Julien (The Beaver Pond Shop)

Today is Trans Day of Visibility. In honor of my uncle, who this weekend, in a severe mental heath crisis, still made an effort to call me his nephew instead of his niece, I am choosing to stay visible today despite being scared and exhausted by the world. Trans people will always exist. Lead with ❤️

I spent DAYS on decorating a tea set, cryptid themed mugs, and a few other pieces. Today I opened the glaze kiln and only THREE pieces are sellable, and one is a re- fire from last week. 😫

The Yeti is real.

Mothman lives.

I haven’t eaten cereal in years (I’m a savory bitch) and suddenly today all I want is Raisin Bran. I ate two bowls for lunch and would absolute love to have more. I’ve never liked Raisin Bran? The body is bodying, I guess. 🤷‍♂️

Mug with a round orange circle on it. In the circle is a light blue drawing of a person with two faces, four arms, and four legs. It has a little spiral on the abdomen. Around the circle is a glaze called ‘moonscape’ that is a light blue with black speckles. The top of the mug is textured and glazed with copper colored glaze.

Soulmate mug!
In Greek mythology people used to be born with two faces, four arms, and four legs. Zeus was jealous of their power and so he split them down the middle into people as we know today. Now people spend their lives searching for their other half.

The kiln was firing and my windows do nothing, unfortunately ☹️

Resting heart rate: 127 bpm
Studio temp: 90+ degrees
Pots to glaze: 45 ish?
Death: imminent

Pottery means thinking you’re a genius and ahead of the game until the week before a market, when you suddenly realize all your work is awful and you don’t have enough. Guess who is working nonstop until their market this weekend.

Got stuck EIGHT TIMES trying to find a vein for my colonoscopy. Three different people and an arm ultrasound later…. 😑

🚨 Everyone needs to call their Dem Senator right now. They are starting to cave.

Tell them:
1. Vote NO on Cloture
AND
2. Vote NO on the Republican spending bill.

Don’t let them pivot to reconciliation. GOP doesn’t need Dem votes on that and they know it.

TODAY is the showdown.
🤳🏽: (202) 224-3121

Look, I’m getting a colonoscopy tomorrow and spending today on the toilet, but I’m still calling my representatives. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE.

A very cute face of a treeing walker coonhound named Gertrude

This is Gertrude. She’s the only thing keeping me sane right now.

Greenware clay pot with a screaming face sculpted onto it. The face is painted with underglaze, while the rest of the pot is still bare clay.

Continuing work on this sculptural pot. After this week in our country, this is feeling pretty autobiographical.

My therapist is slowly helping me form a mental health and regular healthcare team of entirely trans/ non-binary folks and I wish for everyone the kindness and understanding of being treated and helped by people who actually respect and understand you.

A photo of the book “The Return of the King” from Lord of the Rings trilogy, laying on top of a colorful striped blanket covering a sleeping dog. There is also a cup of coffee being held next to the book in a handmade mug.

I’m having so much trouble getting out of bed, or doing anything, really. This depression is conniving. So today I cuddled my pup, drank lots of coffee, and read LOTR where I know without a doubt that good will triumph over evil.

It is absolutely necessary that we do NOT cut social security for the millions of folks who depend on it like me. I cannot survive without the medications, food, and security that SSD allows me. Any decent human being cannot support taking away resources from those who desperately need them.

I depend on social security disability to survive. I have CPTSD, OCD, major depressive disorder, ulcerative colitis, endometriosis, and other health issues. I live with my parents, I work as much as I possibly can running my own business, and receive SSD and I still BARELY can afford to live. 1/2

Green ware mug covered in a strawberry design and the words “trans people will live forever”

F*cking try me.

Trying to figure out if my feeling like I’m dying is actually a disease, or if it’s just my body viscerally responding to the state of the world.

Every artist I know is really struggling right now. Financially, emotionally, their confidence, in general.

If you like an artist's work, support them any way you can. Buying their stuff or subscribing to their Patreon is great, but words of encouragement are also incredibly helpful.

Greenware teapot with a handle above the lid and a short spout. It’s a work in progress. It’s held in a hand. The background is a pottery studio.

Making teeea 🎶 making tea potttss 🎶

Ever have weird moments in therapy where you just stare intensely at each other without speaking for way too long?

Person (me) holding a blue mug with a nude trans person on it with a rainbow swirling around them.

This is my favorite mug right now, made for me by a fellow potter friend. The person on it reminds me to breathe and embrace myself as I am. #trans #loveyourself

Trying to break my pattern of unhealthy intense friendships/ relationships by being honest and vulnerable, and setting boundaries for myself. Can’t say it doesn’t suck though.

I sincerely don’t know why people aren’t physically stopping those dorks. Move shit. Lock doors. Lose the keys. Everyone switch seats. Turn off all the lights. Switch the signs on the elevator lobby. Make the settings all silly. Use a different language. Wear costumes. Fill rooms with balloons

Red clay mug at the greenware stage with a carving of a flying bird surrounded by stylized lines

Slowly getting back to work. These designs will be stained darker at the bisque stage.

My dogs name: Gertrude

What I call my dog: Bug, Bubba, Bubba Gump, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Buttface, Buddy, Baby, Stinky, Stinker, Stink butt, Stinky Butt, Honey, Nasty Dog

Hand holding a mug decorated with a line drawing of a nude trans person who has had top surgery and is holding their arms behind their head and looking serene with their eyes closed. They are surrounded by strawberries

Our joy will never be taken from us. #transrights

Doing my yoga with a migraine because I gotta get strong to fight the fascists.