Hi. I’m Alana.
I am an artist, a poet, a community organizer.
I am fascinated by transformation, movement, home, and community. One or more of these elements can be found in almost all of what I create.
The work that I do is intuitive and heavily influenced by the delight found in nature.
I also like to share upfront that I am an intersectional activist, a pacifist, an abolitionist and a pantheist.
I also really, really value people and creative community.
It’s my way of saying I have a deep reverence for all of life, and see most everything around me as a sentient being worthy of awe and appreciation, from the dandelion to the oak to the river to the stone.
That paradigm deeply influences the work that I do: my artistry and writing always hold something of my spiritual and philosophical sensibilities.
Currently based out of Central Massachusetts, I am originally from the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Oregon), and have lived up and down both the Pacific and the Atlantic coasts, with a significant amount of time in Southern California.
In the early aughts, I studied in Italy and in Germany, and over the decades, I’ve visited four continents (three for those who count the Americas as one continent).
I’d love to spend time on all seven in my lifetime.
As I researched deeply into the earliest roots of my name—Alana Marie Garrigues—I found a resonance with the words’ origins.
And I found that all on its own, my name formed a poem.
alana marie garrigues…
child
of the tree
of the sea
of the rock
Not only a poem, it spoke to what I do, what I love.
Without ever knowing that I was aligning my life so closely with what I am called, I found that everything that I do is built into my name.
Right now I work primarily on two fine art series: Mother Tree Holds the Stories and Small Devotions of Pigment and Water.
In the subject, there is the tree.
In the watery media that I gravitate towards (watercolors and inks), there is the sea.
In the natural inks and watercolors I love, there is granulation in the pigment. There is the rock.
If you’d like to read a bit about my journey transitioning to art, it began as a daily practice and an integral piece of healing a decade of eczema, and grew from there. I write about it in this blog post: Out of the Shadow
Would you like to know where to find me?
Physical Space
I’m living in Holden, just north of Worcester (about an hour outside of Boston), alongside the gorgeous deciduous forest of Central Massachusetts, with my family (including twin teenagers!) and our beagador rescue.
We’re transforming our new-to-us 60+ year old home into a place of play and dreams… experimenting with light and shadow, color, and planning a garden full of food and friendly to pollinators and local appetites.
In the winter, you can find me baking sourdough boules and focacce.
I also work part-time at our local library (which looks like a CASTLE!!) in the Reference section, where I manage monthly art exhibits, and I serve on our town’s Cultural Council.
You can also find me semi-regularly in Oregon, as I visit family and navigate my life as a bicoastal artist and human. When I visit, I will continue to teach and share my artwork.
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and it is the land that knows me. My art career started in earnest while I was back home in Oregon during the three years surrounding the pandemic. It is the land of fern and cedar, and for that reason fern and cedar always make me breathe deeply of home.
The landscape along the Pacific Ocean held me during the early months of the pandemic, offering a relief and sense of peace as only the water, the forest, and the fresh air can.
Online
Here, naturally! I’ve started updating my blog relatively regularly, and I’m always tinkering with my website.
The very best ways to keep in close touch are through my newsletter and on my Patreon. The newsletter is free; the Patreon ranges from $5-500/month and includes goodies like zines, live Zoom calls, original art, invitations to test new merchandise, access to direct conversation, and more.
If you like social media, the place to see what I’m up to in real time in my art studio and in life is to follow me on Instagram: @alanaofloveandlight. You can find me on Facebook at the same handle, albeit a little less often. I love to share images and write about the process over there.
Since Meta appears to have upped the ante on getting eyes on controversial posts (read: high emotion, especially anger-inducing), social media reach is way, way down for almost all artists and small businesses the past year or two.
Most followers and fans are not seeing what we create.
Therefore, while I appreciate a follow and absolutely love a conversation over there, it’s not a great way to keep in the loop about what I’m making or where I’m talking and teaching.
For that, I highly, highly recommend my newsletter for 1-2 email updates a month, or my Patreon for goodies (zines, Zooms, original art, merch testing) and conversation.
Through My Art
Most of the art that I make is for sale. I am working on setting up a shop here, but in the meantime… if you see something that you like on my Instagram or here on the site, drop a comment in the Work With Me tab, inquire about it at alana@ofloveandlight.org, or send me a DM via Instagram. I’d be happy to talk with you.
I am open to inquiries about both licensing and commissions.
In Community
I am a member of Art Friend School, the Art Brand Alliance, ArtsWorcester, and the Massachusetts chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art.
From 2020 through spring of 2023, when I was not walking or writing or painting, you could often find me hanging out in {within} artist collective, which I facilitated from 2021 until it closed, first as co-facilitator, and then as sole facilitator.
It was an incredible space to be seen, to be heard, to develop one’s artistic language. To build and tend to a brave, sustainable creative practice. Created for amateur, emerging, and professional artists, makers and writers, it was a haven for so many.
While the collective is now released into the memory of ether, you will surely feel its reverberations for decades to come, as the energy of the collective lives on in our former members.
I do expect a return to holding community space, both online and in person. While I do not know what the future will hold, I anticipate such spaces to be time-specific and non-gendered, with a keen eye on accessibility, inclusion, and artivist practices. Sign up for my newsletter below to be alerted when it happens.
In Art and Workshops (In-Person and Online)
Visit the homepage to find out about current exhibitions and upcoming workshops, or sign up for my newsletter for updates 1-2x/month.
Through Writing
Want to know more? Email me at alana@ofloveandlight.org or subscribe to my newsletter, News and the Muse for updates in your inbox a couple of times a month.
I send behind-the-scenes photos, stories from my studio, anecdotes of courage, updates about exhibits and classes, and messages infused with gratitude and love.
