For the most part, I enjoy social media. I'm a visual person and I like seeing all these amazing and beautiful things other people share. It's also really cool to find other artists, etc out there and sort of become online friends. Weirdly enough, this is also what I don't like about Instagram (there's other issues as well).

Awhile ago I stupidly downloaded an app that lets you know how many followers you gain/lose, and I didn't realize how bad of an idea that was (originally I thought it would be interesting to track). Of course people are always going to unfollow you, and that's fine. What was hard was seeing people I knew, i.e.: artists I admired, schoolmates, and some of my favorite local shops, all unfollow me. I guess it didn't bother me too much until last week when an artist who I admired and chatted with every now and then all of sudden unfollowed me out of the blue and I kind of thought…what? What did I do! Too many cat photos? Regardless, the unfollow app is getting deleted, and I'm no longer looking at who follows OR unfollows me. I suppose it really doesn't matter, right?

I like sharing photos and I like viewing other's photos, and really it should be left at that. Sometimes I think we get too caught up in the likes and dislikes that it begins to ruin the whole experience. You shouldn't care how many people liked or didn't like your selfie, if you want to post a photo of yourself just do it and leave it at that. Mean comments? Ignore them or delete them. I think social media is good/bad, but the good is sharing the human experience and being inspired by what others have to say. Plus sometimes it's fun to just look at cute cats.

I've officially been living in Texas for 2 years now! Well, 2 years and 2 days if I'm being exact. It's weird being an outsider and moving to a new place and talking with the "natives", hearing about all the cool places in Texas that I never knew about. And here I grew up the next state over and had never heard of "hill country", Buc-ee's, or realized that Big Bend was near the border, or that west Texas is all desert. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that. But yeah, I underestimated the vastness of this state and hope to do some exploring of those said embarrassing things I didn't realize. ALSO! Fun story…the first day I moved here I went grocery shopping at Kroger (also a Texas thing), and if you're familiar with Kroger, you get savings with a Kroger card. Most of the items here are discounted with a Kroger card, and while I was picking out strawberries, a woman around my age came up to me and said "I just moved here from Oklahoma this week and have no idea what this Kroger Plus card is, is that something I need to look into?" and I just smiled and laughed because she was in the exact same position as me, and just moved from the same state…her Tulsa, me OKC. Is this a lame story? I don't know, I kind of like it. It stuck for some reason.

Anyway, I'm writing this post while I'm on hold with the Texas Comptroller (super fun I'm telling you). But moving on, this week has been mostly prep work for future paintings: one large painting of a galaxy girl and several small paintings of just little things I fancy (black butterflies, victorian homes, crystals, etc). I'm also thinking about buying this because it looks super interesting and I'd love to know more about that entire mystical area.

^^ Even when I clean things up my desk is and will always be messy. But that's fine because I kind of like it this way. I'm one of those people who finds things easier in messes, oddly enough. Hey, it works. 

^^ A commission from a few weeks ago. 

^^ Some recent Instagram pics: packing prints to ship off to retailers, drawing a little piece in honor of my 2 year anniversary of being a Texan, finishing touch ups on Luna, and finding the prettiest pink houses in Galveston. 

You can follow me on Instagram here. 

^^ I mentioned here that I sent off a few pieces to be in a show in Seattle. The theme is Summer Moon, and all pieces are small. Totally up my alley. The show is at Twilight Gallery and goes till the 28th. If you're in the area, take a look!

^^ For my doughnut lovers, I have "Happiness is a Sprinkle Doughnut" prints (5x5 and 8x8) in the shop. :)

Now I'm off to order more business cards and hopefully get some more painting in. Have a lovely weekend!