Peggy Wolven
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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.
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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
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
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Who can know the mind of a kitten?
December 6, 2025 at 5:36 AM
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
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
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
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
My kit is ill-equipped for this task but the macro lens did its best. I may need a telephoto lens for these occasions.
A red fox laying on an electrical box, with the lower half of its body turned away from the viewer. It has half-risen, as though suddenly made aware of something in the direction of the viewer, and its face is ¾ toward the camera.
October 22, 2025 at 6:54 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Aside from being pride month, it’s also immigrant heritage month! I'm a recent immigrant to the US, so I did this mani as a celebration of my Canadian heritage. I recreated 4 famous Group Of Seven paintings - the last image shows the paintings they’re based on. Details in alt text!
This photo shows the full mani, all 5 nails visible, though the index and pinkie are a bit out of focus. My thumbnail features the Canadian and US flags flying side by side. The other 4 fingers feature my best attempt at recreating famous landscape paintings in nail polish. On my index, J.E.H. MacDonald's Autumn Algoma. On my middle nail, I painted Lawrence Harris' The Idea Of North. My ring finger (which I think came out the best) Franklin Carmichael's Autumn in Orillia. My pinkie shows my best attempt at Arthur Lismer's Isles of Spruce. A close up of my thumbnail showing the Canadian and American flags painted waving against a blue sky with big fluffy white clouds. A little further view of just the 4 fingernails on which I recreated the paintings. On my index, I painted the right half of J.E.H. MacDonald's Autumn Algoma. It depicts a densely wooded hillside across a lake, in rich autumn colours. The lake and sky are vivid blue and clear. There’s a single ragged spruce tree in the foreground. On my middle nail, I painted Lawrence Harris' The Idea Of North. This is a stark northern landscape painted in a somewhat abstract style. It depicts a large blue and white smoothly sculpted glacier against a blue sky with billowing clouds making long fingers over the peaks. My ring finger (which I think came out the best) is Franklin Carmichael's Autumn in Orillia. This is a somewhat desaturated and impressionistic painting of a forest, but this time up close and personal - you’re inside the woods for this one, and there’s an impression of birch trees and shrubby undergrowth, all in orange and yellow. The slay has a washed-out overcast appearance. My pinkie shows my best attempt at Arthur Lismer's Isles of Spruce. I had to take a thin slice out of the middle of this painting, so I chose the spruce spars in the very centre and made them the whole image. Again the scene is autumnal, but the towering dark spruce trees rising from a small rocky islet dominate it. A collaged image - on top, a close up of my 4 finger nails. Below are 4 images of the original paintings the nails are based on: J.E.H. MacDonald's Autumn Algoma, Lawrence Harris' The Idea Of North, Franklin Carmichael's Autumn in Orillia, and Arthur Lismer's Isles of Spruce.
June 18, 2025 at 3:38 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Back on my bullshit with a mani inspired by Arcane (the series). All handpainted with regular nail polish. The last photo I just included for dramatic lighting and my cool beetle tattoos.
Shot of all 5 nails on my left hand, facing the camera. The thumb nail is painted with a blue braid with gold tube crimp against a grungy teal background, index features a complex gold cog-like piece of steampunk machinery against the same teal background, middle has a painting of the hextech anomaly with a black starry background, ring finger is Jinx’s purple toothed hood against a grungy hot pink, and pinkie is Vi’s “VI” face tattoo against the same hot pink. A close up of the 4 fingers Detail shot of the thumb nail Just a cool shot from a bit further away - can’t make out much detail on the nails but the dramatic lighting and my beetle tattoos look cool with it.
May 27, 2025 at 4:47 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
A simple dragon scale-inspired mani.
Photo showing all 5 nails facing the camera. The whole mani uses 4 polishes: one white with a soft pink shimmer & iridescent flakes, one pink with blue iridescent flakes and yellow shimmer, one shifty metallic emerald-to-lime green, and one sage green with pink shimmer. Each nail is in one of the 4 colours, with scale lines in another colour, and a couple of scales filled in with a third colour. A close up shot of the thumb nail, which has been painted in the pink polish with the shifty metallic green polish for the scale lines and two scales filled in with white. (This is also the colour scheme on the pinkie nail) A close up of 4 fingernails facing the camera at a slight angle. The index has the sage base with white scale lines and 2 scales filled in pink, the middle has the white base with sage scale lines and 2 pink-filled scales. The ring finger has the shifty metallic green base with pink scale lines and 2 white-filled scales. The pinkie uses the same pink-based colour scheme as the previously-described thumb.
May 24, 2025 at 2:46 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
This manicure is not about copper nanotubes.
A close-up photo of a manicure on 4 fingernails. The nails are painted with a bright pinky-red creme polish and have hand-lettered c u n t across them, one letter per nail from index to pinkie. The lettering is lined in a sparkly black-adjacent polish and filled with a shimmery purple polish. Another angle of the manicure, this time including the thumb, which has a simplified vulva illustration on it in the same polish colours, but the dark polish is the base instead of the pink-red.
May 16, 2025 at 2:10 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Sometimes your nails just need a little velvet worm. Handpainted using nail polish. Inspired by photos from @wizentrop.bsky.social
Close up of manicure across 4 fingernails (thumb excluded). The background colour is a sort of swampy jelly green with green flakes at the tips. The velvet worm image starts on the middle fingernail and stretches across the ring and pinkie nails. It’s depicted spraying glue, which shoots across the index nail. The species depicted is blue with yellow speckles. The same manicure but from a bit further back and showing the thumbnail as well (which does not have any image painted on it, just the background green colour). Also visible is a mushroom ring on the middle finger.
May 14, 2025 at 4:21 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Fish nails! Hand painted using nail polish, inspired by a design from a nail artist on Instagram, AllisonDoesNails.
Shot of a manicure showing all 5 fingers of one hand. Each nail has a different base colour and a fish hand-painted on it. The entire manicure uses 5 colours, giving a graphic look reminiscent of the work of Shepard Fairey. The 5 colours are: light turquoise, dark teal blue, bright red, dark brick red, and a pale yellowish-cream. A close-up of the thumbnail. The base colour is turquoise, and the fish is painted in bright red with cream and dark red accents. The thumb has a silver knuckle-ring that says “vexed”. A close-up of 4 finger nails. The index nail is bright red with a cream, teal, and red fish. The middle nail is teal with a dark red, turquoise, and teal fish. The ring nail is cream with a teal, red, and cream fish. The pinkie nail is dark red with a turquoise, bright red, and teal fish.
May 6, 2025 at 5:36 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
May the 4th be with you.
May 4, 2025 at 5:35 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
When you have a lovely game night with friends but you’re a bug nerd so the only photos you take are of a couple of spoods on their front porch.
Male orb weaver, looks to be an Araneus species but they all look the same to me. Habronattus coecatus, a black and tan jumping spider
May 4, 2025 at 4:24 PM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
We also saw an eastern wormsnake, which was a new find for me! Unfortunately this one appeared dead, though I could find no obvious wound.
May 1, 2025 at 5:00 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
We saw several Very Good Larvae - shown here in order of increasing excitement: Bicolored Sallow moth, a Photuris sp. firefly, and a HUGE DRAGON I mean Dobsonfly but holy heck it looks like a dragon!
A tan caterpillar with brown triangles in a row down its back, pointing buttward. A firefly larva, which sort of looks like weird plate armour. I do not know how to describe a dobsonfly larva. It has a huge armoured head with big jaws, an armoured thorax, and then just the weirdest floppy, leathery …tail-like abdomen trailing out behind it, with little fringes on the sides. IT IS SO WEIRD.
May 1, 2025 at 4:59 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
For anyone who might not be familiar, this is what Apheloria virginiensis looks like in regular light.
A black millipede with yellow legs. Each body segment is margined with bright yellow along the back and coral red along the sides.
May 1, 2025 at 4:52 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Forgot to post last night’s walk friends. @brianwolven.bsky.social and I even remembered to take the UV torch this time, yay! Just one proper glowy friend though. Apheloria virginiensis.
May 1, 2025 at 4:50 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
Sup.
Cinnamom, the most relaxed calico in the world, lounging somewhat precariously on my legs, legs dangling over the abyss beside the sofa.
April 29, 2025 at 6:47 AM
vexedmuddler.bsky.social
😂😂😂
Jammie Dodgers, not to be confused with Jammie Dodgers.
Jammie Dodgers the cat, a grey Scottish fold, snuggling her favourite human. Jammie Dodgers the British brand of sandwich cookie, with a jam-filled centre.
April 21, 2025 at 2:33 PM