Karen Sim

Just me again, thriving in a chaos of my own making.
Next and FINAL show of the year is coming up:
Nanaimo’s very own 2025 ArtWalk! I’ll be setting up shop in the Harbourfront Library, so ye all can come find me there and say hello!
Nov 22/23…..

It’s darkly perfect! 10/10- no notes 🩵🩵

Affogato break for me and my table manager “Ty-Ty”. We got a WHOLE CORNER! Only a couple of hours left at the Haunted Holiday Market- but we’re loving the vibes!

Getting my Christmas/Halloween mashup spirit on! Hope you can come say hello!
Wellington Hall, Nanaimo ~~~

Keep a little “creepy” in your Christmas this year! One day only….

Hot on the heels of the Victoria Halloween Markets, comes the Haunted Holiday Market, back on my home turf in Nanaimo!
Hoping to have a couple more “felt mini squonks” along for the ride this time too, so there’s another excuse for you to swing by and say hello! 😉

All set up in my little nook at the Halloween YYJ show in Victoria! Had a little time yesterday to show Oliver the Squonk around town, between downpours, and sweetened the deal with matcha and ganache.
Today’s day two- last chance to come say hi before we vanish back home….

Next Halloween show is rolling up! Back to Victoria, BC this weekend for Halloween Market YYJ! @halloweenmarketyyj.bsky.social
Some new merch, some new projects, aaand I’m currently a pain-addled baggie of human soup, so we’ll see how long I last 🫠

All set up and ready to rock! This place is already so beautiful, but now we get to ghoul it up!
Bonus! Come down for a sneak peek of the first ever squishy version of Oliver the Squonk! Perhaps even more to come?…. 😉

I have some new merch in mail limbo, but with a little luck (and some naproxen and meditation apps), I may be able to get a new piece ready in time…

It’s been a crushing last couple of weeks, and I’m now essentially a corpse, animated through the power of coffee, necessity, and spite… BUT! More importantly! I’m back in Victoria for the Crafts from the Crypt Fair!

It darn well is, ain’t it? 🩵

Some days, it just be like that…
Don’t forget to unplug and go breathe the outside air if ye can 🩵

*also, just a WIP for y’all to show ye I’m still working… 😉

Sometimes I like to ramble. And sometimes I decide to actually jot down my thoughts on the questions I keep getting from other artists at shows and workshops.
SO! This one’s for my fair friends who’re looking for good references and inspiration!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/references-aka-138533875

The heat has really been rough, despite my efforts to “toughen up”, but Oliver the Squonk has been coping at least- and we have gotten some gorgeous skies out of it at least?

First event in a couple of months is coming up quickly! I have a couple little newbies being shipped, but the most fun will be playing with my ever changing setup. If you’re in Nanaimo this Saturday, dip in and say hello (and watch the chaos!)…

#oliverthesquonk #squonk #cryptid #traditionalart #pencilart

In the meantime, it looks like Oliver hasn’t quite grasped the concept of masking up when the air is seriously “bleh”, but we’ll keep at it.
Seriously…. We all kinda smell like jerky versions of ourselves here…

Be well, my friends! 🩵😶‍🌫️

The smoke has finally eased off at least, though the smell lightly lingers… It’s been an awkward last couple of months, but my next show is fast approaching, so I’m pulling things together once more.

Ok, this is objectively brilliant!

Great plan until the early evening unleashed an outside temperature spike, and a “refreshing” waft of second-hand forest fire. Fingers crossed for our Port Alberni neighbours 😥

After getting most of my to-do list done today, I realized just how overheated I’d become in the house, and after some relaxing creature-doodling, the house coyote demanded time in the shade, water, wind.

Am I to somehow create the worlds skinniest charcoal stick that isn’t hard enough to only gouge lines on concrete, or so soft that any attempt to sharpen it will crumble it like the Dark World’s feta??
Sigh….. a good sign to go outside, eh?…

Ahh the familiar feeling of needing a pencil extender… Also, why are the “blackest blacks” reserved for paint?

And a little magical realism from another storyteller I’ve only encountered online, in a time of community and chaos.
Enjoying the journey so far…
@coyotewallace.bsky.social

Colour digital environment sketch on an iPad screen, set in a Sketchboard Pro, with a copy of “American Mystic: The Life, Death, & Rebirth of Jimmy Wonderful” by author Coyote Wallace

Creeping vine climbing up a trellis

Summer sky over Nanaimo, BC

The artist’s hand petting the head of her sleeping German Shepherd dog

I’ve been wrestling down the roiling anger and frustration by turning my attention more to my community, and to outward environmental stimuli that demonstrate calm, love, and resilience. A perfectly coiling creeping vine in my garden. A wide, calm, and open summer sky. My snoozing house-coyote.

What started as a quick sketchbook study of my snoozing dog has evolved into the above.
What story do YOU see unfolding here?….

The monsters of my world building project “Ænim” don’t just have humans to contend with- there is a healthy population of invasive Earth animals as well, and I’m looking forward to adding their stories to the growing pile for my ongoing collection…