Bug Bites and Birdsong
July haikus & creative updates
Antler in the grass
wildflowers bloom through old bones.
I trace animal tracks.
July has been all mountain roads and dusty truck bed dreams. Ive spent so much of this month on the move, gathering around tables with family and friends, sharing food and stories, letting time stretch as long as possible, filled with moments I didn't want to end. I watched wildflowers dance in places I’d never been before. I chased monsoons along the horizon, waded through mountain streams & followed game trails. Nights were spent in the back of a truck bed, nestled under warm blankets, watching the stars pass above me while critters sang their night songs. In just two weeks, I put 1,745 miles on that truck. I wanted to keep driving.
Creekside stones are warm,
Bird shadow flickers the ground.
I forget to move.
Life lately feels like a pendulum swinging way too fast, between exhaustion and joy, between motion and stillness. Most days, I exist in both at once. My studio looks like it’s been through a tornado, half packed bags litter my bedroom, camping gear in every corner, there's a floor I can’t find beneath the layers of living. I have been doing my best to wranggle it all, once it’s clean Another trip waits on the calendar and the cycle repeats. I leave in seven days for a summer art camp in Green River. I’m nervous.
Pine sap on my feet,
bug bites itch beneath the sun.
A deer watches me.
I’ve been struggling to stay inside. The walls feel like they’re shrinking. I love my home DEEPLY but I’m not always great at being indoors. Still, I have work and projects that need my attention. I’m trying to launch a wholesale line next month, and a gallery wants to carry some originals (which means I actually have to make more of them). Most of my work days are spent camped out on the living room couch, surrounded by coffee and tea mugs, toggling between my iPad and laptop. I’ve been watching the hummingbirds out the window, jealous they never have to answer emails. In the evenings, I go to the woods at golden hour so I can watch the mule deer and their fawns graze in the alpine meadows, watching them watching me.
Fox moves through my camp.
Elk tracks vanish in dry dust.
Wind carries a call.
I sit on my floor, surrounded by rogue art supplies that desperately want to be put back. I can’t even find a sharpened pencil. I feel full of too many ideas and not enough time. My mind is a tangle of concept sketches & half-finished thoughts. There's a 24x30 canvas leaning against my wall, i want to make a piece this about this month. But the composition isn't quite right, i can feel it in my head…..but have yet to successfully visually translate it. I fear I'm flying too close to the sun, my head hurts, maybe I just need sleep. Or maybe this is just what creating feels like, sometimes.
Dirt packed in my nails.
Trout drift slow through clear water.
Heron stands and waits.
If you’re still here, Thank You for reading. I’ve been playing around with haikus this month. I don’t really see myself as a writer or a poet, but there’s something about haikus that feels grounding.
Artist Updates:
The good!
New prints are coming to my shop as well as some reprints. I am also possibly be lowering the costs of my prints, it has been something I have been sitting on for awhile, I want my work to still feel affordable during these difficult economic times
Stickers are making a comeback, I haven't had stickers on my website in two years, i will be adding a bunch of new designs as well as bringing back some oldies but goodies.
Wooden critters in progress, i have some more woodcutouts in the early stages of development, they are mostly still loose concept sketches but they are slowly getting there, i am planing to make more altars & hopefully some mirrors if im capable.
The bad: as some of you already know, life is good ripped of not one but two of my designs and was selling them on t-shirts. It has been a whole mess to deal with, and very emotionally draining while the art has been removed for now, they want to bring it back, we are in the process of negotiations, i am trying to sort all of this without having to go to court.
I’m really glad I was able to get screenshots before the art was taken down. The company has been caught stealing from quite a few artists, it’s not a good look, and honestly, it’s been super disappointing.
While the bear design was clearly based on mine, the coyote one hit harder. When I looked closely, I could literally see my own line work in it, the tail is almost identical, line for line, and parts of the fur are a direct match! The company told me a designer used my work in a "mood board" as inspiration, but to me, they feel like bad AI rip offs more than anything else. I have a hard time believing a large company would have such bad designers, especially since its seems to be a repeating problem.
The only reason I even found out was because a follower messaged me about it. So please if you ever see an artist’s work being used somewhere and it feels off, tell them. It really makes a difference!
Thank you critters for all your support.
Holls