August was a long one. Thirty-one days technically, but I swear this month lasted at least twice that. I didn’t post much on Dayclub SEAZN, but don’t confuse silence with inactivity. The leisure was still leisure-ing, the desert mornings were still doing their thing, and I somehow managed to stay laid-back while also being ridiculously busy. It helps that I have friends who fully support my delusional status because they’re creators too, which means they’re equally delusional. Surround yourself accordingly.
Starting August in an Art Museum
August started with a very fun win when my Frenzied Pull artwork was exhibited at the Claremont Lewis Museum of Art for its Free 4 All exhibition. Seeing one of my Abstract Distortions pieces hanging inside a museum was already enough to make the trip worth it, but I also walked away with two new artist friends from participating. WIN. Apparently putting yourself and your work out into the world really does introduce you to people who are operating on your same weird little creative frequency.
Full Moons, New Art + VACANT Arts Journal
The creative streak kept going from there. I created five new Abstract Distortions pieces in August, including four featuring photographs I took of the June and August full moons. The moon has clearly entered her recurring-character era in my artwork, and I’m letting it happen. I also officially launched VACANT Arts Journal with my Co-Editor-in-Chief, Collin J. Rae. Co-Editor-in-Chief was definitely not sitting on my 2026 to-do list, but here I am. VACANT gives us another space to showcase independent writers, poets, photographers and artists doing interesting things outside the usual boxes, which feels very on-brand for the creative universe I seem to be building one delusional idea at a time.
Watching Other Writers Get Closer
Class #2 of my writing workshop at The Healing Shoppe in Upland also brought another kind of creative win. My students are getting closer to turning their writing into actual finished manuscripts, and one of them officially FINISHED hers. We’ve now moved on to creating her book cover, which is such a fun shift from talking about writing a book to suddenly looking at the thing and my student realizing, “Oh shit, I actually have a BOOK!” Watching someone else get to that point has easily become one of my favorite parts of teaching my first workshop.
Apparently August Had One More Surprise
And because August apparently wasn’t finished with me yet, CanvasREBEL reached out and invited me to participate in an interview. I wasn’t told who nominated me, so whoever quietly submitted my name, THANK YOU. Between the museum exhibition, new artwork, VACANT Arts Journal, the writing workshop and an unexpected interview, August somehow became one of those months where a lot happened without me ever feeling like I stopped living my leisurely little desert life. Maybe that’s the actual August lesson: I can leisure and still get shit done. I’m taking that energy straight into September.
👉 Read my CanvasREBEL interview here.
Next up: September and the welcoming the Fall Solstice.
