53 Comments

You had me at long tit.

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I think you found your next cross-stitch logo.

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(.)

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I had no idea my skin picking habit was a real thing!

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I just discovered this about a year ago! There are varying degrees of severity (mine is fairly mild), but it’s something I’ve struggled with my whole life. I had so much shame around it, thinking it was just a “bad habit” that I couldn’t kick. It was so relieving to realize that it’s more than that, and that LOADS of people suffer from it.

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Exactly, my mom would "punish" me by making me take baths in lysol because i needed to have my wounds "disinfected".

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😮Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry you had to suffer that! It must have been awful!

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sadly i thought that was normal and justified because I couldn't "control myself" and wow, telling that right now made me realize new trauma unlocked from the memory banks to share in therapy next time

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I love the original and also the blue! I really needed to read this today, thank you! From the hilarious title to affirming that our art truly matters in these dark times. I’ve been working on my October post and it contains pearls of that. This morning I woke with a heavy heart and considered abandoning it. Now I know I should still send it out later this week. As insignificant as my little voice may be, my art must have a home.

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Sleep is amazing. Tiny invisible artists sneak into my house while I'm asleep and do touch-ups of the paintings I have in progress that I dislike for various reasons. When I wake up in the morning I like those paintings a whole lot more and can usually find my way forward to finishing them from there. It's absolutely magical. ;-)

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:D i have a journal album online at my own gallery i called 'memoirs of a vampire butterfly' & the link shortened it to memoirs of a vampire butt. great.. lols all art is therapy, it isn't always easy even though that creative process helps us process, right.. turned out rather nice i'd say <3

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Best title ever.

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Dermatillomania is my jam, unfortunately. I'm so glad that your creating things helps. I need to do that, too! I love this piece, hard - and I love hearing about your process & knowing I'm not the only one who goes through that mental process. May we always keep finding our ways home!

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“Fuck this is a long tit”

Also known as “Rock in Sock Syndrome”

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Learning to embrace the mistakes I make while arting was one of the best things I ever taught myself. I often have to talk to myself like Bob Ross in order to force myself to accept what ever mistakes I made, but it works.

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Perception is everything. I'm staring at the picture being totally jealous of your talent. Then I read your feelings and was blown away about how you could possibly think it wasn't fabulous. I'm glad you were able to adjust your viewpoint and see it for the beauty it is............. next time just email me to send you some of my janky drawings and you'll be like "oh dang"

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I'm thinking of starting a substack for weight loss purposes. I figure if I'm creating/ writing/ painting, I'm not be eating. You not bleeding this week is proof of concept.

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Huh, another thing I have learned from you...

I pick my skin around my nails and I used to pick my head and the girl that cut my hair said something about it and I was embarrassed so I stopped. But I still pick my fingers and constantly need bandages around. I will not be a hand model. I love your picture and no one will ever see the “mistakes” you see. Thank you for your words! And long tit.

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We love a long tit 😌

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Coincidentally, after reading this (and laughing in all the right spots, nodding in agreement ditto), I came across this piece by an artist named Ursula von Rydingsvard. (That's her name, not the artwork's.)

https://d1lfxha3ugu3d4.cloudfront.net/images/opencollection/objects/size4/1996.51.25_PS4.jpg

I mean, MAYBE, but it's hard to believe that she second-guessed herself too much during its creation. But it's also hard to believe she didn't second-guess herself *at all*, y'know? I think you're probably on the right wavelength for your own art, just by definition.

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When I was a kid, my older brother (who could draw) angrily presented me with a pen and a piece of paper and demanded, “Draw something!” “I don’t draw”, I responded. I didn’t bother to mention that I sung and danced and made things because I knew those were, to him, girl things that didn’t count as art. “Anyone can draw. Just draw anything.” So I drew him a stick figure and handed it back. And he looked at me disgustedly and sneered, “What even is the point of you?”

You draw, Jenny. Beautifully. But that’s not the point of you. I wouldn’t presume to know fully what that is. But I know it has something to do with how you offer yourself, in all of your messiness and frustration and unknowing, so lovingly to us. That’s why I’m a paid subscriber. Not because I draw, but because I feel so held by you in all of my brokenness and imperfection. Thank you. ❤️

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I'm glad you shared it with everyone, not just subscribers. Although I admit that I read that and was like, "Yay, I get to see it, even though... wait, I *am* a subscriber. Right-o. Go me." It was just kind of one of those days. Woke up to panicked emails about how stuff on the development server was broken and had to send a gentle reminder that *I* am the reason that feature is broken and it is okay because the breaking was to help me with debugging and then later I sent another email to let them know that I'd toggled the server to not be broken and I got a very cheery thanks for fixing it so fast. So, cheers, I think!

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Your creativity and humor never ceases to bring joy, inspire, and make one go "oh girl same ♡"

A fantastic update, because yes. Also I've been applying your 'furiously happy' mantra for today's mindset and I figured you'd appreciate that :)

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