Matt Heartwood
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gentlepotato.bsky.social
Matt Heartwood
@gentlepotato.bsky.social
18 followers 19 following 58 posts
Bug liker, maker of stupid art, the other one at Clockwork Creature
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gentlepotato.bsky.social
Sleg, 2026.
I was being clever and made it a right leg as a nod to gastropod dextral chirality, then realized that if I was doing the torsion correctly it would be a left leg. Oops
A black and white ink drawing of an Arion slug whose lower portion becomes an entire human leg. A frame with a wood-grain pattern and little leafy things at the corners surrounds it.
January 15, 2026 at 3:14 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Population in one of my isopod colonies has been dropping recently. Today while checking on them, I uncovered a likely culprit. I have no idea how a centipede got in there, but it's been relocated outdoors.
A reddish brown Lithobius centipede contained in a petri dish
January 4, 2026 at 10:17 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Lunch imitates art
January 4, 2026 at 7:00 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
End of year, end of #invertefest . Hopeful slug crawling towards the light away from a glob of its own defensive goo is how I hope to live in 2026
An orange-ish slug (Mesarion sp.) crawls on a mossy rotten log surface. Behind it is a glob of mucus that it secreted, and a thread of that goo is wrapped around the end of its tail. There is an unseen light source off to the right and upwards, which the slug appears to be crawling toward, looking hopeful.
January 1, 2026 at 3:29 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
More Than One Bee seemed like it was missing something so I added a bit to it.
A black & white ink drawing of some stuff. A dragon expels the words "Aw Hell Yeah" from its mouth. A group of stylized simple "bees" fly across the image from top left to bottom right. They have little faces and all eyes are on the dragon. Some of the bees' bodies become banners with words on them, the words blending into their stripes. Together, they spell out "More Than One Bee" except that the word "Bee" has something like 35 Es in it because that bee is very long. Filling the background is a sort of silhouetted natural landscape, a similar kinda-cityscape, and part of a circle with a cracked stone texture on it.
December 31, 2025 at 6:57 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Before the end of #invertefest I must post this perfectly shaped animal I found under a log. (Carolina Mantleslug, Philomycus carolinianus)
A small slug, Philomycus carolinianus, sits scrunched up among leaf litter, head and tail fully retracted. It is a perfect little egg of an animal.
December 31, 2025 at 2:23 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
"Big Four" 2025. This one is very deep
A black and white ink drawing of a bunch of stuff: a detailed square frame in one corner is empty and has text on it that reads "did you check the dog square?" This frame is flanked by two checkered arcs that contain spiraling lines. The letters "DREADF", dripping with some viscous fluid, arc across another corner. A creature resembling a sauropod dinosaur in a cartoonish style wears a collar that says "Bromposorbus". A signpost holds two signs: one reads "BOG" and points to the right, the other reads "Life's Little" and points downward to the left towards a frog with hair. The frog sits on a log which leans against another log. Behind the logs are the sort-of-silhouetted forms of grassy creatures with silly faces. Above them are the words "We are the vegetationes". In the lower right corner, in conversation with the vegetationes, a similar creature with mushrooms on it appears to say "Same". Behind all of this is a large number 4 with a stony texture. In the background there are a few curving lines, one of which is broken into two by a butterfly flying "through" it and making the ends spiral. On these lines appear the words "Do it" and "It's what he would have wanted."
December 20, 2025 at 3:06 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Megapallifera mutabilis is a native Philomycid mantleslug in my area. This species climbs trees at night to feed and descends in the morning. I wanted to see the morning slug migration and get some pictures, so I went to the park at dawn today. I was not disappointed!
A light grey-brown slug (Megapallifera mutabilis) with irregular black spotting crawling downwards on tree bark.
September 30, 2025 at 5:17 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
This slug, having crawled up a line of a spider web and found itself dangling, is questioning its life choices
A slug (Deroceras reticulatum) dangling on a strand of spider silk against a black background.
September 25, 2025 at 3:21 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Philomycid mantleslugs are native to my area but up until today, when I specifically went to a park looking for them, I had never seen one. They live in forests and don't do well in human spaces, unlike their numerous invasive competitors.
This was the only one I found, a Philomycus carolinianus.
A slug (Philomycus carolinianus) with a mottled pattern of black, brown, gray, and cream colors.
September 8, 2025 at 2:59 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
While I was watering my garden, a hummingbird stopped by to take a shower. Enjoy 20 seconds of flippety flap splishety splash
August 31, 2025 at 11:52 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
This #invertefest here are the main five types of slug in my yard
A collage of 5 photos of slugs. Top left: a brown slug with lateral stripes labeled "Arion (Mesarion) sp." Top right: a scrunched-up yellow-gray slug labeled "Arion intermedius." Center: A large brown slug with a spotted mantle labeled "Limax maximus." Bottom left: A brown slug with a translucent appearance and dark lateral stripes labeled "Ambigolimax sp." Bottom right: a pale, milky-brown slug labeled "Deroceras reticulatum."
August 27, 2025 at 6:26 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
"Worm" 2024. If I made this now I probably would have been tempted to make the worm identifiable as Lumbricus friendi rather than a stylized worm, on account of L. friendi being my gateway to the world of earthworms. That runs dangerously close to having actual meaning though
A black-and-white ink drawing wherein there are a lot of various tubes with things sticking out of them: a tentacle, some slime, a hand, a corded phone receiver, a clump of mushrooms, a cloud of smoke, a guy, an ostrich feather, a coniferous tree, an unidentifiable muppet-like thing, a sausage on a two-pronged fork, and the back half of a coelacanth. Some of the tubes instead hold signs of various forms that spell out "Beneath our feet there can be a worm." From the largest tube emerges a worm with eyes and a toothy mouth, saying "WISDOM FROM ANCIENT TIM" because the ribbon representing its speech is curled at the end, cutting off any additional text. Who knows what wisdom is hidden in that ribbon, forever unrevealed, frozen in tim
May 22, 2025 at 2:35 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
"Scamp" 2024
An ink drawing featuring: An anthropomorphic hot pepper with arms and legs and a mischievous expression, running across the page, holding some kind of string with one hand and giving a thumbs-up with the other, eyes looking back as though it is getting away with something. The words "Oh no no no no no no no no" accompany the creature, though it is not specified who is saying them. Behind this is a thing resembling a traffic cone, flanked by a helical cord like from an old phone. In the foreground there are a bunch of circles and one triangle. The circles contain, from left to right: Something fleshy with veins, the top portion of a capital E or F, a candle, two oak leaves, a jar labeled "jar" with the word "fair!" in a burst on it, and a horse with a speech bubble saying "what we have done we did do on purpose." The triangle contains a shrimp.
May 6, 2025 at 5:10 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
For #invertefest I submit this Horned Passalus Beetle with a wig of phoretic mites. My piles of rotting wood are paying off this season it seems, lots of these little guys around.
A large, shiny black Horned Passalus Beetle (Odontotaenius disjunctus) with little red-brown mites all over its head.
April 25, 2025 at 12:41 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Eating the last of the summer tomatoes on this the 7th of January. No frost until late November, and apparently "sweet million" cherry tomatoes keep a long time just sitting out in a bowl in the kitchen.
A very basic salad with lettuce, tomatoes, bread, and dressing
January 7, 2025 at 8:36 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Last night's weather made it a magical evening for woims. Lumbricus sp.
Two worms sticking out of their respective burrows, copulating.
December 29, 2024 at 9:33 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Percy Poop, 2014. If you think there is anything wrong with this image it is you who are wrong.
A hovering butt. A dropping poop with a stupid face. A maze like the kind on the back of a kids' cereal box, with the instructions "Help Percy Poop™ find his way to the toilet! His friends are waiting eagerly!" A toilet with smiling turds in it. A banner flanking the toilet with the word "friendship." A toilet brush and plunger. The maze is all dead ends. Percy will never see his friends again, and there will be poop everywhere.
December 22, 2024 at 5:24 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Birds with Noses from 2012. This was the first one of "these"
A crude drawing of nonspecific birds with human-like noses. Some have ears, hands, or nonsensical fingers.
December 20, 2024 at 3:43 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Still picking tomatoes in the latter half of November. What the hell, the weather
A bunch of cherry tomatoes in a bowl on a glass outdoor table.
November 22, 2024 at 4:10 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
The Moon Man's Beard
A moon with a face hovers serenely in the night sky. Clouds in the middle ground seem to billow from its chin area. This scene is flanked by a pair of mirrored golden spirals that frame a tower-like structure composed of the words "The moon man's beard! Well how about that" and topped by the silhouettes of coniferous trees. In the sky, stars, accompanied by a smiley-faced shooting star, spell out "It's clouds you dumbys".
October 20, 2024 at 12:36 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
In The Olden Days
In the background, the silhouettes of a tree and a toilet against the sky. Within a circle of teeth, a snail emerges from a circular frame that reads "In the olden days they used to pee in a cup." This frame surrounds a little picture of a skeletal giant walking in water on a moonlit night. Water runs out of that image, down a chute, where it sprinkles on the foreground, where there are many holes. In front of everything, a ribbon with the word "urethra" written on it over and over transforms into a moray eel. In the top corners are the phrases "It's easier to ask who isn't a snail honestly" and "We couldn't get outta there fast enough." In the space between the circular frames, off to the right and cut off by the border, is the phrase "This Space Intentionally Left Bl"
July 13, 2024 at 3:34 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
World Wide What
There is a lot going on here but there is a huge "fish" with 6 human legs, fire, lots of clouds, and some giant mushrooms in the background. Amorphous vegetation has gaps in it that spell out "WORLD WIDE WHAT." In the sky, a sun wearing sunglasses shrugs. Two birds fly by carrying banners; one says "That's a lot," the other says "Go home."
March 30, 2024 at 2:19 AM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
Stink Eye
Foreground: A poop with the word "Floater" embedded in it, surrounded by swirly cloud shapes. Midground: Various animals both extant and extinct look at the viewer with disapproval. Background: Stink lines and the disapproving eye of God.
February 14, 2024 at 5:04 PM
gentlepotato.bsky.social
So,
A drawing of a potato but it has hairy human legs and male genitalia. In the background are the words "So, what are our feelings re: this spud?" There is also a swirly thing to fill in excess white space.
February 12, 2024 at 5:34 PM