Peggy Wolven
LightNews LightNews
banner
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Peggy Wolven
@vexedmuddler.bsky.social
2.9K followers 360 following 910 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
artologica.net
Why not buy a piece of original art celebrating the *powerhouse of the cell*? #sciart artologica.etsy.com
They are so cool 😄
Four different mitochondria paintings
December 6, 2025 at 11:07 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Okay I’m finally all caught up with this post (yay) for #ArtAdventCalendar day 6! One of about a gazillion beetle-inspired manicures I’ve done over the years. This one is Calligrapha beetle elytra! Sadly in real life they’re not shimmery and shifty like these ones, but they deserve the glow-up.
A close-up of my thumb nail. The almond-shaped tip is painted with a flaky, sparkly green polish to echo leaves. The actual beetle elytra take up the part of the nail that’s attached to the finger (making the green section a sort of “French tip”. I painted the elytra in white creme polish with black lines and dots based on actual beetle species, then topped them with a shifty, shimmery polish topper that gives a pink and yellow sheen over the white areas and green in the black areas. A shot of 4 fingers at an angle to show the blue shift of the shimmer topper over the black areas of the elytra designs. Each nail has the same basic design as described for the thumb, but with different patterns of black markings to denote different species. Another close-up shot of 4 nails, this time straight-on. All 4 of the shimmer shift colours are visible here: pink and yellow over the white, and blue and green over the black.
December 6, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
basalthrull.bsky.social
Texte: le calendrier de l’avent interdit Image 1: un pied de biche Image 2: un ensemble de casiers automatiques type « Amazon » situé en extérieur
December 6, 2025 at 7:24 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
#ArtAdventCalendar day 5 (almost caught up!) this was a fun mani, and an unusual subject matter for me: fishing buoys! I took inspiration from the wonderful displays found on fishing shacks along the shore in Cape Cod, and chose a magnetic background polish that shifts and shimmers like water.
A shot of all the finger nails facing the camera. The background polish is a deep blue with pale silvery-blue magnetic particles, and looks like sun glinting off the water. The buoys are hand-painted in bright creme nail polish shades, featuring many different types and colours of buoys arranged as though hanging off a net. A close-up of the thumb nail - there’s a white and baby blue striped buoy in the lower right, a white buoy with two horizontal green stripes and a row of peach dots in the lower left, a fat white and yellow buoy with a bright red lobster in the upper left, and just the corner of a green buoy in the upper right. A shot of 4 finger nails at an angle. Notable buoys include a bright yellow with a vertical stripe of baby blue dots on the index (it looks like the Beatles’ yellow submarine), a blue and white buoy with a red lobster on the middle nail, and on the ring nail, a yellow buoy with a peach stripe along the bottom and a white strip above it with a line of green dots.
December 6, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
jayispainting.earthskyart.ca
Day 5 Evening
Cosmic Cliffs
36x48in 91x122 cm
Oil on Canvas 2024
Based on the JWST image of NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula #Art #Painting #SciArt
Abstract painting of a nebula with swirling yellow and orange clouds with blue black field above and lots of stars
December 6, 2025 at 5:03 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Who can know the mind of a kitten?
December 6, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
himmapaan.bsky.social
A #PudgyHorse tribute to the Lascaux cave paintings, painted with the Strata Trio watercolours made by @thoughtsupnorth.bsky.social from Cretaceous rocks from the Albertan badlands. From 2020.

Might as well post this one as it's been stolen and sold on Australian Temu. 🙃

#ArtAdventCalendar
Painting of my character, Pudgy Horse, a horse of baroque type appearance with luxuriant mane and tail, and deliberately exaggerated proportions, including short, slender legs with dainty hooves and an extremely generous girth; here painted in tribute to one of the famous horses in the Lascaux cave paintings using similar colours and simplified shapes.
December 5, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
nollthere.bsky.social
I forgot yesterday's #ArtAdventCalendar AND last month's #Endangart. Please forgive me, I have new art: The Scalloped Hammerhead shark.
#Art
Digital art of a Scalloped Hammerhead shark inside a vintage, light green, oval frame with shell-shaped elements.
December 5, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
weisanboo.bsky.social
it's december !! 🙀 good excuse to post these guys again ...!
December 2, 2025 at 6:05 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
#ArtAdventCalendar day 4 is a cute little space otter I did for a friend’s birthday. Done in nail polish - the background is built-up layers of different shimmer polishes dabbed and sponged over a deep blue creme base. Painted some stars and the otter overtop with creme nail polish. #OtterSpace
Close up of the thumb nail with swirls and blobs of shimmering purple, green, blue, and orange over a deep blue base. There are two large white 4-pointed stars and a bunch of smaller pinprick stars scattered all over. A view of all 5 nails facing the camera. The otter is on the ring finger nail, appearing to be poking its head out of the “water” of the nebula. A close up of 4 fingers, which shows the otter a bit better.
December 5, 2025 at 9:50 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Still playing catchup on #ArtAdventCalendar - for day 3, how about a little cottagecore cuteness? All hand-painted with nail polish. We call this style where every nail has a different base colour a “skittle” 😅
All 5 fingernails aimed toward the camera showing a cottagecore manicure. The thumb features a frog playing the banjo, with a swampy, flaky background. The index has a pair of fly agaric mushrooms, one with a snail on top, on a murky green background. The middle nail has a navy background with pink and green flowering vines. The ring shows a white duck with a blue bow around its neck against a red shimmery background. The pinkie is more of the flowering vines but against a sage background. A close-up shot of the same manicure but without the thumb nail visible. A close-up shot of the thumb nail with its banjo-playing frog.
December 5, 2025 at 8:28 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Did you know I live-stream nail art on Thursday nights at 8pm eastern on YouTube? Tonight's live stream will be magnetic & shimmery snowflake art! youtube.com/live/q_gsIvH... usually I stream for about 1.5-2 hours, so if you’re interested, come on by!
Live Stream: *Manifesting Snow* (aka it's grey and drizzly and i want winter on my nails!)
The weather isn't giving me much to work with so far, but maybe if i paint winter on my nails, the skies will get the hint! I'll be using magnetics and shimmery polishes to create a winter wonderland ...
youtube.com
December 4, 2025 at 11:21 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Timiny Cricket wants to help @brianwolven.bsky.social open the Eel Facts scratch-off calendar from @sarahmackattack.bsky.social & @skypeascientist.bsky.social
December 4, 2025 at 7:52 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
And for #ArtAdventCalendar day 2, some fishing lures 😅 Variations on this design have trended on social media for a while. I used creme polishes for the bases, some with gradients, and topped them all with a sheer holographic magnetic polish. Then I added details using more creme polishes.
A close up photo showing all the fingernails and thumb nail facing the camera. There’s a gradient of colour across all the nails such that the pinkie and thumb and both fully blue, the middle is fully green, and the index and ring finders are ombré. The rainbow sheen of the magnetic topper shows best on the pinkie here since it’s a little out of focus. Each nail has either stripes or dots in dark orange, in addition to the black gill lines and black and white eyes. A different angle close up on just 4 finger nails - this one shows the rainbow sheen a little better. A close-up of the thumb nail
December 4, 2025 at 6:41 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
I’ve been forgetting about #ArtAdventCalendar - imma start with a belated day 1 because I can do what I want and you can’t stop me. The first is a unicorn design I painted back in June.
Close up on four fingernails showing a hand painted white unicorn against a shimmery blue, green, and pink nebula with white stars. The unicorn’s head is on the index finger, while the neck and mane flow across the middle finger and the ring and pinkie fingers just have the nebula background and stars. Same as the first shot but at a slight angle so the light hits the shimmery nebula differently, pulling out gold and turquoise shades. A close-up of the thumb nail, which has the same style of nebula background as the other nails, with a scattering of stars.
December 4, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
artologica.net
Pink unicorn pumpkin for @vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Pink painted pumpkin with beads and unicorn horn
November 3, 2025 at 10:22 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
No costume for Timiny Cricket this year but I did catch a nice little illusion.
A young grey tabby (Timiny Cricket) sits on a stair, 2 steps down from the landing, with his face turned toward the camera. Behind him on the landing is a black witch’s hat with gold skulls & crossbones. The hat is lined up perfectly so it looks like Timiny is wearing it.
November 1, 2025 at 1:44 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Happy Meowloween from Jammie Dodgers (and the rest of us)!
October 31, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
sarahmackattack.bsky.social
I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.
September 19, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
brianwolven.bsky.social
The young calico who adopted us last year has desperately wanted to play with her two much older sisters, but they will have none of it.

Last Friday @vexedmuddler.bsky.social and I adopted this lovable little nugget, whom we have dubbed “Timiny Cricket”.
A small brown & tan kitten lies asleep between two cat toys, one a small salmon plushy, the other a plaid Christmas present. A small brown & tan kitten sits on a cardboard scratcher next to a screened window, looking over his shoulder toward the camera. On a totally irrelevant note, the window crank is crowned with a tardigrade figurine. A small brown & tan kitten dozes INSIDE an opening of the Ripple Rug. Guess it’s warmer in there? A small brown & tan kitten lies sleeping between us on the sofa while we watch a show.
September 2, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
brianwolven.bsky.social
I must ask why you neglected to mention Santa and his Elvers in the calendar promotional materials. 😕
August 26, 2025 at 2:06 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
@skypeascientist.bsky.social I just ordered an Eel Facts advent for @brianwolven.bsky.social but he has a question for you
August 26, 2025 at 1:41 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
@amyraehill.bsky.social hey @tychogirl.bsky.social follow Amy for awesome
July 4, 2025 at 10:46 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
He has a RACING STRIPE I love him so much 🥹
tshahan.bsky.social Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · Jun 30
a few more shots of this beautiful species 🕷️🙇
June 30, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Reposted by Peggy Wolven
tshahan.bsky.social
Photographed a LOT of handsome salticids in Costa Rica, but these Anasaitis canalis males were the fanciest! ✨💙 Very difficult to shoot - not just tiny - but super skittish too!

In situ, stack (3 shots?), Pentax, Laowa 25mm

Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica - ground level, shaded areas w/ tree cover
June 30, 2025 at 3:06 AM