Hey hey hello! It's been a long time. The last post here was...October 2023?

...Oh. Yeah no that makes sense actually.

Life has changed a lot since then, for worse and for better, and well, it continues to change, but we're not going to get into any of that here.

I had disabled this blog altogether and focused more on semi-monthly newsletters with my Substack, since it was drawing subscribers from my work for Planet Nude, but, I wanted to return here. The website's galleries have been updated over these years, but it was also heavily neglected. I'll probably stick with the Substack still, but I also want this website to remain active as well.

My original thought was to set up a separate page for events, but nah, I can just post about them here. And hey, I have a few to tell you about!

First off: THIS THURSDAY is Embodied Life Drawing at the Bristol Public Library! This is our second figure drawing workshop there, with last summer being the first and a huge success. The models will be my partners from Embodied Art Dance, and I'll be teaching how to observe and draw. It'll be fun and I'm so excited for it.

NEXT WEEKEND: ETSU-Con, March 7th and 8th! One of my favorite shows every year, I'm so excited to return to it.

After that, on March 26th, I'm hosting another figure drawing session at Adoration Studio with burlesque dancers modeling. I'm really excited for that one too:

This one is private, and tickets are limited. Get one here if you're interested!

That's it. It's the final week of February and therefore the final week of the Pouncepunk Art Challenge's fifth year. I've been keeping the gallery updated with new pieces, so be sure to take a look if you haven't.

Take care!

...I haven't updated this blog since April. I'm not sure I have a good reason for that. And I can't really fall back on my newsletter, because I haven't been updating it much either!!

Between then and now, I've been set up at 13 events. It would've been 14, but a terrible storm hit just as one outdoor show started in July, destroying some of my work and wrecking things for other artists. I guess since then I've been sort of coasting from event to event, not doing poorly for the most part, but not doing great either. Most of the money I make comes from these events, but it's clear that I can't just rely on them, especially for all the time and energy they require. Over the summer I attended some art career workshops hosted by a couple of friends, and one thing they discussed was that you need five sources of income. I've not been great about pushing Patreon, commissions, and other things more, and since it currently looks like I don't have any shows at all lined up for November, I need to get on that!

There were some cool successes though. Embodied Art Dance's opening show Within the Body got pushed back to August, which was a good thing. We had more time to develop our acts, we brought in a couple other friends to join us, and it made for a cool, special experience! I'm working on new dance paintings for a show in December with Richard Graves, and I'm really using the show as a point of inspiration for those. Here's one I just recently finished:

I worked on this at the Bristol in Bloom Art Festival earlier this month, where the three of us also performed and led a figure drawing session that was a lot of fun! I'm not quite sure what we're going to do in the future, but I think we've been pretty good at establishing who we are and what we do in the area.

That said! For the past two or three weeks I've been in a not so great mood. So I made a comic about that, which you can read in full on my Patreon.

Not a great headspace to be in, I think you'll agree. But I'm still trying, and I'm still moving. 

I'm starting to make plans for next year. But I've also got to start looking for more work, especially to get through November. If you'd like a commission for a Christmas gift, if you need a logo design or illustration, anything like that, let's talk! I'm available!

I guess this isn't much of a blog update, but hey, I'm still alive, I'm still creating, and my galleries HAVE been updated as well! So there's always that at least.

Take care!

...oh crap, I haven't posted a blog post since February. That's not good. I've been meaning to sit down and write one this month for...a few weeks now, and I'm finally forcing myself to sit down and write!

(I have been sending out Burst Reach newsletters in Substack, so please consider subscribing to that for free if you want more regular updates!)

It's been nonstop since February. Pouncepunk went well, March was a blur that I can barely recall at this point, and April has been a lot too. The good news is that, compared to this time last year, I've been making a lot more money! Modeling at ETSU for art classes has certainly helped.

The bad news is that I've been spending more as well, and that's hard to handle. I also did a market this past weekend that was kind of a bust, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that TreeFest tomorrow at the Hideaway in Johnson City, TN goes a little better!

Next week will be the final week to see the Defining Bodies group show at Elderbrew in Bristol. The opening reception on the 3rd was a delight, and I'm a little bummed about taking it down on the 30th (the day after my uh, 35th birthday, crap). It was kind of a dream come true, the kind of show I've wanted to have for years now collecting art from my little group. Hopefully we'll have another one some time in the future!

I have work in two other group shows going on now too. I made two new paintings for the My Favorite Things show that's currently up at the Arts Depot in Abingdon, VA, and one of my Pouncepunk paintings from February is up in the Neo-Appalachian show at Hollerhouse in Bristol. Soon I will be inescapable.

For the moment, I'm focusing most of my energy on May. On the 19th, the new dance group I'm a part of, Embodied Art Dance, is having our debut show called Within the Body. The Facebook event has a link to purchase tickets, which are limited due to the intimate nature of the space at the Philosopher's House.

I'm super nervous and excited for this. It'll be my first performance this year, we've got a bunch of dances we're working on together, and there will be figure drawing too!

Oh yeah, the night before this is the opening reception for my solo art show at Hollerhouse, DEBRIS FIELD. I'm working on lots of new paintings for it, a few of which are in my Portfolio, with this being the main image for the show:

...I have got to get out and start distributing flyers for these things to get the word out more, but yeah, it's going to be quite a weekend.

Let me see, what else what else...

The first two chapters of my Patreon exclusive comic Lost Machines are now in print together and available at my Etsy shop! I'll have copies at TreeFest tomorrow as well!

Okay, that's all the big important stuff for now. There's more to come in June and July, but...we're not there yet. Hopefully I'll remember to write another blog post in May! See you then!

Hey everyone! We're just a little over halfway through the month of February, and therefore are a little over halfway through the Pouncepunk challenge!

I've been posting each day's piece to its own gallery here on the website, with one exception: for Dance, I merely posted a screenshot, because I couldn't fit a video in there, so here's the video of a dance I made and performed for it:

At this point in time, I only have a week's lead on finished prompts, with four left to make before I'm finished for the full month. Which is pretty good! I'm also...kinda tired, haha. We've been sharing the work of other participating artists in our Instagram stories, and it's been pretty great to see all the different things people are making. We've got some friends doing dance and movement, our friend Ryan Bray is making a comic (which Richard and I both have contributed to, with Slimepunk and Faerie Ishee making a crossover appearance!), there are folks writing poetry, and more. I really recommend checking out #pouncepunk23 on Instagram to see the 500+ posts that are up so far!

Here's my favorite piece thus far:
It's been quite a ride so far and I'm pretty tired, but I'm so close to finishing! And then I can move on to other projects that I've had to set aside lately!

So what's happening after Pouncepunk? A handful of things!

First: starting March 10th, I'll be teaching a twice monthly teen character design class at the Arts Depot in Abingdon. You can sign up here, registration ends on February 25th!

March 25th is my next market event, the State Street Spring Equinox Market, where I'll have a LOT of new stuff for sale! New prints, the first two chapters of Lost Machines, new stickers, and postcards!

(I actually just dropped postcards off at Hollerhouse earlier today, so you can check those out there!)

(I need to straighten out my Etsy shop too)

April 1st and 2nd is the next ETSU-Con, and after that will be when we put up the Defining Bodies group art show at Elderbrew:

Speaking of Defining Bodies: Evan Nix did a feature on my nude artwork over on Planet Nude, including some interview questions that I answered. I really really love how beautifully he nailed what I try to express in that art. I have another feature coming up on Nu Gymnosophy at some point too, which is cool.

I'm also working on new paintings for a solo show at Hollerhouse in May. A finished one can be found in the gallery!

Anyways, I need to get back to work on Pouncepunk stuff AND get ready for figure drawing tonight! Take care!

Hello hello and happy new year! Hope the holidays treated y'all well and that the start of 2023 hasn't been too outrageous yet. I've been juggling several things.

Let's start this off with some upcoming things I'm a part of:

-This Friday, January 20th, I'll be at Hollerhouse for their Haint Paint Party, set up and painting along with multiple friends. I'm pretty excited for that. I just dropped off some more inventory for them last weekend, too.
-The next day will be the first Defining Bodies figure drawing meetup of the year, hosted by a newer member.
-Next Saturday, January 28th, is a big sale going on at both Mountain Empire Comics locations. I'll be setting up at noon in Bristol to sell some stuff at a discount, as I'm making big inventory changes this year. There will also be a stunt performer from the third Ninja Turtles movie there that day signing autographs!
-Next month I'll be modeling some for a sculpture class at ETSU. I never took sculpture and sucked at any attempts at making 3D art, so it'll be a fascinating experience, I think.
-Starting March 10th, I will be teaching a comic character creation class for teens at the Arts Depot twice a month! I still need to get more details on that!
-My first market of the year will be the State Street Spring Equinox Market on March 25th! As I'm transitioning to new inventory, I'm not sure what that'll look like yet but hopefully I'll have it figured out by then.
-The next weekend, April 1st and 2nd, is ETSU-Con!
-On April 3rd I'll be hanging a Defining Bodies group art show up at Elderbrew! The opening reception will be Saturday the 8th at 6:00PM. I'll have more info on that soon, hopefully.
-April 7th is the opening reception for another group show, Neo-Appalachian at Hollerhouse, which I'll have a painting in.

So...a pretty full schedule currently!

Don't forget: Next month is the second annual Pouncepunk Art Challenge hosted by Richard Graves and myself! We've both been hard at work on new art for it! I'm currently sitting on ten finished pieces, with two others in progress at the moment. Eight of those pieces have been shared on my Patreon, so please consider subscribing if you want an early in-depth look at what I'm making! We've been distributing the prompt list all over, Richard sent out a press release, and we're hoping it'll be even bigger than last year.

Oh, another gig I've picked up: on top of my own Burst Reach newsletter (please subscribe!) I'm also a guest contributor to nudist historian Evan Nix's new blog Planet Nude. My first piece over there is a (NSFW) review of my favorite nudist film, 1938's Unashamed: A Romance. Please check it out! I have a whole list of other things to write about and review as well.

One of the last things I finished in 2022 was this Lil Nas X portrait, and it'll be my first new print of the year once I move some more older prints. I'm making a big change with prints this year, switching sizes to 8x10 and 11x14, and this will be the first thing available in both sizes soon! I just...have to order more supplies first.

I'll also be making new buttons, new stickers, postcards, and new comics as well! I'm back to work on issue 7 of Slimepunk in a consistent capacity, and things are moving with Lost Machines again too. I finally remembered to post the complete first chapter of Lost Machines last month to Patreon, where it will be available exclusively. Chapter two will go up...later this month or early next month? I'll be printing the first two chapters together this year for shows as well, possibly in March.

I'm working on a new painting series too, inspired by my minicomic Debris Field. Hopefully I'll land a solo show somewhere for that. Last year's An Explosive Instrospection will be a part of it. SPEAKING OF THAT PAINTING, I was accepted into the Johnson City Public Arts Banner Exhibition for this year and a banner of it will be made and displayed! Hell yeah!

So yeah...busy busy with making art. I didn't make a whole lot of money last year, but I'm determined to do better this year. You can help me out, not just by commissioning me, joining my Patreon, or buying things from my Etsy shop, but also just by sharing my work! It would be very much appreciated if you did.

Oh. Here's the last Defining Bodies online pose for 2022:

I should also mention: on top of inventory changes and new work this year, I'm changing up my approach to social media a bit. Thanks to the proliferation of AI image generators hoovering up and using people's work without their permission, I got rid of my ArtStation account altogether (not a big deal since I barely used it anyways) and have stopped using deviantART. To that end, I'm also cutting back on how much art I share on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr. I'll be sharing more progress and detail shots, or photos of originals, with proper scans and things being kept here, on Patreon, and in my newsletter.

(Pouncepunk will be an obvious exception, and there will be others like it too of course)

Okay, I think that's enough rambling now. Back to work. Take care!!

You've heard that Social Distortion song, right? It's good, a personal favorite.

It's December, the year is winding down, and I am trying to come up with some sort of blueprint or roadmap for 2023. But I have one show left before I do that, the Nocturnal Art Market at Little Animals Brewery in Johnson City, TN. 

Additionally, I do know of one thing that's going to definitely happen next year:

That's right, Pouncepunk is returning in February and Richard Graves and I already have the prompt list finished and ready to go so folks can start planning and working ahead!! I'm ecstatic about this, we're hoping it'll be even bigger than this year's challenge was.

But yeah: it's been just over a year since we sold my dayjob and I set out to try to make a living off of doing art full time. And...it hasn't really been successful. So I'm going to take this month to sit down and work out what I can do to try to make next year better, how to engage more people, get more Etsy sales and Patreon subscribers, more commissions, more work in galleries, all of that. There's no single path here that's going to work, it's going to be a lot of juggling. I feel like I probably could've done more this year, but I'm still figuring things out and getting a clearer picture.

To that end, I also will be starting to push my work in some new directions, playing with new media and such. Here's a recently finished painting, done primarily in gouache, to try to signal this new direction:

I'm also looking over everything I've sold this year, what's done well, what hasn't, and will be working on all new stuff to have in 2023...including the return of Nodzilla!!

Oh, also: I HAVE A NEWSLETTER NOW through Substack! I've sent two out so far, with a third one coming later this week. Please subscribe!

One more thing: I once more participated in a daily art challenge of my own making called Nude November, in which I drew or painted a different nude every day of last month. Most of them were quickly done in my sketchbook. I posted all of them in their own gallery here. There was no desire here to try to make *finished* work, I treated it purely as an exercise to get my hand moving and put marks on paper. Many were done from reference, nudist movies I was watching (that new AGFA box set of Doris Wishman's nudist films is delightful), but also people I met online thru nudist Twitter who were gracious enough to let me draw or paint them! It was fun, and relatively chill. I don't think I spent more than 30 minutes on any of them.

Still a lot of work to, but we've gotta take time to rest and reflect, right? I may do another blog post at the end of the year to look back on what I have accomplished this year, or just wait til early January to do that. We'll see!

Stay warm, take care, see you next time.

HELLO. It's November! And it's been super warm for most of the week, because climate change is real and horrifying, but also I...I hate the cold so I've been trying to enjoy it.

First big thing: two weekends ago was the haunted house tour that I got to do my possession dance at, planned and hosted by my dance instructor and friend. I performed it three times in under an hour, in a small room, with some of my own art scattered on the tables in the room that tied to the dance and to my character in the tour. And I got paid in tips for it, which...does that make me a professional dancer? I'm not sure!

This past weekend was the Autumn Terror show at Night Owl Circus Arts, which is what the possession dance was developed for. It was a more intense experience, and I've spent this week fairly drained from it, but it was incredible as well. I was worried: my dance experience is still limited, I was the ONLY performer not using any kind of aerial circus apparatus, and there was only one other solo act. Plus, I was the only act who really went in a deranged direction, haha. BUT I got a huge response! Other performers and instructors complimented me all weekend, strangers told me they were blown away, I heard a couple of my friends in the front row gasp, and on Sunday a couple actually got up and left as my act started, returning after it was finished. I SCARED PEOPLE. I didn't know I could do that! I always just think of myself as a huge dork incapable of being even remotely intimidating! Who knew?

I beat myself up performing: my knees are skinned and bruised, I messed up my ankle on the first night and had it taped up for the other two shows, I bruised my thumb, etc. It's why I'm trying to take things easy this week. A visit to the chiropractor certainly helped, but I need the rest for sure.

There are no events this month. And I'm only signed up for one next month at the moment: The Little Animals Nocturnal Art Market on December 9th!

Which means I've got to find other means of making money this month because hoo boy, it's been just about a full year since we sold the storage buildings and I set off to try to make a living off of my art and it...hasn't been great! I finished up a commission last week for a friend, I'm currently working on another one, and then from there I've got nothing, so if you'd like some special art for the holidays, please get in touch!

I also encourage you to subscribe to my Patreon. Even at the $1 level, you get to see a fair amount of art and some process stuff before anybody else does! I'm actually currently doing a new daily art challenge called Nude November, which $5+ folks get the full details on.

If that doesn't strike your fancy, you can always donate to my Ko-fi. Every little bit helps, truly!

This weekend is actually the first one since...September, maybe? Where I have no plans. None. Next weekend is figure drawing though, which is always a good time! Here's an online pose I recently finished:

...I think that's it for now. Like I said, I need to rest some more. And finish a commission so I can hopefully do more! Take care, see y'all next month!

Hey folks! Happy October! Here's what's been going down:

I've been doing a lot of events and I've got more coming up! This past weekend was the second annual Bristol in Bloom Art Festival, at which I painted this Godzilla! The weekend before that was the return of the Johnson City Zine Fest, which was a HUGE success. I debuted my new zine Human Bodies and Emotions there, which you can now buy at my Etsy shop. It's been pretty well received so far!

I also did a little fall festival thing in Kingsport at the end of September, which went surprisingly well despite the cold rain and poor turnout.

This Saturday is going to be a good time, though: Fragoween returns, this time with a Zombie Prom in Johnson City! Here's a link to the event on Facebook where you need to RSVP if you plan to attend! If you can't make it out to Johnson City, Imminent Collapse, a noise show with local artists, will be happening that same night in downtown Bristol!

After that I've got two dance performances: on October 29th, Johnson City Brewing Company is hosting a Halloween party at their Boones Creek location, where I'll be joining some other friends and doing a solo possession dance as part of a little haunted house tour! Then the next weekend, November 4th, 5th, and 6th is Night Owl Circus Arts' own Halloween show, where I'll be performing my possession dance as well.

SO MUCH COOL SPOOKY STUFF HAPPENING.

After that, I think I've just got one more event for the year in December, which hasn't been properly announced yet. Which also means: I'LL BE OPEN FOR HOLIDAY COMMISSIONS. Want a cool print or painting or something for a loved one? Hit me up!

Unrelated, here's a painting I just finished last week:
An Explosive Introspection

I painted this from a friend's dance performance back at the Mental Health Show I was a part of in May. It's...a good representation of how I've personally been feeling lately, just overwhelmed and having a hard time keeping things together and working things out with so much going on. I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

Aaaaannnnnnndddd...hm. That's it I think. I hope everyone's having a good month and that you get to enjoy all the spooky things you can!!

...I've only just today realized that I never posted a blog in August. Which, to be fair, was insanely busy, and I think I mentioned that in the last post back in July? Maybe?

Soooooo August. There were three big things. First was the opening for my show at the Arts Depot, with ten pieces from Defining Bodies on display, coinciding with the Eat/ART Space show. The reception for that was a good time, and last I heard, at least three pieces sold! So that's cool! The show will be up through most of September, I'll be taking it down on the 23rd.

The truly big thing, the most important thing I think, is that on August 19th, right after our ten year anniversary, I married my favorite person in the world! In front of roughly 70 people we love, including a good number of Defining Bodies folks! Our friend, comedian Hunter Roberts, officiated, reading from a copy of Slimepunk and with nails painted green and purple to suit us. It was truly the best day of my life and I won't forget it.

The very next weekend was TriPride, which finally came to my hometown of Bristol after two years of Covid delays! It was, honestly, the most successful show I've ever done, and it was just really so good for my soul to see such a HUGE turnout of queer people and allies. I made some stuff specifically for it too! Here's a print I made of Orville Peck:
And a small painting I did of Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard from Our Flag Means Death:

And then days later I got Covid. UGH.

Which means I missed Rob-Con this past weekend, another show that had been delayed for two years and one I was SO looking forward to. I was going to teach a figure drawing class! Heartbroken.

Which brings us to this month. This Saturday I'll be doing the Punk Rock Flea Market in Knoxville, my first show ever there!

Next week is figure drawing, our first time hosting since...April? Yeah, April! I suspect others took up hosting for the past handful of months because I kept coming up with ridiculous drawing challenges that everyone hated. We didn't meet at all in August, so I'm eager to get back into it.

September 24th, I'll be at a Fall Market in Kingsport! September 30th is the Mini Worlds show at Elderbrew in Bristol, and the next day, October 1st, I'll be at the return of the Johnson City Zine Fest!

I'll have a new zine ready to go for that one, called Human Bodies and Emotions. Above is the first page, featuring a Visible Man model kit that my wife bought me last month at a thrift store. As of typing this, I'm halfway finished with the zine, which is exciting since it's the first one I've made since There's Something You Should Know About Brett in 2020! I'm also hoping to have another release, a comic combining the first two chapters of Lost Machines, which I'm racing to try to finish this week.

Speaking of which, I posted the first part of the first chapter to Lost Machines in a public post on Patreon, which you can go look at right now!!

October will also be a full month after Zine Fest: the 8th will be the second annual Bristol in Bloom Art Festival, and the 15th will be Fragoween's first ever Zombie Prom!

...Okay, it feels like I had more to share but I guess not. Hopefully I'll remember to write something again for October!!

Hey folks! Almost the entirety of July has passed and I almost forgot to write something here. So let's get to it.

I didn't have ANY events this month, but I'll be making up for it soon. I had to put this graphic together to keep things straight myself. Here are links to Facebook events for most of these:
Merchants in Majestic
TriPride 
Rob-Con 
Johnson City Zine Fest 
Bristol in Bloom

One thing I left off on accident is the mini worlds art show at Elderbrew in Bristol, TN on September 30th. I also have another October show, which hasn't been officially announced yet.

Oh, and August 5th is the opening of multiple shows at the Arts Depot in Abingdon, VA. The big one is From Dining Room to Freight Station, which features work from SEVERAL of my friends, but I will also have work from Defining Bodies on display there in the member's gallery. I go hang things up for that next week!

ALSO: My wedding is next month too. So...yeah. A lot going on.

Speaking of Defining Bodies: here's a painting I finished recently from a group photo taken at our outdoor meetup in May! It was a really special moment for me and I knew I had to illustrate it. We're having another outdoor meetup this Saturday, and I am EXCITED for it. I hope the weather holds up!

We met up a couple weeks back too, so it's nice to have two meetups in one month. It'll be some time before the next one because, again, SO MANY THINGS HAPPENING.

I'm finally back to work on Slimepunk, and I'm VERY CLOSE to finishing the first chapter of my new comic, Lost Machines, which will be exclusive to Patreon. Here's a page of that:

I plan on printing the first two chapters together in time for Rob-Con and the Johnson City Zine Fest, for those of you who have no wish to subscribe to Patreon. I'm also currently writing a new zine for the latter event, which I'm pretty pumped for. If you liked Debris Field and How I Feel Human, this new one will be similar.

OH I ALMOST FORGOT: at the Rainbow Festival last month (which was a great event), I decided to do live art at my table. Over the course of about half a day, I painted this Godzilla piece that I named Pridezilla:
Posting this on social media landed me a gig writing an article earlier this month for Them, entitled Nothing Captures the Heart of My Queer Anger Like Godzilla. They used this piece as the main illustration too. It was an honor to get to write for Them again, and to get paid to write about my favorite thing in the world.

Here's an Ultraman I drew earlier this month, too:

I've also got so many new ideas stirring, projects, art shows, dance related work, and more, in varying stages of development. My hands are in a lot of fires right now. Again, if you subscribe to my Patreon you've already seen me talk about a few of these things, and you'll be the first to see things as they develop too! Also, I'm one subscriber away from hitting the double digits! You could be that person! Please consider it!

Okay, back to work. I will uh, TRY to find time to write again in August, but no promises.