Sometimes I give the idea that I am “very organized” and have things “all planned out.”
Reader, I do not.
In fact, since becoming a parent I have very little structure and planning in my life at all. But what I do have is hyper focus. And I surf it like a wave whenever it comes for me.
Act 1
A neglected compost heap.
I had big plans for a garden this year. I made a calendar with what to plant each month.
There would be squash.
There would be pumpkins.
There was not squash or pumpkins.
We made it to radishes before my back pain flared up and the whole garden (including the compost heap) was ignored for roughly 8 months.
Act 2
Enter Papaya Stage Left.
September 27th
When I started paying attention again there was a giant papaya plant (tree… a baby tree y’all) and burgeoning cherry tomatoes taking over the compost heap.
I learned it was a papaya plant with this cool identify plant feature iPhones have now. I double checked on Google and surely enough it was a match. The leaves are massive, but if we lived in a tropical climate they would get even bigger.
I immediately fell in love and knew I had to make art with these.
I wanted to preserve as many as possible before the frost comes in and ruins all the lovely leaves.
(I live in Arkansas so it won’t survive winter, but I’m holding out the smallest hope it might regrow from the root next year.)
October 3rd
I tried to press leaves in the largest book I own, but the edges stuck and out and eventually crumpled up.
October 11th
I asked Nathan to cut some plywood to make a massive flower press.
October 12th
I layered cardboard and leaves between two plywood sheets and put two heavy boxes of tubs filled with notebooks (which we pulled out of the attic for another project.)
Hand for scale.
This is one of the biggest leaves so far.
Like I said, it’s trying to become a tree.
Act 3
Making it work.
I had 3 mediums in mind for the leaves:
Press the leaves to make imprinted pottery over winter.
Ink the leaves and make monoprints on paper.
Print the leaves onto clothing with fabric paint.
I may get to monoprints, but I started with clothing using a bottle of fabric paint I had on hand.
Results were varied, but I learned a lot about the materials.
I started on a pillowcase and then moved to printing olive green overalls.
This isn’t a DIY post, but I did learn that the best way to apply paint was a large flat brush and that you have to work quickly and thickly (but not too thick) so the paint doesn’t dry before the transfer. It’s also not the most washable technique. It will continue distressing with each wash so I will likely wash as needed using the gentle cycle.
October 16th
I printed two pairs of overalls and the back of an olive green chore jacket.
I’m wearing the overalls with my Gary Graham tee which feels full circle.
I bought this white fabric paint in 2021 after seeing Gary Graham paint a dress on Making the Cut.
I knew I wanted to paint a pair of olive green overalls, but didn’t know what I wanted to paint. Sometimes the seed of inspiration takes a while to sprout, but it’s always worth the wait. 🌱
After printing these they reminded me of the S. S. Daley collection Dan Levy wore last autumn. I fell in love with these looks on first sight so it was probably an unconscious influence.
I remember seeing the trench coat first and thinking “I want that, but with leaves.” Then I found the second.
This week I’ve been doing a deep dive into Black Mountain College. It’s definitely an instance of orbiting ideas as Black Mountain College and artists have caught my attention many times over the years.
This is my first deep dive and I’m fascinated that so many things I’ve been studied and been drawn to over the years: Buckminster Fuller’s visionary design, John Cage’s Happenings, John Dewey’s educational approach, Ruth Asawa’s interaction of life and art all converged in these mountains.
I want to really go deep this time as I draw inspiration for a new project. I’ve ordered some books, but in the meantime I’ve been watching YouTube videos.
Here are 3 of my favorite quotes with the videos they are from below.
“We do not always create works of art, but rather experiments. It’s not our intention to fill museums, we are gathering experience.”
And another Black Mountain College documentary. This one is dated, but has an interview from an actual student (Jonathan Williams), “What appealed to me immediately was that everyone was available to each other and time seemed to be no problem. I had left Princeton because time was very much a problem. It seemed almost impossible to reach the faculty who were set up to do their one lecture or two lectures a week. And then suddenly they disappeared.”
Jonathan Williams founded Jargon Press which is “predicated on this idea that there are voices and poetry being ignored which deserve to be heard.”
On his process editing / curating, “You have to do the doing.” “Being self initiating. I don’t sit around waiting for these people to materialize. I mean I go out and find them.” He ties this to walking and hiking and Black Mountain College.
Carolina Finds. “Black Mountain College: The Most Influential School That Vanished.” 9 Feb. 2022 (Accessed 11 Febuary 2024.) https://youtu.be/C7foVazThjE
Craft in America. “Black Mountain College, VISIONARIES Episode.” Jan 7. 2019 (Accessed 11 Feb. 2024.) https://youtu.be/IKnmWmQi5Ew
ICA Boston, Helen Molesworth. “Life at Black Mountain College: Learning by Doing.” 7 Dec 2015. (Accessed 11 Feb. 2024.) https://youtu.be/Mze1rtN1OXA
Craft in America, Helen Molesworth. “Helen Molesworth on handwork.” 22 August. 2018. (Accessed 11 Feb. 2024.) https://youtu.be/NxBZqA-Asvw
“Black Mountain College: a Thumbnail Sketch.” Produced by Monty Diamond and South Carolina ETV. Documentary, 1989. (Accessed 11 Feb. 2024.) https://youtu.be/G3xSAew7vEU
Over the last year, Substack has been one of my biggest creative outlets. I’ve spent more hours writing, podcasting, and engaging on Substack than anywhere else.
I don’t regret the time I’ve spent there or the connections I’ve made, but it’s time for a pivot.
If you don’t know about Substack yet it’s part blog, part newsletter, part podcast, part YouTube channel, and (most recently) part social media.
Last month they introduced a big change to their business model.
Their app, which was previously a chronological feed of long form blog style content, introduced an algorithm and put their social media style posts up front and center. It becomes increasingly obvious that they are going after the “Twitter market” and / or whatever brings them the most money. It feels like watching Instagram slowly become something other than a photography platform.
I’ve seen this movie and I didn’t like the ending.
My platform is small, but I made about $300 in paid subs last year. The week before Substack introduced an algorithm I had been planning to merge my paid tier with my creative membership program The Companionship. I had spent hours setting up Substack to host my membership program and course portal. And I put it all on pause because it didn’t feel right.
Something I really dislike about Substack’s social media feed is how poorly it handles blocking and muting. There are certain topics that aren’t good for my mental health that I continue to see. Sometimes I even see posts or comments from people I have specifically blocked. With this in mind I did not want to continue using an app that opened a social feed I had very little control over.
I deleted the Substack app.
And I’m loving it.
I’m back to experiencing Substack as a newsletter again.
PRO TIP: I use a special email address just for newsletters I actually want to read. (I actually did this the year before I joined Substack.)
Without the noise of the social feed I’m quite enjoying Substack again. And I’m less overwhelmed so I’m actually reading more posts.
But I am breaking up with Substack as part of my business ecosystem and I’m reframing the paid tier as a tip jar.
Here are the changes I’m making:
No more paywalled content. Instead I’ll send a special thank you card or letter in the mail once a year.
I’m archiving my best Substack posts here on the blog. (Like this one.)
I’m only sending out newsletters once a month instead of weekly.
I’m blogging again. If I want to write something between newsletters I’ll write here and link to it.
My membership program and course portal have moved to Ghost.org. Ghost is a nonprofit that has been around for a decade. I’m not moving my free list because it does not have the discoverability or user base that Substack does. But it is a completely private, algorithm free space that is perfect for a membership and course portal. It costs a flat fee of $9 a month and does not take any percentage of sales. I’m still in the process of setting it all up, but you can see how my Ghost portal looks here.
My free newsletter will remain on Substack so long as engagement remains high and growth feels authentic. (If I see too many spammy follows I’ll move the free list to Ghost as well.)
Right now I’m having slow growth on Substack and seeing new commenters who are engaging with my work. The comment system is strong and facilitates good long term discussions better than any platform I have ever used. So I’m not keen to lose that.
Let’s Discuss.
Are you on Substack? How do you feel about the changes?
