. ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡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