iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is why I help fellow artists with studio habits that support the business of being a living artist & create a foundation for legacy planning. Artists are often remembered and their works preserved only because someone cares enough after they’re gone. Make it easier!

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Forest Park Conservancy @forestparkconservancy.org · 01/10/2026

A hearing on PGE's reapplication, the previous version of which was appealed 12-0 by City Council, has been scheduled for October 14th. If approved, this would give PGE the go-ahead to remove 4.7 acres of trees from Forest Park, among other ecological harms.

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Bird Alliance of Oregon @birdallianceoregon.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The Blue Mountains are at risk, and the Forest Service is proposing sweeping changes that could dramatically reshape how more than 5 million acres of public land across the Umatilla, Malheur, Wallowa, and Ochoco National Forests are managed. Act by 9/30! birdallianceoregon.org/take-action/...

birdallianceoregon.org

Urge the Forest Service to Protect the Blue Mountains - Bird Alliance of Oregon

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I use four different search engines now to get results somewhat as useful as what Google used to give before ruining everything with this AI bullshit. Every time a simple inquiry becomes an advanced research effort, I get a little bit more pissed off at the narrow stupidity of capitalism.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It was a good day to quite literally stop and smell the roses (not the one with an insect fully lost in its sauce, though). That one with the pink tips really smelled divine though.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Happy birthday to Julie Green, one of the kindest and loveliest humans I’ve had the joy of knowing. The Last Supper, which Julie worked on for 25 years—right up to their death in 2021—uses paintings of food to provoke empathy and challenge the use and purpose of death sentences in the US.

thisiscolossal.com

Julie Green’s ‘The Last Supper’ Memorializes Hundreds of People's Final Meals While on Death Row

Green collected an array of mass-produced ceramic platters and plates, re-firing with the addition of cobalt blue mineral paint.

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Aimee Cozza Illustration @aimeecozza.com · 21/09/2026

Today is your monthly reminder! Back. Up. Your. Stuff. 💻💽💾 Art, writing, personal photos, etc etc... Back it up back it up! Repost to remind a friend and save a life

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

This print is still available, for a steal! My little love-note to spring in the Pacific Northwest and one of our most iconic forest flowers. The tan of the paper is a bit warmer & prettier than it looks in the pic on the website. Photo from the proofing process, when I was testing green inks.

Three test prints in different green inks on tan paper, laid out on a cutting mat that’s black with white grid lines. The largest test print on the left is still quite wet across the top, showing that the sizing has started to break down because the paper is old

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Goooood morning! The 2026 Snail Facts Calendars are OUT! We've got 24 days of scratchable snail fact goodness, designed by Philly artist Kelly Nichols! Advent calendars are cute as hell, a delightful tradition, and keep @skypeascientist.bsky.social funded! Get one at SquidFacts.net Pls repost ❤️

An 11x14 inch poster featuring snails, slugs, nudibranchs, and other snails! There are 24 yellow-green snail shells that you can scratch off. There's a leaf sheep and sea bunny and sea angel and fire snail and banana slug and mystery snail and ramshorn snail and candy cane snail

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Bird Alliance of Oregon @birdallianceoregon.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

🚨Lights Out Alert! Tomorrow night approximately 4.1 million birds will migrate through Oregon's skies. Help keep them safe on their journey by turning off your outside lights and drawing your blinds between 11p-6a. 📷: aeroecolab.com/oregon

Lights Out Alert for September 16, 2026 - 4.1 million birds will be migrating through Oregon skies. Dark skies help keep birds safe on their journey to their wintering grounds. Migration is happening now through approximately October 19 -- if you can turn off your lights and draw your blinds every evening during that time period to assist migrating birds, that would be appreciated.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The #EmeraldPrintExchange Reverse Auction Fundraiser is live! Your one and only chance to buy my sweet little etching of trillium flowers, printed in dark green ink on tan Rives BFK paper—the last of the stock that I got from Manuel Izquierdo's estate, I think.

2026-emerald-print-exchange.myshopify.com

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Name: Heather Lee Birdsong Title: Graces Medium: Etching Instagram: @smidgeonpress Website: http://heatherleebirdsong.com/

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Liv “Leev” Rainey-Smith @livraineysmith.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I'm having a 40% off sale on my older stickers and serigraph prints through September 15th! There are 4 different hare stickers included, and some are nearly sold out. Check the sale selection of my shop for the full array! #bsnm #stickers xylographilia.etsy.com/listing/7583...

xylographilia.etsy.com

Leaping Black Rabbit 3" Sticker Indoor/outdoor Vinyl - Etsy

This Stickers item by Xylographilia has 88 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Portland, OR. Listed on Aug 29, 2026

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I’m so happy for the rain. Walked in Forest Park for a bit just to enjoy the loamy, vegetal scent of damp forest

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wc williams @wcwilliams.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

couple of really nice arvie smith pieces in the 86-26 show at pnca

black & white lithograph from 1988 while he was a student titled "worker guy" by arvie smith. it depicts a black man from the shoulders up rendered in strong darl blacks a grey touche washes

a very colorful acyrilic on paper painting by arvie smith from 2018 titled "intermission" a black woman on a stage is holding a holding a white ventriliquist dummy and an old american flag that might be the confederate battle flag. a person is smoking in the top left and a black minstrel character is in the top right

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Forest Park Conservancy @forestparkconservancy.org · 21/08/2026

National Public Lands Day is only a month away! We will be giving back to Forest Park and Marquam Nature Park by hosting multiple volunteer sites to remove invasive English ivy, and we need your help to make the day a success. Join us: bit.ly/4zxdWXi Thank you to KEEN for sponsoring NLPD!

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Never trust media storage that you don’t own. It can serve as a backup, but can never be your only. Also why I shudder when artists use social media as their de facto career timeline (or website!)—you don’t own it or control it, and it can disappear for so many reasons.

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Emily Pothast @emilypothast.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Imagine if people got anywhere near as outraged when climate change threatens priceless artifacts as they do when climate activists throw soup at them

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Pam Wishbow @pamwishbow.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I have found out something I worked on came out because I see it in a store rather than be told it’s out or be tagged in the launch announcement. Please give a little love to your illustrator. We really do need the tag for new work.

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Gabriel Liston @lastwater.net · 11/08/2026

Animal time! I have a few slots open for commissions this month (and, maybe, next). Unless we hang out a lot in person, videos make the best references. #ArtSky #PetPortraits #DogSky #CatSky

Color pencil drawing in blue toned paper of warn red hound splashing along a river beach.

Color pencil drawing of two orange cats, laying belly to belly, happily snarling and swatting at each othet.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Three of my paintings are on view at Russo Lee Gallery this month. Left to right: - Memory isn’t content to hurt you once - Immediate Immensity which has a lot going on that you can only see IRL; it defies documentation - Sisters (Forgetting and Remembering) Photo courtesy @wcwilliams.bsky.social

Me, with brown hair down, wearing a dark gray KN95 and green sleeveless dress, standing in front of 3 framed paintings hanging on a white wall

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Starting to feel like I’m drawing in way too much detail for the small painting I’m planning! Maybe this needs to be an etching instead

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wc williams @wcwilliams.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

i was hoping someone recored the final skate at lloyd. quick term search and saw that aaron here took a nice video. i've watched these two skate occasionally for the last 5+ years i think. always lovely

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

My timer app—essential for this time-blind freelancer—forced an update on me, and now I can't log my work time for possibly "several hours" as their system ports all my records over from the old system (which worked perfectly fine) to the new system (which I did not want). Sorry, clients!

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Thought I had the fussy math worked out for how to most efficiently tear down this paper (5 pieces per sheet!) to pull an edition for this wonky-sized plate. Then I remembered it’s a mould-made Euro paper, so I measured the sheet. It’s ~1/4 inch bigger on each side than I calculated. Sigh.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

There’s a fund set up to help Warm Springs recover from the Bench Fire, if you have scratch to donate. They are accepting money, non perishable food, and bottled water. Water resources are a long-running issue for the tribes (see: Chuúsh Fund via Seeding Justice), so this is especially urgent.

zeffy.com

The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon (CTWS) Wildfire Recovery Fund

***OFFICIAL CTWS DONATION ACCOUNT***NOTE: Processing Fee is optional. You can deselect this option upon making a donation. The Confederated Tribes of the Warm…

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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I found this fascinating. I don't think I've ever seen a Museum publicly list the costs of an exhibition before. www.artnews.com/art-in-ameri... - It's actually super helpful for people to see what it takes.

artnews.com

A Museum Dares to Reveal What It Really Costs to Make an Exhibition

“Performing Conditions: Artistic Labor and Dependency as Form,” at the MIT List Visual Arts Center, stars Autumn Knight, Dread Scott, Ghislaine Leung.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Went to see Samantha Yun Wall's work at the Seattle Art Museum last week. It's a gorgeous show. It was nice to spend a little time there and see other people get wowed by this work too. samblog.seattleartmuseum.org/2026/02/sama...

samblog.seattleartmuseum.org

“Drawing as a Second Language”: An Interview with Samantha Yun Wall - SAM Stories

Yun Wall, the 2024 Betty Bowen Award winner, chats with SAM about the past, present, and future of her artistic journey.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Assembly Art Fair in Seattle is on through Sunday. Russo Lee has these three recent paintings of mine in their booth on the second level.

Three matted and framed paintings hanging on a white wall below vinyl lettering reading “Russo Lee Gallery: Portland, Oregon”

Matted and framed painting of a purple polygon figure in the Mojave, Nevada’s Red Rock mountains behind, with a small spring of water, scrub oak, and rocks

Blue polygon figure looks at a pot of trumpet flowers in a wall niche, below a bunch of flowering wisteria. Two figures in the background at left look on. Pokeberry silhouetted along the bottom foreground.

Painting of a winding stairway and archway (grayed out by being painted on the back of translucent YUPO paper) with vivid silhouettes of common decorative plantings (such as rhododendron, rosemary, ivy, trees)

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wc williams @wcwilliams.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

partner snapped this pic of the sky going crazy heading south from seattle tonight. a few minutes earliery it was mostly a wildfire hazey orange and a few minutes after this the lightning & rain started

photograph of a multilane highway wity a few cars on the road near dusk. there are green trees on each side of the road going inti the distance and a strip of hazy orange and pink under crazy lookimg blue to purple clouds. kinda a maxfield parish pallete in the sky

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

“… the history of printmaking is fundamentally a history of the democratization of art. And we could all use a little more democracy right now.” That’s partly why I fell in love with printmaking. Guess I have a new book for my reading list.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Came across my 2007 notebook for History of Printmaking at PNCA, when it was taught in the Gilkey Center at the art museum. Under Max Klinger (whose work I love), I wrote: “QUESTION: what is UP with the Germans?” I have no idea if that was my question or if it was humorously posed by Morgan Walker

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wc williams @wcwilliams.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

quick trip into forest park before it got too hot

tiny rock strewn stream and a whole bunch of green trees, ferns and moss. i tiny pit of the sky is visible and the sun that steaks down has backlit leaves making them much brighter

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Squarespace is leaning hard into enshittification. Researching options for artist’s websites is back on my to-do list! And strongly advising current clients to /not/ update their Squarespace site templates until/unless they’re ready to jump ship.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

I kinda forgot how physically taxing it can be to spend several hours pulling prints. I woke up sore all over and just wanted to nap all day like a spoiled house cat. (Alas, I could not.) Just waiting for all the prints to finish drying in the blotters. #printmaking #EmeraldPrintExchange

Crowded, small printmaking setup, left to right: various jars and tubes, a card with mixed color draw-downs, glass top with white backing with mixed ink, ink knife, applicator, and bits of phone book paper, black gloves, hot plate covered in newsprint with tiny copper plate, a wad of green-stained tarlatan

Small etching press with its bed rolled out and felts laid over the roller. Next to it is a caddy full of bottles of supplies.

Three proofs on a gridded surface. Each proof has the same image of three trillium flowers in a forest, but in slightly different colors.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

A museum squeezing the staff who ensure daily operations are even possible, while taking nothing from the top? Color me surprised. /sarcasm Laughable to claim “bargaining in good faith” while making unsustainable decisions for the lowest paid when admin makes ~8x as much and sacrifices nothing.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Got some foul-biting after a long 3rd dunk in mordant. I scraped and burnished some bits, but am leaving most of it. First image is the plate after being rubbed down with Putz. Second is after degreasing. Always amazed at how well soy sauce clears tarnish. #printmaking #EmeraldPrintExchange

Hand in black latex glove holding a small copper plate, etched with a drawing of three trillium flowers in a forest. The lines in the copper appear dark, while the surface of the copper reflects warm light.

Hand in black latex glove holding the same small copper plate, after being cleaned and tarnish removed. The lines in the copper appear lighter and almost pink, while the polished surface of the copper reflects my black apron.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Listening is such an under-rated skill. We often assume that if one can hear, listening is innate, which is nonsense. It takes conscious effort and practice to develop those skills. I’m often a bad listener, I admit. But at least I know it.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

This unfortunate moment in pet care continues to haunt years after Emma’s death from old age, thanks in part to this comic my partner made of The Incident

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Giving this plate another layer of etching to deepen and enrich the dark areas, and bring out the flower centers. Tom Prochaska taught me that every time you put a plate back in the mordant, you give it more character, so it’s actually better if you don’t nail it the 1st (or 2nd) time. #printmaking

Small etched plate, coated in asphaltum ground, set in a mat board carrier on a desktop easel. A test print pulled from the plate is next to it, green ink on tan paper. An etching needle with squishy green finger grip sits on the rim of the easel below.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

One of my favorite historical depictions of cats

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

YES, I am so glad for the workers. I’ve heard troubling things about SAM management decisions (security worker strike being the most public), and I’m glad so many of the museum’s workers have come together to support each other.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

I mostly enjoy the freelance work I manage to get, and I have some great regular clients, but often I wish I had the freedom to just be an artist. For that to happen, I need working class people to be able to reliably afford luxuries like original art. Workers’ rights and the arts are inextricable.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Name a TV show you're positive no one remembers but you.

Moody blue-toned photo of the cast of VR.5, a very short-run sci fi show in which phone wires and modem screeches are integral to the plot. This show doesn’t even get a mention in Anthony Head’s Wikipedia page

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

All four of my poison plant coasters have sold already, and that feels nice! There are still so many wonderful pieces available by so many wonderful artists, so check it out. www.nucleusportland.com/collections/...

nucleusportland.com

Salut! 11 Coaster Exhibition

View all available coasters here. June 7 - July 2, 2026 Show FAQs

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

“The sign’s removal is a welcome tonic for many, a small vindication... But nobody should believe that bringing down the sign will mean a resurgence of the arts. ” So many artists and arts workers caught and crushed by all this, with no certainty and little hope for amelioration. Again.

washingtonian.com

Kennedy Center Sign Frenzy Misses the Point - Washingtonian

The Trump sign was bad. It's not the main issue.

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Etching seems to have gone well, mostly! Step-bitten in vinegar + hydrogen peroxide mordant. I worried that I didn’t see bubbles forming in the middle flower’s center in the mordant bath, and sure enough, it didn’t etch. Will have to fix that. #EmeraldPrintExchange #printmaking

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H L Birdsong @smidgeonpress.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

If you're a printmaker and want to participate in an exchange that also helps printmaking communities in the PNW, there are still a few spots for the #EmeraldPrintExchange. I've done it for a few years and am signed up again for this year. It's a fun little thing! www.whitprint.com/emerald-prin...

whitprint.com

Emerald Print Exchange — Whiteaker Printmakers

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