I’m Delaney Gibbons, an artist and writer from Philadelphia, now based in Ames, Iowa.
I’ve called big cities home for over three decades, but now home is beautiful central Iowa, where the sunsets scream at you in the kindest way possible to get out of your own head. I think it’s what is meant by Midwest Nice.
I relocated here with my husband during the pandemic, the same weekend that my mom lost a decade-long battle with ovarian cancer. These events sparked a pivot in my career focus, away from the corporate design world and towards personal joy at a slower pace.
Turns out I really enjoy gardening and making comics! This newsletter is a low-pressure place for me to share what I’m learning, new things I make, and some life sprinkled in. I also love hearing about others’ creative process, so I’m trying to get better at documenting and sharing my own.
I send out new posts (mostly) every week, on Sundays.
For some helpful background and to get an idea of what I post, start here:
Why Daydronk?
It’s a word I made up back in 2018 or so, when I was on the verge of burnout at my design job in Chicago. There were a few mornings where I’d paint my mug in my sketchbook as I sipped my coffee — something to extend those quiet moments before I had to leave to catch the Red Line.
I think I spelled it “daydrawnk” when posting a quick photo to Instagram. The project was short lived, but the name stuck around in my head. It just evokes for me a sense of blurry joy — the warm, happy kind of nostalgia that makes you think of sunny days with the ones you love.
