iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

They talked about the first day they met. They talked about school pranks and lunch favorites. Several talked about the nearby orphanage where they grew up with many siblings after the death or abandonment of parents. I hate our politics, but I love these tough old broads. They make 88 look great.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Yeah, it was hellishly hot visiting gardens in Bucks County, Pa. But sometimes you just gotta pretend you're somebody else for awhile. Or at least in a different timeline. We visited Andalusia, Meadowbrook Farms, and Stoneleigh and were back home before the cats could kill each other.

One of many garden rooms at Meadowbrook Farms. Free admission. This outdoor area features a circular fountain leading down to a swimming pool.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

#oilpainting #art #animalpainting #cats #TNR This is Carl. I painted him today. Digging his claws into me every morning is how he demands breakfast. Carl is a jerk. But he's my jerk.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

This is rich. Where's our sign for Trump, warning visitors to the White House that a lying, convicted felon and pedophile stealing our taxpayer dollars to line his own pockets lurks within.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

When nothing makes sense, just run away. I pretended I was in Last of the Mohicans the whole time. Watkins Glen is divine. #hiking #newyork #waterfalls

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Seen in a shop window today while passing thru Corning NY. I'm thrilled of course, but . . . Why aren't they everywhere? After all he's done, how is it we're still seeing Drain the Swamp signs and This is Maga Country? Maybe we deserve to die out as a species. I don't know where to put my anger.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Another Chincoteague pony study. Sunlight on a content animal's face just feels divine. #horses #animalpaintings #oilpainting #art

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

The joy of a car ride! Rescue dogs will always give me more than I give them. The world is crazy. So go walk a homeless dog and make his day. Yours, too. #oilpainting #rescuedogs #dogpainting #blueskyart #artyear. Yeah, I know my car is filthy. Dog spit, who cares.

Porshia, a brown mutt, is a favorite dog of mine. I couldn't get her to even leave the yard for months, now she doesn't want to go back home. Here she is in my dog wagon, ready to roll to the park.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Nothing makes sense. I will use my voice in the only way I know how. I will draw what I see outside my window. It is real and peaceful and true. In dark days, nature is my light. #ArtYear #ClassicMono #drawing #woods #wildlife #snow #pencil #charcoal #winter

A hard winter in Pennsylvania. Two deer forage in the snow at the edge of the woods. They find little here but azalea leaves.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

When February just won't give up. When Trump is still in power and I've just finished rereading Wuthering Heights. I really need alcohol.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

It's been awhile since I've posted a dog painting, and Bluesky could use one for Valentine's Day. Because would there even BE love without animals? #art #oilpainting #dogs

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Immersing myself in sunlight as I eat fresh fruit and then painting it is my happy place. These days I'll take any fuckin happy place I can find. #ArtYear #fruit #oilpainting #stilllife #art #selftaught

Partially eaten oranges and an empty banana peel on a white plate, arrayed in heavy sunlight. I birdwatch while I eat breakfast.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

I haven't painted in quite awhile. Maybe I felt the need to take a break from mourning. Art helps me express, when I don't know what else to do. This is The Last of the Soup. Because everything tastes better in a pretty bowl. Stay warm, folks. #ArtYear #food #oilpainting #art #soupbowls

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

You know you're old and uninspired when you display the Thanksgiving card the insurance guy sends you every year. Nice guy tho.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Abandoning this current painting, since I can't seem to paint hay at all. But, hay, at least I tried something new. (See what I did there? ☺️)

Ponies at Chincoteague. These are therapy horses that we feed, right next to the wonderful Refuge Inn where we like to stay. It's my home away from home.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

What determines my value? Do I? Is it acceptance by others? Why should I keep trying? For the joy painting gives me! Yet, if so, why am I so easily crushed by the opinions of others? This piece got accepted, anyway. I tell myself, not bad for a self taught artist. But the heart wants what it wants.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Definitely buying this for premiere night! Yeah, so it's a little thing, but I take my happiness where I can these days.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Emily. He's had this girlfriend for a year now. Tell me I haven't jinxed it by painting her; but she's too adorable to not. Mothers never stop worrying. I just want to die knowing someone loves him besides me. #oilpainting #figurepainting #ArtYear #art

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Harrisburg, Pa showed up today, and it was great! Felt kinda like Woodstock Meets a Kick-ass Kids' Birthday Party.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

I just don't like today, so here's a rescue dog. I will post what matters to me. Because I Was Here.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Hey, lookit, Stephen Miller was spotted at my Lowe's today.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

My mother would cook anything I requested for my special birthday dinner. Then she'd say "Come on outside and talk at me a little." We'd rock on the swing. She'd scratch my back. She grated her own fresh coconut for my cake. I haven't had that in 30 years now. Today is my birthday. I am #BlueMonday

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Finished Porschia yesterday and could hardly wait to begin - dogs are so much fun to paint! I've been walking this rescue girl weekly for nearly a year. She has had NO lookers at all. Still, my dog walk days are full of snacks, belly scratches, and kickass fun. #YellowThu #rescuedogs #oilpainting

Porschia the Laughing Dog. She loves rolling in the grass and grilled hot dogs. Her tongue is enormous, as is her happiness at car rides.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

A painting I was commissioned for years ago by a lady who didn't buy it. She said her black dog looked too gray. I was just devastated. But someone else bought it within weeks. As long as he's being honored on someone's wall, it's all good. #ColorADay #RedWed #dogs #oilpainting #art

A black dog wearing a green collar gazes out from a vibrant red background.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

#AnimalArtTuesday. Here is my girl, Rockie, who was one of the best cats ever. A brave girl, she'd chase deer into the woods and bop toads on the head when she spotted them in the pond, just to watch them bounce. #art #coloredpencil #cats

Rockie, laying on my shoes. She liked being on something I wore. A longhair, she had beautiful markings of gray, black, and tan. She was a small cat who lived big.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

#SleepySep I think I posted this once before, but it's a favorite of mine. That dear nephew I babysat for years is now 15, and I don't think I'm considered cool anymore. But that's okay, cuz I was lucky as shit back then! #oilpainting #art #figurepainting #children

A tired little boy sleeps peacefully. An old fan and rotary phone perch on a table in the background.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Casco Bay. I'm trying to teach myself how to do water. People and dogs are much easier! #oilpainting #art #scenery #Maine #landscape

A view of the bay from beneath an outgrowth of trees where I was hiding. Hiding in trees is one of my huge comforts, even tho I'm 68.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Our final day in Acadia. It's such a beautiful world. I hope humans can keep it for awhile longer.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

Have been gone a week and am currently in Maine. There are solar panels and pride flags and yards being rewilded. There are gay folks, trans folks, happy dogs, and I unintentionally surprised two girls having the best makeout session in an obscure garden. Oh, Maine! I'm not ready to leave yet!

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

#purplefinch. (Apologies for the glare from glass!) I wanted to post him, since flying away is what I'm about to do. My red-neck o' the woods can get mighty suffocating, so I'm off to find kinder and bluer folks. I hope. #birds #coloredpencil #drawing #art #wings

Purple finch perches on a budding branch.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

Not our best protest showing, but I won't give up.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

I finished this yesterday. I think maybe it's done, not sure. I could hardly sleep for the excitement of attempting to paint her beautiful hair. #beachbreak #oilpainting #figurepainting #portraitpainting #art #peopleofcolor #ArtYear #children

A young Black girl, wrapped in a colorful towel, takes a break from the beach to sip her drink.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

Another from my beach series. This sweet little fella had had enough. #sleepy #JuliArty #artchallenge #oilpainting #art #beach

A mother sits on a bench, cuddling her little boy. It's a sunny, windy day, a bit cool, and his sister perches beside them, just her legs visible.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Shelter dog, Trinity, sure loved her time in the play yard! Many of the shelter dogs I post are from years ago, when I volunteered and also painted dogs as fundraisers for AHS. I loved them all and many have surely passed. #shake #JuliArty #artchallenge #rescuedogs #oilpainting #art #dogs

Trinity loved playing with toys and is shaking furiously at her leash. She was a small dog, black and white. Her leash is bright red and she's pictured in the bright green grass, quite anxious to play. 😊

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

#family. A popular spot along Rt 15 above Harrisburg, I believe this spot is called McKees Half Falls Rest Area. There are often Amish families recreating here in this peaceful spot. #artchallenge #JuliArty #oilpainting #art #figurepainting #Amish

Four Amish women rest in the shade on a blanket, gazing out into the water. One holds a baby, and there is a little girl playing with a truck. One woman holds a pen and paper, one is barefoot.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

For #Hot. These gals take a french fry break on this beautiful but sweltering day. #artchallenge #JuliArty #oilpainting #art #figurepainting #summer #boardwalk #beach

Two pretty women perch on the edge of the boardwalk, eating buckets of French fries. They are very tanned, dressed coolly and casually. There's a bicycle in the background, and the sunny day is heavy with lavender shadows.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

#pleasure is strolling the boardwalk with your forever besties. (Well, if you're neurotypical, anyway. Some of us would rather just be reading about it. 🤣) #artchallenge #JuliArty #painting #oilpainting #figurepainting #beach #bff

Four girls in short summer dresses walk along the boardwalk. We see them from behind, their arms around each other, as their long hair bounces in the breeze.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Dang, plus I missed the day for #bikini. This one's an old favorite from back in the days when my kid was a reporter at an Ocean City, Maryland, newspaper. It was so nice not having to pay for a hotel room. 🤣 #beach #volleyball #oilpainting #figurepainting #artchallenge #JuliArty #art

Four bikini-clad girls take a break to discuss strategy while competing in volleyball. The ocean is in view behind them, as is a purple beach umbrella.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Late to the party, as usual. I don't know how I manage to miss so much stuff! The month is half over! #dogs #artchallenge #JuliArty #oilpainting #rescuedogs #art #painting

A panting husky gazes at the viewer. Background is a soft blue.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

I love these postage stamps a ridiculous amount. Yeah, I still use stamps. I still have a checkbook that I balance every month too. Maybe I should just go ahead and die, it'd be easier than keeping up.

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K.Hoopes @khoopes.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

My kid, practicing his oboe. I miss that sound so much! I haven't heard it in about 15 years. The little things become the gone things while you aren't looking. Be happy today before tomorrow grabs it. #oilpainting #art #musician #music #oboe #BlueSkyArtShow #figurepainting

A young man with a ponytail sits in a blue wooden chair. He is facing away from the viewer. He studies the music sheet on the stand. The oboe he holds is not visible.

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