Thank you for your ongoing support and patience. My first appointment is tomorrow (Monday, March 18th) and I may not have the energy to say much afterwards, so I thought I'd update everyone today. Our next goal is funding the third procedure, for teeth #12, #14, and #15 by April 17th. We are $683 away as I'm writing this.

I'm not sure if anyone will enjoy these silly drawings, but I feel the urge to make something in response to everyone's generosity. Thank you again to everyone who shared my story and those able to donate!

My take on a tooth beast. I used to draw these looking angry a lot.

I painted a series of digital teeth studies through the end of middle school and the beginning of high school. This was notable because I had otherwise lost interest in art while dealing with issues at home and struggled to relate to those around me at school. I remember I showed these to my art teacher and she was impressed, but her gentle disappointment about what I thought was my wasted potential stung. In retrospect, I think she was just sad I was unhappy and didn't know how to help! She was nice enough to help me submit a print of this to a local art competition and I won a ribbon. It now hangs in my bathroom over the cabinet I keep my toothbrush in.

Read more about my experiences here.

None of these studies were done using my own mouth as a reference, and I'd feel a little offended whenever someone would ask if I did. I would definitely imitate the mouth shapes of my references while painting, though. I can also see as an adult that I changed several details to more closely resemble my teeth. That's really bizarre… I don't think it was intentional.

You can read more about my experiences here.

More silly teeth, inspired by how it feels to brush my cats.