Wrangling Cats [Literally and Figuratively]

Life / Project / Event Updates

September is wrapping me in crisp air from open windows, ragweed pollen and a full heart. I’m finally getting back into the flow of working in the studio after a wild few months… which has mainly consisted of cat crises and wrangling kittens, literally.

Leo season consisted of road trips between Indianapolis and Detroit to help our 8 year old feral cat sister, Spot. My parent’s neighbor was attempting to harm Spot’s young litter of four kittens. After harassing cats, vet visits, getting a feral lady reproductive surgery, grieving, scrambling to make adoption messages and more… I can now announce our newest studio companions: 5 month old sisters Cinder Mei and Sumi Bliss!

Friend of Birds // Kitty Aunt

The heat and intensity has shifted into a cooler Virgo harvest season. Mark, Rainford and I all are celebrating our birth/hatch days now. Rainford just turned 4 years old! He has been a single budgie with two human flock mates for almost 9 months now. Between September of 2024 and January of 2025, we said goodbye to his sister Aspen, his adopted Grandpa Opa, and his adoring adopted Uncle Whimsey.

It has been a year of tumultuous change, but it has led us to offering our home to another species… who happens to be Rainford’s mortal enemy. That being said, we have a strict day/night shift of who can come out and wander the apartment.

Studio Happenings

Okay, now jumping back into wrangling my projects. I am in a constant state of overwhelm with keeping my work organized but here is a quick scratch of the surface:

Outstanding Freelance Commissions

The freelance projects I take on align with my mission:

my creative practice is reverence to all beings; to honor/support/heal

I am excited to share projects on my website, some are long due to be uploaded. These include illustrations, logos, paintings, book covers and more. Commissions have piled up so I appreciate everyone’s patience!

I no longer have a form on my site for inquiries as I am booked up. I take these as they organically come on a case-by-case basis. Feel free to chat with me if you have any ideas and we can see if there’s a potential fit.

Zines!

I’m in the midst of designing summer zines right now! NON-HUMAN NEIGHBORS #16 is getting drawn up. The graphite covered mastersheet is staring at me as I type this. I will print this issue myself at the local library, after learning how to use the ignite studio risograph printer.

A MORE-THAN-HUMAN SOCIETY #4 is in the creative process. It is taking longer than expected to assemble after a hectic summer and Mark teaching again for the school year. My goal, fingers crossed, would be to have these done in October.

Finally, I’m assembling zines for local businesses to sell and for upcoming events – including my two poetry pieces: PANDEMONIUM and DREAMS OF THE NOW.

Upcoming Events

There are three upcoming events I’ll be tabling in the coming months, so mark your calendars:

Railroad City Mobile Book Fair Read-In	9.27.25
Small Press Fest – Champaign Urbana	10.11.25
Zinecinnati Zine Fest	10.18.25

Uploading Art to Online Shop

I am also in the midst of updating my online shop with new risograph zines and prints. You will see these drop in the coming weeks, follow my shop to get alerts.

Reminder that my paid Patreon zine subscribers get a perpetual 10% discount off of my store. See code here if you are subscribed!

Bloggin’

There are so many unpublished blog posts that I’ve put the effort into drafting. Now is the time to post them!

I will be putting my communicative energy into these posts and sharing on my Patreon account for zine subscribers. I collaborate with truly awesome people on inspiring projects but never seem to make the time to process and share. So here we go! I’m planning to have one or two posts a month which will send as emails to my blog subscribers.

I’m done with Meta. Far too much energy and data had been given to instagram and facebook. That energy can be devoted to my creative practice or communicating more directly on my website. Some of you are still in contact with me on instagram so I have not deleted it… yet! I am not checking often. As for facebook, I deleted my personal profile back in March. I then realized my business account is floating around in cyberspace. Things got complicated after multiple failed attempts to delete it – and it makes me angry, so I’ll stop there.

TL;DR// please reach out to by email to get in touch.

I appreciate you all! – Ren