Studio Dust & Daydreams: January/February
Well, here we are! January and February smooshed into one, because honestly, that's about all the energy there was for it. While half the world was buried in winter hibernation, we were over here in the thick of summer, squinting into the sun and letting the studio gather a little dust. Not a lot happened, and that felt just right. So consider this a gentle catch-up, this is a slow cup of tea kind of newsletter, light on content and heavy on the feeling that maybe doing less for a while was exactly the point.
After the holiday joy and a little bit of chaos that was the festive season and the new year kicking off - honestly it has been a whirlwind of personal life things. Despite this, I managed to find time to see some of my old art school pal’s exhibition in the Light Square Gallery - Relics, an alumni exhibition exploring “relics, objects, memories, and stories from the past that continue to shape us today. It investigates our relationship with both historical and personal heirlooms, keepsakes, and narratives. Signifying time, decay, and preservation, the works reflect each artist’s identity and connection to the past. Thought-provoking yet accessible, RELICS invites audiences to consider what we inherit, what we choose to preserve, and what we let go.”
Claudia Turon, The Relic and The Reliquary (2026)
Acrylic paint, metallic watercolour paint, shoe-polish, marker pens, tea-dyed tulle, polyester material, bamboo rods, dimensions variable
Going back and seeing their work, while not getting to catch up with any of them in person was a weird experience, but being present in the room with their incredible works of art felt like coming home a little. Each of them have such a unique voice that infuses their artwork, it was a genuine joy to sit with it all, in silence - on an early morning in Adelaide. The exhibition is still on for a little longer - if you’re in Adelaide, I highly reccommend a visit!
As for my own work, things have slowed a little over this season - though the mycelium kingdom still takes up a lot of fuzzy brain space. On that front, I’ve started really diving into some digital work - the first of which really is this mischevious piece:
nearlytuna, The Final Fruiting (2026)
Digital drawing, Krita and Huion Kamvas display tablet.
There’s something I really love about the allure of these funguys - it all looks lovely and cute and cottagecore but every one I’ve done so far has a sinister, mysterious edge to it, that makes it really delicious in theme for me.
Have I mentioned I’ve been getting into folk horror and more witchy cozy stories lately?
Speaking of, I’ll leave you with some book recommendations - some of which I read for the first time over these last months:
T. Kingfisher - What Moves the Dead (2022) - 4.25/5
A fast paced and tense story about the horror of parasitic fungal growths that take over local wildlife and loose their tendrils through the lives of the nearby inhabitants. It’s gothic, it’s a little gross, it’s a nature themed nightmare of a story.
Rachel Gillig - The Knight and the Moth (2025) - 4.75/5
I’m already looking forward to the next book in this series! It’s an emotional rollercoaster that is unforgiving in the way that it draws you in and enmeshes you with the characters. As someone else said in a review I read: “This book was great. I’m mad at it.”
Hannah Birss - Thimble: A New Fairytale (2025) - 4/5
This one was an ARC (review copy) I had the pleasure of picking up through NetGalley and it is adorable. A sweet little tale about forest critters and finding your purpose in life. An utterly charming short story with plenty of wonderfully fun lessons for young people, children and whimsical adults alike. The artwork and illustrations are all gorgeous, often simple little depictions of items or creatures from within the woodlands, and they give this new fairytale a mesmerizing atmosphere as you read.
So there you have it — mushrooms, good books, and someone else's art to admire while mine gathered spores. I promise the next newsletter will have more to show for itself. Probably. See you then!
Going to lie in the garden and call it research,
nearlytuna.
- Follow the Whimsy!