From the Compost Heap header. A pencil style illustration of a compost heap with flowers and plants growing around it. A bee buzzes by and a white rabbit hops by.
  • The why cheap art manifesto. People have been thinking too long that art is a privilege of the museums and the rich. Art is not business! It does not belong to banks and fancy investors. Art is food. You can't eat it but it feeds you. Art has to be cheap and available to everybody. It needs to be everywhere because it is inside of the world. Art soothes pain. Art wakes up sleepers. Art fights against war and stupidity. Art sings hallelujah! Art is for kitchens! Art is like good brea! Art is like green trees! Art is like white clouds in the blue sky! Art is cheap! Hurrah! Bread and Puppet Glover, Vermont. 1984.

    Purchase this print from Bread & Puppet.

    Read more: untitled post 156079424
  • Birdhouse gourds growing up gazebo of green pipes (a greenhouse without the plastic cover added) and a white metal house planter I thrifted beyond with morning glory leaves twining through

    Our first birdhouse gourds!

    Read more: untitled post 156079403

  • Creative Chaos

    How about an old fashioned update from my creative compost heap? 🌱

    We haven’t done one of those in a while.

    First, some recent posts from my microblog (the kind of things I used to post from social media.)

    The Garden

    Our chaos garden turned feral. Some real life updates.

    The birds are loving it. We’re even learning to identify some by their bird call with the Merlin app.

    Brick house with an undulating garden bed overrun with grass. A black armillary sphere and purple russian sage pierce the weeds.
    Birdhouse gourds growing up gazebo of green pipes (a greenhouse without the plastic cover added) and a white metal house planter I thrifted beyond with morning glory leaves twining through

    Creative Chaos

    I’ve accepted that I can’t always work in my lovely studio. So earlier this year I set up a workspace in the living room. And I am getting SO much done.

    This summer I’ve made lots of progress (from this chaos) on Entwined & Ember. Now that copy edits are done I’ve started book design for Ember.

    Here I am sorting the prompts into their final order.

    Art or Trash?

    Sometimes being an artist means preserving paper towels with blueberry stains.

    Just me? 😂

    Papertowels with blueberry stains on a glass oven cooktop beside a bunch of bananas and a papertowel with a note that says, "Do not throw away!"

    Best in 3D

    I won an award in the local art exhibition I was in.

    I should really add that to my CV.

    Here’s the post they did about it on Instagram.

    An embroidery frame holds a cross stitch that reads "I'm Fine". A second image shows the reverse which is a tangled mess of navy blue thread.

    Neurodivergence

    At the end of my Spectrum zine you’re invited to make your own spectrum and send it to me. The very first came in from Liz Getty.

    Watercolor wash in a spectrum rainbow spilling outside of a pencil circle. Text reads: Most days feel like my being is seeping outside the lines, though the lines don't feel like they belong. The artist is Liz Getty.

    I love where Liz took this. You are so much more than what fits within the lines. 💫

    Seaborn 🌊✨

    Want to read a shiny book about queer pirates and magic?

    I’m hosting a read a long with some of my Wheel of Time friends. We start in September so there’s plenty of time to pick up a copy.

    Join us!

    The read along will be hosted on Discord and Storygraph. Hit reply if you have any questions.

    Seaborn by Michael Livingston book cover. Blue background with gold details and two pirate ships: one sailing and one flying.

    Just for Fun

    The Great Sword Heist of 2025 ⚔️ Someone’s sword collection was stolen off their walls while they were sleeping. They’re having a great sense of humor about it.

    Last One Laughing, UK 🇬🇧 If you love British comedy like Taskmaster you will love this. Some adult material so not for kids.

    A poem about railway cars. 🚂 We don’t have enough trains in this country for my taste.

    Ways to Support drawing of a white rabbit hopping into flowers
    Two zines and magazine clippings on a wooden desk with scissors, gluestick and pencils. Both zines titles are cut out magazine letters: Chaos Gardening with leaf rubbings and Spectrum with a hand painted watercolor color wheel.

    Psst…

    I’m also trialing a new type of 1:1 support over email.

    You can ask me about creative projects, neurodivergence, self publishing, home education, or chronic illness.

    If you want to help me test this idea (for free!) click here.

    Here’s a little video I made about how it works.

    I appreciate you.

    Sarah signed with a swoopy S
    Read more: Creative Chaos

  • “A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls.”

    Ursula K. Le Guin

    Source

    Read more: untitled post 156079401
  • The self seeded sunflowers between overgrown garden beds are thriving. Grass overgrows the beds.
    Baby birdhouse gourd perhaps an inch and a half long.

    Self seeded sunflowers (from the bird feeder) and our first baby birdhouse gourd!

    Read more: untitled post 156079397

  • Our chaos garden has turned feral.

    After being gone for a week and sick for another here’s a look at how it’s going. And it’s going to stay this overgrown for a while.

    One of my chronic illnesses causes heat intolerance so it is what it is at this point. (I can do a bit in evenings, but can’t keep pace with the grass.)

    The perennials that hold space against the grass are key. I keep adding more of them, but we can only afford to do so much at once. 🤷

    I show this to not idealize the chaos gardening approach. It works better in some seasons than others. Between the heat and the rain the witch grass is currently winning. My main point is that you don’t have to be a perfect gardener to enjoy gardening.

    Brick house with an undulating garden bed overrun with grass. A black armillary sphere and purple russian sage pierce the weeds.
    Garden bed along fence completely overrun with grass. A tall butterfly bush towers to the left.
    The self seeded sunflowers between overgrown garden beds.

    The self seeded sunflowers are a bright light. They’ve attracted goldfinch which we don’t often see.

    Read more: untitled post 156079265

  • Art for Social Change

    “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.


    “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

    We can’t single-handedly solve all of the world’s problems. But we can collaborate with others to make a difference. We each have our own unique strengths to contribute.

    Art for Social Change

    • Tell a story to imagine a better world.

    • Draw, paint, collage, or print visual art to raise awareness of issues.

    • Write a zine, book, or blog post to educate others to share your own experience (especially powerful and needed for marginalized voices.)

    • Collaborate to paint a mural or create pubic art.

    • Hold a quilting bee or host a creative community to make blankets, hats, etc. for those who need them.

    • Tell a story, write a poem, or make art that encourages empathy.

    • Make a poster, zine, or postcard about a cause.

    • Make art to regulate your own nervous system.

    • Curate an art show, publication, or performance to support or educate about a cause.

    • Raffle or sell something you’ve made to raise funds.

    • Sell merch on Threadless with a percentage to charity.*
    Two round pins. One is a blue and teal nebula with a white infinity symbol. The other is a watercolor wash of rainbow colors in a color wheel spectrum. Typewritten text is collaged on top that says, "autism is a spectrum."

    You can grab these designs on shirts, mugs, and several other things from my new Threadless shop. 10% of the profit will go to the ACLU.

    Love snail mail?

    This is a virtual edition of my Art for Social Change zine for my monthly subscribers.

    If you’d like a printed copy (plus postcards + stamps to write your elected representatives) you can:

    order a zine
    Art for Social Change zine and typewritten postcards. Vintage buttons are on the cover including a yellow Buzzy Bee "be a helper", "try a little kindness", a retro earth pin that says "Don't blow it." an infinity symbol on an outer space badge, "bread not bombs" with a red flower", "yeah rights" in rainbow colors, "I'm on earth duty" and "I'm for wildlife" with a bird and wildflowers.
    FOOTNOTES

    * Threadless makes this so easy, automates the donation process, and matches donations up to $1 per sale. Learn more here.

    Read more: Art for Social Change

  • Advocacy for Palestine 🍉

    Start here.

    If you’d like to learn more about Palestine these links are a place to start.

    Donate to Relief Efforts

    Support Palestinian Artists & Small Businesses

    Resources for Parents

    Support Journalism

    Get Involved

    Donate to Relief Efforts

    The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees

    Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund

    Poem by Marwan Makhoul: In order for me to writer poetry that isn't political, I must listen to the birds and in order to hear the birds the warplanes must be silent. Source: Palestine Writers Literature Festival
    SOURCE: PALESTINE WRITES

    Support Palestinian Artists

    Palestinian Writes Literature Festival

    Marwan Makhoul

    Mohammed Al-Hawajri

    Saj Issa

    Hazem Harb

    Samar Hussaini

    Khalil Rabah

    Birders of Palestine

    Palestinian Small Businesses

    Handmade Palestine

    Palestinian Soap Cooperative

    Handcrafted Resolute Sneakers

    Resources for Parents

    Palestinian Picture Book List

    5 Ways to Keep Your Kids from Becoming Tools of the Empire

    Raising Resilient Hearts: a practical guide for conversations on justice and global struggles

    Support Journalism

    Independent News Sources from Palestine

    +972 Magazine

    Middle East Eye

    Get Involved

    BDS Movement: Freedom, Justice, Equality

    Palestinian Quilt Raffle: Example of Fundraising Effort

    This is part of a series of posts on advocacy.

    Visit the whole series here.

    Three round pins. The first is a vintage pin with red flowers that says "Bread not bombs." The second is a black pin with white bird holding a red flower that says "Free Palestine." The third is a circular slice of watermelon.
    Read more: Advocacy for Palestine 🍉

  • “In the pos­ses­sion of books unread, there is not shame but virtue: the pur­suit of a super­cool project: the pro­duc­tion of a perfect-for-you library; an intel­lec­tual armory.”

    “I do believe a great library is both a prac­tical asset and a per­sonal achievement. It’s a way of saying, this is who I am; this is what I value. Saying it to yourself, most of all.”

    “It is para­dox­i­cally the lim­i­ta­tions of the phys­ical book — the fact that it can only be in one place at a time; that fact that it bears marks of its use; the fact that when a friend presses a book into your hands, they are actu­ally giving some­thing up—that make it so pro­duc­tive as a cul­tural object.”

    Robin Sloan

    Read more: untitled post 156079263

  • Advocacy Resources

    “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.


    “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

    Three vintage protest pins: Try a little kindness (white text on blue.) Save the humans (green text on white and a blue whale.) Peace now (white dove on dark blue.)

    Sometimes the injustice and hurt in the world can feel unbearable. Mr. Roger’s famously said to, “look for the helpers.”

    But, as adults, we also need to be the helpers.

    We can’t single-handedly solve all of the world’s problems.

    But we can collaborate with others to make a difference.

    Two round pins and one pink butterfly patch. The first pin says, "The future is inclusive" and shows a wave and sunrise in pride flag colors. The second says they/them and a flare of rainbow coming off the letters.

    I’m a hypersensitive autistic and struggle with taking on other people’s emotions.

    Before I can advocate for others I have to regulate my own nervous system. Only then do I have capacity to take positive action.

    My hope is that by sharing this list of advocacy resources it can help anyone feeling overwhelmed.

    There are many ways to advocate.

    Many ways as there are to be a human.

    Two round pins. One is a blue and teal nebula with a white infinity symbol. The other is a watercolor wash of rainbow colors in a color wheel spectrum. Typewritten text is collaged on top that says, "autism is a spectrum."

    If you are neurodivergent or chronically ill (like me) some types of advocacy like marches or phone calls may be inaccessible to you.

    But we can make a difference in our own ways.

    Next month’s zine will be ideas to advocate for causes we care about.

    Three round pins. The first is a vintage pin with red flowers that says "Bread not bombs." The second is a black pin with white bird holding a red flower that says "Free Palestine." The third is a circular slice of watermelon.

    Start Here

    I’m creating a resource library with some help from my friends.

    This is just the beginning.

    We’ll be adding to it over time.

    Immigrants rights
    LGBTQIA+
    NEURODIVERGENCE
    PALESTINE
    footnotes

    * The pins pictured are a combination of photographs from my personal collection and images of vintage protest pins found online. I’ve linked their sources here.

    Read more: Advocacy Resources