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.
Starting to get back on track after a month and a half of personal and political upheaval. The less said about the latter the better (not least as it’s grimly common knowledge), but I learned last Tuesday that the offer for an early moveout was rescinded and I’ll have to stay at my present digs until the end of my lease as I’d expected before our management company started their construction-related shenanigans. My future roommates are thankfully cool with this but I’d been increasingly looking forward to a fresh start and intensifying my moving rituals accordingly. That said, now that I know I’ll still have a few more months here I might be able to relax just a little and do more artwork (and try and maximize the advantages where I am).
There’s been more energy, too, from the company of others. As mentioned before, I’ve become a semi-regular visitor to sketch sessions across Southeast Michigan, and my favorite’s becoming the biweekly Wednesday nights at Dzanc House Gallery in Ypsilanti. This past week the artist-in-residence dedicated that session to Yayoi Kusama—the whole month’s seen a variety of events dedicated to her work—and dressed as her to model that evening. It was a really fun experience and, coupled with a recent change in schedule, helped fuel some long-delayed work on a couple of illustrations.
More-than-reasonable facsimile of Yayoi Kusama
Said change in schedule, by the way, means that I’ve switched Tuesdays off for Thursdays off. I’ve wanted to do this for a while as it seems like a lot of places decided to close permanently on Tuesdays as well as Mondays post-pandemic (and the Scarab Club in Detroit will be shuttering Tuesday sessions come April—maybe not a direct result, but probably not a complete coincidence either). There’s just more for me to do on Thursday (even if I didn’t take much specific advantage last week) and I’m looking forward to more opportunities in future as a result. That said, I’ll obviously be less present for the weekly threads as I usually start work almost immediately afterward. I’m happy to continue the present system, but would again encourage anyone else who wants to take a shift in future to do so (letting us know in the comments as before).
The header was going to be the interior of Dzanc House, done up with Kusama-style decor, but for some reason the copy of the shot I made to remove the participants didn’t preserve my edits. (people are generally cool with stuff being shared therefrom, but better safe than sorry). That aside, it’s really shaping up as a vital locus of a community that sometimes warrants an eyeroll but which works so hard to flourish in spite of a number of infrastructural challenges. If Detroit doesn’t work out in the medium future, there’ll be far worse places to settle when the time (almost certainly) inevitably comes.
How’s your work going?