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.

  • 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 ✨

  • One Year of Magic ✨

    Black and white diptych shows two photographs. One shows a child sitting in a shopping cart with cowboy boots fallen to the floor beneath. The other shows a mother's feet beside a pram on a walk.

    I’ve been a photographer for as long as I can remember. Even as a kid I was drawn to photographing trees and birds and cowboy boots lined up beside the swimming pool. But somehow I had never tried a long term photo-a-day project.

    That is until Claire Venus proposed a year long creative collaboration. We would exchange photos of our every day life each day for one year.

    Black and white diptych shows two photographs of children playing with toys including plastic dinosaurs and DUPLO LEGO blocks.

    We started the project without a name, but very quickly found magic in the mundanity. Little moments of synchronicity between the Northwest of Arkansas and the Northeast of England.

    I also noticed how well this form of connection suited my neurodivergence. The structured project soon became a container for friendship to grow. Life and art bled into each other.

    Soon after we started the project my family traveled out of state for my son’s autism evaluation. And it felt like Claire was right there beside me – even an ocean away. We began to chat about the beauty and the hard things of motherhood, neurodivergence, and creativity.

    Black and white diptych shows two photographs. One shows a child size teacup with spilled milk. The other shows a mother and child's hands with small pinecones.

    The project also sharpened my artist eye. To the beauty around me. The magic in the mess. In my creative ecosystem framework I call this creative oxygen.

    It’s also become a self regulation tool. Pausing to compose a photo was just what I needed when things broke or the milk spilled (again) or the room had become a complete mess.

    We talked about this a bit when I interviewed Claire on the podcast.

    Black and white diptych shows two photographs. One shows a child in a crib looking out at soft toys thrown out. The other shows a child emptying pebbles out of rainboots.

    We’re in the final days of exchanging photos now and I can’t believe this project is coming to and end. Right now I’m working out logistics for how to curate and exhibit this work. (I’ll keep you updated.)

    Black and white diptych shows two photographs. One shows an illuminated geodesic dome with father and child in silhouette. The other shows a small child standing above a kitchen sink in silhouette.

    If you want more magic you should definitely follow Claire’s Substack. She writes about creativity, slow living, and work life balance. She recently posted her reflection of this project here.

    Black and white diptych shows two photographs. One is a small child under a blanket with an AAC device illuminating their face. Another is a child in a sunbeam covering their face.

    To celebrate the completion of the Magic Mundane I’m hosting a little giveaway over on Substack chat. Enter to win a copy of my book Discover Your Creative Ecosystem and Claire’s Creativity Island for Mums. 🥰

    Creativity Island for Mums art journal shows a mum and child illustrated in yellow and pink laying on the grass surrounded by golden leaves
    Discover Your Creative Ecosystem by Sarah Shotts has the silhouette of a bird in flight with a landscape shown beyond. It sits on a wooden table with autumnal leaves around it.

    Cheers,

    Sarah signed with a swoopy S

    P.S. Keep the magic going by using the hashtag #themagicmundane on Instagram.

    Black and white diptcyh. One shows a mother's sock feet standing over a child moving a LEGO DUPLO train on a rag rug. Another shows a child reaching into a basket of LEGO DUPLO.
    Read more: One Year of Magic ✨

  • My Year of Making (January Recap)

    When I started my year of making I had intentions for writing weekly updates for my blog or newsletter. Then the month unraveled, our whole family got sick, and I shifted into survival mode.

    So I’m giving myself some Brownie points for being flexible (not easy for an Autie) and picking up the pieces to write monthly check ins instead.

    The month started by easing in with baking and journaling and photos for Davy’s first (half) day of Montessori school.

    Digital collage of First Day of Preschool toddler in yellow raincoat

    Then I tried to calibrate my new Cricut. (It was a hate-hate relationship… in the end I returned it and used the money to buy electroforming supplies instead.)

    And the second week we came down sick. First Davy, then the whole family. It was his first time having a fever for anything besides teething. The first few days I kept track of making soup and tea and macaroni out of a box. Then my own fever went up and it was all I could do to just keep us going.

    It’s a tribute to what I’ve learned through motherhood that I was able to let that go and look back with empathy instead of self judgement. It was hard.

    A couple days out from February we started coming alive again and I resumed my making quest. The final day of January was my first proper day making art in my new studio. I returned to an art project I started in February 2, 2020 and had been on the shelf ever since.

    Digital collage of photographs printed on fabric and ironing set up

    My takeaways from this month?

    Sometimes you honor your inner artist by resting and healing. Sometimes making what you need for survival is enough. Other times you have the energy to pick up a long lost project and you stitch two timelines together through the metaphysical magic of time travel.

    UPDATE: September 2021

    I hid this blog post when I stopped writing monthly updates. At the time I was discouraged because we were sick every month from January – May and my year looked nothing like I had imagined. Looking back I can see how I did keep making (in small and simple ways), but I didn’t have the time or energy to document. Then in June (the first month none of us fell sick) my creative world expanded. If you’re finding it hard to create at the moment I see you. Don’t give up. Take the small moments you can. They count even if no one else is seeing them.

    Read more: My Year of Making (January Recap)