Summer 2026 Update
The year so far has been difficult for me to say the least and I haven't been able to create as much as I would have liked. The TLDR of the bulk of it is that I have to have a hysterectomy later this year because of some very large uterine fibroids, and we can't rule out cancer until that surgery happens. Because of the surgery, my symptoms from the hormone treatment I am on and the symptoms from the fibroids themselves, I have had to cancel my commitments to the Oddities and Curiosities dates I was scheduled for this year. I will also not be participating in any in person markets for the rest of the year. I'll post the "long" of my struggles this year below and then after it I want to talk about the future.
I spent the first couple months of the year taking care of my animals who each had some more complicated than expected surgeries with long recovery times. Somewhere in there I also got sick for a week. After getting through all that, in mid march my husband, dog and I traveled to visit family out of state. I came home sick again from that after also having a Hemiplegic Migraine (HM) episode at the end of March. Shortly after recovering from that, I herniated a disc in my lower back and also started having some troubling abdominal symptoms. In mid-April, a doctor visit for what I thought was a navel hernia, set off a landslide of more doctor visits/imaging appointments/invasive exams to try and figure out what is going on with me.
I spent most of April through July perpetually nauseated, in pain and depressed while waiting for answers. My doctors are pretty sure the masses they found in my stomach are some very large uterine fibroids. But we can't be sure they're not cancerous until they remove them when I have hysterectomy surgery later this year. I'm currently on hormone therapy to see if we can shrink the fibroids before surgery. But the only thing the hormones have done since I started nearly a month ago is set off more HM episodes along with other unpleasant menopause-y symptoms.
The Present and the Future:
When I am feeling well enough to do so, I am currently in the studio working on the dolls that I mentioned plans for in my previous blog post earlier this year. You can see some of the greenware pieces I have completed in this blog's photo. I'll be posting more updates on my Instagram as I am making them. I have set up my studio for streaming again, I just haven't been in a great headspace to press that go live button yet.
I still have a great deal of stock left over from the past two years. I am tweaking and reworking some pieces. I am experimenting with flocking and adding more lusters, decals, chains and sparklies I'm also exploring options for some consignment opportunities and considering if I can manage actually doing an online shop update before the end of the year.
The future. I wish I could say that I have a better idea of my plans when it comes to continuing to sell my art. I was originally planning to take some time off after I finished the 2026 holiday season, so I could put some work into fixing up my house to consider moving and selling next summer. I was also considering going back to school to get my BA and start a new career. Everything seems more uncertain than it was when I made those plans at the end of last holiday season, for so many reasons. I have no idea what I want to do now, besides making art when I can.
In the immediate future, until my surgery I'm going to continue working in my studio and making new things when my symptoms aren't preventing me from doing so. I'll upload all about it on my socials as well as posting the rest of the videos I've finally gotten around to editing soon. Please find me on those to find out where you can buy my things from in the future. <3 Gigi