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Caela by Liturgy

72"x13.5", synthetic and natural fibers, vinyl tubing, 2024

detail one

detail two

detail three

This piece came about as an attempt to visually depict how I experience music. Possibly due to my Autism, I do not seem to listen to/experience music the way other people I have discussed this topic with experience music. I recognize that there is an underlying meter, a rhythm, a beat, that allows a person to "follow the music;" the beat is also what people follow when they dance. I can force myself to identify and follow a beat, but it requires significant concentration on my part, is not what comes naturally to me, and is not how I enjoy listening to music. My attention often skips back and forth between different sounds, following the bass sounds for several moments because I enjoy that specific section, then switching focus to the crescendo of a violin, to the sound of the singer's voice, the drums, back to violin, bass, voice, a new sound.

By connecting colors, patterns, and material to specific aspects of a musical piece, I have attempted to create a depiction of my experience of the music.

(I also decided to leave the edges of the different photos I took, to give an impression of the number of images needed to create a decent representation of this weaving.)

My desk, with in-progress paintings and tapestries.

My Etsy:LINK/ My Ko-Fi:LINK

Previews of the next comic I’m working on.

No idea when it’ll be finished. It’s at least 14 pages long and I’m just starting page 3...

UGH I am so impatient to share more of the projects I’ve been working on but two are ~secret~ for awhile longer and the other is a weaving on a rigid heddle loom so the progress gets rolled up on the bar and you CAN’T see the progress all at once.

80 picks into the first color and now on to the second!

I’m in the 6th color now! Look at the color shift between five and six!!!

original illustration - face 3

available for $35

My Etsy: LINK / My Ko-Fi: LINK

These are my breasts and nipples, complete with acne, moles, and hair. Will this image violate tumblr’s new content rules?

Examples of exceptions that are still permitted are exposed female-presenting nipples in connection with breastfeeding, birth or after-birth moments, and health-related situations, such as post-mastectomy or gender confirmation surgery.

I am a transgender man. I have not had the opportunity or the money to have top surgery. I am excruciatingly aware that the “gender presentation” of my nipples is in the eye of the beholder. Disconnected from the context of the rest of my body and gendered presentation, they look like “female-presenting” nipples. Hell, there are plenty of cisgender women with more chest hair than me.

Are we going to determine the “gender presentation” of my nipples based on my legal gender? That’s debatable too. My most recent legal IDs list my gender as “male,” but my birth certificate lists my gender as “female.” I cannot change the gender on my birth certificate without going back to the state where I was born and getting an order from a judge, and paying a fee. Until I have the time to and money to do that, there will always be at least one legal document where I am still considered female.  

Written content such as erotica, nudity related to political or newsworthy speech, and nudity found in art, such as sculptures and illustrations, are also stuff that can be freely posted on Tumblr.

I would say this painting has artistic merit, at the very least from a technical standpoint. I’m sure there are plenty of people who would see no artistic merit in this painting, regardless of technical skill. The line between “nudity found in art” and “adult content” is as indistinct as the line between “naked” and “nude.” Tumblr and Facebook’s new policies stem from SESTA/FOSTA [LINK] and corporate monopolies [LINK].

Policies meant to curtail sex work always hurt more than they help, whether the sex work is voluntary, coerced, or forced. Example: NYC, LA, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. have all had/have laws that allow possession of multiple condoms to be considered evidence of prostitution, resulting in arrest or the confiscation of the condoms. So, no safe sex if you're doing sex work, I guess?

Policies like these disproportionately effect people and communities who are viewed as being "inherently sexual" or "overly sexual." Facebook's overzealous new policy prohibits reference to "sexual preferences." I will bet money that policy won't be enforced when a cis het man makes a status update about "I like girls with [insert physical attribute here]," but it will be enforced when a queer person refers to a top, a bottom, a switch, a Daddy, a [insert relational attribute here].

As to what constitutes art and how that concept gets weaponized against LGBTQ people (and other oppressed groups, I'd argue), just read about the history of conservative loathing for the National Endowment for the Arts [LINK].

I don't think my little protest painting will make tumblr and their corporate overlords change their minds. But I couldn't not express my opinion on this.

I don't know if this blog will get flagged or deleted or whatever. I'll keep using tumblr until I no longer have a reason to. But, just in case, I'll be setting up a pillowfort, and maybe a poizen. In the meantime, you can keep up with my shitpost tweets HERE.

Buy art from these LGBTQ artists and more at this year's Art Auction — Lavender Rights Project

Photo: Two Princes by Eric Chan; Starting bid - $300 Check out these artists and more at this year’s LGBTQ Art Auction on Saturday, November 9 from 6:00-9:00pm (doors @ 5:30pm) at the Hillman City Collaboratory - Buy tickets

Check it out! I'm one of the featured artists for the Lavender Rights Project art auction, benefiting a legal clinic providing low-cost assistance for queer people and other marginalized groups.

Experimenting with the process of light pencil sketch, marker color, and then ink.

But the Tombow markers that I used for the skin tone roughed up the paper, making the ink blob and feather.

To the extent that I'm not posting a full shot of this drawing because it Does Not Look Good.

My Etsy: LINK / My Ko-Fi: LINK

Hey, is there any chance you'll be restocking 778 Days? I wanted to grab a copy when I got paid but now it's showing sold out.

Yes! I just restocked 778 Days and Therapist R. J. Hill. (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

More warm up sketches

I could draw dancers foreverrrrrr

My Etsy: LINK /  My Ko-Fi: LINK