My first post on Satyrn! I will try to blog about my projects, art, and other stuff here. I hope to keep a record of everything I am doing, and hopefully use this blog to stay on top of my work.

In 2020, I have tried to be more productive in making art. So far, so good. I originally started in acrylic painting (subjects being mostly weird horror art), but recently I have branched out to mixed media and assemblage/physical media. It’s been fun! I think my favorite part has been the collecting of physical items. I have been scouring the woods and natural areas for bones, minerals, stones, and other unique natural objects. I have only been doing ethical and legal collection, which basically amounts to finding these objects in public lands that do not forbid taking objects, as well as roadside right-of-ways. I also have been collecting random items for years, so it’s been great to finally put them to use! I also have good news - I secured some booth space at a craft/art pop up market at one of my favorite local metal venues. I hope the people that the venue attracts will be more inclined to buy my work. I don’t think most quiet little coffee shops would appreciate painted gore and real bones used in my art.

Last year (2019), I started working on a research project about home haunting (think amateur haunted houses or haunted trails, or any house that goes all out for Halloween). I have been running a haunted trail through my father’s driveway for over a decade, and wanted to get a historical account of home haunting. Academic writing on the subject is lacking. My drive to work on the project started off really strong in the fall and winter months of 2019, and now have lost momentum. I am still interested/invested in that project, I just need to find that drive again. A portion of that project included a survey I sent out to other home haunters. I am proud to admit that I have nearly 200 responses from that survey! I can’t wait to use that data for my future arguments.

I am also working on making a web version of a gerrymandering exhibit I worked on with some colleagues last year. I am basically working on this with the help of one other person. I have minimal background in website design and creation (I also ran into that problem when trying to start a blog for my Halloween/home haunt project).

I suppose it is possible that I have too many things going on at once, and I just feel stretched thin. I think maybe focusing on one thing at a time will be wise, for now. I will probably devote a blog post for each of these projects in the future.