This is the space for our members to discuss and share their creative projects, ranging from written works to drawings, photography, and even craft projects such as knitting and woodworking. Self promotion is welcome (websites where we can view and/or purchase your work). Please do continue to preface if content is NSFW and be sure to properly spoiler/link such content.

Thanksgiving went a little better than expected, largely due to hanging out with my delightful seven-year-old niece. The last time I saw her (or her parents, for that matter) in person was in late spring of 2019. Had a particularly enjoyable morning collaborating on drawing pictures with my iPad. The header is a Snorlax, which I’m given to understand is one of those Pokemon creatures (the one drawback to our time together is that I now know anything at all about Pokemon, which wouldn’t be an issue if it weren’t for my toxic, whiny old co-worker who won’t shut up about Pokemon during those times he isn’t ranting about Bitcoin or the various faults of younger people—the less I know, the better I can avoid his conversations nestling somehow in my brain despite the earbuds).

Whether it was that or just the realization that I had to pull it together after all that’s happened recently, the last week’s really lit a fire to get cracking. Collaborating on digital art put me in mind of my partly abandoned resolution to start a regular schedule thereon. Last week was a bit of a jumble due to coming back, but I’ve stuck to it for two whole days now and, however silly that sounds as a benchmark, it’s better than nothing. More transformative was finally pulling the trigger on going to a group art activity.

Ann Arbor’s small publisher Dzanc Books recently opened a gallery space in Ypsilanti that’s started doing biweekly sketches with live models. I already missed the arts club that meets down the street on the same schedule (the one I keep saying in this very venue that I’m gonna visit every few months) and figured I had to get to one of these some time. Very glad I did; it was my first time with a live session and the timed periods (which I’d never thought about before) were a great way to work from the general to the detailed. Best of all, I finally met a longtime Instagram connection (a local artist working mainly in Ypsi) and shared work with other people. I haven’t done anything like that since the local comic shop put on drink-and-draws before the pandemic (and this was well before I hit my present rate of production) and I’m hoping this is a positive sign for the future; I may not be at the next one (they’re twenty bucks a pop for the facilitator and models, and I’m not sure I want to do that twice a month) but I’m definitely gonna make them a regular thing.

How’s your work going?