Imaginary Shelter By Heather Lee Birdsong, 2021, Gouache On Paper, 12.125 X 9 Inches.

Imaginary Shelter by Heather Lee Birdsong, 2021, gouache on paper, 12.125 x 9 inches.

I began this by painting the architecture in blues, and realized I couldn’t settle on a color for the “figure” (the triangular polygon at the doorway) until the scene visible through the window and doorway was done. I masked off the painted areas, then worked the desert landscape as a whole (with ghost flower, lupine, desert primrose, creosote, and desert willow). I peeled the masking off to see how it was all coming together, and went to sleep with the blank polygonal space glaring.

In the end, I pulled the color of the polygon figure from the farthest mountains. I grew up in an asphalt-covered bowl of desert edged by mountains. When I felt most desperate to escape, someone told me that they could never leave, that they would miss the mountains. The sentiment struck me as absurd — the mountains were far away, an ever-present backdrop and nothing more, their ruddy faces empurpled by the vast amount of atmosphere between us and them. Even though leaving (many years ago now) was the best thing I ever did for myself, I do miss the purple mountains.

everyday a new horror - wc williams

A secular religion.

💛It is Valentine’s Day and I wanted to share my love of living artists and creatives💛 A while ago I made a piece about Supporting Living Artists. However, I wanted to make a new piece about that and start expanding the support. Creatives surround us and while they are sometimes visual artists they can also be writers, actors, musicians, game developers, and more. Think of the past few years and how often you have likely turned to a piece of media to get you through these hard times. Many creatives came together to make a song that kept you going, to craft a video game that changed your life, to write a book that moved you, to draw a piece of art that brightened your day, or something else entirely! Artists and creatives may work professionally, but they may also be creating as a hobby or a personal pursuit. Just as you may have turned to a piece of media to keep going, you may have made something of your own to survive either financially or emotionally (or let’s be honest, both)! This is why supporting living folks within the arts and creative communities is so important, it is something that keeps so many of us going on both the creation and the consumption end and is vital to our humanity Support can be financial, but it is as easy as liking something someone posts, sharing it, or offering a kind word. Something as simple as that can change someone’s life and should not be underestimated If you’d like to have this either of these as a mini prints, large prints, stickers, and button pins round out the new series for now so you can again express your support for those who work in arts related and creative professions, hobbies, and pursuits they are at my Etsy and Inprnt. You can also pledge at my Patreon and one of these two (I pick at random) as February’s mini print reward!

captain haddock - wc williams

Heya!

Please share: ⊃∪∩⪽ Zine, my one year-long labour or love for Frank Herbert, wrapped in #Dunetober & #moltobenegesserit, is finally OUT!

Like all my other digital zines, it is completely free, but of course, any $0+ donations are greatly appreciated:

ohotnig.gumroad.com/l/ZuneDine

And if you're feeling like spending a few bucks more, my Patreon has a pack of extra materials for the zine on $5 tier - as well as special opportunity for getting some of the original sketchbook pages shipped to you on $15 tier! www.patreon.com/posts/zine-first-57128467