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Nicola Black

@nicolablack.bsky.social
640 followers 458 following 2.5K posts

Designer & Analog Adventurer Puzzles, history, knitting, genealogy, drawing, hiking & the outdoors, self-employment, culinary arts. Ethical Designer & Strategist: nicolablack.com Communities: joinwip.com & nicolablack.com/eopp

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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 1h
New events page on my website! 🥳 There are two events I'm hosting in October for my self-employed friends: 10/7: Cozy Coworking Wednesday at Gereblock in Syracuse, NY. Free coworking + office-hours. 10/20: WIP Writing Retreat. A full-day, online writing retreat. Join me! nicolablack.com/events/
nicolablack.com
Upcoming events hosted by Nicola Black Design, LLC
Freelancers, solopreneurs, solo-small business owners, these events are for you! In-person and online gatherings to support you in your day-to-day. You don't have to go it alone.
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Bri 🌱 @briangeorge.bsky.social · 5h
Picture it: Sicily, 1640…
Sophia Petrillo at the stove, cookingA cartographers map of Sicily, on parchment, from the year 1640. All costal
Towns are written in tiny script. The southern portion of Italy can be seen as well
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 8h
New Philly voice article on the fight to reopen the Academy of Natural Sciences! www.phillyvoice.com/academy-natu...
phillyvoice.com
Academy of Natural Sciences is closed, but the fight for the museum continues
A grassroots group is urging Drexel's board to disaffiliate from the institution and calling for a public process to decide its future.
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Whoops! Forgot to share what's on this week at Work in Progress. Here's our schedule:
Graphic for events happening this week at Work In Progress. A list of event titles, dates, and times. At the top is the Work In Progress checkmark logo. The text of the graphic says: 

Mon., Sept 28 • 10:00am-12:30pm ET Coworking with Kara • 3:45-4:45pm ET Accountability Group Meeting
Tues., Sept 29 • 2-3:00pm ET Ask a Visual Designer Office-Hours w/Nicola Black
Weds., Sept 30 • All day, any time, your choice! Host a coworking session
Thurs., Oct 1 • 10:00am-12:30pm ET Coworking with Kara
Fri., Oct 2 • 1:30pm-3:00pm ET Coworking with Nicola

The above are prescheduled events for the week listed in Eastern Time. There may be additional impromptu coworking events throughout the week. Lite Members may add "Core" events  (labeled above in yellow) a la carte or upgrade.

"Sign up for info about our public events + when applications open at: JoinWIP(dot)com" is at the bottom of the graphic in a black box.
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Rachel Deering @racheldeering.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Book Cover of the Day:
THE ADVENTURES OF
MAYA THE BEE
WALDEMAR BONSELS
Yellow cover, black lettering and design of large bee.
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The other day, I was in a meeting discussing topics small business owners are interested in. I'm always the odd person out, but when I mentioned that I, and others I know, are interested in how to promote their work WITHOUT social media, the eyes got big. Everyone was interested, but feels trapped.
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feeb @magicmooshka.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
it’s come to my attention that my tumblr post has been crossposted to bluesky, so I’m posting it on my account here #AntiAI #GenAI
recently my friend's comics professor told her that it's acceptable to use gen AI for script-writing but not for art, since a machine can't generate meaningful artistic work. meanwhile, my sister's screenwriting professor said that they can use gen AI for concept art and visualization, but that it won't be able to generate a script that's any good. and at my job, it seems like each department says that AI can be useful in every field except the one that they know best.

It's only ever the jobs we're unfamiliar with that we assume can be replaced with automation. The more attuned we are with certain processes, crafts, and occupations, the more we realize that gen AI will never be able to provide a suitable replacement. The case for its existence relies on our ignorance of the work and skill required to do everything we don't.
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A very talented friend of mine's new book is out and it sounds AWESOME! "Shocking South Jersey: Hoaxes, Hexes, a Harrowing Highway, and More!" She's also doing a bunch of book signings this month if you're in the Philly/SJ region. 🙌 www.danielleburrows.com
screenshot from Danielle Burrows website for her new book, "Shocking South Jersey: Hoaxes, Hexes, a Harrowing Highway, and More." The book cover is on the right side of the page and on the left is the text: "Published September 2026 • Jaw-Dropping Tales from the Garden State's Lower Half." There is a link to buy the book and copyright information reading, "Copyright @ 2026 Danielle Burrows. All rights reserved. Shocking South Jersey is published by Arcadia Publishing's The History Press."
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The past couple of weeks have been mega busy. It's good, but I'm ready for a breather. 😮‍💨 I might have to wander in the forest this weekend. It's kind of the perfect time... all the mushrooms are popping up. Look at these puff balls I saw in my neighborhood during my morning walk with Ollie!
A black-and-white rat terrier/chihuahua mix having a concern about what the four large, bulbous white creatures are in a neighbor's front yard. He stands on the asphalt at the edge of the green grass wondering what they could be. They are LARGE mushrooms. Very large.
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I'm really looking forward to having a full day to dedicate to a project I've been putting on the back burner for far too long! A full day to focus with other solo small business owners doing the same! 🥳 www.joinwip.com/writing-retr...
joinwip.com
WIP Writing Retreat Registration
Register for the next WIP Online Writing Retreat! A cozy, online event for creative, solo, small-business owners who are guided by curiosity, play, and discovery.
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Today, I did A LOT of work building out an event marketing plan I’ve had in the works. Site design, graphics, registration backend, scheduling page for one-on-ones, etc. I hardly ever work weekends. They’re protected. Feels good to have everything ready to go, but now, I’m ready for S L O W. 🐌
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Alex Plante 🐀👑 @aplante.com · 28/05/2025
kermies #art
7 fully coloured drawings kermit the frog making scrunchy faces
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This thread! 🙌
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Karen Pleass, contemporary Irish textile artist #womensart #Autumn
Pictorial textile artwork featuring a landscape with a central small white house among hills in purples and blues
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Attention Philly Families! It is critical that we show Drexel and city government that our enthusiasm for the Academy of Natural Sciences is going strong! Bring your kids, friends, & neighbors down to the parkway on Saturday from 2-6pm. It's a kid-friendly rally to support the academy!
dinosaurs and bugs happily party together at the Save the Academy family rally. Saturday September 26, 2-6pm 1900 ben Franklin parkway, come dressed as your favorite dinosaur, insect, animal, or just yourself! There's a duck billed dino, a triceratops, a brachiosaurus, a pterodactyl, a millipede, dragonfly, and beetle!
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Went down the rabbit hole today and learned about Enheduana, the first named author in human history. She's a fascinating character! This talk sheds more light – highly recommend! www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb-z...
youtube.com
Enheduanna: Voicing the Feminine Divine Presentation and Musical Performance
YouTube video by Harvard Divinity School
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The Wee Owl Studio, Art 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @theweeowl.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
If you know anyone who is in need of a little luck, a lucky ladybird might be a perfect little gift. This drawing can be sent as a gift and will easily fit in a letterbox. folksy.com/find/item/86... #Ladybird #LetterboxGift #Drawing #ColourPencil #Artwork #TraditionalArtist #GiftIdeas #bsnm
A postcard size artwork of a red ladybird with black spots sitting on green clover leaves.
An original art work, please note that the frame is not included.
Colour pencil on white acid free artist watercolour paper (postcard size).
Approximately 4 by 6 inches (10.16 x 15.24 cm) will fit into a standard 4 by 6 inch photo frame.
The drawing will be in a clear envelope so you can view it before framing.
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Vanessa Gillings @vanessagillings.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Happy First Day of Fall to all my Northern Hemisphere friends (featuring a tiny little portrait of yours truly 💛) #kidlitart #watercolor #gouache #coloredpencil
cheerful watercolor, gouache and colored pencil drawing of a girl with auburn hair and glasses holding a giant oak twig with two acorns on it
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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Yes it could be argued that keeping up with world events is important but alternatively can I interest you in hugging an ancient mossy boulder that looks like a face and quietly listening while it tells you stories from centuries cloaked in mist.
A lovely mossy boulder with a face. I walked past this venerable stone gentleman on Dartmoor when I was beginning to write my first novel, Villager, and it whispered all 104,000 words of the book to me. So now I have to pay it all of my royalties. Unfortunately my ex-publisher stopped paying me royalties last year. Understandable, the boulder was not happy. But now I have a new publisher and the book has been republished. So remember if you purchase a copy you will be helping a boulder to eat, pay the rent on his riverside moss garden, and feed his boulder family.
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Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 22/09/2026
Happy mushroom season!
A comic titled "Types of mushrooms" with 12 mushroom species. A wrinkly-looking morel is labeled "creepy but tasty". A brownish deadly galerina is labeled "boring but deadly". A witch's butter on a branch is labeled "jiggles if you poke it". A large puffball is labeled "egg". A creepy red-dripping bleeding tooth fungus is labeled "deeply disconcerting". A fly agaric with a green treefrog sitting under it is labeled "frog umbrella". A black chanterelle is labeled "chalice for forbidden elixers". Three straight-stemmed entolomas are labeled "haha, nipples". A bright purple viscid violet cort is labeled "purple is nice". A birch polypore sticking out of a birch trunk is labeled "tree nose". A complex yellow-tpped coral fungus is labeled "cursed citadel where dwells a fairy queen". A Ravenel's stinkhorn is pixellated at the top for your safety, and labeled "NSFW".
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
It's getting cool outside. My knitting needles are itching to make something like this 😍🧶: berroco.com/patterns/ros...
berroco.com
Rosy Maple
The Rosy Maple cardigan beautifully balances the rustic elegance of Berroco Millstone Tweed and the soft halo of Aerial to create a sweater that feels like the cozy embrace of a wearable blanket.
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Hey Philly! We need your help saving the Academy of Natural Sciences! The Save the Academy Coalition needs volunteers to help hand out organizing flyers in front of the museum Sept 25-27. It’s the museum’s last weekend (for now!) Sign up here to help docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
A flyer with dinosaur bones and beetles and butterflies that says help save the academy volunteer this weekend. Help us hand out flyers the Museum to get more people involved in the fight and save the Academy of natural sciences volunteer at.  Save-the-academy.org
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Present & Correct @presentcorrect.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Typology of Pedestrian Walking Symbols walking-men.com/product/hood... Via @kottke.org
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Alex Plante 🐀👑 @aplante.com · 21/09/2026
excited to share this illustration i did for 3 Oceans Puzzle Co.! i don’t do a lot of client work anymore, but who am i to resist puffins and a cute little newfie fishing village? you can get this as a really cool wooden puzzle on their site, and i have prints available too! (links below) #art
a fun colourful and textured illustration of one puffin bringing a beakful of fish to three other puffins on a cliff near a brightly-coloured fishing village on the atlantic ocean. humpback whales breach in the background near an iceberg, and a lighthouse shines through the fog. distant seagulls play among the clouds
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
This week at Work in Progress! 🥳 (www.joinwip.com) Things are picking up as the air cools down. Looking forward to coworking sessions to get things done together!
Graphic for events happening this week at Work In Progress. A list of event titles, dates, and times. At the top is the Work In Progress checkmark logo. The text of the graphic says: 

Mon., Sept 21 • 3:45-4:45pm ET Accountability Group Meeting
Tues., Sept 22 • 10:00am-12:30pm ET Coworking with Kara
Weds., Sept 23 • 2-3:30pm ET Coworking with Nicola
Thurs., Sept 24 • 10:00am-12:30pm ET Coworking with Kara
Fri., Sept 25 • All day, any time, your choice! Host a coworking session

The above are prescheduled events for the week listed in Eastern Time. There may be additional impromptu coworking events throughout the week. Lite Members may add "Core" events  (labeled above in yellow) a la carte.

"Sign up for info about our public events + when applications open at: JoinWIP(dot)com" is at the bottom of the graphic in a black box.
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Glendon Mellow @flyingtrilobite.com · 21/09/2026
Going to heartily disagree. Fine Art and Illustration are separate (sometimes overlapping) disciplines with their own rich histories and trajectories. Neither is "higher" than the other (people often put fine art on a pedastel). The aims of Fine Art and the aims of Illustration are not 1:1.
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Liza Adamczewski aka the accidental ecologist @lizaadamczewski.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Sheep diaries continue today with the second incursion. They dropped in for a breakfast treat, uninvited as usual. I wonder how long it will be before they come back for lunch. Probably because we have such rich biodiversity that the food is more varied and delicious than the rye grass at home 🫢😉😂
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Jaya Saxena @jayasaxena.com · 18/09/2026
We are closing in on the last days of the @weareravenous.com subscriber drive, so if you want 30% off a subscription to great food writing, now is your chance! www.weareravenous.com/feed-the-bir...
weareravenous.com
Feed the Bird and Help Us Soar
Feed the bird with 30% off a Ravenous subscription
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Ummm... this is an incredible catalogue of historical and contemporary pictorial letterpress works. WOW! 😍 garden-of-flowers.heikkilotvonen.com Highly recommend reading the curator's essay to explain the project. Very cool! garden-of-flowers.heikkilotvonen.com?essay
garden-of-flowers.heikkilotvonen.com
Heikki's Garden of Flowers | archive of pictorial typography
An archive of ~2500 pictorial typography and letterpress works spanning four centuries, images composed entirely of type ornaments, characters, and rule. The history of ASCII art before computers.
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
We're proud that WIP is 100% focused on human creativity. That means intentional use of GenAI/AI is prohibited within our space (see: joinwip.com#WHO). Our upcoming Writing Retreat follows the same intention. Our preregistration offer ends 9/21! workinprogress.kit.com/writing-retr...
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The Fake History Hunter @fakehistoryhunter.net · 09/09/2026
And then suddenly you find the most important question ever asked in an 17th century book. The depth, the power, the genius... Is cheese rational? Well, is it? IS IT?! web.archive.org/web/20200915...
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Jaya Saxena @jayasaxena.com · 15/09/2026
Enter to let me read tarot for you!!!!
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Harebrained @harebrained.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I'm donating 100% of all jumbo Draw Program pin proceeds to my kids CPS school. www.harebraineddesign.com/collections/...
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Sometimes the simplest recipes are the tastiest. I got the crockpot out yesterday to make this chicken stew and... OMG. 😋
A bowl of hearty chicken stew, with carrots, potatoes, onions, and garlic with two slices of homemade bread.
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Jamie Noguchi | Drawing and Drawing Some More @jamienoguchi.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🚨STREAM TODAY, 11:30AM EST🚨 Today's stream might be a little shorter because we have someone coming to the house to do some work, so if I have to leave early I'll make up for it on Thursday with a longer session. Gonna be doing some ZBrush sculpting!
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Preregistration for the WIP Writing Retreat is open until 9/21. When you preregister, you get access to claim your seat one full week before tickets go public. There are only 24 spots, so, preregistration gives you the best chance to secure a spot. 🥳 workinprogress.kit.com/writing-retr...
workinprogress.kit.com
WIP Writing Retreat Pre-Registration
Pre-register for the next WIP Online Writing Retreat for access to claim your seat a full week before we open to the public. Seats are limited.
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Evangeline Gallagher @egallagher.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Psychopomp
An illustration of a huge spectral black wolf looming over a cemetery, collecting tiny ghosts that float up from the bones beneath the gravestones
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I love designing & facilitating meaningful gatherings. I've done it, in some capacity, my entire career. For the past 6 years, it's been via WIP where I hold space for solo, small biz owners to work through their day-to-day together. We just finished our weekly Accountability Meeting and...
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This week at Work in Progress! 🥳 www.joinwip.com
Graphic for events happening this week at Work In Progress. A list of event titles, dates, and times. At the top is the Work In Progress checkmark logo. The text of the graphic says: 

Mon., Sept 14 • 3:45-4:45pm ET Accountability Group Meeting
Tues., Sept 15 • 10:00am-12:30pm ET Coworking with Kara
Weds., Sept 16 • 2-3pm ET WIP Roundtable: Clearing the Way – Eliminating Stale Habits & Identifying New Needs
Thurs., Sept 17 • 10:00am-12:30pm ET Coworking with Kara
Fri., Sept 18 • 4-5pm ET Create & Play with Nicola

The above are prescheduled events for the week listed in Eastern Time. There may be additional impromptu coworking events throughout the week. Lite Members may add "Core" events  (labeled above in yellow) a la carte.

"Sign up for info about our public events + when applications open at: JoinWIP(dot)com" is at the bottom of the graphic in a black box.
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
It’s a boule! 🍞
A fresh-baked, round loaf of bread on a cooling rack on the kitchen counter.
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Rachel Deering @racheldeering.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Book Cover of the Day:
BOHEMIAN PARIS OF
TODAY
W C MORROW
&
EDOUARD CUCUEL
Beige cover with gold lettering with a red windmill in the centre and four black cats.
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Cats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Endpapers of The Cat Whose Whiskers Slipped and Other Stories by Ruth Campbell, illustrated by Ve Elizabeth Cadie. 1925.
Aggressively vibrant, colorful art deco style geometric pattern incorporating cat faces and mouse pairs with their tails twirled together. The cats and mice are red and dark pink, set in triangles of yellow and blue.
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Something fun to take along on your next outdoor sketch adventure! ✏️🖼️
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Liza Adamczewski aka the accidental ecologist @lizaadamczewski.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Let’s get a colourful thread going to bring a bit of happiness to our feeds by posting photos of the Welsh tapestry blankets we own. Just imagine if everyone who has one posted a photo! It would be like a rainbow blanket thread running around the world
A Welsh tapestry blanket in yellow white red and black
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K.B. Spangler @kbspangler.com · 12/09/2026
This is a nearly 6'x6' cabinet with 370 individual drawers. hnnngh I say hnnngh
an unmodified display image of the same cabinet with a dude standing beside it for scalea closeup of the drawers in the cabinet
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Lucy Bellwood @lubellwoo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The first in a series of instructional zines about KNOTS! I've been wanting to make this happen for years, and I'm finally launching into it as a Patreon-based mail club. Let's learn some skills together: www.patreon.com/LucyBellwood...
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Artist residency day 3! We’re at the Cape May Point Science and Arts Center, learning about migration paths, native plants, and a little history too.
A collection of sketchbooks in front of the blessed mother statue
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This video on how Blackwing Pencils are made is so incredibly satisfying. www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/09/how-...
thisiscolossal.com
Go Behind the Scenes of Blackwing Pencils' Ode to Analog Creativity
In a how-it's-made video, pencil manufacturer shares how its multi-step process happens in factories in Japan and California.
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Jamie Noguchi | Drawing and Drawing Some More @jamienoguchi.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Bethesda Today asked me a little bit about SPX! Also got my plug in for Extraterrestrial Girls Book 3 which you should all have by now but you can definitely pick it up this weekend and get it signed by both me and @jeremywhitley.bsky.social bethesdamagazine.com/2026/09/09/b...
bethesdamagazine.com
Bethesda-born Small Press Expo puts spotlight on independent comics
Festival returns Saturday, Sunday with more than 500 creators
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Nicola Black @nicolablack.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The moods I lean into on rainy days. I love them. These are the vibes as I wait in the car to pick up my guy.
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