April in Review

April was gone in a flash! Jason and I visited NYC and stayed with friends in Brooklyn and I got to catch my friend Kacie Hill’s first full-band show since she moved to New York which was really incredible. Upon returning home I installed 48 pieces of my art in the eighth floor gallery at Mana Contemporary. Fledgling is the name of my debut solo exhibition and it opened on April 26th, welcoming over 900 guests including two brand-new baby peregrine falcons who hatched in our nest box mere feet from where I was showing art made with the remains of their parents’ prey from the last three years.

Needless to say, it was a really incredible month full of creativity and seeing a lot of people I love.

Here is what I have been doing with some of my free time…

Listening

• Song: Stolen Car by Beth Orton (YouTube link) I saw Beth’s name in an article about Lilith Fair and remembered listening to this album with my mom in the car when I was a kid. Still a banger.

• Podcast: Tooth & Claw (Patreon link, available for free wherever you listen to podcasts) My friends started a wildlife podcast right before the pandemic and it’s one of the things I really look forward to. The pod mostly covers true stories of animal attacks, scratching the true crime itch without the human depravity, but also does deep dives into specific animals, some uplifting stories, and a whole lot of biology. This one is in my heavy rotation and I’ll definitely be sharing it again here in a few months, I already know.

Watching

• Show: I’m still hanging on to Grey’s Anatomy (ever heard of it?) as it goes further and further off the rails in its 21st season. I don’t think I need to say more.

Eating

• Recipe: Kale Tabbouleh (NYT link) Oh my GOD this is good. Lots of chopping but totally worth it. The measurements don’t really matter, use a full bunch of kale and a full bunch of radishes and chop them super fine. I also added a whole English cucumber with the seeds scooped out and used cherry tomatoes instead of large tomatoes, salting them before adding them to the mix. This is incredible with a bit of feta and some pine nuts, and I also want to maybe try adding pomegranate arils? It’s in the heavy rotation for sure.

Looking forward

In May I’ll be visiting NYC again and have another new jewelry design dropping soon!

March in Review

This month I released my new tiny hand pendants and the peregrine falcons that nest on my building’s fire escape have started coming around more and more often. I assisted some friends with an insect-related photo shoot and spent some time in Hot Springs, Arkansas with my boyfriend and our pets. I was lucky enough to sit for a tintype portrait with local artist Max Li, and worked on some really beautiful memorial jewelry projects that I’ll share in due time after their families have had time to receive their packages.

Here is what I have been doing with some of my free time…

Listening

• Song: This Is the Day by The The (YouTube link) My uncle passed away young in 2002 and The The was one of his favorite bands. I always have his favorite music in my normal rotation but I’ve really been enjoying that this song is having a bit of a renaissance in the last few months, and I love being reminded of John when I’m out and about and hear it playing over some store speakers.

• Podcast: Call An Adult (Patreon link, but it’s available wherever you listen to podcasts) I LOVE this podcast, hosted by two Australian comedy writers who met in an improv class. This podcast is a recap of the show Pretty Little Liars, full of little inside jokes and the lore of the pod just keeps snowballing as the series goes more and more off the rails.

Watching

• Show: Pretty Little Liars (IMDB link but I’ve been watching it on Hulu) I mean… is it a surprise to anyone that I’m listening to a PLL podcast while also re-watching PLL for the millionth time? This series follows a close-knit group of high school friends whose friend goes missing the weekend before sophomore year. A year after she goes missing, her body is found buried in her backyard and the remaining friends are drawn back together by an anonymous bully who uses their secrets to torture them. Don’t get lost in a plot hole! It’s a fun watch and enjoyable for what it is. There’s a reason I keep coming back to it, it’s campy and fun.

Eating

• Recipe: Fallow’s Michelin Star Salmon with Cucumber (YouTube link) Technically I didn’t even eat this, I just helped cook it. My boyfriend loves watching Fallow cooking videos and decided why not try making the absolute most complicated recipe ever so we got to work and 24 hours later we had one super fancy piece of salmon!

Looking forward

I grew a pair and reached out to the exhibitions manager in my building to ask if I could have a solo show, and the answer was a resounding yes! I will be installing 48 pieces of my cyanotypes made in collaboration with the peregrine falcons who nest on the fire escape. The opening reception will coincide with EXPO weekend and I invite all of you to attend! Save the date for April 26th and please join my email list for the official invitation.

February in Review

This month brought more than a few exciting projects. Back in January, instead of making a list of new year’s resolutions, I made a bingo board on a dry erase board with 25 personal projects I wanted to do by the year’s end. This month I put one of my taxidermy squirrels on a new wooden base and framed my cyanotype prints, but the box I checked off for jewelry collaboration with a friend was the highlight of my month.

I partnered with my friend Marc, who collects fossils all over the country, to make a mold of a fossilized goblin shark tooth from at least 200 million years ago. We created a small jewelry collection and raised $350 for wildfire relief in Los Angeles.

Here is what I have been doing with some of my free time…

Listening

• Song: Jetstream by Kacie Hill (Spotify link) I found Kacie’s music on TikTok a few years ago and have looked forward to every new song she has released. This one has been on heavy rotation as the weather starts to warm up just a bit! For fans of Phoebe Bridgers, The Chicks, and Pinegrove among others, she is a singer-songwriter with a voice like a bell and music with a little bit of twang.

• Podcast: It’s a Clue (website link, available wherever you listen to podcasts) This is a podcast about the Nancy Drew book series and is hosted by two sisters who are re-reading the series. Their modern takes on the plotlines, Nancy never aging, and her terrible boyfriend Ned are hilarious and I can’t get enough. I’m currently around the 40th episode and I definitely plan on binging all of it and then joining their Patreon to get even more.

Watching

• Show: Yellowjackets (IMDB link, just watch it and don’t go looking for spoilers) Sure, I’m late to the party… but that just means I got to binge it, so it balances out. This Showtime series debuted in 2021 and follows a group of girls and women in two timelines — one in the 90s when the plane carrying their high school soccer team to national championships crashes in the Canadian wilderness, and the other in present day as the women piece together their lives. If you like the mystery of Pretty Little Liars and the brutality of American Primeval (which I also watched this month!) you will love this show. Right now the first season is on Netflix or the whole show is available to watch with a Showtime subscription.

• Movie: My Dead Friend Zoe (official website link) This movie premiers TODAY! Jason gets tickets to “blind screenings” of upcoming movies where all we know is what it’s rated, and you don’t find out what film it is until it starts. We thought maybe based on the R rating and the timing that we’d be seeing The Monkey, but what we ended up with was a beautiful and poignant film written and directed by a veteran who wanted to tell the story of two of his platoon members who had died. This film covers themes of war, of course, as well as PTSD, grief, and aging. Zoe is, as you may have guessed by the title of the film, dead. Her titular character is played by Natalie Morales, who I remember talking on TikTok about how hard it is to get funding for small films let alone getting eyes on them after they’re out in the world. If you have a chance, do yourself a favor and go see it — the actors who brought this piece of art to life deserve for you to see their fantastic performances. Starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, and Morgan Freeman.

Reading

• Book: Die, My Love (link to publisher website) I’ll be honest, I hated this book. I don’t know if I’ve ever disliked a reading experience more. A short read translated to English, the prose follows an extremely mentally ill woman’s experience with (possibly?) postpartum depression and full-blown psychosis. However, it has been adapted into an upcoming film starring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, and LaKeith Stanfield, who always deliver. I’m very interested to see how exactly they adapt the inner monologue of one unstable woman into a motion picture, so I think (hope!) it will differ from the source material quite a bit but time will tell. Stay tuned for my take on that, I guess!

Eating

• Recipe: Sue Li’s Beef & Cabbage (YouTube link, if you have a NYT subscription you can find the written recipe online) This recipe is a slam dunk, super easy, and works well with chicken too. Yes, I’m eating meat again! I started in anticipation of my trip to Kenya just so that I could fully experience everything that was offered to me.

Looking forward

Make sure you are on my email list for the official drop of my latest creation, coming in my March email newsletter.

That’s all for now! See ya next month!