I have been experimenting with using starch based packing peanuts as an art material for a project. The starch nuts become sticky and remind me of a kind of binding glue when barushed with water. In my experiment, I pressed them between my fingers to make a flat surface and wetted one side. This allowed me to stick them to the mesh and each other.

Brushing the outside with a fine brush and water added some texture. The only draw back is that the starch will totally melt if you go overboard. Also you have to work around the fact that the starch will shrink a bunch as it dries. I found out that you can reduce the contraction damage by using a mesh bag as an armature. You can fix cracks or openings with more wetted nut if desired. I let it dry overnight.

The next day I painted it with alcohol inks as it was still attached to the mesh. Alcohol solvents seem to work very well at not dissolving the starch into mush. I left it to dry overnight and then pealed off the mesh from inside.

Surprisingly, when dried it has a crazy hardness and smell of uncooked dry pasta. 😀

Next thing to try? Making my own washes with alcohol rather than water!

Thanks for letting me share this with you

Please take care of each other.

Above is a tiny little painting, kind of part work in progress and part me experimenting with alcohol inks.
I love seeing what diluting and thinning directly on the canvas can do.

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I have a lifelong disability and I am not diseased, as some try to make you believe. I struggled as a child, and as an adult, the struggle is still very real.

See some of us were born into what has been described as a “lost generation.” This was a time when the medical understanding of autism was in flux, and doctors began to recognize that autism is actually a spectrum, like many other things found in nature. These discoveries led to changes that broadened the diagnostic criteria, increased awareness and most importantly, increased screenings. Despite the passage of considerable time and the collection of extensive data, very little has changed. This was not an “epidemic” in the ’90s, and it is certainly not an “epidemic” now.

To be clear, the primary medical focus regarding autism should not be on looking for a “cure,” but on providing autistic people with desperately needed services and support. Seriously, have you ever actually tried to find solutions as an autistic adult? It’s completely impossible because a huge gap exists in how current systems provide support for this spectrum of autistic adults. No one has ever asked me what support for me would look like.

Increased awareness is only truly valuable when it leads to action and concrete changes. I know with the current government push to end DEI initiatives, this sounds far-fetched, but ensuring everyone has a chance to succeed means creating the necessary conditions for diverse individuals to thrive and contribute, rather than solely relying on extremely narrow definition of merit.

We are failing a huge part of our country if we fail to support individuals with different starting points and abilities in a way that allows them to succeed.

Please take care of each other.

Sometimes we are given the opportunity to speak out and express truths. All the while hoping that this opportunity will be different than the last, that the extreme effort taken to speak will be rewarded with change. But all too often we are left with shattered expectations and no change. We are only left with the option of reevaluating our assumptions.

I am even more determined to stay focused on living and continuing the things that bring me joy. Like gardening.

We have been busy sprouting our impending garden and I am hoping that we will be gifted with an abundance that we can share with others in these unsure times.

I also can’t wait to get back outside. The other day I could hear the screech of a hawk and the owls. It’s been such a long time since I was able to hear the sounds of nature and not the roar of the big machine.

“The more you share the more your bowl will be plentiful…”

First off The Expanse is such great SciFi and I know that there’s more to that quote than that. But have you stopped to think what the above phrase means? Ask yourself, what existed before capitalism?

Please take care of each other.