I've been on a cleaning spree lately and I'm getting rid of all the stuff I let collect during the pandemic. I feels good to reduce the clutter and make room for new projects. I've been working on a series of new art pieces but I've been struggling with the small cutting area on my laser cutter. So I broke down and pre-ordered a larger laser (Muse Titan). Laser cutting technology has improved recently so this new laser has a larger cutting area but a much smaller footprint. It's perfect for a small studio like mine.

Last week we finally got out of the house and rented a cabin on San Juan Island. The island isn't very far from Seattle but just being in a new environment broke me out of a rut. There's something about getting out of my regular routine that makes me think about things differently. Continue reading...

It's been three years since I started writing this newsletter. I find the newsletter format so rewarding. I like writing about what I'm working on and sharing cool things that I've found without all the baggage of social media. Thanks for continuing to read it and I hope you're finding it useful. Continue reading...

You may have noticed I tweaked my name recently. Those of you who remember my DJ days will recognize the name Misha. Well, I'm bringing Misha back! You can call me Misha or Michelle, just as long as you call me... 

I've been playing around with moiré patterns lately. I came across this by accident when I laser-cut two designs with thin lines. When I overlapped those designs I noticed a trippy effect happening. I even made a TikTok video to show off the results. 

I have to admit, I'm feeling more optimistic about the future now that we have some competent leadership in place. Last Saturday was a rare sunny day so I took a walk around Lincoln Park in West Seattle. Everyone was masked up and seemed to be in a good mood. Even with the walks, my life feels stuck in a loop lately. I'm looking forward to exiting the loop and returning to a somewhat normal life again.

A couple of weeks ago I headed out to the Oregon coast to escape the city for a while. Our cabin was hand-built and rickety but it had a beautiful view of the ocean. I enjoyed walking on the beach every day at low tide. Since then, things have been fairly uneventful. Most places are on lockdown here in Seattle and the weather is the usual cold, gray, and wet.

I hope you all are staying safe and healthy. I'm reading a lot, exercising somewhat, and recovering from my election news binge. I'm heading out to the Oregon coast next week to escape the Thanksgiving pandemic and looking forward to getting out of the house and into a rustic beach cabin.

I'm approaching a mid-life milestone and it has me thinking about the future and the second half of life. There's only so much time left and I want to make it meaningful! Aside from that, I'm researching what I want to work on next. I'm sketching a lot and reading books about shape and ornamentation. 

I recently got back from a road trip down to Ashland, OR (before the recent devastating fires). The weather was hot and sunny but things were pretty quiet because of the canceled Shakespeare Festival. Matt and I had some nice cabin time and we managed to get some delicious blue cheese at the Rogue Creamery and have an outdoor lunch at Dancin Vineyards. We even stopped in Portland along the way for some outstanding takeout from Eem and Master Kong.

With the recent sunny weather I've been taking lots of walks around the neighborhood and visiting friends here and there (socially distanced of course). I'm even planning on driving down to Oregon for a little RnR.

I'm currently working on some geometric designs that involve a lot of layers and colors. Learning how to glue all those paper layers is a learning process for sure. It involves dispensing PVA glue into needle-nose containers so I can get glue into all those little spaces.