November Newsletter
NO. 40 | November 2024
I think a lot about the idea of filling the well. This is a concept from The Artist’s Way, which I first wrote about back in 2022. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a 1992 self-help book about discovering and nourishing creativity. More than I realized when I finished the book, it’s been an impactful and memorable guide in my art practice.
Cameron writes that an artist must focus on regularly filling their well. If you want to have a creative output, you must fill yourself with inspiration and rest that both give you something to make work about, and that gives you the energy and motivation to make work. It’s a common idea: “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” But, it’s a little bit harder than it sounds.
Yes, sitting on the couch to watch TV after work is a way of unplugging and turning off a busy brain, and that can feel like rest. It’s something that I like doing, and that often makes me feel relaxed. But does that fill the well? What about going on an excursion to a museum or to a new place? There’s a lot of inspiration and new things to see and think about, but will it leave me feeling overwhelmed or tired? Struggling to process how my work might compare to a Monet? I think these things are all part of a healthy connection to rest and inspiration, but for me, they are not reliable or comfortable ways to fill my well. And figuring out what does fill it is a journey.
It’s hard to know what will lead to a lightbulb moment of inspiration, or what will finally unknot the tension of overwhelm that’s been plaguing you all week. But, when you find things that can do that, you’ll start to see patterns and threads you can follow.
Back in September, I went to an outdoor yoga session at an orchard. It was much different than any other yoga I’d done, and I’d actually categorize more as a movement meditation. The session was 2 hours long, beneath the fruiting apple trees, and we spent the majority of the time in stillness. It was a really long time (for me) to engage with myself in the environment like that, and it made me feel so good. It is such a sensation-filled memory: the sound of apples dropping from the trees and plunking onto the earth; the feeling of grass under my feet, and in my hands; the beating of the sun. For a while, a red-tailed hawk sat on a tree near us, watching, before eventually flying across the field on its way. A cricket hopped onto my mat and hung out for a while.
It was so different from what I had expected, and I felt so creative, rested, and happy when I got home. That was filling the well.
I have been doing a lot of narrative building exercises, and immediately felt inspired to pull one out of the orchard experience. I wrote down all the characters and elements of the setting in a sketchbook before deciding to craft something between the cricket, the trees, and the blue sky. What if, I thought to myself, the cricket spends all day hopping to the top of an apple tree so he can watch the clouds pass across the blue sky? I couldn’t resist such a sweet idea.
This is a 30-minute gouache and colored pencil illustration. It was the perfect way to act on the feelings that the orchard session gave me. And it got me really thinking about what reliably fills my well. I know yoga helps. After a long or stressful day, yoga is one of the only ways that I can unwind. I know being outside helps. I swear I think of a new book idea every time I go camping. When I go on walks, I often find myself adding something to my list of upcoming trading cards or solving a creative problem. Swimming helps (or showering, in the winter lol). Being in water brings me into my body and makes it easy for me to move beyond thinking and into feeling.
None of these things are directly related to art or creativity, but they bring me to a place of motivation, openness to novel ideas, freedom of thought, and joy. Even knowing these things, it’s not always easy to get to this place.
But, what a special place it is.
PS: I am considering revisiting The Artist’s Way this winter, with some follow-along/week-by-week content updates here. Let me know if you’ve considered/are interested in doing The Artist’s Way!
The fish bag sewalong starts today! This is a chance to sew the Swim Along Crossbody in ~community~ (with around 300 people signed up!). It’s a three week event in November, and you can read all the details and sign up here through the end of the week (discounts expire 11/7). It’s free programming! Hope you’ll join us! If you signed up, you should receive a sewalong specific email today (if you haven’t already gotten it!). If you sign up this week, I’ll be sending the welcome email out 1x a day each morning this week.
Hello! There will be no Swim Along With Me in November (:/). This is because I’m using the month to undergo a writing challenge for one of my novels! I hope to come out on the other side with 50,000 new words, so I’m not sure I can spare any for this series in the middle of that. See ya next time!
Inbox cutting off this post? Read the whole thing on Substack.
The October Nature Logs already gave a taste of what I’ve been up to for a lot of the past month, but I realized I forgot to include the Northern Lights we saw! It was so special! I’ve also been sewing another batch of fish bags that will be available for sale on December 1. Mark your calendars if you’re interested; all the quilted bags sold out on the first day last time. Newsletter subscribers will get first dibs.
I am really missing ceramics this month, so I am spotlighting the beautiful work of Celia Wood. Developing an illustrative ceramic look like this takes so much practice and dedication! I love the whimsy, classic, playful feeling of her pieces, and the hand-sculpted process is so special. Candle holders are also a special interest of mine at this time. I am a firm believer that you can never have too many ceramic pieces!!
✷ I attended Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool festival last month (the premiere knitting event in the country!!) and am going to be knitting this sweater and these mittens next with the yarn I picked up.
✷ I just purchased this quilt pattern to make a wall hanging for our house!!
✷ Remember the spotlight from last month, Taryn Knight? She did an amazing October series on IG.
✷ Precious embroidery that makes me want to shift to only making art to decorate my home
✷ I am watching Over the Garden Wall for the first time, and it is precious
Happy November! I love, love, love this so much. Filling the well ….. I can relate whole heartedly to the need of this. Thank you for sharing! 🧡🥹