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.

  • A Very Merry Unbirthday 🎶

    I’m still celebrating!

    Last week, on my actual birthday, one of my favorite chapters from the Wheel of Time was adapted to screen. So I am having a great month.

    As my gift to you, anyone who joins the zine subscription this month, will get a bonus Wheel of Time mini zine. 🥰

    If you want to print any of these zines to hype the show you can download them here.

    The “I’m Fine” Zine

    This month I wrote about creating safe spaces and regulating nervous systems in “unprecedented times.”

    You can read the digitized version here.

    An embroidery frame holds a cross stitch that reads "I'm Fine". Back cover shows the reverse of embroidery hoop which is a tangled mess of navy blue thread. Text at bottom says March 2025. A Kindle Curiosity Zine.

    The work on the cover has been exhibited in several different galleries and is part of the My Brain on Motherhood collection as part of my ARIM.

    Sculpture

    I’ve also spent a substantial amount of time this month working on a sculpture called Bloom Where You’re Planted from a dead cherry tree.

    You can read about the process here.

    Here I am cleaning mud off the root.

    My hand using a Swedish washcloth to remove a final layer of mud off a twisty tree root.

    Time Blind Supports

    I’m making a concerted effort to spend more time creating and less time on admin this year. One of the tools I’m using for this is logging my time with spreadsheets and charts.

    As someone with time blindness I can very easily sink time into something without realizing.

    Seeing time visually has made a huge difference for me!

    Pie chart. Web 59%, Zines 21%, Other 10-%, Mawd 4%, Picture book 3%.

    If you’re curious about this process you can click here to read more about what I’m doing and what impact it’s having.

    Bar chart showing admin going down and create time going up from Jan to March
    time spent on admin vs. creating in jan, feb & march (so far)

    The LOST podcast episode.

    Last month, in all my excitement about The Wheel of Time, I completely forgot to tell you I published a ramble podcast. I’ll be doing these on an ad hoc basis moving forward. (If you enjoy listening let me know!)

    I haven’t managed to migrated podcast episodes off Substack yet.

    Listen here for now.

    This is essentially a brain dump I recorded in January reflecting on my creative ecosystem, closing loops, and my intentions for moving into a new year.

    When I migrate off Substack I’m thinking of calling this a “Brain Dump Podcast” to remind myself it’s okay to be messy. Here’s some possible podcast art. Not my normal color palette, but maybe my kid’s love of all things rainbow is rubbing off on me.

    Drawing of brain with colorful paint splatters over the top

    Wait, there’s more!

    Of everything I’m sharing I spent the most time and energy on this.

    If you’ve struggled to learn a second language later in life – it may not be for the reasons you think. I’d love to know what neurodivergent folks think of this post.

    Learning a Second Language as a Neurodivergent Student (Child or Adult!)

    I also wrote some thoughts about From Where You Dream. A book about storytelling from your unconscious.

    From Where You Dream
    Time Travel banner. Hand drawn illustrtation of TARDIS in space surrounded by swirling lines and stars.

    Just two posts in the TARDIS time hop this month.

    If you have time to check out my 360 VR work I’d love to know what you think.

    This Time in 2023

    Making 360 VR with a 3 year old collaborator ✨
    More Reaching Than Rooting

    While I was at it I also created a landing page for free resources and printables.

    https://sarahshotts.com/free
    Ways to Support drawing of a white rabbit hopping into flowers

    The Compost Heap is handmade without the use of AI. 🐝

    Support doing things the old fashioned way by joining my Patrons ($5) and I’ll send paper copies of my zines with the coolest postage stamps I can find.

    Overhead shot of zine test prints and my green typewriter.
    Test PRINTS FOR MARCH’S “I’m Fine” ZINE

    Not into snail mail?

    Here are other ways you can support.

    • Share my blog with a friend. (It’s free!)
    • Buy a book or zine from my (new!) shop.
    • Link to me in your newsletter.
    • Art swap! Let me know if you’d like to swap your art for a zine.
    • Send me an email and let me know what resonates.
    Drawing of a tin can telephone and the words Let's chat

    If you’re reading this in your email inbox you can just hit reply to message me directly. I’d love to hear what you think. It makes it worth the time I put in.

    Thanks for being here.

    I appreciate you.

    Sarah signed with a swoopy S

    P.S. One downside to emailing each month instead of weekly is that there is SO MUCH to cover. I’ve almost given up on sharing links because I have too many to narrow down. But the 15 hours a month I’ve recovered to spend on other projects seems worth the trade off.

    If you want a suggestion… Watch the Wheel of Time. 😉

    A misty location with two figures suspended within three silver rings

    Read more: A Very Merry Unbirthday 🎶

  • Bloom Where You’re Planted

    A year or two before David was born my mom gifted me a weeping cherry tree for my birthday. It bloomed happily for a while and then a freeze split its bark and it became diseased and distressed.

    I did my best to save the tree, but last year it didn’t come back after winter. After a year of mentally preparing myself for this I decided to use the sinuous wood to make a sculpture and Nathan helped dig up as much of the root as possible.

    This month I’ve started stripping the bark.

    My title for this work is Bloom Where You’re Planted. As an autistic person this has always rankled because I am not always able to thrive in unsuitable environments.

    Here are some process photos.

    A time when the tree was happy.

    Photograph of cherry tree blossoms as screencaptured on Instagram stories.

    Before

    Sad tree half dead and half distressed.

    Dead tree in front of my studio.

    Shoutout to Nathan’s farm boy muscle. I never could have dug this up myself because of my connective tissue disorder.

    Progress

    After pruning and removing some branches I found it balanced nicely upside down.

    Dead tree sitting upside down on it's branches with it's root in the air. My gray green studio is seen behind.

    Cleaning

    David helped me clean the mud off the root. This project has been a family affair.

    My child and I are using a bucket of water to clean mud off the tree roots.
    Gloved hand washing mud off tree root with a scrub brush.
    Small blonde child cleaning muddy root with a toothbrush.
    My hand using a Swedish washcloth to remove a final layer of mud off a twisty tree root.

    Stripping Bark

    Closeup of cherry tree bark
    Closeup of cherry tree bark during removable process showing wood and cambium beneath.

    Removing the bark has been a very satisfying (if incredibly slow) process. Because of all the twists and turns in this particular tree I think I’m going to need some finer carving tools soon.

    Update: March 2025

    I am seated outdoors holding a mallet and hammer and chipping away at my sculpture. There is a bright blue sky behind me.
    Weeping cherry tree stands upside down with root in the air. The bark has begun to be stripped away.

    Read more: Bloom Where You’re Planted

  • Portrait of the Artist from Ages 16-21

    2022, laptop, cement, water, rocks, dirt.

    Alt text: Laptop (with data still on it) cast in hammered and chiseled concrete on a white background.

    by Blair Simmons

    Read more: untitled post 156077284

  • Textile artist Minga Opazo creating work with textile waste. Some of her work incorporates mushrooms to explore solutions for dealing with waste.

    In her practice, she is dedicated to research the textile industry further and to create work that exposes, reflects and finds a solution to the current situation of the textile waste industry.

    Source: Artist’s Bio

    …one of the reasons that I got into growing mushrooms into my sculptures and having grass into my sculptures is that when I made one of the first sculptures, there were layers of mud and clothing. I made it with dirt from the outside. It was already outside my studio. And it started naturally growing because it was wet. …“Oh, what happens if I start growing stuff in my sculptures?” And having this conceptual moment between nature and the sculptures…The pieces do what they want to do. So it’s a collaboration between nature and my work.

    Source: The Creative Independent

    Screenshot of American Scientist Cover Sculpting Science showing mushrooms growing out of textiles
    Read more: untitled post 156077260