchi & he is thriving. My daughter got one for her birthday and I was so jealous, I had to get my own. Both my girls are already over theirs but mine has been going everywhere with me, lol! Photo 6: We went fishing last weekend but didn’t catch squat so we plan on going again tomorrow!
Thanks for listening to a bit of a dull update. You either get a dull update or a small rant. That’s what this is. Should I start sharing more weird history I am getting into? Or more of my creative writings? Or literally nothing at all? Pictures with absolutely no content? Lolololol, okay, I’m going now. Be good, y’all!
xxx-Kanda ⟡
⋆｡‧˚ʚ ୨Pierced Ears & Shark Finsৎ ɞ˚‧｡⋆
Happy beginning of Memorial Day weekend, everyone! I hope that means you get a big, fat weekend to enjoy! It feels like everyone has fun plans and we are sitting here like… oh… was this the holiday weekend? Which has me a little FOMO but to be real, we’ve had something to do on the weekends EVERY weekend for over a month, and a breather of downtime sounds kind of nice. Maybe I’ll do some yard work? Maybe I’ll start a fun project? Maybe I’ll do nothing & just sleep and read all weekend? Possibilities. •⩊•
This week consisted of a LOT more painting. Anyone that does a big project knows that sometimes you get to that point where you just WANT TO BE FINISHED. That is where I am with this 5’x13’ fantasy backdrop for our Sculpture Garden Shindig. I’m finishing up the kraken part of the painting and then will have a few more details to button up AND THEN we’ll move on to finding a way to stand it up! This piece will be used in our “picture opportunity” at the small boat that was placed in the sculpture garden by the city manager. The idea being that a person (or a few) can get into the boat, with a few different props to select from, and then get their picture physically printed on FujiFilm mini films which they can take with them! The painting will be the backdrop for this setup! It’s a super cute idea… but it is a lot of free labor on my end! I agreed to this. I deserve this.◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜I am thankful to hear that the arts council plans to use this canvas backdrop for another event for the Maritime Festival happening in August. When this piece is finished, I’ll be able to look for more open calls and create a new piece to follow those parameters.
Photo captions- Cover Image: Hubby Wubby bought me a dyed rose for Mother’s Day, the deep color was mesmerizing! Photo 1: The beginning of the kraken! Photo 2: We all got pierced this Monday!! My buddy in town got us all hooked up & blinged out. Jovi finally got her second lobe pierced and can NOW wear a PAIR of earrings (she got her one pierced last August and refused to have the other lobe pierced after the initial shock of the first piercing.) Nova got her second earrings so she has 2 in one ear and was SO dang tough while sitting there! I got my tragus pierced… and I’ll tell you what. Ow. Photo 3: My husband 3D printed some shark fins for the rock river I put in this spring… They are fabulous! Mommy shark, baby shark. Photo 4: My birthday girl! We had a blast at her pool party!
Continuing to stay offline and staying away from alcohol has really been helping my overall mental health and I straight up recommend to everyone to just unplug yourself. I don’t mean for a few hours. I mean put it away. We need to remember that technology is a tool. And if it isn’t aiding in your life, than you are not using it properly. I recently hopped on Facebook (because I’m nosy when I hear sirens and always want to check the area’s scanner group) and I was SO freaked out by the amount of filtered faces I saw. I’m going to go on a bit of a rant here, so buckle up: STOP USING FILTERS. For fuck’s sake, there is nothing wrong with your face. There IS something wrong with not believing that you have beauty without a filter. There IS something wrong with companies designing such freaky realistic filters. I’ll see people post pictures of themselves and I’m just shocked… You do not look like that. And that’s OKAY! You’re BEAUTIFUL. There is something seriously cynical behind the culture of filtered faces and we are seeing it in the CRAZY uptick in popularity of aesthetic surgeries. These industries literally piggyback on top of each other to profit from your insecurities. I believe filters create bigger space for comparison and no healthy person should be comparing their selves to others. By using a filter, you are not only declaring yourself less than what you are, you are also setting yourself up for a lifetime of inadequacy. You WON’T ever look like the filter. You aren’t meant to. Our individual characteristics are what make us who we are, they are a build-up of every person who made YOU possible, they are a testament to our ancestors, and they are components of our lost culture. Erasing them erases a majority of who you are, not only physically but emotionally as well. I recently read a study that viewed human beings recognizing their own reflection as a critical (and negative) shift in human nature. And perhaps that is a very simplified view BUT it is easy to see how, throughout recorded history, human vanity really is the root of all evil. Be proud of what you look like. STOP worrying about it so much. Do some internal maintenance instead! So anyway… thanks for coming to my Ted Talk! ( ദ്ദി ˙ᗜ˙ )
Be good, kids! Careful with your dang fireworks! And crack a brew + roast a vegan marshmallow over the campfire for me!
xxx- Kanda ꫂ❁
⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆Baby Bunnies & A Mushroom⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺
Well, howdy everyone! How are you all doing? How is life treating you lately? Did you do something for yourself today? I was extremely busy today getting ready for my 8 year old’s birthday party that is tomorrow! It is wolf themed because she is obsessed with wolves right now. She is also my child who was asked in kindergarten what she’d like to be when she grows up and she -without hesitating- said “a cat”. She’s going places! Watch out, world!
The Art Walk committee that I’m apart of is having a public-welcome “Sculpture Shindig” this summer at the sculpture garden that we’ve been working at restoring/redesigning and I’ve been put in charge of painting a nautical fantasy-esque backdrop for a photo opportunity we will have available! The canvas I am painting is 13×5 feet which is MUCH bigger than I am ever used to working on so I’m thoroughly impressed with how it’s turning out. Thus far, I’ve painted a tropical, sunny scene with rolling greenery and calm water. There is a castle in the distance, a pirate ship a’sail, I’m working on a mermaid, AND THEN will paint a GIANT kraken creature… I’m pretty jazzed about it. I DO have to keep reminding myself that I’m not getting paid for this AND no one is going to see all the details because it is a background for someone’s portrait so FOR GOD SAKES, STOP putting so much time into it!! Will I listen to myself? No. I shant.
We took my girls to the zoo this weekend and had an incredible time! We went to Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park in Alto, Michigan. This trip was especially fun because ALL their animals were incredibly active the day we went AND SO many of them had babies. We got to see a baby tapir, goats, alligators, a baby howler monkey, goslings, pet a baby zebra, and a friggen Moo Deng baby pygmy hippo. SPEAKING of babies… Today I was in my yard while I had let Ozzy out and I saw a weird tuft of fur in the middle of the lawn. My first thought was “shit, what did Ozzy get a hold of”? After I walked over and lifted the tuft of fur and dead grass, I friggen squeeeeeeeealed because UNDERNEATH that tuft was a small hole filled with 6 tiny baby bunnies! I have NO idea how Ozzy did not find them but I am so thankful he hadn’t. My husband made a little barricade/fence for them in which the mom can still get through, but that Ozzy will hopefully keep out of. Just in case, we will be going outside with him from now until they decide to move on. Bless you, tiny adorable bunnies. Please don’t eat my plants. •̀ ᴗ -
Picture captions- Cover photo: I literally FOUND this morel mushroom Wednesday morning on mine & Ozzy’s walk. Thank you, universe. ´ཀ` Photo 1: bb bunnies Photo 2: Pirate ship & castle Photo 3: I’m not sure what tree this is but it is GORGEOUS flowering… Redbud? Dogwood? Photos 4, 5, & 6: My sweet babes. Photo 7: The plant bb I adopted last October has finally got new growth! Someone had given up on it on my block, it was out on the curb and had a pretty intense fungal issue but after lots of love and care, she’s feeling much better! That’s such a rewarding feeling. Photo 8: Me working on the backdrop… yes, it’s huge! I’ve been rolling it out and painting it on the floor of our reno which means it also has some cat + dog paw prints in the artwork… for special effect.
For WORK, I’ve kind of given myself a break after hearing about my artwork being accepted into the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Bedford biennial exhibition. It sucks how excited I am and how long I have to wait to send in my art. My painting will head that way mid July so in the meantime, I have been doing a lot with the Arts Council along with donating a custom pet portrait that I will begin soon, I’m waiting to hear back on my “Butterfly-Finned Sharky” which should be informed in a few weeks. Fingers crossed.
I’ve also started reading Arthur Conan Doyle, specifically the Sherlock Holmes short stories and so far, I’ve really enjoyed them. They ARE a bit on the easier side of reading and definitely not written as eloquently as most of the other 19th century English literature I’ve been reading but I’ve been mulling over beginning my own kind of written short stories (possibly accompanied by artwork) and I feel like reading a variety of short story authors is great beginning research. Okay, I’mma go… Sorry for talking that ear off… your eyeballs out? Anyway, have a great weekend friends! Behave yourselves! ㅤ♡
xxx- Kanda ⋆.𐙚 ̊
°❀⋆.❀Flower Beds & Glowing Teeth⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
Hi friends, Kandarchists, slackers, and stud-muffins! How are we doing? Happy Friday. How was your week? Did you do anything fun? Did you get to enjoy some spring weather? The weather here has been all over the place and it has decided to continue freezing at night which has made my seasonal plants VERY unhappy. My whole table is filled with all the plants that I could physically pick up and take inside… and every night I have to wrap the ones in the ground because IT IS TOO DAMN COLD! My poor plant babies. Speaking of gardening, THIS week I volunteered at the Arts Council and fixed up their back courtyard garden. It is literally plants in dirt on pavement but it has potential to look incredibly cute. I ripped up all the dead matter, dug up the dirt to loosen the soil a bit, took out a TON of crocosmia bulbs, and then added some plants from my own yard (THEY ARE FREE, DUH), and mulched it all just in time for the artist reception they have tonight! (Pictures are down below, for proof that I kicked ass.)
We did go celebrate my husband’s birthday in Grand Rapids on Saturday and had a really great time. We ended up going to an indoor market that had incredible Greek food (homemade baklava ´ཀ` ), we went to an arcade and played Glow putt-putt, then went shopping and made him buy some things for himself… which he hates doing, and then we went to see a stand-up comedy show that was really good! We’ve only been to one other stand-up show live, but Nate really likes to watch the videos on his phone so it may be something we try to do more in person.
A freaking GIANT, LARGE, BIG, MACHO, INCREDIBLE news for you: My painting, “The Cactus Hollow Hotel” (Remember it, huh, do ya?!), was ACCEPTED into the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Bedford, PA for their Biennial exhibition!!! I’m SO excited! The show begins at the end of July and runs through October. My husband and I have already talked about driving that way (it’s 8.5 hours to Bedford, PA from us) for a quick trip just to SEE MY ART IN AN ART MUSEUM!!! Of course, I want everyone to know… myself included… that this is just the beginning! I should not need the validation from anyone or anything but this acceptance does feel like some kind of proper validation. My art career has just been stuck for the last year or so and I have had a really hard time knowing which direction it should go… hopefully this is a good path to take! Fingers crossed, y’all! ⚔ (Those are swords but it’s kinda the same thing.)
Image captions: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th pictures are the proof I did hard work… hopefully the plants will prosper & fill out well! 5th picture is boo & I at glow golf. It was in Grand Rapids and I highly recommend it. It’s a small course but they only allow a certain number of groups playing the holes at a time so it feels quite private! They also have a bunch of arcade games, including free ones, that you can play while you wait for your turn to get on to the course! We will bring our kids next time! Image 6 is a small update about our new bird Cleo (he’s the white one)! He is now in the cage with Leo and is doing incredibly well! They freaking LOVE each other and it is just precious to watch.
Finally, I just want to touch up on the fact that I am no longer on social apps and it feels INCREDIBLE. I’ve been doing a LOT of work on myself and between not drinking, no longer seeing so much negativity online, and keeping myself active, I am starting to see a difference. I do wonder if I am going a little TOO hard… Like, maybe I am trying to distract myself a little too much? How does one find their equilibrium? I keep taking on more projects and saying yes to more things… I’ll sit down only to stand back up. Does anyone else do this? How do you slow yourself down?
Friday Query Corner:
I know I said I was going to nix this part and do something different.. and I will… But I haven’t figured out what that is yet so until then, I’m just going to keep you guessing and you won’t know what this part is going to be because I MAKE THE RULES HERE- MOHAHAHAˊᗜˋ
What have you been listening to lately?
WELL… I’m one that has the same playlist since… essentially middle school. I’ll add some new things every now and again but I'm stuck in the late 90’s-2000’s alternative rock scene & honey…. I don’t want to get out. That being SAID, a newer band that I’ve discovered and freaking love is called PREP. They are an English indie pop group that has really fun, disco-esque vocals with some funky jazz instrument solos that hit home SO GOOD. If you give them a listen, try songs: On & On, Who’s Got You Singing Again, and/or Years Don’t Lie
Be good, y’all, and have a great weekend!
xxx- Kanda 𐦆
────୨ৎA Wallpapered Dressing Room Dream୨ৎ────
Hello, Kandarchists! How is everyone doing? It’s May! Did we survive this week? It has been a crazy one with all the appointments and running around I’ve had to do. I did not do any art this week besides the mini 3D printed Detroit Lion’s Helmet. May is always so busy because of all the May birthdays in my family. Tomorrow’s is my husband’s and, on top of going plant shopping (That’s DEFINITELY for him and NOT me… ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ), I am going to take him out for a night on the town. Maybe putt-putt, maybe drinks (nonalcoholic for me, I have officially gone a month-woot!!) a stand-up comedy special, and maybe some shopping! That fella is my favorite person in the world & I want to make sure he feels celebrated all good and proper.
We went antiquing twice this week. The girls are WAY too good at shopping at these places and always find the best things! This particular time, it was a baby goat named Hetta. She was adorable and tiny and wagged her wee little tail a lot! There also was a meeting this week which nailed down more details for the Art Walk committee’s summer event: Sculpture Garden Shindig - you can read more about it here. I’m also planning on getting down to the Arts Council’s back courtyard garden to clean/spruce it up so if anyone wants to donate money to help make it beautiful, just let me know! >ᴗ<
Images: 1. Beautiful antique set up, I want to live in an antique store. 2. It me 3. A wallpapered dressing room dream. 4. Hetta the tiny antique shop princess. Cover photo of an old (and moody) pencil sharpener on the mustard-colored wall of a chili dog restaurant.
So, tonight I’m going to cut this a little short as it is later than I planned on hopping on here. But I will first remind y’all that beginning next week, I will only be posting on Fridays! And also finish up with another Friday query (though I’m not sure if I like this format and may find something else/a different pull going forward)!
Friday’s Query Corner:
What do you like to do in your leisure time?
I love to read, like I’m sure I’ve already said. I really like to garden. I love to go outside… not to do hard labor but to do easy activities or lay in the sun. I really like going to concert (if they weren’t so darn expensive lately). I love to drive around and visit new places. I also have been really into crossword puzzles. ◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜ I highly recommend getting a physical puzzle book and markers and destressing yourself with them every once in a while! I feel like quite the older lady lately because, since staying off of social apps, I’ve been taking a bag of things to do with me everywhere I go. Crosswords, sketchbook, notebook, regular book, and a snack, duh. But literally, I’ll never be bored. And all those things beat the shit out of app scrolling.
⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆Packets of Seeds & Bookmarks⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺
Hello, sweet frans. I hope this weekend has been good to you. I was down and out for a couple of days and am still suffering (and sniffling) through some sort of sinus infection but I’m at least working on feeling better. I’ve been doing a lot of work with our area’s Art Walk, the path on which we keep the public art, maintaining as well as documenting and bringing in new artworks/concepts! This whole winter season was dedicated to compiling the correct information for each piece (22 in all?) and THEN we are finalizing a GIS map to help get all this delicious art information to the pedestrians that find themselves in the area. On top of that, this week is FILLED with doctor’s appointments, gymnastics, therapist appointments, PLUS my husband’s birthday Saturday. I’ve been working on painting his Lion’s helmet and am praying it turns out well!
I have a mom friend in the area, who I actually knew growing up, and she is just beginning a floral arrangement business, so she has been selling off low priced bouquets for starters! Oh darn… I have to support a female-operated, hard-working-mom-managed, small business that sells flowers and brings them to me?! Oh. No. How awful.
(Image 1: pretty but way too smelly flowers 〜(꒪꒳꒪)〜 Image 2: My Uncrustable had an infected bullet wound… There was no exit wound but also, I did not eat a bullet so this is a mystery. Image 3: Working on putting together LOTS of free wildflower seed packets to hand out at our Sculpture Shindig later this summer! Cover image is of collaged bookmarks I have been having WAY too much fun making… I have no idea what I am going to do with them but they are purdy.)
I want to let everyone reading this to know that I am so grateful to have you here. Your existence is a light in a world of uncertainty. Your presence is important. Your contribution is powerful.
This shift in the way I get information and share my own experiences has really opened up a different way of critical thinking that makes everything I do feel more deliberate. As I can see the analytics of this blog, I’ve observed that a majority of my readers are only hopping on once a week to read both blogs (which is exactly how I would do it to, tbh…)! And although I keep reiterating that this blog is much more for self-exploration than peer apprising, I am going to be cutting down my blog posting to just once a week- on Fridays! So TODAY will be my last Tuesday post & I will make a longer post once weekly every Friday. I hope you will still join me and I hope you are having a smashing evening! Go eat something yummy.
xxx- Kanda ฅᨐฅ
𓇼 ⋆.˚Current Clime & A Smellfungus⋆.˚ 𓇼
Well, howdy hi! I hope this week was kind to you. It is gradually getting warmer ‘round these parts and I am here for it. Today was the day I officially applied the newest painting (“Butterfly-Finned Sharky”) to an exhibition in Rhode Island - so send out some good juju! I’ll know mid-May. I could really use a career win right about now! Being an artist is tough as it is BUT with the current clime…no one is spending on frivolities, and it shows in all small businesses. I’ve also noticed a lot more people hopping off of Instagram which has me wondering… where are y’all going? Are there better apps that no one is telling me about? I guess that’s fine, don’t tell me. I’d rather stay off of them. I cannot believe how much less time I have spent on my phone since purging those social apps. I’ll go to grab my phone out of habit and then, once remembering I don’t have the apps, I’ll just put it back down. I’ve even found games I didn’t know were on my phone, like one where I have to match a regular word with its fancy synonym. •ᴗ• It was fun for a minute, anyway. I assume everyone was probably much more productive before social apps came about.
I bought a special metallic blue paint for the Detroit Lions mini helmet 3D printed replica I will be working on for my husband’s birthday present. That is next week’s project. And engraving the rock for Sammi’s garden. I will wait a little while to begin my next painting because May is BAT SHIT for our family. My husband’s, mom’s, and daughter’s birthdays are all in the beginning of May and later May usually begins end of school year shenanigans which can turn into a full-time schedule. I haven’t quite figured out what my next painting will be yet, but I’ve got some time to think about it.
A quick update without jinxing anything: Our new bird, Cleo, seems to be doing well. We had him interact with Leo outside of both their enclosures today and they were so damn cute after they finally settled in next to each other. They both ruffled their feathers as a mutual sign of comfort and companionship. Cleo seems to enjoy hanging upside down like a bat in his enclosure. ツ Keep those fingers crossed that he continues doing well.
Friday Query Corner:
What skill would you most like to learn?
There are SO many things/skills I’d love to learn. To be limitless in knowledge is the goal, right? I’d really like to learn how to put together stained-glass. That’s kind of something that I’ve always thought was gorgeous and such an incredible skill but never really looked in to. Unfortunately, I think it is one of those “hobbies” that you need a lot of specialized tools and equipment for so it may be something I don’t ever get to unless I do a kind of introductory workshop… which I am totally up for, just not a possibility at this time!
Enjoy your weekend, ya scallywags! I hope the sun shines for you!
xxx- Kanda 𖤓
⫘⫘Gold Ticket & A Pup Cup⫘⫘
Hi, friends! New friends, old friends, frenemies, come on in and pull up a seat! Find an especially cozy one! How has everyone been? Are we hanging in there? Listen, the sun is starting to shine again. The earth is brimming with brand new life and, as the foggy winter blues clear, a new positive energy is shifting. I love when it stays lighter later. I love when it’s warmer in the evening and you can hear the insects and birds singing late into the evening. I miss them in the quiet of the winter.
I was able to finish my “Butterfly-Finned Sharky” 11×14” acrylic painting yesterday and I’m SO excited to share it with you! I think it looks fabulous! I will be applying this piece to an exhibition in Rhode Island this Friday and will know next month on this piece. After this piece, I am taking a small pause on artwork to work on a few personal projects that are for my husband’s birthday (which always sneaks up in the beginning of May). I will be painting him an accurate mini Detroit Lions helmet figurine that was 3D printed AND I’m going to engrave a memorial garden stone for our Sammi and her corner (which is this summer’s project.) I ALSO grabbed an assload of mulch and will be getting down and dirty for Earth day tomorrow! After I spread the mulch, my front flower beds will be totally ready for this season! Then I get to hit the greenhouse… and greenhouse day is up there with Christmas. >ᴗ< Our favorite is Countryside Greenhouse in Allendale, MI. I HIGHLY recommend checking them out if you live in the area and haven’t already. They are Disney World for plant people!
Pictured above: (1) Newest painting all finished (2) Ozzy enjoying a pup cup (3) August better watch out for me ˶•̀ ᎑-˶ (4) We got our nails did while visiting my folks, mine is GLOW IN THE DARK ORANGE. It doesn’t actually glow… unless you have a black light! (The cover photo is the golden ticket for my pet portrait! I’m donating an 8×10” pet portrait to the silent auction at our Arts Council fundraiser next month and this is the ticket that the winner gets in order to redeem the painting!)
This year, a goal of mine has been to make more in-person connections. It has been really difficult for me, honestly, my entire adult life to make/keep friends. I know a lot of people have that same issue and it SUCKS, right? How did this happen to us? Our lives are busy as hell. We have families, jobs, responsibilities, etc., and if we have to actively work at keeping friendships strong… they will most likely take the back-burner. Because we don’t need ANOTHER thing to work at. BUT making friends means trying to be a better friend… which actually scares the shit out of me. Even in school, I was always the reliant friend that was there when you needed someone. It took me WAY too long to realize that it was never mutual. Since I’ve moved on from cough multiple cough toxic friendships, I’ve wondered if there is something about me and the way I approach a relationship that subsequently turns me into a doormat. Because of this, I’ve been really wary to go above and beyond for people I consider friends or even people I love. But I don’t want to be the person afraid of connections and I DEFINITELY want to have more people to do fun shit with.
Phhewww, on another note. Nova’s new bird, poor Aviana, must have had something wrong with her from the pet store… She passed away last night after acting really strangely all weekend. We kind of thought she was brooding/in heat. Then last night, she could not even stand up properly and could not keep her eyes open. We HOPED she was just exhausted from behaving oddly. But after checking on her in the night, she had passed quickly. I ALSO want it known that PetSmart makes you bring in the animal carcass to get the warranty which I think is archaic af… and also traumatizing to my poor 10 year old daughter. She wanted to bury her next to her other bird. ☹ She now has a new one, his name is Cleo, and I’m not showing him to you just in case I am jinxing anything. Keep your fingers crossed, y’all! And behave yourself this week. A friendly reminder NOT TO MOW YOUR LAW YET. Just heckin’ take it easy!! Sit back. Relax. Let those early pollinators get those early flowers!
xxx- Kanda ✩₊˚.⋆☾𓃦
⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆Flooded Roads and Butterfly Fins⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺
Happy wet Friday, friends! (That’s not meant to be gross >ᴗ<) We, here in Michigan, have been getting DRENCHED and though today was a lovely, sun-soaked day, we have gotten so much rain in the last week that all the areas are flooding and everyone is dealing with water in their basements… and swimming pools for yards. Bridges are under water. Roads have been flooded! It’s crazy. We are currently out of town visiting family, and I’m worried with all the rain we are still supposed to get this weekend; we’ll need a boat to get us home. What’s really strange is that I have been having dreams, for quite some time, about water over roads and not being able to go farther because of the water blocking my way. I need to find the journal entry I wrote about it once I get back home… How bizarre, please don’t be a premonition! (·•᷄_•᷅ )
I have also stopped drinking (again, iykyk) and I’m really feeling good about where I am at mentally to keep it going. I’ve decided to stop because I felt so much healthier after my dry month and tend to stick to healthier habits when I’m not drinking. I’m California sober now, have been working out again, and making efforts to start eating better. THIS combined with staying off of social media and prioritizing inner emotional stability has ALREADY felt beneficial for me overall. I’m also trying to cut back on caffeine which makes me feel SO old… I feel like an idiot getting a DIET CAFFEINE FREE COKE. Like, what even am I drinking?
Butterfly-finned Sharky is ALMOST finished; Just his pretty little tail needs finishing up! I made a little shark tooth stamp out of an eraser and used it for the border on this canvas frame! It will feel so good to see this all wrapped up. Hopefully by next week. THEN I can get back into the flower garden! I can’t wait to show you all my hard work in the yard! AND YOU BETTER LOVE IT! We also have gotten a new bird for my daughter. This sweet yellow and green princess is named Aviana and we are hoping she thrives with our family. We already can see her adorable personality and are praying that Leo, the other bird, will like her too. She has to wait around 30 days to be introduced into his cage.
Friday’s Query Corner
What is your favorite place to read? Ohhh, hehehe, I love reading anywhere. And I do read anywhere and everywhere. I have the ability to shut out everything else and can read in the loudest settings (which includes my house!) ¯\_(- > -)_/¯ That being said, THE BEST place is on the beach at Lake Michigan while my kids are playing in the water! Enjoy your weekend, all! Behave yourselves!
xxx- Kanda ↟↟𓂃 ོ ☼↟ 𖠰𓂃
── ⋆⋅𖤓Sunshine & Postcards𖤓⋅⋆ ──
Well, hi there! How are you doing? Did you get some lovely spring weather this weekend? We sure did and I was able to get outside and work on my flower beds in the front yard. (And then had to go stock up on antihistamines!! ≖‿ ≖ ) Now they are all cleaned up and ready for mulching! There was a whole bunch of life already sprouting their little buds. I get wayyyy too excited when everything turns green again. I want to try and focus a bit on the backyard landscaping because it feels like every year it is either, I keep my front garden looking gorgeous or I focus on plants in my backyard. I have not successfully done both in the same year and my backyard has suffered because of it. We moved into our home (my husband’s childhood home) in 2021 and have since been remodeling the interior to fit our needs and taste. The yard, when we moved in, was an absolute disaster. There were NO PLANTS. NO TREES. NO nothing.
I had to take a quick break to go check out the intense thunderstorm we are getting right now. It is intense. Beautiful & scary! We are in a tornado watch currently.
Where was I? Oh yeah… No NOTHING! Both the front and the backyard were barren save for a butterfly bush and lavender at the base of an old flagpole. We now have a few teenager trees, a peach tree, hydrangeas, azaleas, lilies, irises, roses, and more! Everything planted has been from my (+ my mother’s + my husband’s) hard work and that is really rewarding however it is soooo slow to see any sort of progress. And it is a LOT of work! I was online yesterday searching for some inspirational images to spruce up a special corner of the backyard, where our sweet Sammi girl was lain. I found a cozy little hammock set up that is my summer project! (I thought it was a fairly cheap idea but after already having a few of the landscaping items needed, I priced out the project and it is going to be more than I expected. Blech.) And as I was searching, I got HELLA distracted by all that my backyard garden COULD be that it felt overwhelming as hell. How I want it to look VS. what it is is WAY more work than I was ready to admit. But I guess that is what older people do. I am now 32 years old, so I’m going to start working towards my dream garden… I’ll work at it until I’m 100 and it will be absolutely fucking beautiful and then once I die, it will go to someone who doesn’t know flowers from the weeds. If that isn’t a metaphor for life, amiright? ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
I began the shark on my Butterfly-finned Sharky painting and she’s looking FABULOUS though a bit on the toothless side! •⩊• This piece will be wrapping up fairly soon and then… You guessed it, I will start something else! No breaks, baybay!! I’m still reading through Poe’s short story collection and I really do love them. His narrative/story telling is a bit on the sarcastic side, or smart-Aleck-y. And though most of his stories are dark, not all of them end poorly. Some have bizarre last minute twist endings that had me chuckling. And of course, I’m obsessed with Arthur Rackham’s illustrations, particularly his inkwork. I’d love to get a piece of his art tattooed someday. The only difficult part would be deciding which one to get. Arthur Rackham was a late 19th century British illustrator. (At this point, people should know my affinity for 19th century illustrators. cough Thomas Nast. Cough Phiz.) He created artwork for stories like Peter Pan, Rip Van Winkle, and the Grimm Brother’s fairytales. PLEASE, look his work up if you get a chance!
Alright, I’m hoping the power stays on for us. Hopefully y’all are tucked in like little bugs in rugs, nice and dry! Stay safe, everyone! And have a great week!
xxx- Kanda ꧂
₊˚༺Superheroes & Fallen Feathers༻*
Happy Friday, all! How is everyone doing today? I have my mug of lemon ginger tea, I have my comfort show on in the background, I’ve been painting and reading and trying to keep my kids from going stir crazy all week. Yesterday, we went to the Muskegon Museum of Art for their Free Thursdays event where locals are invited to walk around the museum for no cost! They also had a ton of family focused activities, including a craft and a movie with free snacks, and are open late! We love going to the museum anyway, but this exhibition was superhero/comic themed and there were so many people walking around in fun costumes (and jammies)- it was really neat to see a more casual side of a stereotypically sterile environment. (You know the image: stuffy galleries with their white walls and their glass boxes and their fancy gloves.) Art is for EVERYONE and Muskegon’s art museum preaches that!
This morning, I made a heart-breaking discovery. Our daughter’s parakeet, Sarah, had passed away in the night. She had not been doing well for a while. We had even taken her to the vet a couple months back to see if there was anything that could be done. Of course they were like… well… it’s a bird… there’s lots of things that could be wrong with her and not a lot of ways to know for sure. So they gave her some pain medication to take orally but if you can imagine… getting a tiny bird to take medicine is a big ordeal. We ended up deciding to quit giving it to her and just keep caring for her. She began falling from her perch and seeming to have epileptic episodes. Once these started happening, we moved her to a smaller, soft flooring cage away from her roommate, Leo, and kept close eyes on her. This was about a week ago. I kept checking on her and turning our heat pad on for her. However, I checked on her this morning and she was gone. </3 Poor little birdie. And poor Nova. We have had wayyyyy too much loss happening in our family lately. It just feels like YET another weight has been added to our shoulders. I know YOU know that feeling when things KEEP going wrong and you just sit there and think… could I catch a damn break!? The bird wasn’t my favorite. I, honestly, believe birds belong outside. But she was my daughter’s baby and I feel so bad that my 10-year-old has to keep getting handed grief like this.
On a different note, I have slowly chipped away at my painting this week and have finished all the wee little fishies AND added in iridescent bubbles throughout which means NOW I get to begin on the MAIN ACT, sharky!! I drew in the outline and am so excited to get in there… which might have to wait until next week when the kids go back to school! This piece is 11×14” and will be applied to an exhibition in Rhode Island. Fingers crossed. .☘︎ ܁˖
FRIDAY QUERY CORNER:
I wanted to answer a question about art, about life, about me, or about anything anyone wants to throw at me (email me here). This week’s question is: What artwork are you most proud of?
Well THAT is a tough question…. I am able to see improvements in every piece that I make so in that instance, I am proudest of every NEWEST piece I make. BUT if we were to think on terms of my art “career”, the piece that I’m most proud of is “Sunny Side”, the pen drawing of a skull with painted sunflowers for eyes. This piece was created in 2019 and was incredibly successful after I posted it on Instagram. It was that type of validation (sadly, but that is how society has raised us… we have to unlearn that shit) that made me realize I could actually “make it” as an artist. That I DID have the talent, I could get the support, and I COULD be a full-time artist. The next year, I opened my online shop & I’ve since sold out & had to do another edition of “Sunny Side”. I had almost SOLD the original once and decided to back out (sorry, boo) because I wanted to keep it as a reminder that I can do hard things. AND FOR FUCK’S SAKES- SO CAN YOU!
xxx- Kanda 𓋼𓆏𓍊𓋼𓍊
𓆩༺Small Fish & A Derp༻𓆪
Hello, friends! How are we doing? (Besides being actually petrified to check the news, I mean…) We are doing well over here. This week is our spring break and since we have just taken a week off at the end of February to go to Florida, we aren’t doing anything besides sticking around the area this time. I always like to try & plan fun activities for us to do while we stay local but I have NOT been sleeping well and I have ZERO energy. It doesn’t help that I ran out of coffee this morning and was too in my zombie-funk to want to leave the house and get more. Tomorrow’s problem. ˙𐃷˙ We DID, however, go to my girls’ friend’s house yesterday. I brought a plethora of crafting/art supplies and we had a fun couple of hours creating things together! Mostly me and their mom did while the girls ran around but that was really nice too. I have had a really hard time, in my adult life, trying to make friends, especially being a stay-at-home mom and freelance artist, so when I hang out with an adult with similar interests (even with my kid’s friend’s parents)… I call it a win!
I knew this week was going to be rough to get any painting done since the kids were home from school but I have finally finished the reef and am now adding in wittle fishies to it so it looks teeming and alive! I’ll also be adding in bubbles before I move on to the Sharky subject. I’ve said before that I’ve done a drawing of this butterfly-finned sharky concept but never have I done a paint study of it and I’ve been trying to take my time, adding all the love that this piece deserves.
As I continue to finish these paintings, I have been applying them to specific artist open calls in hopes of getting my artwork into more galleries and expanding my reach/visibility as an artist. This year’s goal was, not only to get into more exhibitions, but to also create a body of work that I am confident in and that has the ability to stand on its own as a solo show. (Le sigh, big dreams! ⋆°•☁︎) I keep hoping a “big break” will come my way or a huge opportunity will present itself BUT life is rarely like that, right? Most of the time it is just us making small steps in the direction we deem is the right one. And though hoping for something bigger doesn’t erase your progress…. sometimes we need to accept that these small steps may be all we get. Stop comparing our journey with another’s. You are doing amazing going at your own pace.
xxx - Kanda ❁✿❀
‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚Spring Break𐦍༘⋆
Currently Reading:
Hello, my Kandarchists! (It’s a compliment, I swear…) I hope everyone has been hanging in there. The news headlines feel BONKERS right now. Like, all of this information is REAL?? It is madness which is why I’ve tried to keep my own peace by microdosing it. It’s going as good as you’d expect… My kids just started their spring break and since we were just in Florida a few weeks back, we aren’t going anywhere this next week besides our local area & maybe doing some stay-cation shenanigans. We like to check out antique/thrift shops, visit museums, libraries, coffee shops, and maybe we’ll find an indoor pool we can swim in.
A majority of this week was spent working on my newest painting: a butterfly-finned sharky! I’ve slowly been chipping away at the background and getting lost (as I do) in the details of a coral reef. I’ve wanted to do a detailed painting of this subject for so long that I’m adding as much love and relishing in all the stages. I’ll be so excited to start painting on the actual shark but know that the love I pour into this piece, background and all, will translate well. I will be adding little fishies and more bubbles to the background after I finish the reef and THEN will begin the main subject. I have found two galleries to submit this piece to…if I can finish it on time. Wish me luck!
Our upstairs renovation is in full swing. As it is, I am upstairs listening to Nathanial scrape the absolute piss out of the subfloor so we (haha, I’m helping) can have an entirely flat surface to start laying our flooring. The majority of the new walls have been dry-walled, and we hired an electrician to come do some wiring work. It’s coming together. We are finally on the building up stage whereas we have been on the break down stage for SO long! For anyone who is new around here: my sweet stud-muffin husband is a licensed contractor and after already redoing the basement in 2021, we have moved the reno to the ENTIRE first floor of our home. Luckily, the basement has been our living space since our earlier reno and we can hide down there, pretending all hell is not breaking loose upstairs. I’ll be so jazzed to have this wrapped up & be able to invite people over. Not that we have that many friends… I’ll have a reason to make more once the house is finished, right?? ╮ (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭
I began the next Austen novel I planned to read, "Mansfield Park”, but then accidentally picked up an absolutely GORGEOUS collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories with illustrations by Arthur Rackham and have not been able to put it down. It’s gorgeous. I found it at the library but may need to find it to purchase for my own collection. I’ve also still been perusing the Canterbury Tales, though obviously it has taken a bit of a backseat.
I hope you all have been behaving yourselves… not too much though. I’d like to start a Friday segment where I answer a specific question…. be it about art, personal life, famous query’s, anything really! I hope that sounds fun! But even if it doesn’t… it’s my hecking blog and you just have to deal with it! ( ദ്ദി ˙ᗜ˙) DON’T LEAVE ME THOUGH!!!
xxx- Kanda ⋅˚₊‧ ଳ ‧₊˚ ⋅
⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡April Showers ☾ ﾟ｡⋆
Memorial flowers
Wow, I almost accidentally didn’t post today for the first time since I started this blog! Since I am no longer posting on any other social media, I look forward to posting on here twice a week. I usually think up what I plan on posting before that happens but today has been rough as it is my mother-in-law’s first birthday we celebrated without her. It has been really hard but also very special to come together with people that are also in that fragile state of grief and also wanting to celebrate the woman she was. It is kind of weird how things have to just move on. Everyone was so sweet and lit her purple candles for her, sent purple hearts, and made chocolate chip cookies today in her honor. We went out to celebrate/grieve together for dinner and I think being all together was very cathartic. It’s also where we would have gone if she were with us now. Hug your loved ones while you can. ♡
I began my newest painting, (YES, the butterfly finned sharky study), and I am REALLY enjoying it so far. God, I LOVE painting. I literally could paint all day. It’s annoying to have to stop to eat, etc. >⩊< I’ve found a couple different exhibitions this piece could potentially work for (once completed) and will wait to fill out applications until I have more of an idea of a direction where this piece is heading! I also am going to be working on one of those Face-Hole-Cut-Out-Take-A-Photo touristy boards for a local sculpture garden event happening this summer and I had a serious question for ANYONE willing to answer: I need a female sculptor artist whose sculptural piece is historically prolific but also family friendly? I’ve been struggling with this… Most ALL the sculptures I know are nude. Which is fabulous but not what we are going for… If you have any ideas, PLEASE email me or message me. I need your help!
This week has kicked off with a LOT of rain. Like, all at once. We may have snow later this week too but I hope that means that we are in for a real lush spring. Now is about the time I start to itch to get my annual plants (though it is really TOO early) and want to start putting some seeds in the ground. We’ve done only a handful of vegetables and, of course, wildflowers from seeds but we LOVE to grow things. I’m hoping this year we will find the time to do even more food growing. Have a very happy week, y’all! Go touch some dirt. (And then wash your hands!)
xxx- Kanda 𓆉 𓆝 ⋆.˚
⋆｡‧˚ʚ TGIF ɞ˚‧｡⋆
My nails accidentally match my book perfectly!
Hi, all! I hope this week treated you all properly! We have had some roller coaster weather that put me in a real sleepy state. I took a few naps this week, for sure. I also went to get my nails done because I needed a pick-me-up and was pleasantly surprised that my nails matched my book cover PERFECTLY! I did finish Sense and Sensability and LOVED it (though I felt like there was so much build up for the final tell of lovers and for Austen to brush over all the “happily ever after” details is BEYOND rude! Girl, WHY?!◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜) I accidentally started The Canterbury Tales right afterwards. I doubt that I will read the whole thing but I picked up the Nevill Coghill’s version of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales at a thrift store. The original works were written circa 1360’s and, honestly, it is interesting as hell. I’m such a history nerd. It is fascinating how humanity got on all these years and if any of you are familiar with the Canterbury Tales, it is a story OF story tellers from the time. Chaucer writes of (in entire rhyme) 29 travelers on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, each with their own narrative and personality. Again, not something I will finish but is VERY amusing to read. Plus, Chaucer is coined as the “Father of English Literature” so how could I NOT give him a go?? ‘Twould be disrespectful!
This week I also put up my newest painting, “The Cactus Hollow Hotel”, at the Arts Council of White Lake. I felt like it deserved to be somewhere it could be viewed as it waited to hear about the gallery exhibition we applied to. And I’m glad - it looks really nice there (big thank you to Sue for helping me hang art!). So if it does NOT make it into the exhibition… it still looks fabulous and has a chance to be seen! I’ve had a lot of family/friends tell me this is their favorite piece of mine thus far… Which makes me so proud but lights a fire to keep going and keep making more. I took most of the week to catch up with household chores but I was able to begin my newest painting, an 11×14” acrylic on canvas of my Butterfly-finned Sharky!! I’m WAY too excited to paint this fella. I’ve wanted to for soooo long!! The canvas has been prepped and I can’t believe how much smaller it feels. This is my normal size but since painting that big mamajama… this canvas looks adorable!
Did anyone watch the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary special?? It came out this week. I’ve been a pretty big Miley fan. I loved the show. I loved her music! My boo thang even bought us Miley Cyrus tickets for her BANGERZ tour (in 2014, and we ended up having to sell the tix because we were broke college kids & needed the money more than we could afford to see her show). Even now, her previous albums SLAP and I still listen to Plastic Hearts and Endless Summer frequently, but I could NOT watch that special. I got maybe 10 minutes into it and was like… Is this whole program Miley talking about Miley? Yes, she WAS Hannah Montana but SO many people made her that. How bizarre to have a big special about a show and not talk about said show. I think I’m just over celebrities at this point. Unless you are using your platform and attention for spreading positivity, love and awareness to injustices surrounding you… you are a just a societal pawn and it is blatant that you can be bought. ˎˊ˗
ANYWAY, sorry about that, I’m wrapping up this post by saying thank you so much to all those that are keeping up with my blog posts. I’m trying very hard to come back to a healthy baseline of posting/corresponding/viewing. I literally stopped replying to everyone. I stopped viewing friends’ profiles and keeping up with their art and just ‘them’ in general and I wholly apologize to those whom I miss. It was not you. I think I became overwhelmed with the state of the world and how my existence feels absolutely insignificant in proportion to it. I’ve thought a lot about carving my name into a large rock just to have some type of evidence that I existed long after I’m gone. Taking a step back has helped already so I hope those of you that are sticking around, know how much I appreciate you being here. ❤︎
xxx - Kanda °❀.ೃ࿔*