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.

  • More Reaching Than Rooting

    Gray green rabbit hopping over the text "down the rabbit hole" in a typewriter font

    First off, a quick update for local folks!

    I’ll be attending my very first book festival as a self published author this Saturday! I’ll be doing a reading and signing at NWA Book Fest and would love to see you there! It feels surreal and I’m not sure I quite believe it’s real yet.

    Find all the festival information here. (Catch me on the main stage at 2:30pm).

    in the studio header

    A peek into my creative process and current works in progress.

    This week I’ve had more “reaching” energy than “rooting.”

    Along with preparing for the festival I’ve also applied to two more art exhibitions at Spilt Milk Gallery and The Anthropology of Motherhood.

    You can download either of these printables (Reach & Root or 100 Submissions) here.

    100 Submissions printable has a willow tree on top and gold stars in the first three boxes. A date stamp and keys also sit on the desk.

    I recorded a podcast episode with Kiki from Heiter Magazine. (Coming your way in April.) Podcast interviews take a lot of energy so I am experimenting with quarterly guests this year. In the past I’ve tried weekly or monthly and that has been too much. This is part of my seasonal planning approach and slowing down to find my own pace.

    I’m also undertaking a just-for-fun puppet alteration project for a Wheel of Time parody contest. I haven’t done any crafting or fan art in a really long time so this has been fun.

    Also Davy is fascinated.

    Maybe I’ll share a peek at that next week.

    of shoes and ships and sealing wax header

    Other bits and bobs I’d like to recommend…

    Watch

    “I used to think that art had to begreat to be worthwhile. Now, I only think it has to be to be worthwhile.” John Green. Maybe Art Only Needs to Be. Feb 21, 2023.

    Me too, John, me too.

    Listen

    The On Being podcast is BACK and I am loving it! These two episodes were amazing.

    Janine Benyus Biomimicry, an Operating Manual for Earthlings on natural organisms as mentors and peers… learning from them rather than about them.

    And Rick Rubin Magic, Everyday Mystery, and Getting Creative. I have SO MANY quotes from this one because I listened while parked in the car while Davy napped:

    • “The real practice of the artist is a way of being in the world.”
    • “It’s hard for me to finish projects because I always see the possibilities of what else we could try and I want to try everything…”
    • “What I came to realize is that there is a time for this open play. And it’s in those first two parts of the process, the seed phase… and experimenting.”
    • “By working with sensitive artists, we resonate together in that we’re feeling things that not everybody else is feeling.”
    • “There is no connection between the amount of time invested and how good something is.”
    • “The sustainable part of the practice is: start with things that are easy to do.”

    Read

    Reflections on shapeshifting and reframing “scattered” by Cody Cook-Parrott

    That’s all for this week, but I’d love to know what you’re up to.

    Feel free to drop a link or comment below.

    Cheers,

    Sarah signed with a swoopy S
    Read more: More Reaching Than Rooting

  • Making 360 VR with a 3 year old collaborator ✨

    Gray green rabbit hopping over the text "down the rabbit hole" in a typewriter font

    Hullo all,

    I’m playing with the structure a bit here. Trying out categories rather than themed emails. I’m also bringing back some old themes long time supporters may recognize.

    Let me know what you think.

    I haven’t had much studio time this month unless you count making Number Block counting beads with Davy and the 3 hour masterclass I took from Amie McNee & Jimmy Winestock.

    A peek into my creative process and an update on my collection, This is my Brain on Motherhood.

    This week I’m sharing a sneak peek at a 360 VR piece I made in December. It’s taken a while to work out how to share this online.

    Still frame of 360 VR experience. A white play button floats over a nursery. Dark red yarn is strung around the room.

    UNRAVEL

    2023 / VR 360
    An immersive experience demonstrating my internal experience of motherhood.
    As an autistic parent my brain does not prune synaptic pathways. This means to process information I often have to unravel a tangle of connected thoughts among sensory input, memories, and connections most people would overlook.

    There are two ways to experience this work.

    • If you have the YouTube app you can experience this work in VR here. Just moving your phone to look around. Please select HD by tapping the cog or it will load super blurry. 🫣
    • Don’t have the YouTube app? Here’s a simulation of how it looks in 3D.
    • Or you browse still photographs here.

    Curious about the process? Here’s a timelapse.

    This piece was inspired by a piece of writing by Hayley Dunlop which reminded me of doing this as a child. It was purely creative play at the time. I later revisited this process in directing class when I was asked to “completely transform the space.”

    Hayley’s writing connected this memory to neurodivergent thought patterns which immediately made me want to create this with Davy.

    Working alongside him added all sorts of layers – both layers of meaning – and literal pools of knots (which were never part of my previous efforts.) 😂

    of shoes and ships and sealing wax header in typwriter font

    Other bits and bobs I’d like to recommend this week.

    • Katherine May’s podcast How We Live Now with Priya Parker – This is a chat about gathering well and drawing the lines we need around different social events and communities. I couldn’t have listened to this as a better time as I had been struggling with the Code of Conduct for my membership program and this gave me all the confidence to go with my gut. I’ve also ordered Priya’s book (affiliate link) which happens to have a gorgeous watercolor cover.
    • We’ve subscribed to the newspaper for the first time ever and I loved this article about artist Thaddeus Mosley.
    • Waiting for a quiet moment to enjoy this studio tour…

    I also admired these shadows.

    Windy stick casts shadows on white studio wall

    Minor updates March 2025 to correct links and images.

    Read more: Making 360 VR with a 3 year old collaborator ✨