I painted a piece for a community art exhibition called “Connecting the Dots.” Each participant received an 8-inch circular canvas and randomly chose a card with a color on it to be the dominant color in the piece. I got green.
We could use whatever materials we wanted and interpret the theme however we wanted.
Here’s my finished piece, titled “Subte Life.”
The lines on the canvas are the subway system map in Bueno Aires, Argentina, where I studied abroad in college and used public transportation daily. The subway connects all the parts of the city. Everyone who uses the subway is connected throughout the day.
I wanted shapes to fill the spaces between map lines, and circles were appropriate for the “Connecting the Dots” theme. The smaller circles represent more crowded areas of the city. Larger circles represent areas that are more spread out. (Generally speaking—I didn’t base it on city data.)
Process photos
I painted the whole canvas in pale mint green for the background color.
I used tracing paper to transfer the subway lines to the canvas. Then I traced circle stencils in different sizes.
I painted the dark green circles first, so I could make sure I alternated shades of green between segments.
I ended up doing 3 to 4 coats on the dark green circles. For some reason, the paint was streaky and the background showed through until I painted over each circle multiple times. The lighter green circles only needed 2 to 3 coats.
Exhibition info
The exhibition includes over 60 works. It’s on display in October at curio, a gallery and art supply shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
You can see images of the exhibition on curio’s Instagram page. If you’re near Lancaster, go see it in person!
For the past few months, I’ve been keeping a work log in a Field Notes pocket notebook.
One page per day. At the top of the page, I list meetings I have that day. The rest of the page is a list of project tasks that I completed. It’s a Done list. Not a To Do list.
I don’t log every little task. If I spend a lot of time on miscellaneous emails or following up with people, I just write “email admin” or “follow-ups” as one line item.
I don’t log time, unless I’m working on something that’s not usually my responsibility.
Every page is a simple list, so logging doesn’t take a lot of time. It doesn’t feel like a chore.
Every few weeks, I review pages and look for patterns. What kinds of tasks have I been doing a lot? Am I doing the right mix of work? What work has led to positive impacts?
I’ve been logging and reviewing like this since May. I do a lot of different kinds of work in my position, so it’s helpful to have a place where I can review what I’ve been working on.
In the past, I tried more detailed logging and tracking time for all tasks (even though my job doesn’t require it). But that made logging feel like busy work. This simpler method works much better for me.
🍿 I watched Karate Kid: Legends (streaming on Netflix). Overall a fun movie with a great cast, but the pacing feels rushed sometimes.
Every year in October, a few art challenges circulate on social media. I did Inktober a few times, but I realized I don’t like the pressure of a daily drawing challenge.
I found out there’s an October challenge to carve a stamp out of a pink eraser every day. I got a set of carving tools earlier this year but haven’t made many stamps. So this is a good opportunity to practice. But I’m still not going to shoot for every day.
Site update: I moved my posts about drawing with Posca markers to kalikambo.com. I backdated them so I can keep the original post date. You can see them in the drawing tag.
Journal Helper - Free software tools to use with physical journals.
Letter Club - “Private group newsletters where the readers are the writers too.” Found via Warren Ellis.
I was away on vacation for two weeks, so I’ve been quiet online. But now I’m back! And mostly back to routine!
I had a few personal projects in progress before I left, so I’m getting back to those. I will have zine stuff to share soon. 😃
Shrimp Zine is a browser-based tool for making zines on your phone. You choose your paper size and number of pages. Add images. Add text. And then you can export the file as a PDF. Very intuitive interface.
I read Essentialism 5 years ago, and I just finished reading it again. It has super helpful advice for how to prioritize things at work and in your personal life. 5/5 ⭐️
Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the book:
But in fact we can easily do two things at the same time: wash the dishes and listen to the radio, eat and talk, clear the clutter on our desk while thinking about where to go for lunch, text message while watching television, and so on.
What we can’t do is concentrate on two things at the same time.
Color swatches for brush pens I got from a local art supply store. ☺️
I officially cancelled my Spotify subscription and closed my account. Now I’m streaming music on Qobuz. I’m planning to write a blog post about migrating from Spotify to Qobuz. If you have any questions about that, let me know.
American Eagle is not on my radar. I would not have known about the Sydney Sweeney ads if I didn’t see social media posts about them.
Some people are criticizing American Eagle. Other people are saying the ads really don’t have deeper meaning. As if this is the debate—does American Eagle know what they’re saying with these ads?
Yeah, they know.
Consider that American Eagle knows exactly what it’s doing for marketing and advertising. The controversy around the Sydney Sweeney ads is the point.
Advertising does not happen by accident. American Eagle’s messaging is intentional. And including racist undertones so that people post reactions to the ads is part of the plan.
For two summers during college, I worked at an amusement park.
I was a photographer. You know the ones who ask if you want your photo taken as soon as you enter the park? That was me. 😉
The photography company was a vendor, so technically photographers were not park employees. But everyone had the same rules when it came to guest interactions.
One of those rules was, “Sunglasses up.”
We worked outside in the summer, so of course a lot of employees wore sunglasses. The rule was that whenever a guest approached you, you had to take your sunglasses off or put them up on your head. Taking your sunglasses off was a sign of politeness, so you could make eye contact with guests.
It didn’t matter if you were talking to a little kid, a teenager, or an adult. Sunglasses up.
It’s been over a decade since I had that job, but I still follow that rule. I take off my sunglasses whenever I’m talking to someone outside. I even do it for something quick, like going through a drive-through.
Is there a habit that you picked up at a job, and it stuck with you?
🍿 Superman (2025)
The new Superman movie is so refreshing for showing Superman as bright and hopeful. I got so tired of the dark and gritty style of the last few Superman movies, because that style doesn’t match Superman’s personality or optimism.
