Hello my faithful friends, and Happy Spring! Spring has sprung! I spotted my first warbler of the year yesterday on Earth Day, so things are looking up. I was also blessed by some good luck - a bird pooped on me for the first time. It landed in my binocular lens cover though. All is well.
You can see the bird poo in my right lens cover lol
I’m just starting to get back out and about after non-flat top surgery at the end of March. Being able to shower myself, drive to a trail and spend time in nature whenever I want, and prepare my own food are not things I will take for granted now that I had to rely on my wonderful partner to take care of me for a bit!
“It’s tiddy chop Tuesday, I do what I want.” - what Mark says I told him when he urged me to finish my first post-op applesauce before opening a new one
In art news, I had 4 pieces in a group show at Pigeon Post in March. They are still on view and for sale through the end of this month. I know there’s an awful glare here, but the top piece is called "Beauty Fades” and was made with my traditional collage + a tape transfer element. The bottom piece “Legs” was made last year at a collage workshop. Sorry these photos aren’t up to par.
“The Dysphoria”
“Threat of Man”
I also tabled at a Trans Art Market in Bethlehem hosted by the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project in March. It was a really cool venue, and a super fun, inspiring event! The interactive queer quoir performance at the end was just the cherry on the cake of a beautiful day full of trans talent and artistry. We really do have the power to dream, and then make our dreams come to life. From the art on our tables, to the bodies we choose to live in, this quote from a recent Oh Joy Sex Toy comic really encapsulates how I felt that day: “I have within me the joy and privilege of creation that comes with being trans!”
I shared about these events in my March perzine for Patreon members. Thinking of all my bodily changes coming up, I entitled this issue Metamorphosis (not to be confused with the 2003 Hilary Duff album). It also included a very special skunk, bye bye tig olds playlist, pre-surgery thoughts, a reiki experience, and some gelli prints. If you sign up at the $5 level on my Patreon during April you’ll receive this zine!
In May I’ll be sending out my April issue, which I’m currently working on. I got some long envelopes from a creative re-use store (I finally found one!) so I decided to try a new-to-me format, the tri-fold brochure. Do you have a favorite zine format or size? I feel I’ve somewhat exhausted the minizine, having made over 50 minis from 2023 through last year. Right now I’m really feeling the quarter size.
After using this image for the cover, I kid you not, I came across vegan dippy eggs in the store. Incredible! My childhood all over again. I ate so many I got sick of them.
A page from March Metamorphosis
By last week, I was itching to get back to my desk. I found myself in ADHD hyperfocus, spending a day organizing my whole zine collection. I had a buttload of zines I’ve gotten over the last few years that were just sitting in a to-read box, but then they started ending up here, there, all over. Lotta little piles. I’d also heard some zine wisdom from Briggite on Long Arm Stapler podcast. When culling your collection, if it’s not on the RSS up & up, pass it on. If you’re not going to Re-read it, need it for Research, or it has Sentimental value! So I went through and decided what to keep and what to pass on as well as sorted and organized. I was very sore and dehydrated, but I took a few breaks through out the day, and it felt really good when I was finished.
a much tidier basket of to be read
I also got to work restocking my Collage Minizine Kits for my Etsy shop. It’s been a minute since I’ve had these available, so get ‘em while the gettin’s good. I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be making these, or at least the next time I’ll do a batch. It takes a long time to gather, prep, curate and assemble all the materials. Recovery has been so much easier than I expected, but I’m still fatigued easily, have a bit of coming and going brainfog, and will continue to heal and get back to my normal over the next weeks and months.
I’ve got some workshops coming up that I’m excited to attend, and am getting ready to host one coming up in Summer, so keep an eye out for that. What else have I been up to around here? I enjoyed putting together this Chris Ware USPS puzzle. It’s like a little Where’s Waldo town! I visited the farm sanctuary where a particularly large tour made Gauri the cow have an autistic meltdown, and I also got to meditate with my favorite goats. I reveled at how button up shirts fit. I stayed up late to watch Sabrina Carpenter on the Coachella YouTube. I got a milkshake and a Teletubbie blindbox. (Tinky Winky, yessss!) I read a lot. (Oh, and PS, I restocked my Glitterer lyrics zine Truth Serum #1. It was wild seeing them on Coachella!)
I think that’s all I got for ya this time, folks. I’m leaving you with an excerpt from my zine River Walk With Me at the end here. I recently re-read it, which is nice because it helped me remember how much I’ve grown. A little pre-birder Kris lore for ya, if you’re newer here.
As always, thanks for reading and following along with my life and creative practice. I’d love to know, what’re you looking forward to in Spring, or what do you do to celebrate Earth Day?
Until next time,
Kris (they/them/theirs)
I surprised myself last summer when I started getting bored with the regular trails and started venturing off trail to explore! These things may seem small to other folks, but for me it’s pretty huge progress. I would never go somewhere secluded in the woods alone before. I’d been listening to a lot of guided meditations, and felt like I really hit my mindfulness stride. I no longer needed to listen to them, I could recall them in my own head and was finally able to quiet my thoughts and sit somewhere in nature and just be still. By a stream, by a waterfall, on a special log I claimed as my spot. I felt like I was being gifted with these incredible wildlife sightings the more and more I surrendered into tranquility.
I saw families of deer just a few feet away. I love observing the woolie worms in different stages. My favorite thing is the herons. I didn’t even know we had great waterfowl like that in my state! With every sighting, it felt like my choice to spend my time in nature was affirmed by the universe.
journal page