Terry

Kitten in her cat tree

Kitten in her cat tree

It took Nesta almost 6 weeks to discover the wonder of the cat tree but now it is her favorite place to nap. #caturday

Nesta the kitten

Nesta the kitten

Nesta the kitten

#caturday Nesta being a kitten.

Underpainting of a still life of a cherry topped cupcake

I am still working on teaching the kitten about staying away from my palette while I paint. I think I have a system set up to keep her safe and clean. Today I did manage to paint this cupcake still life underpainting.

Fantasy Peonies oil painting

Still too shiny to get a good photo. Everything dries so slowly in this humidity. Fantasy Peonies 16x20 oil on canvas.

Nesta the cat wearing her fairy wing costume

Nesta the cat wearing her fairy wing costume

Nesta the cat wearing her fairy wing costume

Nesta has wings. She loves wearing stuff. Took to a harness immediately. Trying to not buy her all of the Halloween costumes too early since she is growing so fast. #catsofbluesky

I am changing my username here. Anonymity hasn't been a big concern for me but lately I have felt the need for a little buffer between me and some conservative family. The "new" name is one I used for 20+ years but the people I want to avoid are not savvy enough to search beyond a real name.

#caturday Nesta is an artsy kitty.

Nesta the kitten Laing on a sketchbook looking opinionated

Nesta's first #caturday Laying down on my sketchbook making her opinion of my work clear.

I started painting the mushrooms this afternoon but the kitten needed my attention so I didn't get very far.

Grisaille under painting done with alcohol markers.

Under painting done with alcohol markers

Tried using alcohol marker for under painting a couple of small acrylic paintings. I have seen a couple of YouTubers do this and it seemed like something worth trying. Used browns and greys on the shrooms and did a straight grisaille on the teacup flowers. #artsky

Her shelter name was Oyster which we almost kept but it feels weird to say out loud. Nesta is a character is in the A Court of Thorns and Roses books. Our human adult children are also named after book characters.

And a big Thank You to @humanecharlotte.bsky.social for a wonderful adoption experience.

Nesta the kitten falling asleep

Nesta the kitten cuddles

Nesta loves crawling under blankets

We adopted a new kitten this weekend 🐈‍⬛ ca. She is 4 months old and the most affectionate and cuddly cat I have ever met. her name is Nesta. Expect to see her quite a bit. #catsky

Thank you!

Thank you.

Honestly, a little frustrating. The reactivating layers made me have to think. I thought I could glaze but that did not work at all. Next sketch I will know better.

Gouache colors can be fugitive so I wouldn't put it on display. It is more of a study for a planned larger painting anyway.

Gouache and watercolor pencil in a sketchbook

My husband surprised me with a set of gouache paints which I don't have much (any) experience with but had mentioned wanting to try. Used them to paint this tulip in a sketchbook. Finished it with watercolor pencil for more depth. #sketchbook #artsky #art #gouache

6 inch square painting of mushrooms painted in acrylic on canvas

3D printed and painted figure of Meowscular Chef from Monster Hunter. Painted and printed by @terrymcclary sculpt by NomNom Figures.

Today's adventures in finishing projects. A little painting of mushrooms in acrylic on canvas. And a figurine of the Meowscular Chef palico from Monster Hunter (sculpt by NomNom Fugures). Now I need to clean my studio. #painting #art #3Dprinting #minipainting

For my birthday a couple of weeks ago my son (adult) asked me what I wanted. I said I was running low on notebooks. He filled an entire large gift bag with just notebooks... hardback, moleskine, sketchbooks, spiral bound, all of the kinds. He must have given me 25 notebooks. Awesome gift!

Thank you!

The tariffs will raise the price of all quilting supplies. And the de minimus exemption ending means an increase in costs in ordering any supplies from outside the USA.

Hobby Lobby (yes, they are otherwise problematic) is stopping selling patterns and reducing their fabric discount from 40 to 30 percent and, at least my local stores, have reduced their garment fabric inventory dramatically. 3/🧵

DGA, the company that owns all of the USA distribution for the pretty much all of the mainstream pattern companies and the notion companies has been sold to another liquidator and most of the assets are being shut down. This includes a lot of the needlwork kits and crochet/knitting supplies. 2/🧵

Just this year Joann's went bankrupt, was bought out by a predatory liquidator, and shut down all of their stores. 1/🧵

I will keep sharing here if there is interest. I know a lot people follow me for sewing. I am guessing I am not the only person looking to other creative outlets right now.

I won't abandon sewing. The storage closet is big enough to turn into a small sewing room which I will do after taking a little bit of a break from thinking about it. I also set up a nice workspace for painting 3D printed minis. The painting in the 1st post is just started. Oil on a 16x20 in canvas

Creating something beautiful on a blank canvas or a piece of paper always felt like an anchor. With everything happening in the world I feel untethered. I need an anchor again. My sewing room has been converted to an art studio and it feels right.

I put my sewing machines away in a storage closet and dragged in my easels from the garage. Once upon a time I was a full-time artist. That part of my life got pushed aside for school and family and illness. But that work, painting, drawing, and photography, always felt the the core of my identity.

Unfinished oil painting of three peonies against a dark background by Terry McClary.

After some serious soul searching I realized I am not enjoying sewing at this stage in my life. With everything happening in the sewing business world it is discouraging. I don't want to spend tons of time sourcing all of my materials online and I don't enjoy upcycling. So I made some big changes.

I took a break from sewing for a couple of months. During my "sewing break" I finished three more nightgowns and pieced and basted a quilt. Clearly, I am terrible at taking breaks. Next week I am going to start free motion quilting the quilt.