I don't think these poems are all that new. I don't remember writing them that recently. I finally typed them, so that's how they managed to appear in the gallery.

In personal news, I'm having a rough time lately. My dog died December 6th, just a few weeks shy of being eight-years-old. He had a minor surgery to remove a growth on his paw, but we think his body couldn't handle all the impact of treatment. He passed away in his sleep a few days after the surgery. My father buried him in the woods behind our house as we got our first bit of snow for December.

The following Wednesday, we got a call from a relative about my grandmother. She had fallen in her home and had broken her hip; the doctors thought she had a stroke. She has had surgery to repair her hip, but she is quite disoriented and confused. The family is putting a lot of effort and funding to make sure she can be placed in a nursing home after she is released from rehab. (Some of you may know that my mother, this particular grandma's daughter, had a stroke in 2005.)

As this year has progressed, my efforts to create have dwindled. I have been feeling ideas sparking inside me for a bit now. I'm hoping they might help me regain my drive to make things, because I really miss creating. As with so many other things going on, all I can do is hope for the best and do all I can to succeed.

=333bracket
I love her pieces that have multiple images, instead of a single one by itself. Her bright colors (dyed pink hair, rainbow tattoos) had me hooked. I went through her gallery again to try to find one of my fav pieces by her, but I can't seem to find it. It had her shoulder/upper arm, showing off her bright ink against a piece of leopard print fabric that she lay on top of. Here's another one that strikes my fancy.

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*AilinStock
Okay, so I think Ari is gorgeous; his great smile drew me into the gallery. As I kept browsing, I found so many great stock images that tell stories all on their own. They're so elaborate and well-portrayed that I don't know how to make them better. I'm a fan of stock mainly to reference for drawing various poses, and this gallery certainly caters to that need. The whole group of models is very passionate about what they do; no forced images here, very natural.

:thumb33677506:

~allimart
I met Allie through another art site, which we both seem to have faded away from. I got to visit her around Christmas back in 2000. We don't talk as much, but I still love her artwork.

:thumb6991526:

~an-ge-la aka *tinycrayon
Angela seems to be missing as I'm typing this. She is known for her adorable artwork and making me squee and 'splode from all the cuteness. I hope she comes back to share more artwork with us.

~anabagayan
I found Ana through her most recent daily deviation. Her style reminds us of Blythe dolls and Mark Ryden, yet she doesn't let the weight of the world take the sweetness away from her girls. Her pencil sketches are smokey, like swirling through fog, and her paintings are rich with substance and heart.

:thumb101146439:

^arachnid15 and *A15-S formerly ~arachnid15-Stock
Steven, oh gosh. I found him while browsing the fetish photography gallery. I first saw "The Return" in the side bar while browsing the gallery, which highlighted some popular pieces. I kept browsing through his gallery, and I saw this raw figure that translated into every image all the grit and exposure (sometimes literally) that we giggle at or hide from others because of taboos and fears. As any good person will, he has changed over the years. However, he still remains pure to capturing the new skin that has not yet surfaced to the weird world around us.
Besides having his two lovely stock galleries, he oversees the artistic nudes gallery in the photography section.

:thumb19218805: :thumb4442005: :thumb102776673: :thumb37699325:

*BellZ
If =333bracket is the queen of rainbow, then *BellZ is the monarch of black, white, and pale. Her color pallet is subdued, but has high contrast. Her plush creations and androgynous models sucked me in. She's been on my watch list for years, though I've never really tried to get to know her or leave comments (they're usually disabled nowadays). She's the artist that I don't question, that I accept humbly and taste her inky images.

:thumb22543178:

`BlueBlack
Natalie is another artist that reminds us of Blythe dolls, Mark Ryden, and Asian ball-jointed dolls. The best part is how fluid her works are, how lifelike and haunting. Her dreamy album artwork is what made me curious about the Estonian singer, Kerli, who has music that compliments Natalie's artwork quite well. She's someone to keep a close eye on, especially if an old doll starts to move.

:thumb55122317:

~CrooshxPhotos
Ama Lea has photography that is straight out of an eye-catching magazine. Flashy colors, light-hearted themes, and some up-to-date pin ups keep your magazine subscription renewed. I used to comment more frequently on her work, but as each submission shows up in my message box... well, my words seem to escape me. Her photo "Gee Whiz My Panties" drew me to her gallery and led me to her kitchy pin ups she made. Nowadays, she's more energetic, sassy, and flashy with works like "Lisa D'Amato"; don't get me wrong, they're not bad things to be if you can pull it off as well as she does. With her light-hearted feel throughout the gallery, she keeps her groove going through a variety of scenes and models.

:thumb31044814: :thumb101433669:
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Hm, that's only eight artists, and there are more than twenty other artists I haven't even gotten to yet! Oh gosh.

Edit: Crap, I'm not subscribed, so my thumbnail codes aren't showing up. I'll fix it with links later, I guess. *le sigh*

I'm waiting for a change in myself. I lost interest in my art awhile ago. First the drawing left, then photography, knitting, sewing, crocheting, etc. I haven't made anything significant in ages, which is why I haven't updated. I will update again one day, but it probably won't be anytime soon. It's just who I've changed into for now, not by choice. Things will change back eventually; they always do.

I'm still on dA regularly. I fav many things, though I know I need to leave more comments. If someone needs to reach me, I'll get your message; don't worry.

June is nearly over, and I'm not submitting deviations. Oh yes, I work on things; I just never photograph/scan things and upload them.

Sewing projects are going well, at about 30 to-do, though less than 10 have been started. I'm gearing up things for Etsy, trying to destash and work on some creations.

The Vikings of Vinholm (living history) group I'm involved with is going fairly well. I threw together a terrible bodice that barely functioned in time to make the Houlton event. My chemise was lovely, though. I'm plotting to make a Victorian outfit, though I STILL have no viking garb to speak of. Yes, yes, I need to work on the important projects instead of making up new, simple/quick ones. Lucky me, I'm not going to GNeW (Great Northeastern War camp type thingie in Hebron, Maine) in July, so I have until August to get viking garb for the Sons of Norway event. There's another event that I might go to in Mass., but it's SCA; I can get away with wearing my chemise again if I make a better bodice or even a decent corset.

My health. People who know me know I've been fighting anxiety for about five and a half years now, on and off, mostly on. It got better after I changed one medication, discontinuing my high-estrogen birth control pill. After two weeks of being symptom-free, my anxiety came back, and it's getting to the point of where it was before I stopped the pill. I don't know how much it's affected my art, but I know it's affecting my view on life. Damn being a young adult and having to figure things out the hard way... *sigh*

So since my art is pretty much on-hold until I get my ass in gear, I've been fav-ing things a lot. I even organized my favs. You'll notice I have a section that's only male figures. I have a harder time drawing males than females (not that I draw them all too fantastically, either). I save a lot of stock for reference, but I keep the male figure section in addition to the stock, so I can access it easier, as well as browse just through one folder for inspiration.

So yes, my goal is to draw more male figures. I've been working on a few stories in my head, and I adore the male characters, thus making me wish to draw them. I guess I just wanted to make it clear that I'm saving all these deviations mostly for reference and not for wanking material. (I know where to go if I need that kinda stuff, don't worry.)

Now to do some drawing!

Okay, so it's not a huge update. In fact, it's one new icon and a photo of a project I mentioned earlier but hadn't posted yet. Tada.

I'm narrowing down my to-do list. However, I think that there are quite a number of projects I had in mind that haven't been added to the to-do list. Thus, the number hasn't really changed. Eh, since I'm not doing the "forgotten" items anytime soon, they'll just stay off the list for now. Yay!

Things I have accomplished recently:
- Finished Scott's second wristwarmer (just need to mail them now)
- Finished knitting the hat part of Jodee's blueberry muffin hat (I still need to make two more blueberries and sew them all to the hat.)
- Almost finished a toy box/ treasure chest (edges need seam binding still)

Big things I need to finish ASAP:
- At least one tunic/dress for my viking costume (I joined Vikings of Vinholm recently [link] )
- Jodee's hat
- Mailing items to friends