UPPERCASE #53 by Janine Vangool

COMING

SOON

Volume A The UPPERCASE Encyclopedia of Inspiration encyclopediaofinspiration.com

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Dear Reader, Flowers, plants and gardens have always inspired creativity. It’s within our nature to be drawn to beauty and to cultivate it around us. Sowing flowers from seed, planting a garden and developing a community green space are acts of hope. There is no guarantee that weather and circumstance will cooperate with our plans, but if we’re willing to get our hands dirty, water what we’ve sown and invest our attention, then that can often be reward enough. A single strawberry you’ve nurtured from flower to fruit is so much sweeter than berries purchased shrinkwrapped at the supermarket! During these challenging times, many of us have turned to nature for nourishment and healing. Not only have we grown fruit, vegetables and flowers, we’ve produced art, design and craft inspired by the garden. Often the best way to take care of one’s self is to care for something completely outside of our own being.

Ja n i n e Vango ol P U B L I S H E R , E D I TO R , D ES I G N E R

I always have big plans for my small backyard. Without much space, container gardening is a necessity, but it also appeals to the designer in me: I can rearrange my pots as the plants and flowers change and grow.

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Contents

April May June 2022

Plant Your Backyard Siya Liu B R A D FO R D, W E ST YO R KS H I R E , U K

Gardening has been a huge relief and inspiration for me in the last two years. Learning about plants, insects, wildlife and the delicate balance of nature has inspired me to create more nature-related projects and artworks. I encourage people to plant their backyard—no matter how small it is, it will still benefit your local wildlife. @siyaliuillustration 4

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U P P E R C A S E

Welcome

Art & Design

Editor’s Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

COVER ARTIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

HOBBY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Katharine Watson Story by Andrea Marván Photos by Jenny Bravo

Growing Pains by Brendan Harrison

DISCOVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Encyclopedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Looking Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Nathalie Bonte

Nurture, Nature Story and art by Helen Hallows

WORTHWHILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

SKETCHBOOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Bread & Roses by Amelia Woodbridge

Plein Air Sketching by Carolyn Fisher

Fine Print

Seed Packets by UPPERCASE readers

Subscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Snippets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

CREATIVE CAREER . . . . . . . . 10

Misc.

Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

COVET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 The Butterfly Effect by Andrea Jenkins

ILLUSTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

LIBRARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

TOG ETHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Recommended Reading

Growing Together: Creating a Community Garden by Joy Vanides Deneen

BEING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Slow Growth, Friendship and Bird Song by Meera Lee Patel

GALLERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Garden Inspired by UPPERCASE readers

BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

ASK LILLA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Working on the Right Thing

The Lifecycle of Hydrangea by Lilla Rogers and Jennie Stevenson

by Arianne Foulks illustration by Andrea D’Aquino

EPHEMERA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

PROCESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Garden Variety

The Seeds of Inspiration by Bonnie Christine

by Mark E. Sackett and Melanie Roller

FRESH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Disha Sharma, Lottie Caiella,

Craft

Megan Cabaj, Tara Reed

G ROW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

BEG INNINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Blue Thumb: Growing Indigo in the Okanogan Highlands by Patricia Belyea

Practice as a Garden Kristen Drozdowski

ABECEDARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 A Garden of Delights by Lydie Raschka

ORIG IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 The Tender Tool by Correy Baldwin

BAC K C OV E R

STITCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Sowing the Seeds by Deanne Fitzpatrick

PERSPECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 How Do You Cultivate Your Creativity? by UPPERCASE readers

Grow Shirlee Fisher RE DL AN DS, CALI FORN IA , USA

Gardening found its place in my life from an early age. My childhood is marked with memories of accompanying my father to the nursery to pick out fruit trees and soil for our garden beds. I remember being so excited when our seedlings would poke their little green heads out of the soil. The act of nurturing something so small that turns into a bountiful harvest is nothing short of a miracle. The theme of growth is something I often incorporate in my artwork, both figuratively and literally. I love the comparison of personal growth to that of growing something from seed. The changes that are taking place inside us take time and need to be nurtured. This piece, titled “Grow,” was created as a typography experiment and also as a reminder for myself of how much I have developed. quietlinesdesign.com

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C O N T R I B U TO R

U P P E R CAS E 201B – 908, 17th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2T 0A3

Janine Vangool P U B L I S H E R , E D I TO R , D E S I G N E R

janine@uppercasemagazine.com C U STO M E R S E RV I C E

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Correy Baldwin C O PY E D I TO R

Patricia Belyea Patricia Belyea, a quiltmaker, author, speaker and teacher, co-owns Okan Arts—a family business that imports vintage Japanese textiles. In this issue, she writes about growing indigo from seed.

okanarts.com

Core Contributors Jane Audas Correy Baldwin Andrea D’Aquino Arianne Foulks Joy Vanides Deneen Glen Dresser Brendan Harrison Andrea Jenkins Andrea Marván Kerrie More Emily Orpin Meera Lee Patel Lydie Raschka Christopher Rouleau P RI NTE D I N CA N A DA BY T H E P R O L I F I C G R O U P.

Interior pages are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled Rolland Enviro 100. Give this magazine a long life! The content is evergreen, so we hope you’ll revisit it over and over again. If you’re done with it, please pass it on to a friend or colleague who might enjoy our content, or cut up the pages and create some art.

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N O T I C E U P P E R C A S E A N D I T S TA G L I N E “ F O R T H E C R E AT I V E A N D C U R I O U S ” A R E T R A D E M A R K E D.

In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3) and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta. 6

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Thank you to all of the talented writers, illustrators, creative collaborators and loyal readers who contributed their talents to this issue of UPPERCASE. Thank you to everyone who submitted to the open calls for this issue. Even if you weren’t featured within these printed pages, your effort was noticed and appreciated!

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Snippets

C O M PA N I O N S

C O N N ECT I O N S

Good Tags Stacy Wong wants to create objects that celebrate the “transformative, positive effect plants can have on our personal spaces and lives.”

Pillows for the Mother Tree Project Montreal designer Katrin Leblond unites her two loves—fashion and forests—in a pillow collection that is supporting innovative Canadian forestry research. Mushrooms, moss, mycelium and mother trees take centre stage in Leblond’s new collection of generously sized plush velvet pillows. The artwork crated by Leblond and Iris Glaser pays tribute to the mother trees and fungi that scientists are now recognizing as central to supporting our forest communities. Leblond is donating $20 from every pillow sale to the Mother Tree Project, a research project led by the pioneering forest ecologist Suzanne Simard. Simard was one of the first scientists to uncover the networked relationships within forest communities. Through the Mother Tree Project, she is investigating forest renewal practices that will protect biodiversity, carbon storage and forest regeneration as climate changes.

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Leblond has been painting and designing textiles inspired by the Laurentian forests that have enchanted her since childhood. After discovering Simard’s memoir, Finding the Mother Tree, Leblond decided to dedicate her pillow collection to advancing Simard’s research and amplifying her message of community and cooperation. “I love that Suzanne Simard is using science to prove that cooperation and caring exists in the forest, even between species. The forests are caring for us, too. They clean the air and capture carbon in the ground. Well, maybe I should care back! By donating to the Mother Tree Project, I’m giving my art meaning that really reflects where I’m at personally. I can’t just make pretty things anymore.”

Leblond hopes her pillows resonate with customers at a deeper level. “Doesn’t everybody want to have the forest in their living room? There’s something nurturing and grounding about the forest. There’s also a sense of mystery and magic when we take the time to look down and discover the forest floor. As an artist, I really enjoy learning from the work of scientists. I want my pillows to bring that sense of wonder I feel outdoors into the home.”

We can learn from the trees: we are bigger together, sharing energy and resources. It’s hard not to see these themes apply to all our relationships.

katrinleblond.com mothertreeproject.org

Leblond’s limited-edition, made-to-order pillow collection is ethically manufactured in Canada. The textiles are printed, cut and sewn in Montreal. Each pillow is backed with a handprinted quote from Simard’s memoir: “Vive la forêt!”

Like most of us during the pandemic, Stacy sought refuge at home. Her plants became part of both the family and the décor. “I was amazed that my previously brown thumb became green with a little care and learning about the new indoor plants I acquired.” She mused that “we have art for the home so why not art for our plants?” And so she created modern plant tags. “They can be used in a potted plant or outside in the garden. Every tag includes a removable and erasable chalkboard label to customize a reminder, plant name or note.” stacywonghandmade.com

G U I D E BO O K

Anything Grows Based in Manila, Philippines, Jamie Bauza discovered that gardening helped to alleviate the stress and anxiety of the pandemic while stuck at home. “I traded plant tips with my friends who had also gotten into gardening, and we bonded by gifting cuttings and propagations. Last year, I got the opportunity to make a book about my gardening journey. I wrote, illustrated and designed the book, which was a huge feat for me. Anything Grows is a beginner’s guide to home gardening, and it includes all the things I learned. I hope new and budding plant parents find it useful!” jamiebauza.com

PAC K ET A RT

Hudson Valley Seed

Minneapolis artist Liz Schreiber creates images from seeds. “I have been working in this medium for 18 years now,” she says. “It’s a medium which is most familiar to Minnesotans through the State Fair. Each seed is placed individually and the process is slow and tedious.” Liz has won multiple blue ribbons at the State Fair and takes commissions, too. “I have a massive collection of seeds—mostly native to Minnesota—and am an avid gardener. I love the connection between the seeds visually and their potential to become more than their humble beginnings.”

K Greene believes that “every seed is a story.” As a founder of Hudson Valley Seed, K helps tell these stories by commissioning artwork for their seed packets. “I believe that artists are cultural seed savers,” he says, “carefully selecting which elements of culture, memory, lived experience and imagination to mix into their palette. Artists show us who we are, what we strive for and what stories are important to share. Every year our little seed company commissions artists to design our seed packs. The diversity of the artwork celebrates the cultural and genetic diversity of seeds.”

cropartcreations.com

Hudson Valley Seed invites US-based artists to apply to become seed packet artists. Details are posted on their website.

MARCIE LONG

S E E D A RT

Seed Mosaics

hudsonvalleyseed.com

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C R E A T I V E

C A R E E R

Nathalie Bonte LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS

Artist, educator and mentor Please describe what you do, including any “day jobs” that you also do to support yourself.

I am the owner of N Bonte Studio, where art and self-care come together. Here I work as a visual artist, educator and mentor. It is my passion to help people, especially women, to rest, restore and be creative. To live from the heart and intuition. To feel at home in your house, your body and your mind. I love combining my creativity, art and self-care in my work. What makes your job, profession or calling unique and interesting? Why are you drawn to this work?

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Science and art are at times two separate worlds that are at a fair distance from each other. The beauty of my current work is that it allows me to combine the explorative and analytical (sometimes a bit scientific) side with feeling and intuition. Head and heart come together. The art can be used to create a safe, warm place in your home where you are at ease and can completely relax. The guidance and courses will help you discover ways to rest, restore and be creative. In a full life where you often fulfill various roles, it is at times difficult to know what you need. I find it valuable and an honour to be able to guide someone on the path to

(re)discovering inner calm, so that they can rest and restore, to start living from the heart again. Sometimes emotions are hard to verbalize. Being creative helps with this. And therefore creativity certainly has a role in the guidance. Nature and yoga nidra also play a part. They certainly play a role when it comes to reducing stress, improving mental health and increasing creativity. At the same time nature is one of my main sources of inspiration for painting and drawing. Just like music is. I follow my emotions and intuition in the painting process. In this way everything comes together in my business. What training or education prepared you (or didn’t!) for this career?

In the educational offerings I can combine all my knowledge and experience. I use art, creativity and my experience from 20-plus years of working in mental health care and education. I am qualified to guide, help and coach children, adolescents and adults, having graduated with a degree in pedagogical sciences. I also bring everything I know from being a certified yoga teacher and yoga nidra facilitator. Even though I didn’t go to art school I have had the opportunity to learn from a number of skilled art professionals in courses and workshops, and through intensive mentoring. What advice do you have for someone trying to find their own creative career path?

Art is subjective and speaks from and to the heart. It’s about emotions, what moves you and where you feel a connection. Finding your own creative career path is therefore very personal for everyone. So work from your own intuition, from your heart, and do what brings you joy. That path will bring you where you belong. nbontestudio.com

W O R T H W H I L E

Bread & Roses

Using our creativity for good is one of the best ways we can make a difference. Through design, art and craft—and with our hands and hearts—we can effect change. However small it may seem at first, each incremental effort is still significant. BY AMELIA WOODBRIDG E

or refugee women arriving in the UK from around the world, rebuilding their lives not only means leaving behind traumatic experiences, learning a new way of life and speaking a new language, but overcoming financial and social isolation, gaining confidence and learning skills for employment.

Olivia Head, Sneh JaniPatel and Olivia Wilson help women in the UK with these challenges through their program called Bread & Roses. Using the art of floristry as a tool for social good, Bread & Roses uses the therapeutic benefits of working with flowers to help women learn an employable skill, bolster their language proficiency, form social connections and enjoy creative exploration. Through this floristry training program, Bread & Roses also assists women in learning about local support services, including English courses and volunteer opportunities, to help in their transition. As women complete the program, many go on to begin college courses or start the search for employment. Monica, a refugee from Nigeria, says Bread & Roses helped her gain confidence and independence. “It has given me confidence to believe in who I am, and that I can do anything.

We are all equal here and we support each other,” she says. Since the Bread & Roses program began in 2016, over 100 refugee and asylumseeking women have found greater well-being, become part of their communities, secured employment and, most importantly, blossomed into independent women with hope for the future. Sales of flowers from Bread & Roses go directly to funding programs that give women an opportunity to thrive. Purchases also support the sustainable floristry movement, as Bread & Roses uses only seasonal British flowers sourced from small local market farms and industry growers, as well as recyclable packaging wherever possible. Supporters can also sponsor a floristry training program or make a donation. wearebreadandroses.com uppercasemagazine.com

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L I B R A R Y

P E R F ECT I O N

garden-inspired reading RECOMMENDED READING BY

ja nine va ngool

Life in the Studio: Inspiration and Lessons on Creativity PH HO OT TO O B BY Y F FR RA AN NC CE ES S P PA AL LM ME ER R P PO OT TT TE ER RY Y F FR RA AN NC CE ES SP PA AL LM ME ER RP PO OT TT TE ER RY Y .. C CO OM M A AU UT TH HO OR R P PH HO OT TO O B BY Y J JA AN NE E-B BE E II L LE ES S P

F R A N C E S PA L M E R ARTISAN BOOKS

The Flower Hunter LU CY H U N T E R

I have to admit that I had not heard of potter and photographer Frances Palmer, though she has been featured in Martha Stewart Living, New York Times Style Magazine, Vogue and other big publications, but when the algorithm recommended her book to me one cold winter’s day as I went for a virtual book browse in my pjs and with a cup of tea, I judged the book by its pretty cover and added it to my cart. I’m going to sound like a jaded old book designer and publisher, but it is really hard to take me completely by surprise when it comes to a book. My delight in beholding this glorious book when it arrived in the post was accentuated by the surprise of just how gorgeous this book turned out to be. This is one that all creative people should have in their library (or on the bedside table, as it has been since it arrived in my home). Frances Palmer’s ceramics are soulful and quirky yet thoughtfully rooted in ceramic history; her writing is confident yet naturally conversational and informative, and the photographs she takes of her pots and the dahlias that she grows to place within her vessels are masterful and delicious. It’s a perfect book.

RYL AND PETE RS & SMALL

Beautiful photos celebrating a muted patina in floral arrangements, gardening and style.

Flower Color Guide DA R RO C H & M I C H A E L P U T N A M PHAIDON

A reference of 400 cut flowers photographed on a white background, organized by colour to assist floral designers (and artists) in planning their designs. The pages are quite small, constraining the beauty of the tome.

Pure Style in the Garden: Creating an Outdoor Haven JA N E C U M B E R BATC H P I M P E R N E L P R E S S LT D

A diary of a garden including written musings, hand-drawn sketches and paintings, and lots of photos. A nice place to spend an afternoon. It’s pretty but rambling and could have used a pruning before publication.

francespalmerpottery.com

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B E I N G

slow growth, friendship and bird song

homes. Jack, our Border Collie mix, and I huddle in the basement until the howling winds stop and the trees are still once again.

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In the 18 months that follow, we spend our lives strictly quarantined on the farm. I give birth to my daughter and become a mother. The greenhouse flourishes under my husband’s care. We harvest more produce than we know what to do with, canning soups and pickles and preserves. Skins, cores and stems pile high on the countertop before they are swept into buckets for our hens to pick over. Anything left over becomes compost—nutrient rich soil for our orchard and garden beds. Everything has its use. No part goes to waste.

A R T I C L E A N D I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y

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hen my mother first comes to visit me on the farm, she is in awe. She has lived in the suburbs for her entire adult life, ever since she emigrated to the United States as a young woman. For the last 30 years, she has been surrounded by streets and sidewalks, the chatter of neighbours, the early morning rumble of school buses picking up their children. Here, it’s quiet. “Look at all this land!” she says, walking around the 20 acres of wood that surrounds us. “Wow. It’s so green. So beautiful. Look! There’s deer there.” I look, but my eyes miss their delicate limbs as they disappear into the maple trees. Instead, I see the weeds inching past my knees, the stone driveway in need of levelling, the demolished kitchen I spend my days re-tiling. We wash our dishes in the bathtub. We spend our nights tilling the earth, weeding the greenhouse or clearing years of neglect from the yard. It’s difficult for me to imagine the future, but I know it will take many years to love this neglected land into something new. “Look at all these vegetables!” Mom exclaims, walking through the greenhouse. “You can make such nourishing soups. And homemade vegetable stock. And best of all: no pesticides! Let me show you what to do with the ends of these carrots. I don’t waste any part of the vegetable. Everything has its use.” Pregnancy—my first—and the pandemic settle in, both like a fog. We’ve gotten used to the quiet, but this version of isolation feels extreme. We see no one and go nowhere. Each day is uncertain, but we are lucky: we have each other, our animals to care for and space to breathe. In March, a tornado sweeps through Nashville, injuring hundreds of people and destroying their

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My mom calls to check in, and I tell her how alone I feel. It’s been months since I’ve seen another person or stepped inside a building. “Yes,” she says, “But look how safely the farm is keeping you.”

My daughter rolls over, then sits up, eventually beginning to crawl. The pandemic stretches on. We keep our hope, determinedly, while the world crumbles around us. I receive acceptance for graduate school in another state; we wonder how to leave a place we’ve loved into something new. In April, my mom comes to help while my husband and I prepare to sell the farm. In the mornings, she takes my daughter to visit our hens. They stand outside the coop, watching the hens fluff themselves while we fix the broken stones on our walkway. They watch the hens while we weed the overgrown beds and clear the yard of scrap wood. While my daughter exchanges skeptical curiosity with the hens, we finally level the driveway. On our last morning at the farm, I place the house keys under a pot of marigolds. My mom bought them on the day of our wedding; we were married here, on the farm. My husband has already left, driving a 26-foot truck carrying the contents of a home that no longer belongs to us. My daughter settles into her car seat with the bewildered look of a child who has never left her home. I turn the car on and then take a deep breath, preparing for the dozens of unknowns waiting for me. Right before I pull out of the driveway, I receive a text from my mom. “Make sure you thank all of the trees. Thank the flowers and plants for giving you clean air to breathe. Thank the deer, rabbits, chickens and turkeys for their friendship. Thank the birds for their music. Thank the grass and the dirt and the land for giving you so many beautiful morning walks. Thank the farm for being your home. We must always be grateful for how the world takes care of us.” meeralee.com

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B U S I N E S S

STO RY BY

a ria n n e fou l ks

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y

a n d re a d’aqu i n o

“So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.” — C AT E R I N A FA K E

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f you own a creative business, it’s likely that you love learning and trying new things, and this can be distracting. At one point, I found myself working on 11 big projects almost entirely by myself. Needless to say, I wasn’t getting anywhere with any of them. I have since found that the key to getting results without running myself ragged is to focus. These are the four principles I keep in mind as I grow my business. |||

The One Thing This idea is from a book of the same title. It suggests that a lack of focus leads to a lack of results. The question to ask is, “What’s the one thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” This question saves me a lot of time and trouble, and it is particularly helpful when planning long-term goals for my company.

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The 80/20 Rule The 80/20 rule is not exactly a rule. It’s an observation that many facets of economics, business and life follow the general formula that 20% of causes lead to 80% of outcomes. For instance, a small group of

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F R E S H

Disha Sharma TEXAS, USA

Greetings! My name is Disha. I’m an engineer-turned-freelance illustrator focusing on food and botanical subjects. With a huge fascination with nature and its colours, I love to recreate botanical, floral and natural elements on paper using watercolours. I love to combine the worlds of both food and nature, and focus on vegan food choices in my work. With nature being the main source of inspiration, I make sure to take a walk outside every day to keep those creative juices flowing. And the times when I cannot go out, my kitchen is my second source of inspiration. I just grab anything, like a ketchup bottle, a jam jar or any fruit, and paint it on paper. @markdisha markdishadesigns.com

fresh talent W H ET H E R YO U ’ R E A F R E S H G R A D UAT E O R M AT U R E A RT I ST, I T I S O F T E N A D R E A M TO B E P U B L I S H E D F O R T H E F I RST T I M E !

You’re welcome to submit your work for consideration. uppercasemagazine.com/participate

Lottie Caiella FAY E T T E V I L L E , N E W YO R K , U S A

I am a self-taught designer and am currently getting my MFA in illustration. I aspire to work as a designer/illustrator for brands, publishers and perhaps children’s books someday. What makes me fresh is that I went back to school at 30 with two young children at home and my hope is that they know it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. @lottiecaiella lottiecaiella.com

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Tara Reed RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLI NA , USA

Since I was a small kid I have loved creating and exploring all types of art. I was the seven year old spending their weekly allowance on supplies at the art store. As a young adult I didn’t see art as a career option so instead went for a BA in psychology, but always dreamt of doing something more creative. I have been fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home mom for a number of years, and just as I was feeling like it was time to get back into the workforce, the pandemic came along and my kids were suddenly home all of the time. This made my lifelong daydream to work for myself from home even more desirable, and I could not have been more excited to discover surface design. My goal is to create fabric collections and wallpapers for quilting and home décor.

Hi, I’m Tara! I am an illustrator and surface pattern designer based in Raleigh, North Carolina. I’m the former artist community manager of the print-on-demand fabric company Spoonflower. I spent many years helping other artists make a living with their art, all the while putting my own dreams of being a full-time artist on the back burner. I have finally decided to take a chance on myself and quit my amazing job to live my lifelong dream. I’m a true introvert and battle the dreaded imposter syndrome, but each day I show up for my art practice and am slowly gaining the confidence to put myself out there. I am so grateful for the unique job experience I’ve had and all of the relationships I’ve built with other artists from all over the world. I hope to bring joy with my bold coloured illustrations and show the strength of women in my portraits.

@megancabajdesign megancabajdesign.com

@taranormal tarareedart.com

Megan Cabaj C A L G A R Y, A L B E R TA , C A N A D A

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practice as a garden T H E E X P R E S S I O N S O F N AT U R E , I N A L L T H I N G S

TEXT AND ART BY

k r isten drozdowski

ne of the first projects I set for myself when first beginning to explore painting was to follow the course of the moon cycle, and observe what my creative process felt like during each phase of the moon. I would begin each new painting on the new moon and see how the process of that one painting unfolded until the next new moon when it was time to start again. I catalogued my process in a journal. This was the first time I really looked deeply into how the process of human creativity is enmeshed in the same creative patterns of nature. All living beings are subjected to the same cosmic and planetary forces that connect us together in time and space. As I continue my painting practice, I am always noticing a metaphorical connection to nature when I observe my process, and this continues to inspire me. There are seasons and phases in the creative process that feel very similar to what I pay attention to when gardening. Just like plants in the earth, human beings have physical bodies through which the vital forces of creativity can flow. There is a depth within us similar to the depth of the earth, and there is space around us. We have natural impulses to go inward, and to come alive and express outward. The creative process reminds me so much of the seasonal cycles of fruiting plants. There is a time for the conception of a seed, and there is a time for when the resulting fruit is meant to be picked. And there is everything in between. In the winter, the energy of a tree retreats back down into the roots, and the leaves all drop. This is happening for the preservation of vitality. In the spring, that energy is again awakened and ventures outward toward the light, generating leaves and flowers to be engaged within the ecosystem. And so on, and so on. Are we and the trees not the same, riding the same spiral of cyclic creation? What else could possibly

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O R I G I N

the tender tool The basic tools of gardening over the centuries.

STO RY BY

c orrey b a ld w in

like projects that give me a healthy perspective. Gardening takes its time: over many months I get to participate in something from beginning to end, from seed to harvest. But it is also a humbling activity, because no matter what I do, it remains largely outside of my control. The garden needs me to tend to it, but it has its own ways and whims and particularities. I am peripheral, yet also vital. If I stop paying attention, the garden suffers. In order to flourish it requires my sustained attention—a steady, though leisurely, attention and focus. The garden invites us to spend time with it: watching, prodding, learning, anticipating. Gardening takes its time, and has its own sense of time. Unlike the rest of our hurried, distracted lives, garden-time is not easily trackable or quantifiable. It moves through seasons and weather: seed rising to sprout, opening to bloom, swelling to fully ripe tomato. TROWEL

SHOVEL

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Time is heightened by a sense of continuity—remembering last year’s garden, preparing for next year’s. There are the seeds we harvest and save for next year’s garden, and that we give to family and friends, who return the favour—building both history and community. There are the gardens that came before us. My own garden connects me to the impressively large vegetable garden that my parents grow, and that I grew up with.

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WHEEL HOE

Garden tools, as well, are passed down and inherited— like the spades and rakes that belonged to my grandparents, now leaning against the walls of my parents’ garden shed, their grey, worn wooden handles cracked by years and weather. My favourite of these tools is a wheel hoe that, as far as my parents know, likely came from my great-grandparents. It has handles like a bicycle and was painted fire-engine red, with a long metal bar leading to its working parts: a single wheel, followed by a mounted digging fork and a looped blade, called a stirrup hoe— shaped, as the name suggests, like a horse riding stirrup. Most of our tools have been with us, in one form or another, for centuries, even millenia. Rudimentary shovels and trowels have been used since the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. The wheel hoe, however, is a byproduct of the Industrial Revolution, which gave us HOE RAKE

SHOVEL

FORK

WATERING CAN

Which brings me to the watering can, the one tool for which this is an exception. For almost as long as they’ve been around, watering cans have been objects worthy of artistic attention. Early metal cans featured decorative rings, and eventually embossed patterns and images of flowers and birds. Others were painted. Some were made especially for children, while others were novelty items, as playful as they were useful. Today even the cheapest plastic ones make half-hearted attempts at looking joyful, though you don’t have to look far to find more exquisite objects: cursive spouts and handles, bodies round like teapots or deep like pitchers, ceramic or metal, with patina or untarnished and sleek, modern, minimal, colourful, flamboyant.

The watering can emphasizes all that is beautiful about our relationship to the plants we tend— and thus it itself becomes beautiful.

TOMATO

What is it about the watering can that makes it so inviting? Surely it has something to do with being the tool most connected to all that draws us to gardening: the desire to nurture, to slow down and provide the essentials, to help something flourish. Unlike other tools of the garden, which dig and slice and chop, the watering can refreshes and enlivens. As the gardener Louis Liger D’Auxerre wrote of the watering can in 1706, in his Compleat Florist, “it imitates the rain falling from the heavens.”

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A WHIMSICAL WATERING CONCEPT

To nurture something is, etymologically speaking, to nourish, which seems appropriate when speaking of a vegetable garden: I nourish it, so that it may nourish me. And to tend something comes from attend, “to expect, wait for, pay attention,” from the Latin meaning which literally translates “to stretch toward.” I like this idea of physically stretching toward the needs of my garden—perhaps with a watering can in hand—in order to care for it. The word tend also reminds me of tender, which is how I try to be while tending my garden, whether digging with a spade, tipping a watering can or plucking a bright red cherry tomato, slipping it into my mouth, biting down and savouring.

Art & Design

katharine watson

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A R T I S T

a blooming art business STO RY BY

a nd re a m a rván

jenny bravo ka tha rine wa tson

P H OTO S BY AND

hen artist Katharine Watson started her block-printed paper goods business 12 years ago she did not have a garden of her own, yet her fascination for plants and flowers has always been a strong force in her life. Katharine grew up around plants, introduced to the magical world of botanicals by her mother, who has a degree in horticulture; and then, as a naturally curious person, Katharine was drawn to the floral designs she found in decorative patterns worldwide. And although when she became interested in gardening she didn’t initially think of garden and plant motifs in relation to her work, now her signature floral patterns are integral to her creations. Katharine’s love for block printing began in college when she studied printmaking. “I just really liked the texture of

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STO RY A N D A RT WO R K BY

helen ha llows

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in intense colour—I have felt the orange of a sunset, drenching me and the land around me, turning the scene into one awash with colour. This has become the starting point for a rich palette of reds and oranges and pinks to express that experience. So, although I create visual art, in fact I am telling visual stories, expressing experience, connecting to a place that resonates with me. Over the last two years, I have discovered much more of my local landscape—discovering pathways previously not taken, river walks and canal towpaths. Through the seasons I have developed a closer relationship to those places. I have identified trees that “speak” to me. There is one nearby, on the edge of a new housing estate, that stands alone, not much of a looker until the autumn when it flames and glows. Slightly further away is a river that pools and creates a miniature pebbled “beach” that I love to visit in all the seasons. There is peace in knowing that these places are there, sentinels of the elements. No trip to see these places is complete without gathering some treasures: feathers, acorns, lichen-covered twigs. Delivered back to the studio, they offer a palette of colours for me to use. I create papers that recreate the textures and colours of my nature walks, and I go on to use this stash to select from, to collage onto my paintings. Over time I have developed these processes, knowing that each—walking, recording, responding, painting, collaging—need time. Being a mixed-media artist offers scope to play, to explore each part of the development of a piece. Giving myself permission to grow, to experiment, leads to new, exciting things happening on the page. One piece may be more painterly, another may have more stitch, compositions change, scale changes. This keeps the process alive and the work from becoming formulaic. I love the energy of hope and renewal that comes with looking forward to another spring. My garden is back to verdant green, the soil invites me to plant and grow. I take that energy into my work, an invitation to try again, to reconnect with the sun, moon, trees and birds in my garden and the landscape beyond. I become lost in the moment, awakening to what is going on in our own patch of land, my local environment. I notice the changes through the seasons, the shift of light as dusk occurs, listening as the birds awake. I put my hands in the soil, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. I reconnect with all that is outside my home, and with my self. All of this leads to “visions” and my work tells these stories offered up by nature. The creative year can begin! helenhallows.com

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S K E T C H B O O K

plein air sketching How to “see” with your fingers and “draw” with your feet STO RY BY

c a rolyn f is h er

ears ago, I went to a workshop with land artist Peter von Tiesenhausen. He told a story about the time he took a chainsaw to some fallen timber on his property. He carved five large figures, then lit the sculptures on fire and watched the wood char. Then, he chained them to his truck and drove from northern Alberta to Newfoundland. He bolted the blackened watchers to the prow of an icebreaker, which then traced a charcoal track across the Arctic as the ship carved through the ice. The sculptures took a ghostly circuit that stretched 30,000 kilometres around Canada, from his farm to the coast, across the Northwest Passage, and back again. This, he told us, was his drawing. I am a children’s book artist and author with a strong bond to the land. When I’m not making books, I use hiking boots, skis and snowshoes to track my own faint wandering line across the mountains and foothills and prairies of my Alberta home. I see best when I’m moving, with feet on ground or hand on paper. I mark the seasons with my outdoor seeing. In summer, I follow splashes of saskatoon blossoms up Calgary’s Nose Hill and later stain my mouth with purple berries. In fall, I observe the larch forests light up high alpine valleys with their radiant, newly golden needles. In winter, I check for hoar frost on the tall grass beside the river, where icy frazil pans bump and clink in the current. And in spring, I hunt for crocuses when the first silver-furred stalks poke through prairie snow. This is why I plein air sketch. “Plein air” translates to “outdoor.” I want to catch my wonder at the light, the lichen, the mackerel sky and the watermelon snow in a sketch. When I leaf through my sketchbook, I see and re-see, and call up sense memories—sight, sound, smell, feel and taste—of each particular time and place. I often make my plein air sketches in hurried moments stolen from runs or hikes, so I draw quick impressions using simple tools. (I take a lot of photos, too.) Then I bring the sketches back home to finish.

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How plein air sketches inspire my children’s books My plein air wanderings have informed my children’s books, like these spreads from Weeds Find a Way. Weeds author Cindy Jenson-Elliott lives in southern California, while I live in Alberta. I mostly illustrated weeds from my Rocky Mountain backyard in the book. Can you spot the teasel, fireweed, thistles, stinkweed, wild carrot, foxtail, hawkweed, wild mustard, velvetleaf, old man’s beard, wild oats, plantains, cleavers and dandelions that I planted on the pages? carolynfisher.com

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I L L U S T R A T I O N

seed packets

ANGELA QUEEN ELAINE LUTHER

A S TA B A R R I N G T O N

@elaine_luther

@astabarrington

Share yours! #uppercaseseedpacket

@apeachandhoney

TH E ASS I G N M E NT Design and illustrate (draw, paint, craft, embroider, collage, photograph or otherwise create by hand or with digital tools) a seed packet for your favourite flower, herb or vegetable. Incorporate type and lettering, too. Get inspired by vintage seed packets or design a more contemporary or personal approach.

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@ginamaldonado_

@greygrimm

GINA MALDONADO

GREY GRIMM

@halleygertrudeart

@jacqmulvaney

B RI D G ET KI RSTE N CA M D E N

J A C Q U E L I N E M U LVA N E Y

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MARIBEL ROSEL

J A C K I E TA H A R A

@jollydragons

@unblinkstudio

CA RO L E F E N W I C K

@exit343

@maggiemagoodesigns

ST E P H A N I E H A RV EY

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C AT H E R I N E C A C H I A

@atwaterdesigns

@catherinecachia

SARAH BOURNE RAFFERTY

KINDRA KEITEL

JENNIFER NYE

@kindradoo

@jnyestudio

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MIRKA HOKKANEN

@mirkadraws

@debrastyer

@kaylaanncreative

DEBRA STYER

K AY L A A N N

LEAH MALMOS

@pixabodesign

@pennycandyhm

@halpindraws

A M Y PE PPL E R A DA M S

ABIGAIL HALPIN

E M I LY G O L D

@vineandthistle

@ccerruti

@emilypapercake

A L I C I A S C H U LT Z

COURTNEY CERRUTI

T O G E T H E R

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hen you live in a densely populated city, green spaces are precious. While urban dwellers may take advantage of small balconies or fire escapes, outdoor spaces like backyards and home vegetable patches are usually just the stuff of dreams. Finding a community garden in the city is like discovering an oasis, where neighbours come together, side by side, to sink their hands into the earth and grow their own food and flowers. Community gardens are also spaces of rest, solidarity and resilience, nestled in the middle of the clamorous concrete sprawl. Sarah McCollum Williams of Green Guerillas speaks of the radical optimism that exists within a community garden. “Green spaces can be not only created, but fostered across time and generations.” Many cities have existing gardens which one can join, but perhaps there is an empty lot that you and like-minded neighbours envision as a community garden. As your group gets organized and shares dreams for the space, here are some guiding steps and thoughts to consider.

GREEN GUERILLAS

joy vanides deneen

G A L L E R Y

creativity grows in the garden Garden Inspired Ashlie Blake W E S T T O W N , N Y, U S A

garden inspired

Gardening and my artwork go hand in hand. Gardening is the match that ignites my creative fire. The flower, vegetable and herb gardens that I have planted on our old farmland inspire each and every one of my artworks. Time spent outdoors with my hands in the dirt, taking in the sights of humming bees and buds on the cusp of blossom, returns with me to my studio when venturing back indoors. My paintings are images of seasonal bouquets, honeybees, singular blooms and backyard animal visitors. Each one reflects the inspiration I gather from being in the garden. There is no need to look any further than that. I have only to peer into my own backyard for all that I desire when planning a painting. I am inspired by all that the natural world has to offer, and I love that I can add to that beauty by not only planting seeds but by creating artwork inspired by those seeds. Both my garden and my artwork rise from nothing and bloom into something that others can appreciate and enjoy. My talent and my garden are the very sources of my joy, and I believe one could not exist without the other. @ashlieblakeart

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Garden Enlightenment Ellen Hoverkamp W E S T H AV E N , C O N N E C T I C U T, U S A

In 1989 I began imaging what other people grew by using a colour laser copier, then switching to a flatbed scanner in 1997. I have always been indebted to and admire the gardeners who fuel and inspire the exploration of my craft. Whether my aim is to distill and capture a sense of place from garden cuttings, illustrate information for gardeners about plants for garden planning, or create dramatic botanicals and floral designs for the home, the plants and flowers inspire their own group portraits. They almost tell me where they should be placed on the scanner as I work “intuitively,” taking their cues. I mostly visit gardens as I did at five years old… full of delightful distraction and wonder, even on assignment. Spending time in a garden is restorative. I love to buy myself locally grown flowers, supporting the efforts of local flower farmers. My home studio is my refuge, with time to think and communicate without speaking. Handling and arranging flowers is therapeutic. In 2019, I was diagnosed with a rare form of randomly occurring lung cancer. Scanning plants, particularly flowers, is good medicine. I became fascinated with the way light moved around the house while I was “sheltering in place” in 2020 to 2021. A morning light beam bounces back to backlight flowers on the scanner’s glass, adding dimensionality to the photograph. There may only be time for one digital capture among many attempts per light-chasing session, but the promise is euphoria. myneighborsgarden.com

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Super Bloom Deborah Shea R E D W O O D C I T Y, CA L I F O R N I A , U S A

My love of gardens and flowers started when I was a child visiting my grandmother’s home. She lived in a city that had great weather and her garden was always filled with roses, calla lilies, tulips and pansies. She planted a long row of snapdragons and marigolds in the front yard, where I sat for hours in the grass beside them on summer days. I loved the petals, the colours, the perfume, the sun and the blue sky. My favourite medium is pastel, allowing me to try to capture all the nuances and beauty in my flowers. deborahsheastudios.com

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Gardener’s Daughter The Rewards of Gardening Vincent Desjardins BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA , USA

With a French last name that translates as “of the garden,” and a father who was a plant pathologist, I think it was inevitable that I would grow up loving plants and gardens. Every year, around March, I plan my garden and start sowing seeds indoors. I grow a few vegetables and as many flowers as I can squeeze into my small yard. I love documenting my plants by photographing them in all stages of their growth. These photographs later become the inspiration for my garden-themed surface patterns that I upload to my Spoonflower and Redbubble shops. Last May, I had fun photographing the Brood X cicadas that emerged all over our town, including hundreds in my garden. Of course, I had to include cicadas in one of my vegetable garden patterns. We also have lots of wildlife that visits our garden, including deer, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, possums and lots of birds. Sometimes, when the weather is nice, I will sit out in my garden and sketch individual blossoms and leaves. My flowers reward me in so many ways. Watching them grow teaches me the art of patience, and their beauty inspires my art. @vinpauld

Laura Dunn S T. S I M O N S I S L A N D, G E O R G I A , U SA

As a young child who spent countless hours in my family’s commercial greenhouse, I learned about flowers by experiencing them. My earliest memories are of standing eye-to-petal with a wide variety of flowers and plants. This allowed me to study their texture, colour and detail up close. It also taught me about the importance of experiencing things with all of my senses. I could see, touch, smell and sometimes even taste the beautiful gifts of nature. Whereas many people will pass by a field and fail to notice it, I learned to study every small bit of growth. I explore this experience through my floral work. Inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe, who took flowers and made them into something bigger and bolder, I have a modern take on capturing florals. My technique involves a strong, thick application of saturated colours and makes use of hard lines to distinguish individual elements. The eye doesn’t have to search for anything in my work; the subject is bold and makes itself known. These pieces are my retort to a world that often tells women to make themselves small, follow the crowd and avoid taking up space. I have seen firsthand what happens when we are allowed to bloom, and hope everyone who views my work will give themselves permission to do so. maclucille.com

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A S K

L I L L A

wo things happily collide this morning: my need to move more and my need to write this column. My lovely trainer, Sandy, wants me to move more. She wants me to get my daily steps, even when I don’t want to do my daily steps. This is why I need a trainer.

the lifecycle of hydrangea BY

l il la rogers WITH JENNIE STEVENSON

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Okay, it’s true: I sit in front of a computer too much. But, you know, I’m very busy. I write courses. I answer emails from my artists. I zoom with my teams. I write my column. I obsess over my students’ art on Instagram. See? I am clearly far too busy to go outside. Unfortunately, Sandy knows me, and she is smart. She knows I need to start small. Like, really small. “How about you just walk the loop tomorrow?” The loop is a path that circles my gardens. It’s a short walk. But also, it’s January. In Boston. “Think of it as getting some fresh air, away from your computer,” she says. Fresh air means cold air—she isn’t fooling me. She tries again. “It could be fun to walk in the garden, right?”

“I’m trying to picture it.” The garden is dry and brown, studded with broken twigs and browned moss. It’s not a very appealing picture. Definitely not appealing enough to go through all the many, many steps involved in actually leaving my computer: stopping what I’m absorbed in, actually physically getting up, finding shoes and a hat and a scarf and gloves, and leaving my cozy, bright studio to be in the grey cold. Nope. But also, I know she’s right. And this is totally why I have a trainer. But I also need to have a reason to walk: an adventure, or a sight-seeing expedition. Because I’m also smart and I also know me, and I know that I like to collect things. That’s how I can trick myself into going outside. “I’m thinking. This week I write my next column for UPPERCASE. Maybe I could see it to gather materials for the photos. The topic is gardening. I’ll see it as a treasure hunt, a way to gather up bits for a flatlay.” Okay, I’m in!

I snip a cluster of hydrangeas; the colour is drained out of it. It’s the colour of dishwater. It’s a sad reminder of its former self. I gather a withered St. John’s wort branch and a twig of roses with its round, shiny rosehips. I love neutrals, and the subtle variations of tan, cream and pale burnt sienna are soothing. What’s the vibe of this flatlay? Do you feel that it is desolate and foreboding? Does it say “pandemic”? Or is it calming, suggesting a time for quiet retreat? Does it speak to you about an end of an era, a time to reflect on what was? Does it make you want to cook a hearty stew using winter root vegetables?

Here are the exact same flowers, in the same order, in bloom. I’ve kept the same linen background and changed out only the flowers. What does the vibe of this flatlay say to you? Is it about abundance, celebration, the promise of what’s to come? Does it suggest energy and enthusiasm, and that now is the time to start new projects? To redecorate? To paint a wall orange? The old linen background symbolized the dark times. The blossoms sit atop of that, meaning that it’s time to come out of your shell and get the heck out of the house. Even when it’s January. In Boston. Maybe the pandemic is over by the time this issue comes out and this flatlay is emblematic of that.

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This gets me thinking that I’d absolutely love to create an oracle deck of these flatlays and write about what each card is telling you. Hmm. And that, folks, is how you keep your creative career alive. Ideas come out of play, adventure, discovery. One must be challenged to make new things. 102

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Now for some fun! I’ve run around my studio, combing through drawers and gathering objects that riff off of the colour story of the flatlays above.

The point of today’s column is to inspire you to gather things that call to you. These colour stories can inform all your creative work, from designing a room to planning an outfit to selecting your colours for illustration, and maybe you’ll get your daily steps in, too!

Your assignment Just as I gathered flowers both at the end of their life cycles and in bloom in spring, I want you to gather things at two stages in their life cycles, or something in sequence, or two forms of a thing. For example:

• A cup of coffee and then the cup with just the brown crusty coffee residue at the bottom Draw or photograph the two things. Write about the emotional aura of each. You might want to add some of the words to your art. XO

• An egg in a shell; a fried egg • A pile of pastels and then a page of pastel smudges • A photo of a bird and of a bird feather

lillarogers.com

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Rather than give up, I was determined to slowly turn my murky brown thumb into a green one. Through trial and error, year after year I dug into the garden to discover what worked and what didn’t. Each year I have incremental improvements. Certain things have begun to come easier, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t and I always add something new to try. I’m now in my seventh year of growing and still taking notes and learning through trial and error. I realized that it seemed natural to my grandmother because she had done the same—learned by practising year after year. As an artist, my love for gardening is directly related to my ability to use it in my own creative work. It seems that sourcing inspiration for our own creative work is becoming a lost art, and I believe it is a vital part of the creation process. It ensures originality, gets us in front of what inspires us most, calls for adventure and breathes life into our projects. As artists, we must embrace the practice of sourcing our own inspiration. It’s all too easy to use the Internet to search for images to use as inspiration, but we must resist and remember the value of original discovery. It is precisely what makes the career of an artist so deeply fulfilling. The adventure of it all is what keeps us inspired to create. Whether it’s a garden, an animal, a museum or a location I’m inspired by, I always try to get in front of it if I can. Something deeply fulfilling happens when I can look at a finished piece of artwork and remember the moment I collected inspiration for it. All of a sudden my work becomes personal, as I can attach specific memories to every piece of it. 106

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Craft blue thumb

growing indigo in the okanogan highlands

STO RY A N D P H OTOS BY

p a tr icia belyea

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S T I T C H

sowing the seeds

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Surround yourself with beauty Aline Doornhof THE NETHERLANDS

Take things apart Cara Cummings ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, USA

I have surrounded myself with materials in quirky pots and boxes, and magazines on art and gardening in my studio. There’s an old wooden table from my childhood home and plants, like a begonia that I hope to revive in spring. On the walls are postcards and prints and quotes in lovely lettering. From behind my desk, a view to a small garden. Although a bit grey on this rainy and cold January day, I can see in my mind’s eye the blooms that will come and feel the rays of sun that will warm the space. This morning I looked for signs of snowdrops, and sure enough, some small green stalks had appeared. Inside it is warm and bright. My little coffee machine is at the ready. Beauty is everywhere if you know where to look. I find it on walks, in art, in meeting people, in gardens, in books and in my tiny studio. When exploring, colours and shapes especially inspire me. I take lots of photos or bring home seed packets, a leaflet, another art book, and put them on display. And this then replenishes me and inspires me to create and to grow.

Besides being an artist, I am a gardener, botanist and educator, and I love to take things apart, especially flowers. I have an insatiable desire to learn as much as possible about them. I am always intrigued by the shapes, colours and configurations that I see when I sit down at my painting table with an X-Acto knife and a magnifying glass. I find inspiration for making new patterns, creating palettes, working out new colourways and telling visual stories. There is so much to see when we are in a garden or nature—and if you are looking for inspiration, it can be overwhelming. But if you focus on one thing, especially something you would never see if you didn’t take the time to dig into it, it could invite a whole new perspective, igniting your curiosity and fuelling your creativity.

Ever Present

@carasgarden

Vickie Chan

@alineintheclouds

N U R T U R I N G C R E AT I V I T Y Lulu Ludlum PORTLAND, OREGON, USA

I nurture and cultivate my creativity by taking walks in nature and letting my thoughts wander; by participating in art project ideas that my eight-year-old daughter suggests and seeing what new discoveries we make along the way; by digging around in my bins of art and craft supplies and thinking of what new things the supplies inspire me to create; by sitting at my desk on a sunny day with the window open and fresh air blowing in, watching the birds hop around in my garden while listening to calm classical, melodic jazz or energy-packed rock and roll, helping to fuel my creativity. @lululudlum

HONG KONG

THE AT T E N T I O N HABIT Heather Moore CAPE TOWN , SOUTH AFRICA

The Attention Habit is a creative practice I’ve set for 2022 to help me flex my attention muscles more consistently. Every month, I’ll choose a particular subject to notice. Every weekday (or more), I’ll photograph, sketch or make patterns from that thing. I’ll post the results on @makingfriday #TheAttentionHabit. For example, I set my January theme as “weeds,” so you’ll see the weeds I noticed throughout the month. Join in the fun! @makingfriday 122

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I nurture creativity when I play a song on repeat, read a book or scribble an idea in my sketchbook (which I later forget). Sometimes the idea resurfaces in my head, and other times I find it again. It’s every time I hike the Hong Kong countryside or go for a run. It’s when I sit on a ferry. Nurture happens when I meditate and let all kinds of amusing images unfold before me—when my mind wanders and dreams take hold. Cultivating creativity happens on a different level. It’s something practical that takes me further: Admiring work that I could never make keeps me going, as I consider my place in the creative world. Without becoming a distraction, cultivation happens when I learn better methods for what I already do, or learn new techniques. It’s playing with new pens and inks. It’s being present today, while planning for key seasons. It’s absolutely when I share my work and get a reaction that gives me a “yay me” moment. And it’s all underpinned by talking with my creative friends and feeling part of a community. @studiochanpei

Start an Art Club Emma McGowan BRIGHTON, UK

Being an artist can be a solitary way to live, so a few years ago, I suggested to some local artist friends that we meet one evening a month, like a book club, but instead of talking about books, we bring something we’re working on and while away a few hours in creative company. And so Art Club was born, and it’s become a way for each of us to ride the ups and downs of our respective creative lives. We are four middle-aged women, putting the world to rights (or our worlds, anyway), pencil or paintbrush in hand. We usually meet at each other’s homes. Sometimes we plan an activity together, and whoever is hosting might set up a still life or dial into an online life drawing class, but usually we just bring whatever work we have in progress. We’ve sat on the beach in winter wearing bobble hats and thermals, hugging hot water bottles, and Covid saw us drawing in gardens until it was too dark to see. Energy levels ebb and flow. Sometimes I don’t feel in the mood after a long day, but I’ve never once regretted making an effort to go. As we drink and chat and draw and fall into companionable silences, we instinctively take each other’s creative temperature. Who is quieter than usual? Who needs a push out of their comfort zone? Who’s struggling with their work or their life? A couple of years ago, we exhibited together. We may do it again this year. There’s never any pressure or competition. We cheer each other on. My Art Club nights with Fay, Marina and Nicola are a golden thread I can hold onto no matter how creative I am feeling. In those few hours together each month, we gently crack open the tensions of everyday life to reveal truths about ourselves, our creativity and the importance of friendship. I heartily recommend it as a way to nurture your creativity.

Have a Sustainable Practice That Sustains You Elaine Luther CH ICAGO, I LLI NOIS, USA

Have a sustainable practice that sustains you. I don’t demand that you make good art while in your studio. I only suggest that if you go, if you treat your studio time as sacred, but what you do in the studio is play, if you stick with it, even when it is going very, very badly, things will get better and suddenly you will make something amazing. But sometimes, you won’t feel like making anything. Sometimes you will feel stuck. So you need a creative practice, something easy and fun that you can turn to in the dark times, something that does not demand a lot of you but gives a lot back. Something to fill your creative well. For me, that thing is smearing paint in my sketchbook and collaging in it, and writing and using all manner of lowbrow materials, such as delicious, gorgeous washi tape in a million colours, all purchased on sale or with a coupon! It’s also my warm-up ritual for my studio time. By the time I am tired of smearing paint around, I am ready to make some art. Part of choosing a sustainable practice and of treating your studio time as sacred is accepting this notion: “Talent arises from a place of love and self-acceptance,” says Shelley Klammer. Have you noticed that some of the best artists make art that is so very, very “them” out of the materials that light them on fire with passion? Doing the work that only they, in all the world, could make? They must love themselves, trust themselves and accept that this material inspires them to make such good work. Loving and accepting yourself, truly, deeply, will not only make you a happier person, it will also make your art stronger.

N I N E P R A C T I C E S T O C U LT I VAT E A N D N U R T U R E M Y C R E AT I V I T Y Anab Roa Q U E Z O N C I T Y, P H I L I P P I N E S

1 Keeping a promise to myself, one little thing at a time.

2 Making space: providing myself with a designated space to make things, create and write.

3 Making time: devoting time to do things that make me happy and keep me sane. 4 Practising a just-do-it attitude. Because I tend to overthink things, keeping this attitude in mind helps me accomplish creative work and creative curiosities.

5 Idea notebook: for taking notes of the things and ideas that come to mind, the quotes that get my attention, artists who I gravitate towards and more. 6 Sketchbook practise: drawing or painting every day. 7 Gathering inspiration: by staying curious; being open to exploring; being present to my life, moment to moment; being aware of myself and my surroundings; and reading and going on mini-adventures. 8 Growing and caring for plants nourishes my being, which also inspires and informs my creative work. 9 Taking care of myself through simple selfcare practices, like picking flowers, reading, laughing, singing and playing with my child. @anab_roa

elainelutherart.com

@emmajmcgowan

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H O B B Y

growing pains

STO RY BY

brendan harri son

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spent my early 20s living in a rundown Montreal apartment sandwiched between an elevated highway and a cigarette factory. Slivers of sunlight would creep through the filthy windows, only to be subsumed by steady streams of smoke that I exhaled inside. Despite the perpetual state of gloom that surrounded me, I harboured an implacable, unshakable belief: some house plants would really brighten the place up.

So began a killing spree unprecedented in its scope and severity. Cacti, succulents, philodendrons, snake plants, ferns, spider plants, aloe vera… all withered and died under my inept hands. I might as well have suffocated them with plastic bags for all that I could keep them alive. And yet I desperately tried to keep them alive. Our kitchen table became a de facto planting bench as I constantly transplanted sickly foliage into new pots that could better accommodate their roots. I bought several gimmicky self-watering devices that never quite delivered on the promise of automatically giving my plants an optimal amount of water. I applied fertilizers in every conceivable ratio of nitrogen, potash and phosphate. But nothing seemed to work.

M AQ U I N OT I C O / I STO C K P H OTO.C O M

At the time, I chose to blame our apartment’s north-facing exposure for the alarming death rate rather than my demonstrable incompetence. But when I moved back to Calgary into my girlfriend’s sun-drenched apartment, the slaughter resumed unabated. I failed my plants in new and exciting ways: over-watering, under-watering, too much light, too little light, not enough fertilizer, too much draft… And yet despite the growing mound of chlorophyll-filled corpses, I continued to shell out money for replacement plants, convinced that I was improving with each misstep, inevitably learning from my mistakes. This delusion was so deep-seated that when my wife and I moved into our first house, I was excited to finally have a yard to garden in. I honestly believed that freed from the constraints of the indoors, my green thumb would flourish. And so my reign of terror shifted outdoors. The first spring we were in our house, I rang up a staggering bill at the local garden centre: ornamental shrubs, ground cover, hanging baskets, heirloom tomato plants, seed potatoes imported from Belgium. The bounty barely fit in the back of my Volkswagen Golf— though by the end of the summer the dead and dying plants took up surprisingly little space in my composter. Year in and year out, this financially ruinous regimen would repeat itself, me spending money on plants only to have them ripped to shreds by hail or slowly wither away in soil whose pH I could never quite balance. As I entered my 30s, my inability to keep a plant alive gnawed at me, especially when my wife became

pregnant. I had the feeling that having failed my driver’s test, I was being given the keys to an 18-wheeler. If I couldn’t keep a plant’s leaves from yellowing, what would I do when faced with a jaundiced child? I was terrified. I went to the library and borrowed a stack of books that promised to lay out the rules for raising a child. And then my daughter was born. It turned out that while the books gave me a good starting point, parenting was less about passively following rules and more about constant observation and insight. My daughter changed so quickly in those first six months that my wife and I devoted ourselves to actively understanding what she needed at the moment. Flexibility and adaptability were the only rules that made sense for us. And for the past seven years, that hasn’t changed. Slowly this approach snuck into my plant care too. I started to think about creating environments that would meet my plants’ needs, giving them the right balance of light, water and nutrients. I did more of what worked and less of what didn’t. I purchased plants that were hardy and well-suited to our climate. I eased off a bit, letting my plants enjoy what could charitably be called “benevolent neglect.” Eventually, our family outgrew our starter home. After months of searching for the right place to take root, we moved into a 1960s bungalow with plenty of room inside and out for growing plants. On the day of the move, we found a note from the kindly octogenarian who had lived in the house for over five decades. In his spidery hand, he had drawn a diagram of the garden beds surrounding the house, along with details on how to best care for each plant. It was a beautiful gesture from someone who knew a thing or two about thriving in this house. So instead of heading directly to the garden centre, I’ve spent the last few years paying attention to what he said. Each year, I make some small additions of my own, evolving the garden rather than transforming it. Inside, we’ve observed where the light is best and what kind of plants can thrive in our space. The succulents and spider plants are gone, replaced with Instagram-worthy monsteras, calatheas, ZZ plants and an unkillable Christmas cactus that somehow survived the carnage for almost 20 years. It’s in bloom right now. Nowadays, I go easier on myself when things don’t work out. In short, I’ve become the kind of gardener that 20-year-old me always wanted to be. I think with some things, that’s just the way it is. Experience, patience and time work together to shape us in ways we could have never expected. It just took some growing pains for me to get there.

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S T U D I O

Want to be featured? Submit your studio story! uppercasemagazine. com/participate

Mon Petit Atelier Kathryn Hilton L O S A LT O S , C A L I F O R N I A , U S A

The last year has been crazy for everybody. My craziness increased exponentially when I decided to take on the role of caregiver for my elderly mom. After a year of driving back and forth, I packed up and moved home to help take care of her. Moving meant downsizing from a house with two dogs in San Diego to a 400-square-foot pool house in the back of my childhood home in the Bay Area. My former life is now boxed up in a storage unit and the rest edited down to essentials. My new pool house life feels like a liminal space between my old life and a not-yet-defined next life or place. While this in-betweenness can be uncomfortable, especially for someone who thrives on having a bit of control, I have managed to put together a studio space for creating art. I’m calling it Mon Petit Atelier, invoking the spirit of beautiful studios I’ve visited abroad. In reality, my small studio is simply an area tucked into the side of our garage. While it’s not my glamorous dream atelier, it has decent light, a window that opens and enough elbow room for me to spread out a bit with no worries about splashing paint around. Since my move and studio space are not forever, I’m reusing and repurposing as much as possible. My main workspace is a large aluminum folding table from the 1970s that we used to drag out for backyard potlucks. There is plenty of room to see all my assorted brushes, pens and coloured pencils displayed in a collection of Murano glass (leftover from Lafco candles) and colourful ceramic vases (from a favourite Santa Barbara potter). A stack of reference books and magazines (UPPERCASE!) are at arm’s length when inspiration calls, as is a basket holding my plein air painting kit necessities. Mon Petit Atelier works for me. Someday I will have my dream studio with huge windows overlooking the ocean. But for now, this space helps me tap into my creativity and adapt to new situations, and have a place to work while still helping my family. kathrynhilton.com

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B O O K

lowers and plants have long been a muse of artists and craftspeople. Personally, I can trace my career in graphic design and publishing to a childhood interest in botany and horticulture. I used to cut out photographs of flowers and vegetables from the seed catalogues that arrived in the mail and paste them in new layouts of my own making in tiny notebooks. And although I had my own little garden plot and earned a few ribbons at the local children’s gardening competition, I realized that my true love wasn’t for the hard, dirty work involved in growing vegetables (although it is satisfying to get earthy now and again)—it was an appreciation for the beauty of the plants themselves. Sketching flowers

from life and collaging pictures of plants in a scrapbook was what I enjoyed most. In a simple and organic way, led by a genuine curiosity, I had discovered illustration and design. And for the many creative and enterprising people profiled within the pages of the UPPERCASE Encyclopedia of Inspiration Volume B: Botanica, an infatuation with florals informed their art, careers and businesses. I’ve also included some historical sources and botanical ephemera, illustrating that we have an evergreen fascination with all things floral. Arranged alphabetically by eclectic topics, Botanica collects a veritable mixed bouquet of art, illustration and stories of botanically inclined lifestyles. Perhaps they will help sow the seeds for your own creativity! J A N I N E VA N G O O L , P U B L I S H E R A N D D E S I G N E R

encyclopediaofinspiration.com

C I R C L E

looking forward Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter for behind-the-scenes updates and the latest on open calls for submission. UPPERCASE Encyclopedia of Inspiration Volume A: Art Supplies

Circle

Volume A: Art Supplies will be released in June 2022! Get on my newsletter list for the latest announcements and place your preorder now. Volume E: Ephemera Volume P: Print/Maker These volumes have been out of print for a while. Go to the UPPERCASE website and register your interest for reprints!

Make connections, nurture your creative spirit and grow your business!

UPPERCASE magazine #54 July-August-September 2022 #55 October-November-December 2022 #56 January-February-March 2023 #57 April-May-June 2023 Pitch your article ideas and theme suggestions anytime by emailing submissions@uppercasemagazine.com. uppercasemagazine.com

If you missed out on the first print run of Ephemera, register your insterest on our website. 128

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The UPPERCASE Circle is a vibrant community hub, one that is a valuable source of motivation, inspiration and encouragement for like-minded and kind-hearted creative people from around the world. Although the community is initially brought together by its support for and appreciation of UPPERCASE magazine, the Circle will enhance your experience of all things UPPERCASE while providing additional value to your creative life through conversation and the sharing of knowledge. •

Connect with members of the UPPERCASE community— both near and far—who share your interests.

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Share your work with your peers, mentors and potential customers.

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Access to this community is FREE when you subscribe to UPPERCASE magazine! uppercasecircle.com

S H A R E S

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129

C O V E T

the butterfly effect

STO RY A N D P H OTO BY

a n dre a j en ki ns

s we barrelled down the highway, I checked the butterfly habitat in the back seat. Nestled between two suitcases and a small cooler, the chrysalis hung inside, silent and resolute. Was a chrysalis even capable of surviving a road trip? We would soon find out. Two weeks earlier, I’d discovered a swarm of caterpillars on the parsley plant. Lucid white things, brilliant in colour—charcoal black, shocking yellow stripes. I was smitten. A quick Internet search revealed that given the proper conditions, they might soon become black swallowtail butterflies. In non-pandemic times, this would have been the end of it. But this year, it felt like the world might end. And somehow, I had lived an entire life never having witnessed a metamorphosis like this firsthand. Now, here was my chance. Given the current state of things, I could not think of a more hopeful pursuit. I contacted a friend who had experience raising monarch butterflies and after a flurry of texts, got to work. A shelter was built from an old tomato plant cage and a gauzy curtain panel hastily snatched from the bedroom window to protect my new best friends from predators. To keep up with their notoriously ravenous appetites, I spent afternoons scouring garden shops for parsley and then evenings scooping caterpillar poop from the floor of their shelter. Each morning, the caterpillars were the first thing I checked. Before coffee, even. (I had, maybe, become consumed.) So I was not prepared when, one by one, they started to die. My monarch-whisperer friend assured me this was mostly normal, but I was faced with a harsh truth: they might all die. I wasn’t sure my heart could take it.

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Nine caterpillars gradually dwindled to two. When the first chrysalis finally formed, followed closely by the second, I was reckless with hope. As I waited, it occurred to me that maybe I had invested too much in this, had given the whole thing too much weight. The truth is that transformation is tricky business. A dark universe of unknowns. The world would still be the world, whether they lived or died. But on the morning I discovered the first butterfly, I bounced around the house with an exuberance normally reserved for the birth of tiny humans. And when the time came, I opened the flaps and cheered as she flew and flickered up and over the roof of the house. The next morning, we planned to leave for an anniversary trip to the Georgia coast and I hoped I would find the second and final transformation complete. But no such luck! And that’s how we found ourselves on a road trip with a butterfly habitat in the back seat. It was not until sunrise the morning after we arrived at the coast that I found him, quiet and fluttering in the habitat, which I had set just outside the camper where we slept—his wings, spotted pale yellow, bits of brilliant cobalt blue along the edges, opening and closing, opening and closing. This time, I did not bounce around. Instead, I sat down on the patch of grass next to him and watched through the mesh as he stretched his sweet, floppy new wings. I took a deep breath, lifted the flaps. The world was still the world. Fully hopeful and hopeless, sometimes both at once. Up he flew, through the opening and into the branches of a sprawling old live oak tree. Into the ether. In a moment, he was gone. @hulaseventy

F RO NT C OVE R

katharine watson BAC K C OVE R

s h i r l e e f i s h er $ 1 8 CA D/ U S D P R I N T E D I N CA N A DA

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