★ greetings from liminal space !

first and foremost, please be safe out there if you're protesting! donate to george floyd's family, or a bail fund if you're able. 


self-employment has been pretty awesome so far. i have work, a lot of it! it sounds super woo, but i feel like the universe is rewarding me for finally doing the thing i've wanted to do forever. i'm still figuring out how to schedule myself, though. if you're a self-employed creative person, please share your wisdom! i am practicing radically accepting that some days i will get overwhelmed and cry into my breakfast burrito. everyone has different capacities, and beating myself up over mine hasn't changed it yet. some days, i will have to give up on my to-do list and prop myself up in bed with netflix and a heating pad. the subconscious weight of chronic pain and illness is totally a thing. doing your best doesn't mean overworking yourself! sorry for the platitudes, but capitalism sucks, and my default mode is buzzing around trying to be constantly productive. here's a glimpse into my journal, where i'm trying to interrupt that process:

★ zine news

you can still sneak in a submission for the problem skin zine if you act quickly! are zine deadlines ever actually hard deadlines? i posted some pictures of my face at its absolute worst on instagram recently, and a funny thing happened. the post got a ton of positive attention. i know the algorithm favors faces, but i was not expecting that. it was super affirming, and fortunately got my submission call the visibility boost it desperately needed. social media is so weird icky to me as i get older (with the exception of tumblr, which i'll defend til the end, porn or no porn). it feels like a necessary evil of being an artist, but i greatly prefer sharing in this way instead. writing you all a letter feels so much less contrived and competitive. social media promotion is my least favorite part of art. and the commonplace nature of thirst traps as a means to sell art is a close second. i just keep hoping i can sub genuine vulnerability for being conventionally attractive to get my edge, ya know? i hate that i even have to think about any of this, thanks again capitalism (:

i finished a zine this week, after it sat on my coffee table for the better part of april and may. it's called "how to home brew kombucha." it was meant as a bit of a lark, but it turned into a fairly comprehensive and well-researched guide. reply with your address if you want one! i'll send it to ya for free. it'll be listed in my etsy shop in a few days. here it is, in front of my unruly chamomile patch (if you live in oly, please let me know if you'd like to harvest some chamomile or calendula from my yard. or if you want a scoby! jfc, i have so many scobys right now).

also! here's a link to an updated version of the femmes and flowers coloring book zine that i illustrated some years ago. a treat if you have access to a printer! you'll have to select double-sided & flip on short edge (if you need help, let me know). i pulled this zine from my catalog when i was made aware that two of the folks i drew had abuse allegations against them. i've covered up their images and info in this new version, and i'm hoping i can get ahold of the survivors to find out if there's some agreeable circumstance under which i can begin to print the zine again. i'm not sharing this anywhere else for now, but i've been adding coloring book pages to outgoing etsy orders here and there. i really want folks to commission me to do art like this! i'm so grateful for the handful of portrait illustrations commissions i've gotten recently, it's my favorite kind of work to do.
 

★ press!?

i was interviewed by the cooper point journal this month, about my various art stuff and do diy. jacob asked some very thoughtful questions, you can read it here. big thank you to archie for suggesting they feature me! archie does amazing print work and fiber art, check out their work here.
 

★ music

my "short songs about longing" tapes are back! and when they're gone, they are officially gone. these are the last of the reflective tapes stock. i've barely been playing music lately, but i got to play a bud tapes live stream gig recently, which was lovely (check 'em out! loveliest folks!). in other news, i've had this new mal devisa song on repeat for like an hour while writing here!
 

★ thanks for reading!

this feels like a novel, so i'm gonna end it here! i'm excited to share with y'all again next month. now i'm gonna go eat chia pudding and watch whose line is it anyway and try to count my victories for this month instead of ruminating on all the things i'm falling behind on. til next time, take care!

<3 alyssa