Trickster Gods

Here’s a Daily (No. 202) of mine from August 10. I had the Chicago Imagists in the back of my mind. What is this? I’m not sure. An altar or a mysterious box full of energy. . . Something contained and wanting to get out of the cabinet and do some mischief.

No. 202, 8-10-2026. Pencil on paper, by Jean Vengua.

Then, yesterday, I went to Salinas and paid homage to some Trickster Gods. That’s right–the Gods are on tour in the US. Maybe they can do some magic, shakes things up, and make some changes to this country. We sure need it.

Link: Alebrijes y Nahuales Tour

“Lionbull” by Leonardo Linares. For Alebrijes & Nahuales, Salinas, CA 8/19/2026. (Handmade in Oaxaca, Mexico).

“CatBird” by Leonardo Linares. For Alebrijes & Nahuales, Salinas, CA 8/19/2026.

“The Coyote” by by Efrain Fuentes, of San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca. Alebrijes & Nahuales. 8/19/2026.

My WordPress Anniversary

Today, August 5, I received my little twenty-year anniversary badge from WordPress.com.

Wow, things have changed a lot online since I first jumped on this platform. The internet now seems barely recognizable from the days when, as gier99, I first learned to code my blog Nightjar on Geocities.

Started on WordPress in 2006, my Okir blog1 is still up, though I stopped posting in 2010. I’ve created multiple blogs and websites here. I used one of my blogs as a space to draft and edit my poetry manuscript Corporeal, allowing readers to comment publicly on what I wrote before I submitted it for publication. It was published by Black Radish Press in 2018.

I’ve gone through idle periods when I didn’t do much with my websites or blogs, or where I got frustrated with the WordPress platform, and left for awhile. These days, however, with all the predatory, corporate tech platforms and social media on the internet, I’m appreciating WordPress much more, despite its “faults” (see WordPress pros & cons by Viralchilly).

I live on a tight budget, and a couple years ago I trimmed my website of all paid plugins. I’m glad that I can do well enough without them, and hope that WordPress continues to offer free options for folks like myself. In any case, I’m glad that I still have a presence here.

Oh, and I hope they finally make the Reader a little less clunky. 😉

Here’s a painting I did from 2016: “First the Seed.”

Various mult-colored seed pods and plants are portrayed as growing against a soft white sky.
“First the Seed.” Acrylics & water-soluble oil paint on canvas, 24 x 18 inches 5-13-2016. SOLD

  1. “Okir” is a vegetal design motif from the Philippines. ↩︎

Simple Constraints

#asemic #ink #paper

Today, I’m feeling very distracted–can’t seem to focus well on any one thing. I feel like the dry leaves and seeds of the wattle tree being blown around by the wind in front of my cottage.

Every artist works with some kind of constraint, even if it’s having to work on a limited budget, or having to work tiny instead of large. I like working with constraints, or at least being more aware of them, because they force me to be creative, sometimes in unexpected ways.

For the two small “Dailies” I produced below, I wanted to incorporate asemic writing, and had to use recycled art on unsized paper. The fact that the paper was unsized limited the type of brushes and pens I could use. Ink would not be the best choice for this, but it works better for asemics, so I tried anyway, being careful not to load the brush with too much liquid,, which would soak through to the other side of the paper.

No. 193, 8/1/2026 by Jean Vengua. Ink on handmade paper.

No. 194, 8/2/2026 by Jean Vengua. Ink on handmade paper.

Starting the Day

#art #dharma #tarot #internet

Speaking of post-internet art and post-internet dharma [Buddhist teachings] in my last post, I tried to get on Zoom with a meditation group this morning, but the new link didn’t give me access. So I meditated on my own this morning. The group meditation only happens once a week, anyway. Most of the time I’m on my own.

The dog across the alley mourns loudly whenever its humans leave it in the apartment (I’m assuming), so it was in full mournful voice all during my meditation. I felt both irritation and compassion for the poor canine. But hey, that’s meditation for you. Soon enough, the yowling/yelping, bird song, seagull cries, car engines, people talking next door, and my itchy eyes and sore knees all melted into one.

Now I’m sipping tea and getting started with the day, which looks quite grey.

I look at the WordPress dashboard and see all these “optimization” choices, which reek of “productivity.” Boy, I’m in a mood this morning . . . but I put a few hastags up anyway.

How’s your day going? I hope it goes well . . .

A couple pieces from my Dailies are below. Inspired by the Hilma’s Ghost group, I’ve been trying out abstract interpretations of daily tarot card draws. Curiously, I drew Queen of Wands twice, and came up with two different interpretations. Both include asemics.

The one below (which has nothing to do with tarot) is a random collage using recycled art paper, a Kleenex box, and words from an ad:

Post-Internet Whatever

#post-internet #art

Not having attended art school, I’m so behind on all this. Watching a video on post-internet art, which is described as “internet-aware.” You don’t have to make art on the internet for it to be post-internet art. The internet culture has become so all-encompassing that all you have to be is internet-aware of how its contexts–how the internet influences so much of what you do.

Take, for example, how a particular kind of “productivity” dogs every artist who puts up a website featuring their art work.

But because of my interest in Buddhism, now I can’t help but think of post-internet dharma. How the internet impinges on my thoughts about the Buddhist teachings and about meditation.

That’s all for the moment. Maybe I’ll expand upon this . . .

Asemic Artists and Poets on WordPress

I’m behaving as though this is a lazy summer day, although a pile of work is patiently waiting for my attention. I’ve been exploring my WordPress Reader, which I want to become more familiar with.

Found some interesting #asemic artists and poets on WordPress. Some of these artists have multiple online personas (my apologies if I’ve made any ID errors!). Who have I missed?

Graeme Webb art

Federico Federici

Lin Tarczynski

@elmediat (aka Implied Spaces & Asemic Tarot)

Save New Deal Art

(from “accelerated disposal”)

I’ve got a post up on Substack about attempts to save the Wilbur G. Cohen building in Washington, DC–constructed to memorialize Social Security and New Deal-era #art (funded by the National Recovery Administration) from potential “accelerated disposal” by the current Administration (you-know-who): Help Save New Deal Art.


#newdeal #SocialSecurity #NewDealArt

And here’s some recent art from my Daily Art Cycle:

Finding Focus: Daily Art and Life

Ah, life is so strange and confusing and scary lately. And busy. But I’m glad to have a daily art practice, something to focus on besides my phone and the news.

Somehow, daily art practice seems to be infiltrating into daily life practice. A feeling where–with a life full of distractions–I’m learning to say, OK, just do this. Right now. Just this.

Anybody else out there have a daily art practice? Does it affect other aspects of your life? Here are several small works from my Daily Art Cycle. All three actually have a white border around them, but they are not visible if you are viewing this on a white background:

Daily Art. Asemic, ink on paper.
Daily Art. Gouache on paper.
Daily Art. Graphite and ink on paper.

Daily Art Cycle

No. 9 in the Daily Art cycle. Finally used some collage material sent to me via Mail Artist “Nonlocal Variable“ (Oregon) for this asemic. It’s very common in #mailart exchanges to receive a packet of #collage items — and fun!

Why did I pick this particular item from the collage packet? I guess I resonated with the “discontinuity.” I’m experiencing what’s happening here in the US and the world (violent rifts, changing loyalties), but at the same time I feel that we are entering a great shift in consciousness, a change from what we’ve known previously; we don’t know for sure what’s coming next. It’s not only philosophical, spiritual, or emotional–it’s material (physiological, biological); maybe even linguitstic, too. We don’t have the language to explain it all (thus, the asemic writing).

We live in “interesting” times, as the curse goes…

#dailyart #asemic

Acrylics, paper, and watercolor.