A bug boom starring mosquitoes and ticks has rocked our area—what a renaissance! My honey and I debated whether the mosquitoes are worse in Virginia or Florida, and we say Virginia, because you actually want to be outside for longer than ten minutes, but the insects won’t leave you alone long enough to enjoy yourself.

On the upside, I’ve noticed more fireflies. I hadn’t seen them in years, maybe decades. “Flier flies,” I called them as a kid. On summer nights in New Jersey, I used to skulk around my grandparents’ darkening backyard, capturing them one by one in my cupped hands. I was so skilled at this activity that I’d open my palms at the end of the night and my collection, crawling weakly over each other, sickened me. I shook my hands free and went inside. Hopefully, Ground Zero of the mass firefly disappearance did not take place at an elderly couple’s home in suburban Burlington.

But the flier flies have returned! A symbol of summer, but maybe a symbol of hope, too…? Let’s say yes.

Now: let's get our chat on about art stuff.

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An educator planning to host a zine workshop in September contacted me about providing fifty mini zine/collage kits for the event, so that is super exciting, and they're super fun for me to assemble. I also have a surplus of paper ephemera that's too big for the average mini kit, so I'm creating eighteen regular-sized kits, which will include two pieces of collage cardboard and a full-size one-page zine.

Putting kits together results in me accidentally creating temporary art/fun color and pattern combinations:

And of course, we've got Goblin providing oversight:

I rediscovered an envelope of text snips in my collage materials box, so I thought I'd make some cut 'n' paste poems out of them:

Of course, Goblin can't resist art projects or jumping all over the dining room table, so it's an imperfect workspace. I've decided to let him write his own poems: whatever snips fall on the floor due to his chaos, they'll become part of his opus.

It's been a collage-centric month, because I finally acquired enough of the right materials to finish a zine I'd started more than two years ago, featuring illustrated kids from the front of sewing pattern instruction packets.

I think I'll be turning these into prints and making a full-color zine!

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I mentioned in the last newsletter how I was working on this icon and wallpaper set, and now it's live in the STORF shop!

This was my first time making anything like this. I enjoy drawing themed flash sheets (example), so it stood to reason I'd enjoy creating a themed icon set. It did involve some research, like how to turn each drawing into an icon suitable for both Windows and Mac and how to appropriately size each wallpaper background. I hope I remember all the steps I took for next time because I'd love to make more of these! What kind of themed icon set would you enjoy?

As always, I appreciate your peepers peepin' this newsletter and hope to bring you more anecdotes and updates in the near future!

Stef Mates