Author | Lightnews

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 6h

Working out scale and placement for these two figures

A piece of tracing paper, with cartoon of two polygon figures, held up against a portion of a painting in progress

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 1d

Sometimes I use little paper maquettes to work out the polygon figures for my paintings. Mostly I use an old desktop copy of Sketchup Make on an ancient laptop, but sometimes I need to play with something physical to figure it out. (I also need more gray card stock, which shows lighting better.)

Two polygon figures mocked up in folded paper—left in gray, right in white—on a dark, gridded desktop that shows each to be a little more than 1” wide (the out-of-focus background is a messy workspace, kindly ignore it)

1 1 5

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 2d

The HP app is useless. I was endlessly frustrated by it when the artist-run gallery I was part of for a bit got a new HP printer. But it did waste a lot of my volunteer admin time.

1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 2d

Having to write artist statements and grants sucks, and it often feels like trying to thread my uncombed and unspun soul through the eye of a needle (I make images to communicate for good reasons!). But I would never do my work, or myself, the disservice of using “AI” to generate utter shit.

1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 2d

“This art writing doesn’t pass my Turing test. It plummets with a wet, creepy thud into the uncanny valley.”

Shudderingly excellent description—something LLMs can’t make. They’re just auto-complete on steroids, producing averaged words from huge data sets (which were made through mass theft).

1 2

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 2d

I was at Sterling Coffee earlier today, and they had this artwork propped up where I waited for my beverage. So, naturally I’m now imagining you in Crocs that match your mask (sorry?)

Artwork of hockey mask-wearing Jason admiring a similarly holed Croc shoe with speech bubble saying “I love it”, set on a counter with squash, propped against coffee shop machines

1 1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 2d

As a child, I thought we got Oct 31st (or the nearest weekday) off from school because of Halloween, but it was actually a state holiday recognizing when Nevada joined the Union (in 1864, with a constitution hastily copied from California, which is why it includes oceanfront property laws).

1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 2d

I remain somewhat aghast that Halloween is not a national holiday, despite its cultural importance.

1 1

Reposted by H L Birdsong

Michael Espinoza @queerpractice.bsky.social · 2d

cultureedit.com/collections/...

48 hours left to bid - I have 5 works in this auction, check it out. 😘

1 9

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 2d

This title sounds cute and kitschy, but this is actually a thorough (if rather florid) illustration of why food safety regulations are completely and totally necessary

1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 2d

The tragedy of a theft like this is that the objects will most likely be destroyed. Petty opportunists don’t fence collectibles—they melt them down, break whatever they can into salable parts, and toss the rest. Even though what they wind up with is a fraction of the market value of what they stole.

Hyperallergic @hyperallergic.com · 2d

Four days before the Louvre heist catapulted museum security to the global stage, thieves in California snatched more than 1,000 items, including Native American artifacts, from a Bay Area museum.

Thieves Rob 1,000 Collection Items From California Museum

Native American artifacts and jewelry were among the objects taken from the Oakland Museum of California’s off-site facility.

hyperallergic.com

1

Reposted by H L Birdsong

Ryan Bubnis @ryanbubnis.bsky.social · 4d

New Sticker! ryanbubnis.bigcartel.com/products

Doom scrolling getting you down?

You picked up your phone to check the weather, but now you’ve been zombie scrolling for 20 mins

Screenprinted, 2-color red & black ink on white vinyl, uv resitant.

1 2 5

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 4d

I feel like I should just slap one on my phone screen

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 5d

Theogony fanart for all the Hesiod stans

1

Reposted by H L Birdsong

Liv “Leev” Rainey-Smith @livraineysmith.bsky.social · 6d

"Rainey-Smith is a xylographer – she makes woodcuts. She doesn’t make images that look like woodcuts, she doesn’t use computers, she doesn’t use AI, she actually carves wood the old-fashioned way, which is a tradition that goes back at least two thousand years."
www.orartswatch.org/liv-rainey-s...

Liv Rainey-Smith: Woodblock by woodblock, building toward a World Fantasy Award • Oregon ArtsWatch

The Portland artist talks about the allure of fantasy worlds, the ancient art of woodblock printing, and the long journey that has made her a finalist for a prestigious prize.

www.orartswatch.org

19 56

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 7d

We, as a society, have learned nothing from surviving a global pandemic

1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 7d

This is why I don’t usually pause working in Flashe or acryla-gouache. With OG gouache, the colors are rewettable: the palette can dry out and I can still use it (no mold or mystery puddles). Though its solubility is also what makes finished paintings in gouache so delicate (and costly to frame).

1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 7d

Returning to an in-progress acryla-gouache painting after a few weeks, and I’ve spent most of my day setting the stay-wet palette back in order. Some colors separated and puddled. I have no idea what any of them are anymore, in relation to the painting itself. But: no mold! So that’s good.

1 1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 11d

Portland’s major reason for trying to yoink arts funding (which our artists and small arts orgs desperately need) is to move that money to Parks & Rec, so ensuring funding for this also helps us hold the line for the arts. It’s all related!

Bird Alliance of Oregon @birdallianceoregon.bsky.social · 11d

Show up for Portland’s Parks and wildlife by voting yes on the Portland Parks Levy! Without the Levy Portland Parks & Rec will lose nearly half its budget, forcing closures and eliminating programs. Let’s show how much we love our parks by voting yes! birdallianceoregon.org/take-action/...

YES on 26-260, Portlanders for Parks

Bird Alliance of Oregon urges your YES on 26-260, the Portland Parks Levy which will be in front of Portland Voters this November. The Levy will ensure that the City of Portland is able to maintain an...

birdallianceoregon.org

1 1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 12d

I was just doing that last night. I KNOW I saved some just for this

1

Reposted by H L Birdsong

Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 12d

Congratulations to Vajra Chandrasekera (@vajra.me), recipient of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction for Rakesfall!

Chandrasekera's book was chosen by authors Matt Bell, Indra Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Rebecca Roanhorse.

Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera, with the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction sticker on the cover

Vajra Chandrasekera, photo by Sanjeewa Weerasinghe. The author sits at a white table, arms resting in front of him, wearing a tan jacket and a white shirt.

16 320 1.1K

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 13d

Wow. I mean, I’m not surprised at the incompetence, nor the schoolyard bully tone, but the level of it is off the charts!

And—just—I’ll never get over thinking Signal is some kind of magical sub-space where normal rules of communication don’t apply

1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 16d

Satire, one hopes?

1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 19d

…or did you mean when I grumbled about being awake before 8 am?

1 1

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 19d

I said “minor” 😤

1