It’s time for my yearly self portrait for TDOV. I’m going to be real with y’all. It’s been a struggle lately. I don’t have a ton of time for myself between school and my two part-time jobs. It’s been made all the worse by my foot injury earlier this year, my car flooding/doing old car stuff, our fridge giving up the ghost and getting sick. I’ve had to cut back on most of my side hustles, which has made things tight recently. I’m all the more disheartened to see how much hate gets thrown around casually on a daily basis about people like me. I’ve reached a state of clarity in my life that wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t transitioned. I wouldn’t have met and enriched the lives of so many people in my community. I simply wouldn’t be here right now talking to you through this screen. I don’t regret my choice. My quality of life is better for it. It means that I don’t have to live with chronic physical and mental anguish. That I can continue to be here for the ones that I care about. Anyways, time to go back into the void. I’ll be back when I’ve found more pieces.

What can I say about 2025? It was a year of challenges and personal growth. I started selling my work in earnest starting with my first ever solo show and doubled the number of exhibits I was in from 6 to 12 from last year. My art business went through a major rebranding with more work to go (at least there’s a new website) I taught and attended some amazing workshops. I finished my first year of grad school and started my second. I helped make (and carry) a giant Osprey puppet and visited a famous puppet factory. I said yes to a lot of things I should have said no to. I started working at my favorite place in the world. Said goodbye to old friends and hello to new ones. I moved (again). I pushed myself to new physical heights at the gym. I probably won’t be posting much here for the next six months. Between school, teaching and work, I won’t have a ton of time to share updates or make new work. I’m both scared and excited for what is to come this year. I’ve already started off strong with accidental injuries. I’m grateful for the community I have here and the ones I’m building irl. Thank you for being a part of this little corner of the internet.

Tomorrow is the start of the holiday market at @whit_print and I have some new designs to share. Here’s a few greeting cards and stickers to mark the onset of winter. I printed and cut everything out with my home printer and with a little extra help from the Cricut machine at the DeArmond Makerspace at the UO Campus. It took a lot of trial, error and a few hours of abject misery to get the machine to stop repeatedly stabbing the paper but I finally got it working! It cut out nine stickers in the time it took me to cut four. If you’re in Eugene or Springfield, I hope you can check out the show! I’ll be there for some time Friday morning and Sunday, trying not to drown in final papers. #whiteakerprintmakers #maudekernsartcenter #holidayshow #eugeneoregon

@lookout_eugene_springfield wrote an article about me. If you’re curious what I’ve been up to over the past few months, give it a read. M Between school, work and moving, I haven’t had a lot of time to post updates. Annie Aguiar, who wrote the piece, reached out after one of my students sent a letter to the editor about me. It was such a sweet gesture and I’m always blown away by the kindness this community has to offer. Photo credits for Isaac Wasserman #eugeneoregon #eugeneartist #localnews #birdartist