iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 20/10/2026

May I share an old painting of mine that no longer exists? I painted this a few yrs ago, took a picture, but then kept going and ruined it. I have never been able to replicate it again, but made with my own hands... Untrained, I started painting around the pandemic and haven't looked back! 🎨

Gold water lilies in golden waters... a painting done with acrylic paint

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 20/10/2026

Another ladder— The sculpture Jacob's Ladder by Richard Hunt in the Carter Woodson Regional Library, Chicago, IL. (I made a trip specifically to see this sculpture bc someone I know often talks abt it.)

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 16/10/2026

Trying to reset... Good night.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 16/10/2026

I usually visit The Old Guitarist whenever I am there, but it was not on display today. Some random paintings...

I think Georgia O'Keeffe's Sky Above Clouds IV

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 16/10/2026

Gustave Moreau French, 1826-1898 Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra 1875-76 Oil on canvas The first painting on tour...

"Gustave Moreau
French, 1826-1898
Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra
1875-76
Oil on canvas
The Greek hero Hercules was tasked with 12 difficult feats, or labors. The second of these was to slay the Lernacan Hydra, a water monster with multiple serpentine heads. In this depiction of the episode, shown at the Paris Salon of 1876, Gustave Moreau indulged his taste for the ghoulish.
Hercules confronts the Hydra in a swampy landscape strewn with the fragmented and decomposing bodies of its victims. Moreau produced myriad studies for virtually every figure and detail in the painting and even sketched live snakes at the Paris zoo.
Gift of Mrs. Eugene A. Davidson"

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 09/10/2026

I have rings I wear when I'm feeling certain feelings. Reminders for me about bigger things in life... Some for today. More on the other hand. Let it be a better day.

My right hand. A tourqoiuse Native American ring and an equal sign pinky ring.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 09/10/2026

The news was too much for me yesterday. For whatever reason, woke up 3'ish am this morning, calm. Have been up, took a walk at 4:30 this morning, still calm. I hope this will be sustained into the day. Mellow mood, mellow song. Good morning. (Such a Simple Thing by Ray LaMontagne) #music #calming

Song on my phone... Such a Simple Thing by
Ray LaMontagne

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 07/10/2026

I love animals but was never a pet owner as an adult. When I was a kid, though, we briefly took care of a pregnant stray dog for a while until we found her owner. My only picture of her, so also my favorite pic?

Photo of me as a kid with a pregnant stray dog we took care of until we found her owner

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 03/10/2026

A pandemic painting from 2020. There are multiple meanings to this, but one is a ghostly figure pushing a boulder and opening up a tomb, opening the scene to a field of flowers. It's abt patience and waiting and something gentle and beautiful on the other side. (This painting was a happy accident)

Pandemic painting w/ acrylic paint... a ghostly figure moving a boulder and opening up a tomb to a field of flowers

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 29/09/2026

My preordered book by @sashahemon.bsky.social just came in the mail. Looking forward to reading it!

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 17/09/2026

Because someone on here quoted this song today... now listening... Nina Simone, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood.

Album cover of The Essential NINA SIMONE
Song: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Artist: Nina Simone

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 15/09/2026

This was based on a meme template to be filled in with words. Art/meme template from @djolder.bsky.social's Patreon page from months ago. Recently tried to create one. Did I do this right? (Basically, a person's English might just be limited, & it doesn't mean their thoughts are necessarily simple)

Meme template from Daniel José Older's Patreon page filled in by me...

LOST IN TRANSLATION: How did you feel when you found out your puppy was alive?

자신의 강아지가 살아남았다는 사실을 알았을 때 마음속에 따뜻한 온기가 솟아오르고 꼭 안아주고 싶은 기분이 들었고, 어두운 하늘에 별이 반짝거리며 눈이 반짝반짝 빛났습니다.

(Loose translation of Korean: When I learned my puppy had survived, a warm feeling welled up in my heart, and I wanted to hold him tightly, as stars twinkled in the dark sky and my eyes sparkled.)

Actual English response: Happy.

Template: Patreon.com/djolder

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 15/09/2026

Drop a closed restaurant that you still miss. (Late 3/2020, I ordered a bday meal & told Kokomo, a local Korean restaurant, I was celebrating alone. They gave me free bottles of soju and extra banchan that evening... The owner of the now closed restaurant was a Beach Boys fan, hence the name...)

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 14/09/2026

When you said salt and vinegar, my mind immediately thought of kimchi and looked up whether kimchi potato chips exist. They do! Never had them before, don't know if they are good, but now I want to try, lol.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 13/09/2026

The score with under 4 min to go. OMG.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 07/09/2026

Do you ever put gakdugi 궁물 (I hope I am referring to that correctly...) in your gomtang or seolleongtang broth? My favorite way to have it!

Korean seolleongtang soup before adding gakdugi 궁물 to it (gakdugi in upper right corner)

Korean seolleongtang soup after adding gakdugi 궁물 to the soup.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 06/09/2026

I recently got my covid (moderna) and flu vaccines for the fall. Woke up at 11 am today, fatigued. I am usually an early riser... Ready to take a small nap. (This pic from a few yrs ago is of a little kitten from a local cat shelter I occasionally visit. So sweet.❤️)

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 27/08/2026

Relatively recently read The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, which I was so moved by, and recently just started her memoir. #AmReading

Booker Prize-winning author of The God Of Small Things

Arundhati Roy
MOTHER MARY
comes to me

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 24/08/2026

Artists, show how you paint women. (I cannot paint ppl well, so the figures tend to be very basic/abstract, as are many of my paintings... painting was just something I started around the start of the pandemic... ) #AcrylicPaint #Artwork #TherapeuticArt #Memory

A women surrounded by golds and yellows, representing her memories, which are aglow around her

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 22/08/2026

Very. May I share one ex of this? I love this video, lol. My friend feeds the squirrels in her backyard. Bc of squirrels, the crows get fed too, and being smart, the crows know this. When a hawk came into her backyard, the squirrels scattered, but this crow challenged the hawk and chased it away.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 12/08/2026

I was going to share my post from 4/2024, but the pics won't show. I reattached pics here. What I wrote when I saw the eclipse: It got quiet as 94% approached around 2:07 pm Central Time. Got really cool. After that moment, as things were returning, it got warmer, and a mass of birds took flight. ❤️

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 02/08/2026

From this article: www.instyle.com/news/tbt-cin...

1988: Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere first meet
According to People, Crawford and Gere first met at a star-studded barbecue hosted at the home of photographer Herb Ritts around 1988. Crawford, just 21 at the time, was awestruck by the celebrity crowd - especially Gere, who was 38.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 01/08/2026

#ArtRepostJuly #Art #AcrylicPaint Theme: Favorite This is one of my favorites because it no longer exists and was a complete accident when I painted it.

Painting of... Gold water lilies in a golden pond

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 30/07/2026

#ArtRepostJuly #Artwork #AcrylicPaint For July 29 on the theme of Environment: Memories at Sunset. It's two figures sitting outside around sunset. The 1st one is the earlier version. The yellow/gold represent their memories. Final version (2nd one) has a lot more of the yellow/gold, image cropped.

Earlier version of painting... sunset, two figures sit aglow in memory ... a dark scene with gold and yellow to represent their memories

Final version of painting... sunset, two figures sit aglow in memory ... a dark scene with more gold and yellow to represent their memories (this is slightly cropped)

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 28/07/2026

This was around the downtown area a little after 4 pm...

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 27/07/2026

Just north of Chicago right now. Wow. And it's 10x worse now.... stuck for the moment...

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 21/07/2026

Older artwork for repost July... July 21st on the theme of blue. Here are many shades of blue. (I had a long run of flower paintings during the pandemic...) #ArtRepostJuly #Blue #Art #AcrylicPaint #Flowers

Acrylic paint—a painting of a ghostly figure opening a tomb to a field of flowers with blue skies

Acrylic paint—a painting of water lilies in blue waters and petals... easter colors

Acrylic paint—a painting of water lilies in blue waters sparkling with sunlight

Acrylic paint—a painting of more flowers, deep red, and deep blue waters

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 14/07/2026

Chap chae made. Ready to send to my friend's daughter tomorrow or maybe I will walk over tonight... (personally, I think chap chae tastes better the next day...). AC still out at their home. Sweet potato noodles, carrots, spinach, beef, onions, shiitake mushrooms, lots of garlic, other ingredients.

Two containers of chap chae ( Korean noodle dish)

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 13/07/2026

For July 13th, on the theme of colorful, here is an painting done some time ago. (I needed to use paint colors that I don't often use in this one...) #ArtChallenge #ArtRepostJuly #Art

Colorful flowers against a background of multiple shades of green

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 09/07/2026

Another old painting (on my guitar)... (I had a traumatic experience ~2000 & haven't been able to play my guitar since. I tried tuning it yrs ago, & the string broke bc I was tuning it way too sharp w/o even paying attention. My fingers get stiff if I even touch it. I decided to at least paint it.)

Colorful sitting figure painted on a guitar

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 08/07/2026

My profile pic is a photo of something I saw at the start of the pandemic. A spray painted heart by the lake... I don't think the person who did it realized how meaningful it was during the early months of covid for me to walk by this every day. It's not there anymore, but I think abt it often.❤️

Stone with a heart spray painted on it by Lake Michigan

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 06/07/2026

"a subtle nudge from the universe reminding us to loosen our grip and laugh at life's wild unpredictability... the coyote embodies transformation, adaptability, humor, and wisdom hidden beneath chaos..." Hmmm... actually something I needed to read this morning.

Every once in a while, an animal crosses our path that seems to carry a message - a subtle nudge from the universe reminding us to loosen our grip and laugh at life's wild unpredictability. For many, that messenger is the Coyote Spirit Animal, one of the most fascinating and complex totems in nature. Known as both the trickster and the teacher, the coyote embodies transformation, adaptability, humor, and wisdom hidden beneath chaos.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 06/07/2026

I have the dvd, which Tony Kushner signed! It's been some time since I've watched it and will need to revisit it.

Cover of the Angels in America dvd signed by Tony Kushner

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 04/07/2026

I did a series of paintings that had a similar style. Here's another one. A girl sitting with her memories. #memory #art #acrylicpaint #therapeuticart

Girl surrounded by yellow and gold representing her sitting with her memories. Red orange skies and blue green earth

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 04/07/2026

I cannot paint ppl well at all. I've never really taken a class, so I end up painting more abstract things... This was from a few yrs ago... Two figures, after life, journeying into the unknown. They are walking through a field of flowers toward a dark night scene. #Art #AcrylicPaint #Painting

Two yellow figures, after life, journeying into the unknown. They are walking through a field of flowers toward a dark night scene.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 03/07/2026

Random older painting I did around 2020-21. I am trying to motivate myself to paint again sometime soon. Painting of a kid reading a book, getting lost in a story... dark backdrop, surrounded by light and flowers representing her imagination.

Yellow figure in a dark backdrop but the figure is reading a book and surrounded by light and flowers

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 03/07/2026

There are actually two pictures— 1. Age 15 (I am 51 now...), summer 1990, the last time I visited Korea, my birth country. I'm standing by a Korean wishing tree. 2. Age 41, Dublin 2016 for the centenary, a very special time historically. I met up w/ friends I made the yr before when I turned 40.

15 yr old me the last time I visited Korea decades ago standing by a Korean wishing tree w/ colorful ribbon streaming down

w/ italian dubliner host and her friends after a centenery event in Dublin 2016, a very special visit.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 20/06/2026

I'm so sorry this is happening there. Late last year, at the height of what was happening in and near Chicago, the military helicopters were flying so low in my city that the windows were shaking.

Military helicopter flying low in my city late last yr

Military helicopter flying low in my city late last yr. Seen by a building...

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 20/06/2026

I don't know much abt Abigail Lucien, but their exhibit just opened a couple days ago at the art institute... interested in finding out more. "In Blood of the Earth, Haitian American artist Abigail Lucien explores the ways that iron connects us to histories, the material world, and each other."

Image of work by Abigail Lucien called To Unravel a Wrought

Work titled
Spirit Lays Their Hand, 2025
Abigail Lucien
Courtesy of the artist

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 18/06/2026

Oh. I found a different image showing another perspective of this same painting while it was still wet. Shows the texture better... #AcrylicPaint #art #TherapeuticArt #Texture

Painting of water lilies on sunlit waters. There is texturerized waves in shades of blue and gold paint used for sunlight. The perspective is looking across at an angle and close enough to see more detail.

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 16/06/2026

That still fits? This one... not that old though...

Grat T-shirt that shows the shape of a bear with the word HUG inside the bear (Bear Hug)

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 09/06/2026

We don't usually see each other's headers. Here's mine. Quote-skeet with yours (if you feel like it)

Water lilies on sunlit waters ... a painting with gold lilies and sunlight and blue-green waters. Textured painting

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 05/06/2026

I haven't painted in a very long time! Hoping to find time in the not so distant future. It usually takes a couple hrs for a 16" x 20" painting. My process is usually very intuitive and a surprise each time. "Happy accidents." (This one w/ pastel colors painted on Easter a number of yrs ago.)

Another water lily painting. This one with pastel Easter colors painted on Easter a number of yrs ago

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 05/06/2026

Another older painting from a few yrs ago... water liles on sunlit waters. I was playing w/ texture here. I caked on the paint then when it was half dry, I started to mold waves/ripples. I was playing w/ sunlight idea and gold paint. Liquitex's gold paint is a pretty shade!

Water lily painting on blue sunlit waters. The sunlight created from gold paint

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 05/06/2026

A 16" x 20" acrylic painting from a few yrs ago... messy but fun to paint. A koi pond, flowers everywhere... The second image is the same painting in a dark room, the portions painted w/ gold color paint catching the light.

Painting of a koi pond, surrounded by flowers

Same Painting of koi pond but in a dark room... you can see gold painted sections catching the light

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A. J. Lee @byajlee.myatproto.social · 27/05/2026

There are a few songs on this album that I keep returning to over and over again and listen to on repeat one. Something that soothes... (Bill Withers live at Carnegie Hall)

Bill Withers Live
AT CARNEGIE HALL album cover

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