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metasilk.bsky.social
metasilk
@metasilk.bsky.social
160 followers 310 following 630 posts
Compassion, cuss words, color, coffee. I wear many hats in a small museum, do web sites, & teach a bit of environmental science. I draw some, don't paint enough, and talk back to birds.
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metasilk.bsky.social
So I make some art and then sometimes I make #stickers from that. A joy! I list them both on my own site (always in need of an update!) and at Etsy (for the cachet, y'know).

www.etsy.com/shop/StudioM...

www.metasilk.com/wd/product-c...

Shipping to US addresses is included!
A green dragon clings to the rim of a white coffee cup. (Sticker from art by K. Talmage.) A mouse with wings looks surprisedly over its shoulder. (Sticker from art by K. Talmage.) A panda with a fork as tall as it is looks at a strawberry twice its height. (Sticker from art by K. Talmage.)
November 11, 2025 at 12:34 AM
metasilk.bsky.social
Happy Halloween from a wee #spider!

#amigurumi
#handwork
A small crocheted black spider with four brass bead eyes smiles at you from the top of small pumpkin.
October 31, 2025 at 4:58 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
may the frogs be with you 🐸
October 18, 2025 at 8:08 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
May The FROGS Be With You
May the frogs be with you (in star wars styled lettering)
October 18, 2025 at 4:43 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
HUMAN artists, use only one #art piece to convince people to follow you!
September 9, 2025 at 7:17 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
I put a bunch of my stickers in/back into my Etsy shop FINALLY

I probably shouldn't lead off with my favorite, but I am. Well, maybe not because there are some of wee beasties with coffee… Hmmm!

Anyway, this is the English Robin: studiometasilk.etsy.com/listing/1074...
A watercolor illustration of an English Robin in a top hat holding a few snow drop flowers. This small bird has a reddish face and upper breast; grayish brown wings; white belly. The bird is on a small twig with buds, and the whole thing is a sticker. The sticker is photographed on a background of some cursive writing. Two other stickers are partially visible.
August 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
Is this a thing in Norway or is it Duolingo's AI-first BS?
August 3, 2025 at 9:42 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
In which I ought to be sanding the kitchen floor. #caturday
A gray tabby cat is curled up, facing away from the camera on top of a person in blue T-shirt, and gray pants who can be seen from waist to calf. Person is lying on a bed, apparently pinned by the cat.
July 19, 2025 at 3:06 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
Felted a northern cardinal on a piece of black felt for my mother-in-law's birthday present. (Now framed and given!)
A red male northern cardinal perches on a brown branch with green leaves, on a black background. Bird, branch, leaves are of needlefelted wool; background is black felt.
July 4, 2025 at 4:01 AM
metasilk.bsky.social
YES
A white tailed Fawn still showing spots is crossing a lawn that hasn't been mowed recently. Photographer is indoors and you can see several binoculars and a table showing beanbags at the base of a large netted window. A hummingbird feeder & bee balm are visible just outside the window; additional shrubbery is visible beyond the fawn at the back of the lawn.
June 27, 2025 at 11:35 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
May you also have a morning as beautiful and peaceful.
View from a log cabin porch, looking across a bit of garden with blooming flowers, to a bank of green deciduous trees, a stand of dark green conifers, and blue-green mountain ridge in the background. It is morning and everything appears lushly green and blue and the sky is very lightly overcast with cirrus clouds, making it pale blue white color.
June 26, 2025 at 12:23 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
Almost forward! English robin in top hat, watercolor (and made into a sticker)
A watercolor illustration in English Robyn wearing the top hat and holding a bouquet of three snowdrops. It is standing on a wag. The watercolor has been made into a sticker. Several stickers – two partial one complete – are visible in the image. Cursive writing from the 1920s is underneath them as a background
June 25, 2025 at 4:37 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
#bumblebee
A bumblebee in the center of a cultivated wild type rose
June 25, 2025 at 2:38 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
At least I talked to him out of chewing on the elastic he's now sitting on.

So much for doing any more mending right now!

#thwarted
A gray tabby cat is curled up on a sewing and mending items and notions
June 22, 2025 at 11:18 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
Assembling an order of mini cards!

#bird #dragon #gifttag #notecard
Small inserts for little card packs are scattered on a wooden desk. They say things like "bird mini cards" and "dragon mini cards" with handwritten notes showing which illustration is in the pack. Singles and packets of small gift cards with black prints on them are scattered on a wooden desk and a black laptop. The illustrations are black block prints of birds like the white-breast nuthatch, the common raven and a few other others as well as two dragons.
June 16, 2025 at 5:05 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
Yesterday I was trimming some stickers to bring to friends at a reunion and I didn't even think to film it! So today here is just a photo.
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#sticker #stickersforfriends #mousewithcoffee #mouse #dragonwithcoffee #dragon #mousewithumbrella #cat #caturday #blackcat #cathiding #imbadatmarketing
Stickers on a desktop. There are four designs: a dragon half-perches on a coffee cup, a mouse hugging a full coffee cup, a black cat hiding behind a potted fern, and a mouse with an umbrella. There's a small label at the bottom that says @metasilk twice because I was testing two different pens on the sticker backing.
May 31, 2025 at 12:19 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
It's less art and more practice again: rebuild patience, persistence. (Not just feathers, but everything...)

#BirdWhisperer #TalamancaHummingbird
Ink drawing of front part of a Talamanca Humming bird head (black ink on paper; bird does not fit on paper)
May 28, 2025 at 12:34 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
Ten minute merlin on my folks' front porch. I'm not as familiar with these as Merlin is, but the screenshot shows the ones I do know (except the Nashville; I can't ID that yet myself) Merlin listed 21 species! Me, not so many (yet?). #10minMerlin
A screenshot of a Merlin sound recording. It lists seven birds and shows a sonogram at the top of the page.
May 7, 2025 at 12:30 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
Happy #mosstodon
A close-up photo of patch of various moss(es) and lichen on a large rock. Species unknown. More patches visible on the same rock in the background. A bit of clear blue sky is visible above the rock.
April 20, 2025 at 4:24 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
Yup
A yard with one slender tree and a little bit of stone wall and some lilac (without any leaves on them) and some birdfeeders. Yard has some fresh wet snow covering it with steps from a dusting to just under an inch.
April 8, 2025 at 11:19 AM
metasilk.bsky.social
Trump keeps saying Elon's not actually in charge of something so no one has to reply...

But if they do, there's an option :
Replying "Solemnly supporting and defending the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; bearing true faith and allegiance to the same; taking this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and faithfully discharge the duties of the office which I have entered. So help me God."
February 23, 2025 at 2:19 AM
metasilk.bsky.social
Climate change is expensive.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...
A bar chart showing the number of various disasters over time. From 1980 through 2023, the number of disasters each year increases (It's not obvious yet whether linear or exponential increase as the increase is somewhat irregular): in the 1980s the number of disasters/year is less than 8; the number of disasters from 2020-2023 ranges from ~11-23/yr, continuing to trend upward.
January 23, 2025 at 12:39 AM
metasilk.bsky.social
TIL i learned that the pages in my new planner/journal/useful-notebook are not as watercolor friendly as last year's. Lots of bleedthrough. (this year's book from notebook therapy; last year from leuchterm)

Also I need a new laptop battery.
Two blank pages from dot-grid journals open near a small tin of watercolors. One book has blues and greens painted on the pages; the other rose-pinks and lavenders. The bluer pages are more curled.
January 21, 2025 at 3:31 AM
metasilk.bsky.social
Specifically (in case anyone was wondering):

AMENDMENT XIV

Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.

Section 1.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside...
AMENDMENT XIV Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868. Note: Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment. Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
January 20, 2025 at 4:30 PM
metasilk.bsky.social
Also skimmed through Mushroom Finder (J Kalichman & R Vandegrift), in preparation for forest exploring.

What shall I read or finish next?
Three stacks of books and a bedside lamp and some other clutter. The books include: Silver Branch, Summon the Keeper, Little Bee, the Hunting of the Last Dragon, Ring of Swords, Russian phrase book, Wizard's Hall, Brokedown Palace, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the Last Graduate, You Look Like a Thing and I Love You, These Truths, Influence, the Ministry for the Future, Across the Wall, a Connecticut, Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, How the Irish Saved Civilization, Irish Fairy Tale and Folklore, Witness for the Dead, Capital in the 21st Century, and a few others that can't be seen and a few others in a background fourth pile....
January 5, 2025 at 3:05 AM