2025 was supposed to be my "Year of Transcendence". Instead, the spring and summer turned into pure survival mode. This journal is a factual debrief so you understand why drawing output dropped and why some commitments slipped.

In early April I had 🩺oral surgery🩺 that required a couple weeks of soft foods🍲, meds💊, and recovery. It went well, but it drained my energy and set the tone for the months that followed. Soon after, a family trip ✈️ that should’ve been joyful devolved into crisis; I came home shaken and emotionally wiped out. (I'm now estranged from that side of the family, I'm their escape goat and partly due to my sexuality. My parents are cool with me being 🏳️‍🌈gay🏳️‍🌈, so I'm happy about that. They no longer speak to those relatives.)

Mid April to May brought a household emergency. Supporting someone in acute distress while keeping the home stable wasn’t sustainable, and the aftermath left my home feeling less like a refuge and more like triage. I tried to reset by traveling to FWA, which it ended up being a disaster, financially and creatively draining.

The hardest stretch came with the move 📦 to a new home in late July🏠. A too-small truck🚚 meant extra trips, a sprint to finish, and then unpacking in heat after the AC failed🥵 🌡️. I aggravated my back, bent a toe, and even lost a monitor in the chaos. Expenses spiked; by mid-August, the move was over budget💸, the new house needed minor repairs🛠️and we're still unpacking to this day📦. Every day the house feels like a home.✨🏠✨

All of this meant regular drawing was simply not possible at times. If you were waiting on me, you felt it and I’m sorry. I’m rebuilding systems so this kind of bottleneck doesn’t happen again. I was contributing a comic to and to , sadly due to all the back-to-back crisis it all slowed down. I aim to bring my contributions back online as I stabilize.

Right now I’m stabilizing the studio, catching up on outstanding work, and restoring a sustainable art rhythm. Commissions remain closed while I clear the queue; I’m aiming to reopen in September (watch the profile for the exact date🗓️). Patrons will see more WIPs and page progress as I lock back into flow. Thanks to “Project Zero” (clearing commission debt), I’m not in heavy art debt, but I am behind on Patreon and SubscribeStar content and will be catching up there first.📈

✨Thank you for reading this and for sticking with me through the storm. I believe in making things with heart and heat, and I still believe in the Year of Transcendence, just with more scars and better boundaries.✨

🏳️‍🌈🦝 Zandaka – Art Tanuki 🦝🏳️‍🌈