Bri

For ppl who aren't aware:
Old temperate forests are insanely rare nowadays and extremely important ecosystems lost forever once cut.
They're not just "old trees" but intricate networks of trees, fungi and all kinds of living creatures.
You CANNOT replant this!! Once it's gone it's lost FOREVER!!!

He's just a little blond boy, my goodness!

A chubby teenager. He has a solemn expression. Both eyes are cloudy with what looks like cataracts.

Bog friend or... fiend!? A tree-like-ape-like-horned thing with a delightful lichen beard. He looks to our left at something off-screen, perhaps someone he's speaking to.

Missions for my frands, who have so graciously sacrificed their OCs as I make a more streamlined commission sheet.

Blond kid belongs to @thestory137.bsky.social
Bog Tree Gentleman belongs to Nikaleles

#art #OCs

Another small Condor oil painting. "Ugly" vulture heads are fun to paint!

One of my least favorite things around AI in video games is when these LLM idiots try to say that "AI has been in video games for decades," as if the routines that tell ghosts to chase Pac-Man are exactly the same as the chat bot claiming there are nine Rs in strawberry.

the true mark of ppl made art!

A tiny piece of debris varnished to a traditional painting.

A fiber varnished to a traditional painting.

A tiny brush hair or other debris varnished to a traditional painting.

Clean ur brush before varnishing :')

But also... next time you're in a museum, finding dust, cat hair, and brush fibers in them is cathartic lol

H.A. Brown Elementary School Mural By Skype a Scientist

A week ago I found out that the grant I was confident would fund our spring mural will not, bc we're 2 blocks too deep into Kensington. This STINKS.

This project rocks bc it's community driven, biodiversity-focused (& more! read on!)

We're raising money to make it happen
givebutter.com/KenzoMural

Thanks! I definitely feel lucky to have had him so long, for sure.

YOU KNOW I did end up losing like 5 total beetles in the following 6 months after the great poisioning incident. Including my smooth dfb and my Cryptoglossa muricata.

I did speculate this could reduce their lifespans... And, I wonder if it did.

I feel very fortunate for it!

He was especially great when little kids asked about his age at events since he was usually about as old as they were lol

Definitely pouring one out for the big boy <3

Oop! Photo credit for the event photo does go to the San Bernardino County Museum staff!

A big Armored Stink Beetle (Eleodes armata) named Henson, pictured on an otter skull.

A photo from Arthropolooza 2025 of one of Henson's offspring (Eleodes armata) eating a piece of apple and working as an ambassador for native insects.

An opossum skull, with a smaller darkling and Henson. A note, this is a small opossum specimen so he looks especially large.

WELL DANG. Kinda a bummer way to start the day.

My biggest, oldest beetle has died.
Henson was collected in 2020, I have no idea how old he was actually, but he was with us 5 years and change.
Most of my other beetles are his offspring.

RIP dude, you were an amazing insect ambassador

#bugsky

Me lying in my warm bed with my cat cause i don't wanna shovel snow. U.U

I definitely understand.
I've lived all over the IE, and it's unfortunate how... I dunno, dismissive? I suppose, folks can be about conservation or responsible development.

It is heartening to see push back tho!
Hopefully the eagles bring the attention needed.

I have not!
I'm just an illustrator, and while I work with museums and land conservancies, I don't have a connection to a big org. That said, the orgs involved may!

Thanks for making this and spreading the word!

I hope you have a fantastic time next time you're up this way, and with luck the land trust will be moving into protect the North Shore <3!

!! PLEASE SHARE AND SPREAD THE WORD !!
Friends Of Big Bear Valley need to raise $10 MILLION by July to secure land that is under threat of luxury home developments.
The sensitive ecosystem of endangered animals and plant life must be protected!!
>> SaveMoonCamp.org <<
#art #zigzart

Lemmy sum it up...
This isn't a natural lake, this is a reservoir. This is a place already irreparably changed by development.
This was the home of the Serrano peoples and grizzly bears. It was a very different place.

Maybe the least can do is try to protect what's still here as best we can.

Jackie and Shadow are an umbrella for the region, their fame and charisma protects not just themselves but the plants and other animals that call this part of the mountains home.

They're also a huge draw for a town that lives and dies by tourism. It harms us all if they decide to vacate.
(5)

I think it's important to remember this isn't about purely about demonizing development.
It's about who we're developing for.
Half the homes here are empty short-term rentals or second summer homes. Meanwhile, full timers struggle to find anywhere they can afford to live. (4)

This would amount to paving around trees and leaving some marginal spaces for plants that wouldn't do much preserving.

There's been no word on accountability or a disallowance for things like spraying pesticides or herbicides. And so close to the water where people recreate and fish out of. (3)

Like 50 very expensive homes to be built on the lake. It would in NO WAY address the affordability or infrastructure problems in Fawnskin, Big Bear Lake, and surrounding villages.

While the folks behind the project have said they would leave spaces for wildlife (2)

Local here!
Let's BUY THE LAND!

This whole thing is pretty controversial.
Not with everybody, but it is with a lot of folks!

Despite push back, the project has continued to press on. And let me say, this literally is, like a micro community that would be built for only the wealthy. (1)

a printed zine, the cover features a watercolor nudibranch which is purple and pink with yellow spots and the title says 2025 Nudivember: 30 days of nudibranchs

Guess who finally solved the printer issues??

I FINALLY have 2025 Nudivember zines in my shop!

This is one of two zines I now produce entirely at home, 100% homemade by my own two hands.

Buy here: saimihanma.com/product/art-...

A landscape page with a pale green background and two illustrations of Ginkgo on it. On the left is an inaccurate one with leaves coming directly from a branch. On the right is an accurate one with clusters extending from short shoots.

I, too, would like to have a go at the new Spinosaurus soon, but in the meantime:
Here's a slide from my recent talk, which covers the DOs and DON'Ts of restoring ginkgoes within palaeoart!
Enjoy! #Ginkgo #FossilFriday #paleobotany #paleoart #SciComm

All my fellow Californians, y'all remember to leave a comment about not drilling off our shores, otay? Otay.

SoCal
www.regulations.gov/document/BOE...

Central
www.regulations.gov/document/BOE...

SCI COMM FOLKS