12.29.25
Studio Vibes
Watching: Wake Up Dead Man, Interstellar, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Reading: Rouge by Mona Awad
Listening: Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa (iconic) and 4 Walls - The 4th Album by f(x) (also iconic)
Despite the early wake-up calls for all three travel days (two days were 3:45 am), I had a very relaxing Christmas holiday. I spent most of my time re-reading the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, baking, and watching Legend of Zelda lore videos. Since I split my Christmas baking into two sprints, it made things a lot more relaxing. My brother told me that it felt like in years past, I was basically running a miniature bakery with how much I would bake over the course of 3 - 4 days. Over the past few years (really, when I started up therapy again), I realized that it’s okay to take things slow and not try to outdo myself each time. Every time I think about striving for perfection, I have to remind myself, who am I competing against? Other people? Or am I creating unrealistic expectations for myself to try and achieve? My pace is just fine – I push myself quite a bit, I don’t need to belittle/burn myself out with my expectations.
In Progress
Yupo is an interesting medium to work with. For photo transfers, it’s great - it creates a hazy effect and the adhesive process works really well. When working with watercolor, it’s painful. Watercolor pools on Yupo rather than spreading as it does on paper. However, if I use my watercolor pencils, it’s much easier to control. Despite its learning curve, the layering that comes with watercolor is absolutely stunning. All that’s to say is, I really like how these figures are turning out with the Yupo.
Working on bringing out the values and colors in the collaged piece
These collage elements are taking a big chunk of my time, which I should have realized in hindsight. I want to use found collage elements (I have plenty of scans waiting to be printed), but I really enjoy the process of creating my own, despite how laborious it is.
Looking through all the pieces I’ve worked on, I have two that are in this weird in-between state (a.k.a., their ugly state). If you don’t know what the ugly state is, it’s where you’re working on a piece, and it’s at the stage where everything looks atrocious, so you’re convinced you’ve made a terrible mistake. The only way to get past the ugly state is to keep pushing through (whether you keep going in the direction you're going or realize that something needs to change). For the painting with cut-outs (a sibling to another piece), I’m going to keep going in the direction I’m going. For the other one, I’m going to experiment a bit with it and take it in another direction.
Top photo: Adding collage into the white spaces
Bottom photo: Experimenting with this piece
I want to take advantage of some time off this week (and the evenings over the next two) to work out these pieces, along with continuing on the collage elements.
Creative Endeavors
1970s sewing machines are a different beast compared to modern ones. As I mentioned in my last post, I planned to work on my mockup for my dress at my mom’s, which I did! My mom’s sewing machine is an Elna SU, which she got in 1973. Fun fact: My grandmother had the same machine, so when she passed away, my mom inherited it to cannibalize for parts.
After learning how to use my mom’s machine, I completed my mockup! I have a feel for the pattern, and I know where to make my adjustments (slightly smaller in the bust). The mockup fabric I chose was a costume satin (I needed a cheaper, similar flowing fabric), which was atrocious to work with. It also shed threads everywhere. Also, my mom’s sewing scissors were duller than a kid’s playroom kitchen “knife,” so cutting the pattern was rough (and contributed to some wonkiness in the lines of the dress). However, the mockup did what it needed to do.
Top photo: A sewing machine that’s 20 years older than me
Bottom photo: No, the lines on the dress should not be that crooked. They will not be that wonky on the actual dress.
I plan on going to my local sewing shop to rent workspace for a few hours this upcoming weekend to work on the dress (at least get it cut out with sharper scissors/rotary cutter).
Will I be able to work on both painting and sewing? As long as I stop doomscrolling Reddit, yes, yes, I can.
Other Shenanigans
One of my mom’s goats had two kids the day before my brother and I flew in. We both got to hold the babies (to help get them used to humans). My life has been complete (or maybe I need to continuously find times to hold baby goats).
Top photo: My brother holding Klaus
Bottom photo: My mom holding Noel
In 2020, during COVID, I decided to deep-clean my entire space before the new year. It’s a mini ritual I’ve been doing since. I’ll be taking some time this week to deep clean my apartment to start 2026 with a fresh space. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I got a head start on my bathroom because there was a minor flooding incident this morning. It’s been resolved, and now my bathroom is sparkling.
Excited to push myself creatively these next two weeks and start 2026!