Peggy Wolven
LightNews LightNews
banner
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Peggy Wolven
@vexedmuddler.bsky.social
3K followers 360 following 990 posts
Fashion for the Scientific Body. Nails, nerdy and not.

https://linktr.ee/vexedmuddler

🩷💛💙 She/her, artist, scientist, nail polish nerd, friend to underloved animals.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
caitscapes.bsky.social
With love ❤️‍🔥

#embroidery #art #artist #mixedmedia
February 14, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
livraineysmith.bsky.social
Pulled out a Spider print to reference the foreground texture for my current piece. When carving it can be easy to lose sight of the tone you're aiming for in the finished art. Being able to glance over at my prior work helps keep my line spacing in check. #art #woodcut #wip
A photo of an easel with a few inches of blue stained wood visible on the left, and a finished black ink woodcut print on the right. The wood is partially carved, primarily with a sort of woodgrain pattern similar to the foreground of the finished print. The finished print depicts a spider perched between a spindle of wool and pair of scissors. The scissors have snipped the wool leaving a section laying on the surface below.
February 13, 2026 at 10:52 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Happy obligatory romantic observance day!
I did these fluid art nails during my Thursday night live stream this week. I created fluid art decals, let them dry, then used a heart-shaped hole punch to create negative and positive hearts that I applied to the nails. I then hand-painted the details.
A close-up of my thumb nail. The swirled pink and white fluid art decal has two slightly overlapping hearts punched out of it to expose the reddish-brown base colour. I painted a tiny arrow piercing both hearts in a diagonal line moving from the feathered end in the lower left to the arrowhead in the upper right. A close up of the other four nails on the same hand. The middle nail is an inversion of the thumb nail, with the punched-out fluid art hearts from the thumb adhered to the same reddish base in the same slightly overlapping arrangement. I also painted the same arrow shape, but moving the opposite direction, from the feathered end in the upper right to the arrowhead in the lower left. The index and ring fingers are both fluid art decals with scattered hearts punched out - two on the index nail and three on the ring nail. The pinkie nail has a single fluid art broken heart in the middle over the same reddish base used in the rest. For this nail I took one of the punched-out hearts and cut it in a zig-zag line down the centre, then placed it on the nail with a slight gap between the two sides.
February 14, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
nellucnhoj.bsky.social
A messy digital painting of the glorious bear toy in the quoted post. Its lower jaw hinges impossibly, as it yells to the very gods themselves.
February 9, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
jennyrjohnsonart.bsky.social
SHE’S FINISHED! My 5-foot-long Enterprise D oil painting is complete after nearly 100 hours of work!

I remember being 13 years old or so and trying to draw her and it was so hard, and all I wanted was to be able to do something like this. Truly a dream come true. 🥰🖖
February 7, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
blynxart.bsky.social
woolly aphid my beloved 💜🌿🐡
February 8, 2026 at 4:36 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Every Thursday night I live stream nail art. For my first stream of Black History Month I asked chat to choose between 4 Black scientists I’d pre-selected. Chat, in their usual fashion, said “all 4, please”. Hence: Margaret Collins, Kathrine Johnson, Sophie Lutterlough, and Charles Henry Turner.
A photo of 4 fingernails on my left hand, each hand-painted with a design to represent one of the scientists. The background for each is a translucent blue-green polish with tiny metallic flakes. On the index nail, I painted a termite with a yellow and orange abdomen, thorax, and legs, and a large brown head and mandibles. On the middle nail, a tiny white rocket slingshots around the moon, trailed by a dashed line. The ring finger nail features and large brown mite with yellow legs and head, and the pinkie nail has two black ants in a line. A close-up photo of my thumb nail with the same background polish. Hand-lettered in all caps, rendered in dark blue nail polish, it reads COLLINS JOHNSON LUTTERLOUGH TURNER
February 8, 2026 at 4:03 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
@cindynorth1.bsky.social for some reason I can’t reply to this but I need you to know that Brian came over to the sink to show me your reply, and when he turned back to the table, the kitten was licking all of Brian’s goldfish crackers. Now he has wet goldfish that smell like cat breath.
cindynorth1.bsky.social CindyLouWho @cindynorth1.bsky.social · 8d
your wife is a fucking rock star and I love her so much
February 8, 2026 at 3:38 AM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
tryangregory.bsky.social
"What exactly do you expect Carney to do / not do?"

A thread of 50 specific items (with links, and not in any particular order), a large fraction of which are in line with warning signs we pointed out early on and were told to be quiet, wait and see, or trust his 4D chess acumen.

1/??
January 22, 2026 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
emmalerae.bsky.social
Trying to make happy art again...

I added another family of stargazers off in the distance.

I was at Crater Lake once and wondered if animals took time to enjoy the beauty of their surroundings and at that moment a pika climbed to the tip of a volcanic spire and just looked out at the valley.
An in progress illustration of a family of Triceratops sleeping in a huddle while one adult gazes up at the Milky Way. A detail image of a family of Tyrannosaurus silhouetted by the Milky Way galaxy in the night sky.
January 21, 2026 at 9:55 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Nail art is basically my only therapy these days so here are some recent therapy pieces.
A photo of my left hand posed to show all 5 nails. Each is painted in a dark purplish- grey polish with a pale sand-coloured magnetic pigment. On my thumb nail, I painted Albireo in orange and blue: a star in the constellation Cygnus which is an optical binary. One component of Albireo (the orange star) is itself a true binary (or possibly a trinary - the jury is still out). On my middle nail I painted the constellation Pegasus and on my ring nail I painted Cygnus. You could call it sort of a self portrait - IYKYK A manicure I did for slavery and human trafficking awareness. 4 fingernails on my left hand are shown facing the camera, all painted in a light grey with a soft blue shimmer. Across the index, middle, and ring nails, I painted a grey steel chain, which has broken on the middle nail, pieces flying away from the broken link. A close up of my left thumb nail with a portrait of Beaker from The Muppet Show. The pale green top of his lab coat collar and a bit of his dark green tie peek up at the bottom (proximal end) of my nail. His bright orange hair sticks up chaotically toward the tip of the nail. He’s looking to the left with his typical worried/horrified expression. The background is painted with a plum coloured polish with a blue shimmer. A photo of my left hand with all five nail showing. Each is painted with a smooth gradient: a rainbow in the centre of each nail, going from red at the proximal end to indigo at the tip. Around the circumference of each nail, the rainbow fades into a dark purple polish. It’s hard to tell in a still photo, but I painted the rainbow part using magnetic polishes, so in motion it looks really dynamic with the colours shifting, brightening and fading with the movement of my fingers.
January 21, 2026 at 9:46 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
I have a young friend who is almost 6, obsessed with sharks (and megalodon lol), and her grandfather keeps finding bad AI slip for her. Any suggestions for better places to look @whysharksmatter.bsky.social? Id have DMed but maybe some of my other followers will have good ideas too!
December 28, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
nimasprout.bsky.social
Finished up this wave painting! Will be varnishing it to bring out the richness but want to let the paint fully dry overnight before applying.

This one is up for grabs.
Size: 6.5x11" Acryla gouache on paper
$600 (US shipping including)

DM to claim
Wave painting with greens and blues with paint pallet in background
December 28, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
luxomancer.bsky.social
Giant Leopard #Moths, Hypercompe scribonia, were frequent visitors to the bug light this year. What looks like black markings from a distance, is revealed to be a rich iridescent blue upon closer look. Some have spots, and some have rings.

#MacroPhotography
#Mothmas
#Invertefest
A photo of a white arrowhead-shaped Giant Leopard Moth resting on a wood table. The moth has dark markings, some ring shaped, some spots, these marks look black from a distance but are a deep iridescent blue. A closeup of the head of a white Giant Leopard Moth taken low and from the front. The moth's slender antennae extend to the left and right of the frame, it's dome-like body rises above the head, the eyes tucked underneath are orange in this light. The body, is marked with dark iridescent blue spots and the legs and head also have some of these markings. A photo of an arrowhead-shaped giant leopard moth resting on a white sheet. Unlike the other moth in this post, the dark markings on this example are almost entirely ring shaped. A close up photo of the wing juncture of a Giant leopard moth. The wings themselves are marked with dark iridescent blue rings. The space between the wings is a long triangle filled with these blue scales. The area above the wing juncture is marked with irregular blue spots which shine intensely in this light.
December 27, 2025 at 4:58 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Going to a (slightly belated) Boxing Day party this evening, so needed an appropriate* manicure for the occasion.

*Note for people from non-commonwealth countries: this is not actually what Boxing Day is all about.
A close-up shot of my thumb nail. It’s covered in a deep smoky slate blue polish, and in the middle of the nail I have painted a Little Tykes Turtle Sandbox. It’s filled with gleaming gold-tinged sand, out of which is emerging a yellow plastic shovel handle. There’s a red pail resting on the sand. A close up shot of my other 4 fingers, with the same background polish. Each nail has a different kind of box painted on it: Index - a red vintage style lunchbox with an Astroboy picture on the side Middle - a pink jewellery box, open to reveal a dancing ballerina in front of a gleaming silver mirror. Ring - a pizza box, partially open to reveal pizza inside. Pinkie - a crayon box with the top flap open showing the crayons inside.
December 28, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
artologica.net
How can you say Avatar has no cultural impact? I've been hearing that Na'vi Dad song nonstop for weeks
tomandlorenzo.bsky.social Tom & Lorenzo @tomandlorenzo.bsky.social · Dec 27
I think it's interesting that the Avatar films don't seem to have much of a life or cultural impact outside the theater but I also think it's extremely weird that such an observation is commonly met with the angriest sorts of responses
December 27, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
tjalamont.bsky.social
I haven't been taking many pictures the last couple of weeks, (and today it's pouring rain), but here's a photo I took on Christmas Eve three years ago, of a single green lacewing egg in my garden. Think of it as a wrapped present with a bug in it.
🎁🌿🐙📷 #bugsky
A macro photo of a single green lacewing egg on its thin stalk above a fuzzy, rumpled green leaf, and against an orange background. The egg looks like a tiny, oblong, lime-green balloon on a string.
December 24, 2025 at 4:43 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Okay it’s officially Christmas. The Chelsea buns are done.
A bundle of Chelsea buns, arranged in a circle on a pan, surrounded by sugary goo. If you’ve never had Chelsea buns (aka sticky buns), they’re a bit like cinnamon rolls in structure, but have just a little cinnamon and a LOT of butter and brown sugar. They make their own sauce as they bake, and it caramelizes in the bottom of the pan. When you turn them out, the bottom becomes the top, and you have a glorious candy crunch atop pillowy yeast rolls.
December 25, 2025 at 4:53 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
#ArtAdventCalendar is technically done, but I’ll leave with one last manicure - the one I’m wearing right now. Happy Santaween, y’all!
A close up of my thumb nail, painted in a green magnetic polish with silver holographic bar glitters. The effect is of silver & rainbow tinsel hanging on a Christmas tree. I painted strands in a shimmery indigo with white highlights, connecting coloured lights in red, orange, blue, and yellow. Each light bulb casts a coloured glow on the surrounding green background. A shot of my full hand with all 5 nails visible. My index and pinkie nails are painted to match my thumb nail, but my middle and ring finger nails have a pearlescent white background with minimalist coniferous trees - just green triangles in the distance, made with magnetic nail polish. A close up shot of my other 4 fingers. In this photo you can see that the pearlescent white on the two middle nails is swirled to give a frosty effect.
December 25, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
artologica.net
Our Squirrel of the Day for December 25, 2025 is a little Christmas angel #sqrlpix
albino squirrel in tree
December 25, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
dadrummond.art
Merry #Crustmas to all who celebrate! Hoping you are firmly attached to people you love, are able to scoop up large amounts of food, and can hide in an impervious shell when the social situation requires it ❤️
My sculpture of an acorn barnacle—a crustacean!—in steel, bronze, and sterling silver, sitting on a white background. My hand touches the steel barnacle shell and provides scale (barnacle is just a bit smaller than my hand). The barnacle’s filter feeding legs (cirri) are spread dramatically wide.
December 25, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
hanaayoob.co.uk
Day 16 - one very happy snake plant who started with some leftover watercolour ink and then just grew from there.

I really want to make prints of this in 2026

#ArtAdventCalendar
A green windy snake fills the entire page. It has a big yellow eye and is smiling. The snake is filled with floral mandalas and leaf patterns in green and thwre are leaves sprouting off the spake too. Everything is intricately pattered.
December 24, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
debmerriam.bsky.social
#ArtAdventCalendar 22: a tumbling-blocks geometric #RugHooking work-in-progress. Started in February 2020, IIRC.
A hand-hooked running-loop-stitch work in progress, playing with the tumbling-blocks pattern (where 3 diamond shapes are placed together to form a cube, and shading of the cube’s sides give an illusion of movement). At its centre where 6 diamond points meet, is a colour wheel of bright saturated primary and secondary colours, shaded lightest at its centre and darkest at the edges of the star-shaped wheel. Diamonds in the tertiary colours turn the star into a hexagon, and diamonds in the quaternary colours are being started around the edges. Each stitch is a loop of hand-dyed wool fabric, with some silk, paper, and yarn added for textural effects. There are also embroidered and felted embellishments and buttons added. The edges are unfinished, with lots of the linen foundation fabric still left unhooked. “Colour Is Its Own Reward”, adapted from a traditional quilting/tiling pattern and hooked by Deb Merriam, started in a workshop with Gail Becker.
December 24, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
kimberlyparsonsart.bsky.social
🌲🎄🌲

#artadventcalendar #artyear #artsky #artshow #art #illustration #illustrator #artist #drawing #cartoon #design #visdev #ink #childrensillustration #kidlitart #penandink #festive #whimsy #winter #mouse #christmas #christmaseve #christmastree #reindeer #rabbit #bird #tree #forest #woods #moon
A pen and ink illustration of animals gathered around a Christmas tree in the forest.
December 25, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
erinys.bsky.social
#ArtAdventCalendar 2025, Day 24:

Icons for items in the cooking system of a cozy, story-driven game in development. I liked these and was pretty proud of them. :)

Medium: Pixaki for iPad.

#gameart #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart
Pixel art image of three pomegranates, one cut in half and facing the viewer. A pixel art image of a small cluster of vibrant Borlotti beans with red pods and bright white/green stripes. Pixel art depiction of two fennel bulbs attached to their stems and leaves. Pixel art depiction of two black currants with a green leaf behind them.
December 25, 2025 at 1:59 AM