This is an archived copy of the {news and the muse} letter that went out to subscribers on July 24, 2024.
Hello beloved one,
I promised brief-ish, and I promised newsy over muse-y this time around, so let’s get right into it…
I *FINALLY* have a way for you to shop online, and it is super exciting! This is my first licensing agreement, and I honestly couldn’t be happier about it.
•••
This week, for the first time ever, and in the loveliest artists-supporting-artists making-the-world-a-more-
(a whole serendipitous story of gratitude and timing and marvelous humans…
but I’ll save that for another day)
you can buy affordable high-quality archival prints of a curated collection of my tree rings through Papernoten!!!
Right now there are three of my prints available, and more are coming. They are 12 x 12 inches, the perfect size to buy one for a smaller wall, or buy two or three to start your own coordinated collection within the series.
I am so excited about this, not only because it opens up additional ways to sell the artwork and unite tree lovers and art lovers everywhere(!), but because the founder of Papernoten, Lindsey Aarts, is building the most incredible community of humans devoted to creativity, nature, and the arts, through this small, independent, Oregon Coast business.
In addition to archival prints (mine and fellow artists’), you can find hand-stamped seed saver envelopes, poetry books, greeting cards, zines, and more over at the Papernoten shop.
It is a relatively new space, and it is growing thoughtfully. Definitely pay attention. And if something strikes your fancy and you are able to welcome it home (or gift it to a special someone), have fun shopping. 🙂
Also, while you’re there, check out the Papernoten Instagram page where you can find a 30-day creative challenge that Lindsey just wrapped up, accessible to anyone and everyone, whether you identify as “a creative” or not.
***
Speaking of creative challenges, I’ll wrap up this issue of {news and the muse} with a small creative exercise I’ve been using lately: world building. It’s muse meets… the news you dream of!
If you’re anything like me, you may be experiencing heightened anxiety around the health of this planet and the humans who live here, compounded with grief for myriad reasons.
I don’t see solutions or resolutions or revolutions that resonate directly in front of me, and that can feel kind of scary.
But rather than wallowing in what’s not ideal now, I’ve started imagining possibility. Not as escape. But as a way to harness what I value and guide me toward that energy and relationship in my life.
Two worlds I’m building right now, beginning inside my head, but let out (and made more real) by listing, sketching, collaging, vision boarding, or speaking:
- My Land Stewardship Plan
- I’m naming zones of the land I am able to tend to, identifying to myself how I will transform my space in the years ahead and what plant allies and playfulness I’m welcoming in or continuing to tend to: orchard, farm, woods, moss garden, fairy playground, native planting [aka bee and butterfly dreamscape], outdoor seating, mural, etc.
- My Leadership Dream Team | Council of Wise Ones
- I’m naming the people… artists, poets, scientists, politicians, world builders… who I would love to see as advisors. It started our as a dream team of advisors for any future leader of this nation where I live, but honestly, as I am writing this to you, I would expand it to create in my mind a Council of Wise Ones for the world… or even myself. A self-assignment for tomorrow.
Do you want to try it? Here’s what I do:
I pick an environment I would like to shift in wondrous, loving ways.
Whether it is within myself (how would I like to feel?), within my home (how do I want to curate the spaces and zones), or out in the community or rippled into the planet as a whole, what kind of world/people/words/art can you find there?
Am I able to name it, as a list? Or draw lines or make marks or pick colors to show the feeling? Or gather images? Or write affirmations? Or (whoa, courage!) speak the imagined dream world to another human, one who may even be able to collaborate with me on bringing bits of that world to life?
This is big dream stuff. It’s not tomorrow’s to-do list. It’s what is possible in 5, 10, 15 years through subtle shifts and an openness to possibility.
I love how the exercise can both soothe and energize me, as I immediately sense a shift in how I shape and perceive my surroundings when I do it.
Sometimes it’s more fun to play possibility with another person, so if you feel like it, I’m open to reading your list or seeing your dream world imagery. Just hit reply. 🙂 (ed. note for the webiste: feel free to email me at alana@ofloveandlight.org)
| with so much love, |
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