As a publisher, I am very “time sensitive.” The minute the files for this issue are sent to the printer, the clock starts ticking for the next issue! With 16 years’ worth of quarterly issues stacked on my shelf, it is safe to say that I thrive with this predictable framework. Although the schedule might be the same year after year, the intellectual and creative challenge of curating a new issue multiple times a year keeps me motivated. Likewise, as a graphic designer, a good grid has been the foundation for every page of this magazine since it began. Upon it, I’ve laid out hundreds of pages and developed my skills. Each issue is the same, yet different. New fonts, returning favourites, trying new things and quoting the past. It is all part of transformation and transitions over time, which are indeed the themes we explore in this edition.
When I was little, I pretended to be a publisher by making tiny books and magazines that I would write and illustrate. In a cardboard carrying case covered in wrapping paper, I would bring my publications to family gatherings and get my relatives to sign them out of my “library.”
Some books were stories, but many were non-fiction titles about hands-on making: In Let’s Sew! I show the steps in making a flat, turtle-inspired chair cushion. In Things to Make, I showed how to make a little stapled book. (Very meta!) I also made a tiny booklet about crafts that came out every few months— suspiciously very much like a magazine!
With this quarterly magazine and my UPPERCASE Encyclopedia of Inspiration book series, I am living my childhood dream!
Thank you for being part of the family.
Janine Vangool PUBLISHER, EDITOR, DESIGNER
Receive my weekly musings delivered to your inbox! uppercasemagazine.com/free
16 LIBRARY
Recommended Reading
18 BUSINESS Growing My Business
19 STOCKISTS
Medium Effort Red Hen Books
20 NOTED
Planning for Wonder: Creating Space to Plan for Your Dreams
STORY BY CRYSTAL PERZYLO–REYNOLDS
22 ECO
Regenerative Architecture: Building Tomorrow’s Sustainable Cities on Nature’s Timeless Principles
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARNIE HAWSON
WORTHWHILE You Are Accepted
DIVERSITY POSTER BY CLAWHAMMER PRESS
BEGINNINGS Discovering Lumens Vanessa Powell
CREATIVE CAREERS
Deborah LeFrank, Landscape Architect
Kimberly Davis, Laser Artist
COLLECTION
& Design
OPPOSITE PAGE
Between Times
Paula Ogier
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA
The passing of time, moments in time, layers of time and spaces between times are common themes in my collaged artworks on wood. I think of moon phases and the eclipse seasons as time markers. Whether viewing time as small increments of the day, as month-by-month passages or as eras upon eras, I explore ways to creatively illustrate time. Using colour to express my associated emotion, I use papers that I have either handpainted or hand-printed (using a gel plate and acrylic paint). Piecing the images together is a slow and sometimes tedious process, but I find it increasingly satisfying as I watch each piece of paper get glued down and see the design taking shape. paulaogierart.com
@paula_ogier_artist
ANISA MAKHOUL
SARAH EHRLICH
UPPERCASE
1052 Memorial Dr NW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 3E2
Interior pages are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled Rolland Enviro 100.
Sustainability Initiatives
Through the Wren Trailblazer fund, UPPERCASE removes two tons of carbon each month with an additional two tons of carbon offset monthly. Please join fellow readers in the Wren Impact forest.
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.
SUBSCRIBE
This independent magazine thrives because of you— its loyal subscribers!
uppercasemagazine.com
SUBSCRIPTIONS
This quarterly magazine is released in January, April, July and October.
$96
$80
INTERNATIONAL
CAD $144
Our shop will do the currency conversion for you.
RENEWALS
You will receive a notice by email when it is time to renew. Renew online anytime to add issues to your current subscription.
GIFTS
Simply enter the recipient’s name and address in the shipping information and your name, email and billing address during checkout.
STOCKISTS
To view our list of stockists or to carry UPPERCASE in your shop:
uppercasemagazine.com/ stockists
Thank you to all of the talented writers, illustrators, creative collaborators and loyal readers who contributed their talents to this issue of UPPERCASE.
QUESTIONS?
Have a question about your subscription or a change of address? Email us: shop@uppercasemagazine.com
NEWSLETTER
Sign up for the UPPERCASE newsletter to receive free content and behind-the-scenes peeks at the making of the magazine— plus a welcome discount on your subscription!
uppercasemagazine.com/free
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!
SUBMISSIONS
UPPERCASE welcomes everyone and all identities, ages, talents and abilities. We share an inclusive, positive and community-minded point of view. Everyone is welcome to explore our creative challenges and submit to the magazine. Pitch your own work, propose an article or suggest a topic through the Open Pitch submisison form. Be familiar with the magazine and its writing and visual style. uppercasemagazine.com/participate
Magazine issues are not reprinted— get our back issues while you can!
SNIPPETS
FOUNDATIONS OF EXPRESSION AND UNDERSTANDING
TRUTHS
CITIZEN PRINTER
AMOS PAUL KENNEDY JR.
For decades, printmaker Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. has been printing handbills and posters dealing with race, capitalism, politics and culture, amplifying messages of social injustice and celebrating the Black experience. This monograph published by Letterform Archive features more than 800 reproductions plus a look inside Kennedy’s print studio. letterformarchive.org @kennedyprints
FOUNDATIONS
Brick Index
“A brick is a brick is a brick, isn’t it?” Celebrating the humble object that is the literal building block for society, Brick Index beautifully documents British bricks at actual size, highlighting the variety in their colour, texture and stamped makers’ marks. Designed by Patrick Fry, photographed by Inge Clemente and published by CentreCentre: “Our books strive to have the invisible seen and the forgotten found. We believe in taking inspiration from the mundane and the overlooked.”
REVELATIONS
patrickfry.co.uk centrecentre.co.uk
One Week in January
Carson Ellis revisits an old diary from a single week in 2001 and creates paintings of her past that are evocative portraits of the confusion and indecision of early adulthood.
chroniclebooks.com carsonellis.com
THE EPHEMERAL TAROT
Captivated by their mystery and meanings, Lesley Patterson-Marx’s interest in tarot cards began in her early teens. She promised herself that one day she would create her own deck. Some decades later, at age 50, she has realized this dream. The Ephemeral Tarot is a self-published deck with entirely collaged artwork; a process that allowed for “chance, synchronicity, and intuition” to infuse the deck.
“I am always amazed when the characters of The Tarot emerge, as if by magic, from my collection of paper ephemera.” The 78 cards and companion guidebook took nearly four years and an estimated several thousand hours to create.
lesleypattersonmarx.com
@theephemeraltarot
a good idea
CREATED WITH HUMAN INTELLIGENCE
In June 2024, Beth Spencer, founder of the Introvert Drawing Club, drew a badge labelled “Created with Human Intelligence.” Posting it to Instagram, she invited others to create a badge in their own style—all tools being welcome, except anything using artificial intelligence and generative art. “The badge is not anti-tech. It’s pro-human,” Beth explained. The point was for artists to make a statement about the value—and diversity—of human intelligence, thoughtfulness and creativity.
She also offered her badge as a gift to anyone who promised not to use AI in their work. “Little did I know, the real gift would be seeing over 1,000 artists around the world create, share and support each other. After calling on artists to make their versions of the badge, I was rewarded with profound expressions of creativity, unity and
encouragement. It’s been mind-blowing!”
The project and its hashtag #Hibadge2024 remains popular.
“In 2025, I’d love to spread awareness by encouraging companies to pledge against using AI in their operations, and instead support creative work made by humans,” says Beth.
Social media remains an integral part of sharing this movement. “I’d like artists to use the experience of change to connect and support each other through creating together.”
Search #Hibadge2024 on Instagram to view everyone’s badges— and to share your own pledge to create your artwork only with human intelligence.
Whether you’re a fresh graduate or mature artist, it is often a dream to be published for the first time! You are welcome to submit your art for consideration. uppercasemagazine. com/participate
fresh
Noopur Choksi
PEORIA, ILLINOIS, USA
I am a visual designer and illustrator from India, and I am currently based in the United States. I studied graphic design at the National Institute of Design (NID) and hold an MFA in illustration practice from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). My work is a reflection of my experimentation with typography, narratives and image-making. I use visualization to externalize the often intangible, energetic and emotional environments of my subjects. I’m drawn to stories that depict a surreal and intimate representation of human nature, and I find inspiration in music, science, drag, fashion and narratives of feminine power.
I strive to create visuals that challenge perception, push boundaries and aren’t afraid to be strong, unapologetic and layered in their interpretations. Through my work, I explore the grey areas of societal expectations, adding vibrancy and warmth within both digital and non-digital media. My illustrative practice is focused on developing a multimodal approach to visual communication, with an emphasis on self-awareness and the idea that “looking” is not always the same as “seeing.”
noopurchoksi.com @cookshop_ruin
I’ve been working as a self-taught artist for over a decade. Much of that time has been spent in trial and error, figuring out what works and successfully pivoting when it doesn’t anymore. Working for myself has taught me to be resilient, but it has also sharpened my inner critic, who wastes little time in silencing my intuition—and intuition is the heart of creativity.
A few years ago, I finally hit a wall; I now recognize the place I was in as creative burnout. No matter what projects I took on, or how hard I worked, creating art no longer felt good. I didn’t feel like an artist; I felt like a machine. I was tired, and I felt resentful towards the artist in me—the person who always wanted to create, even when nobody cared to look or listen. Why couldn’t she let me be?
I took some time to re-evaluate my creative practice. I needed to quiet down, to reach deep inside myself and discover what I wanted my creative practice to look and feel like. And, I needed to clarify the principles that would support it when I felt discouraged, lost my way or simply needed a tiny nudge forward. I needed to find my true north.
What’s Your True North?
I began working as an artist as a single 20-something living in Brooklyn; now, I’m a 30-something married mother of two living in the Midwest. My life looks and feels drastically different than it used to—my mind and body have changed, and my priorities have too. One necessary fact remains: I write and draw to understand and process my own existence, to connect and build bridges and to be in community with others. Being an artist has nothing to do with how I make a living, and everything to do with who I am and how I perceive the world. Much of the burnout I experienced wasn’t because I was an artist, it was because I had lost sight of why I wanted to make art. Most of the work I made was externally driven, for either financial or ego-driven (likes, accolades, prestige) needs, and my business had slowly boxed out the most essential element it needed: the artist. Me.
Your true north is the philosophy that guides the work you make. If you are honest and thoughtful about what truly matters to you, your true north can help you create a fulfilling creative practice that makes sense, regardless of what chapter of life you find yourself in. When your true north is aligned with your personal values—rooted in the same core beliefs that you live your life by—it will act as a barometer of significance, and any respective project that aligns with your true north will always be worth the time and energy your mind, heart and body give it.
Clarifying the why behind the work you make, and the work you wish to one day make, is necessary for maintaining creative longevity on a small and large scale. Artists who pursue their craft for internally seeded reasons, such as a sense of personal satisfaction or because it aligns with a personal value, will persist in circumstances where those who are achieving goals for external reasons will not. They will be able to endure disappointment and discouraging circumstances because there is meaning behind their pursuit. Their creative practice is steady, unwavering and often leaves them with little choice: It is something they must do because it reflects the person they wish to be and the person they believe they are.
Finding Your True North
The goal of this exercise is to outline the philosophy that will steer your creative practice. In a blank notebook or journal, list three core values that you wish to live by. These are values that hold meaning for you, that help you regain perspective when you feel lost and that provide you with a sense of purpose and personal fulfillment.
Below your values, answer the following questions: What do you make? Who is it for? Why is it important?
What is your purpose? What do you hope your work does for others? What does it do for you?
Search for themes that tie together your core values and the answers you wrote down in your notebook. What unifying themes stand out to you?
Using these themes, formulate the philosophy that will guide your creative practice. This should be a concise statement that reflects a core truth or value you believe in, the purpose of the work you make and a format or method for creating that work:
Core truth + Purpose + Method = True North
Prior to beginning a new project, ask yourself if it is guided by your north star. If you’re in the middle of a project and feeling discouraged, refer to your philosophy to regain perspective and replenish your fortitude. If the work you’re making is meaningful to you, you’ll find the courage to keep going.
Once I clarified my true north, I was able to decide what I wanted my life as a working artist to look like. If I’m lucky, my life as an artist will be long. I hope there will come a time, again, where my true north doesn’t fully reflect the artist I am or wish to be—because it will mean that I am stretching myself in directions I hadn’t imagined before. I know, though, that when my creative practice starts to agitate, I can listen to myself—and I will find my true north again.
REIMAGINING YOUR CREATIVE PRACTICE
Meera Lee Patel is a self-taught artist, writer and internationally recognized bestselling author who writes books that help people connect with themselves, each other and the world around them. Her work advocates for greater mental health awareness in children and the grown-ups who care for them.
meeralee.com @meeraleepatel
Meera Lee Patel
FINE PRINT
transformative texts
ALTER YOUR REALITY
In an age when it is easy to function on autopilot or be swayed by algorithms, it is important to think about our lives more deeply, to question the world around us and our role within it. Dissatisfaction with ourselves, with others or with the state of the world is the human condition. But rather than submerging in discontent, it can be a catalyst for transformation. We can be fully present to the gifts of our limitations.
Self-help books and personal-development courses may seduce us into thinking they offer an easy solution to our problems. Reading more, gathering more resources, consuming more… more results in overwhelm unless we do the hard work of metabolizing what we’re ingesting. Of evaluating what works for us and purging what doesn’t. It’s a balance of intention and intuition. And, most often, transformation takes time.
As Socrates is attributed to saying, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Perhaps the meaning there is that by examining life, we find its worth. By looking at it, examining it and truly feeling it—with all its discomfort, disappointments and grief— we can also access what makes it valuable beyond measure. Fulfillment. Joy. Love.
RECOMMENDED READING BY
JANINE VANGOOL
Doorways to Transformation:
Everyday Wisdom for the Creative Soul
Karen Kinney
“Transitions are no easy feat. They challenge us at the core of our being, requiring us to become a lump of clay for a while—not yet here and not yet there.”
Artist, writer and “practitioner of contemplative spirituality,” Karen Kinney’s Doorways to Transformation is a meditative guidebook. Each short chapter muses on a feeling or state of being: of being in transition, of growing confidence, of taking detours, of resisting urgency and valuing rest, to finding true connection and allowing ease. Reflecting on her personal journey from visual artist to writer, and as an expat living in Mexico, Kinney weaves observations of Mexican culture (particularly in contrast to American hustle) with ideas on how to live a self-aware, creative life. Concluding each chapter with reflective questions, the format brings abstract concepts directly into the reader’s reality. “Take time to stop and recognize your own evolution in the midst of life’s journey,” she counsels. While the advice is not unique, and sometimes the described examples are mundane, this is not a deficit. Solid advice and universal spiritual thinking communicated clearly and with empathy make this a book worth spending time with. Should you take the book to heart, personal growth is indeed possible.
karenkinney.com
Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts
Oliver Burkeman
“An important psychological shift occurs whenever you realise that a struggle you’d been approaching as if it were very difficult is actually completely impossible. […] Once you’re staring reality in the face—you can take action not in the tense hope that your actions might be leading you towards some future utopia of perfect productivity, but simply because they’re worth doing.”
In UPPERCASE issue #52, I wholeheartedly endorsed Oliver Burkeman’s previous book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, calling it a “must-read.” If you are lucky enough to live to be eighty, that would equate to four thousand weeks of life. How to use your time wisely—in what has meaning for you—in those limited weeks was the treatise of the book. Now, 156 weeks later, I am reviewing Burkeman’s Meditations for Mortals, in which he presents a philosophy entirely compatible with our mortality: imperfectionism. It embraces finitude. Our selves, humans in general, circumstances, time and life itself—it’s all imperfect. And often to extraordinary degrees! Burkeman intends that the reader consume his daily essays over the course of four weeks so that they may ruminate on one concept at a time. In his endearing, curmudgeonly style, Burkeman doesn’t expect you to follow all or any of his advice. In fact, he advises against resolving to “make a fresh start.” It’s an impossibility. You are flawed. “Screwing up your willpower and insisting you’re leaving that all behind is unlikely to change much. On the other hand, more fully accepting that
planning for wonder
CREATING SPACE TO PLAN FOR YOUR DREAMS
STORY BY CRYSTAL PERZYLO-REYNOLDS
After five decades, I’m sitting in a transitional sweet spot. I’ve built a home with my husband while raising two beautiful humans and developed a fulfilling career in graphic design.
Looking through the pile of day planners I have filled over the last 40 years, I reflect on how far I have come. Each flip of the page is a highlight reel, a recording of what mattered to me then and a documentation of how much I have changed over time.
I was introduced to my first daytimer in high school. Opening the weekly pages for the first time, I was excited to start filling the next eight months with what mattered to me. Every blank page was an opportunity to craft my life.
Each new spread was a clean slate—an invitation to experience each new day and be empowered to dream of ideas and visions for my future. All I needed to do was start by writing them down. This was what got me hooked on day planners.
As I grew over the years and added new “labels,” such as wife, freelancer and mom, my needs changed, so I’d test out different daily and weekly day planner structures. Each time I opened them, I’d experience a feeling of wonderment at the possibilities the new pages would provide.
Career, marriage, parenting and managing a home—I took it all on with gusto, assuming it’d be easy to juggle all the balls and live up to the message that I can be a “woman who has it all.” I embraced the hustle culture mentality and bought into the idea that my value was tied to productivity.
regenerative architecture
BUILDING TOMORROW’S SUSTAINABLE CITIES ON NATURE’S TIMELESS PRINCIPLES
HAWSON
As a photographer specializing in sustainable architecture, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing a slow revolution through my lens. My camera captures more than just buildings—it frames a vision of the future where our cities breathe with life and structures give more than they take. This is the essence of regenerative architecture, a concept that goes beyond merely reducing harm to actively creating positive impact.
The urgency of change and nature’s blueprint
Our cities stand at a critical crossroads as climate change demands immediate action. Traditional buildings, which voraciously consume resources and account for 40% of global carbon emissions, simply cannot continue on their current path. The transition is already underway, albeit very slowly—shifting from energy-hungry to energy-producing, from waste generators to resource conservers and from isolated structures to integrated ecosystems.
Regenerative design builds upon solid foundations, drawing inspiration from nature’s time-tested principles of efficiency, resilience and adaptability. Consider a forest: it’s a closed-loop system where nothing is wasted and everything serves a purpose. This natural blueprint offers invaluable lessons for our built environment.
Principles and practices of regenerative architecture
Some core principles of regenerative design include biomimicry, energy positivity, water wisdom, circular materials, biophilic design, Passivhaus standards and the Living Building Challenge (LBC). These
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARNIE
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.
Michael Hepher of Clawhammer Press originally designed and printed these posters for the Fernie Pride Festival a few years ago. “They have been popular enough that we have reprinted them several times since, but the time has come to send them out into the world,” he says. “Everyone is allowed to download and print and display them proudly in your home, workspace, retail shop or community bulletin board.”
“Clawhammer Press believes firmly in the dignity of all people,” explains Michael. “Even though we are a small letterpress shop working in a small town, we strive to ensure that everyone, regardless of their ability, age, cultural background, ethnicity, faith, gender, gender expression, gender identity, ideology, income, national origin, race or sexual orientation has the opportunity to be accepted, loved and to reach their full potential with dignity in our community and beyond.”
This poster sent UPPERCASE’s message of support at a recent rally in Calgary for the protection of LGBTQIA2S+ rights in Alberta.
clawhammer.ca/diversity transactionalberta.ca
Discovering Lumens
Vanessa Powell WASILLA, ALASKA, USA
Describe your creative endeavour, project or career.
My creative endeavour was to teach myself alternative processes of photography. I have long been interested in the photograph as a time capsule. Centuries-old techniques achieve such hauntingly beautiful images, and I have always gravitated toward them.
What was the original spark of inspiration, circumstance or other impetus that led you to start this project?
In the early stages of the pandemic, I found myself with more free artistic exploration time than I’d ever had; hours and hours, and days and days of it. So, I selected an alternative process technique to learn. I selected a cameraless photography technique called lumen photography, and started teaching myself. I wasn’t able to find much about the process for making lumens online, so it was a lot of trial and error, and eventually success.
Where and when are you in this creative project?
I have completed and finalized a body of work titled Lux Botanica. There are 41 images in the series, spanning from my first attempts with lumen photography to my last. These images truly span years of my life, and each one is very close to my heart as each recalls places, feelings and mental images of the days they were created.
What advice do you have for other beginners?
My advice is to take a chance. Tap into something you’ve always been interested in and take a leap. Rarely does trying result in complete and final failure. You’ll be surprised what you’re capable of.
vanessapowell.photo @vanessa_powell
landscape architect
Deborah LeFrank VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Creating outdoor spaces for people to connect with nature is a huge inspiration for me. I am very grateful this seed was planted early in my childhood with a family who loved being in the great outdoors.
When outside, people are taken from their routines and into a place that is more unpredictable, a place where nature is creating magic—if you take time to stop and look. I know I feel fully alive with the breath of fresh air on my cheek.
My career journey started after high school in a three-year landscape design program at a community college. I worked for large and small landscape architecture firms, ultimately opening my own design studio when I was 26. I challenged the professional licensing board a few years later, wrote a bunch of tough exams and became a registered landscape architect in British Columbia and Canada. Not having travelled the typical university route to accreditation, I was delighted to call myself a landscape architect.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best careers anyone could have. Landscape architecture is an intersection of science, math, ecology, horticulture, human psychology, planning, land management AND artful design. You spend time working inside at the drawing board and computer. You head out to project sites, traipsing around with the project team— inspecting and project managing on behalf of your client.
I have worked on a diversity of projects from modest to lavish residential gardens, safe-routesto-school plans to naturescape play gardens, provincial parks to urban plazas, ski resorts to multiresidential housing and to my most rewarding work: accessible landscapes and therapeutic gardens for health-care facilities.
When I am designing, three key factors are always front of mind: motivation, safety and comfort. Motivation shows up in a variety of ways. A view of a beautiful garden bench from an inside window can inspire you to go outside or remind you of a warm summer day. In a health-care facility, making the garden easy to access with an automatic-dooropening floor mat inspires people to move outside.
Safety is critical. People need predictability with respect to landscape elements such as stair heights, smooth low-glare paved surfaces, minimum slopes on pathways and secure retainingwall edges. When we feel safe, our desire to explore and to play is enhanced and encouraged.
Providing comfort is the ultimate goal. When we are comfortable, we settle in and spend more time outdoors. Our minds and bodies are grateful for this healthy natural prescription. Seeing people sitting together, enjoying the outdoors while sharing conversation and food, makes my heart swell with joy.
It was five years ago, after 30+ years in private practice, that I retired from landscape architecture, something I never thought I would do. But I found another passion: working as a memory collector and graphic journalist. I started a new business called Visual Life Stories. One of my current projects is creating a legacy book about my landscape architectural career journey called Down the Garden Path.
As climate change becomes real, the role of the landscape architect takes on greater significance in our communities. Many mitigating climate actions relate to how humans use and respect land and water.
It is a dynamic and crucial time for this profession. Be part of the solution. Find a landscape architectural program at a university near you. Nurture your analytical and creative brain.
lefrank.ca
@visuallifestories
laser artist
in about 30 minutes. I run a laser-engraving business, where what sets my work apart is that I personally design and draw everything I create. From handdrawn sketches to digital designs, I develop both the tech files and the art files that turn these concepts into tangible products using a laser. While I occasionally explore other tools and media, the majority of my creations are made using the laser. My journey with this technology began at my local library’s maker space, where I could experiment without any initial investment. Once I purchased my own laser, I taught myself how to cut and hand-dye
ink
COLLECTION OF MARK E. SACKETT
ARTICLE BY MELANIE ROLLER
Another article published by Scientific American in 1871 (“How Printing Ink Is Made”) describes a visit to the inkworks of George H. Morrill. The author, after advising future lady visitors “not to wear their white pique dresses” and gentlemen “to put off their white linen suits before passing the inky portals of the establishment,” goes on to explain Morrill’s daily ink output as around 2,000 pounds unless “works are run at nights, as frequently happens, [then] this is increased to 3,000 pounds” (389). Knowing what we know now about factories during the Industrial Revolution, we are left only to imagine the precarious working conditions employees endured while producing their inky concoctions both night and day.
In this time of massive ink output and distribution, printed art and business supply catalogues became an important form of advertising for distributors. Catalogues boasted a staggering variety of brands and products between their carefully printed blackand-white pages, but the colour illustrations are what caused the advertising to truly shine. The coloured pages of these publications truly dazzled, portraying images of intricately designed labels printed in deep vibrant hues atop glass bottles of all shapes and sizes, becoming a visual testament to the quality of the ink itself. Predictably, an enormous boom in printing and writing ink necessitated a similar boom in ink accessories. Examples of the numerous objects sold in these catalogues include ink vents, ink pads, ink erasers, blotters, stands, wells, holders, nibs and steel pens, eventually expanding to include fountain and ballpoint.
ART & DESIGN
STORY BY JOY VANIDES DENEEN
Any day that I can open a bottle of ink is a good day. It gets even better if I can create art, make a mark-making tool or teach what I know to someone.
Carol DuBosch LIFELONG LETTERING
Carol DuBosch opened her first jar of Higgins Eternal ink in 1959. She was a freshman in high school in Portland, Oregon, and her art teacher Elinor Olson was a student of professor and seminal calligrapher Lloyd Reynolds. After her night calligraphy classes, Mrs. Olson would share what she learned with her art students. Carol, who had always loved poetry and literature, was enthralled by the idea that she could write meaningful words using art materials. “It was words and art together,” she says. She first learned the Italic hand from Mrs. Olson and Reynolds’s Italic Lettering and Handwriting Exercise Book . One day, Carol took the book up to her teacher. “Mrs. Olson, why do you suppose that Dr. Reynolds wrote this particular address on this page, teaching us numbers?” Mrs. Olson took a look at the page and said “Carol, I think that’s where he lives.” That very day, Carol got off the bus stop and turned left instead of right. “I was going to faint,” she remembers. “I was standing in front of Lloyd Reynolds’s house, and I lived a block away from him.” She didn’t knock; she simply stood in front of the house in awe. She remembers feeling that the moment was a signpost for her life.
Three years later, while studying art and graphic design at Portland State University, Carol took Reynolds’s night class at the Portland Art Museum. “On about the third class, I got up my courage and I walked up and said, ‘Dr. Reynolds, I live a block away from you and I would be happy to drive you to class if you like.’” “Oh, nonsense. I’ll pick you up next week,” he replied. The two became friends and Carol went on to take his night and summer classes for two years. Carol loved that Reynolds tied calligraphy to art, delving into history and paleography (the study of ancient writing systems). She is also grateful for her art and design background, which served as fundamental building blocks. While Carol studied colour theory, drawing, painting and sculpture, she was always thinking about calligraphy. “I always knew it was going to be letters.”
In 1976, Carol joined Portland Society for Calligraphy (North America’s oldest calligraphy guild), founded by Reynolds. She recalls attending the member
exhibitions in the seventies, full of the “buzz of understanding that we were living through a historic moment, a true revival in the arts and crafts tradition.” She attended her first calligraphy conference in 1986 and has gone on to attend over 25 conferences (three of which she directed in Portland). “The international conferences bring calligraphers together and open doors to new information, ideas, techniques, styles, trends and materials,” she shares. “It is wonderful to spend a week with fellow calligraphers who fully understand the nerdy things we all get excited about.”
As a teacher, Carol always wants to ensure that her students are making things and not just doing endless sheets of practice exercises (or, what she calls “calligraphy for the recycle bin”). “Enough practice,” she says. “Let’s make something real!” She tells her students at the beginning of each class that there will be a project and helps walk them through the process, getting them past the fear of the blank sheet of fine paper.
made it simpler.” She kept her materials in a basket in her studio, so she just had to pull everything out and work within her pre-set guidelines. She used a wide variety of tools to create her different As, which were often influenced by her mood or letterforms that she saw while out and about. She shares that each A has a story and distinct personality: “shy, afraid to come into the room” or “sassy and strong like ‘whoa, I can knock you over!’” One was even inspired by Charlie Brown. At the conclusion of the 100 days, she gathered everything together, from her initial brainstorming and sketches, and created an accordion book of all 100 As. Paging through her book, she stops and points to one whimsical invented A. “Then, of course, the challenge would be to take one A and then find the 25 others and do an alphabet. But I haven’t done that yet.”
And through all of her projects, challenges, classes and conferences, Carol has a steadfast creative community. She is the founder of Scribbled Lives, an online art group that is currently 60 members strong. Each week, they make calligraphic artwork in response to a prompt. These prompts are created by group members, who all have different backgrounds and levels of experience with calligraphy and everyone shares their work each week. It is both a beautiful community and a way to stay fresh.
Carol reflects that she doesn’t know what life would look like without the group, because it’s been a constant for nearly a decade now. “I think I’d be a little stale from time to time,” she muses. She notes that when one stops a creative practice, it’s often hard to get started again, and she doesn’t want to get to that place. “I am making art every week,” she says. “No matter what else is going on in my life, there’s going to be Scribbled Lives. It’s going to make me think, ponder and make sketches. It keeps the wheels oiled.”
caroldubosch.com @caroldubosch
Time & Transitions
Arrival Fallacy
The mistaken belief that reaching a goal brings lasting happiness.
COMPILED
BY
LYDIE RASCHKA
Black Hole
An area in space with gravity so strong it pulls in everything around it, even light.
Evolution
How we adapt and transform over time.
Fibonacci Sequence
Blooming flowers to swirling galaxies follow its spiral pattern.
Chrysalis
The pupal stage of butterflies poised to transform.
Daily Routine
Predictable schedule that helps us move smoothly through our day.
Generation
One generation plants trees, the next enjoys the shade.
Interstitial
Existing in the gaps.
Historical Timeline
A graphic depiction of how eras, movements, styles and people precede, overlap or follow one another in the march of time.
Julian Calendar
Julius Caesar started a 365day calendar in 45 BCE, with a leap year every four years.
CHINESE PROVERB
Uncertainty Principle
With tiny particles, we can’t know exactly where they are and how fast they’re moving at the same time.
Vanitas Paintings
A genre that makes us aware of time passing, often including skulls, clocks or hourglasses.
Xenotext
Art that mixes writing and science by encoding words into DNA, creating a message that can last thousands of years.
The day that came before today.
Katie Paterson (born 1981)
Sent Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” to the moon and back as she explored the relationship between time and space. Legacy What we leave behind.
On Kawara
A Japanese artist (1932–2014) known for his Today series, where each painting marks the date it was created, documenting time.
Relativity
How time and space change based on your movement.
Seasons
Phenology
The study of seasonal changes in nature like the migration of birds.
Nature’s way of showing the changes in weather and time.
The Clock
Christian Marclay’s 24-hour film collage (2010) containing footage of every minute of the day.
Wristwatch
A personal timekeeper.
Literally means “pull unrest,” referring to the urge to move or migrate.
Memory
Fragments of the past that we carry into the future. Now
The only moment we truly have.
Quarterly
Three months of a year. [ALT: also, a magazine like UPPERCASE that publishes four times a year.]
Zugunruhe
Morning Pages
Jessica Loughrey
CROFTON, MARYLAND, USA
The concept of morning pages has been around for a while; however, doing them has never appealed to me, at least not written morning pages. Then I saw Emily Hildebrand’s morning pages. Hers were filled with colour and collage. These felt like morning pages that I could do. My morning pages have become a way to play with colour and collage and fulfill my need to be creative amidst the busyness of daily life. My only rule is that they must be done within the first hour or two of waking up. I do something no matter how much or little time I have available, and I consider the pages to be finished at the end of that time block. I may revisit the pages to look at them, but I don’t rework or add to them. The choices of medium, colour or collage bit is made in the moment, intuitively. I look forward to the mornings and what pages will come out of me.
@jessica__loughrey
100 Days of Tiny Toys
Nadia Hassan
HIGH POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, USA
In my career as a commercial illustrator, I typically have mere hours to at most a couple of days to spend with any one idea. Perhaps that is why I am drawn to participate in the 100-Day Project year after year. Most recently, I drew one piece from my collection of small toys and objects every day for 100 days. Sticking with a long-term daily commitment pushes the limits of my creativity and endurance, but I’m helped along by a deep love for and trust in the creative process. No matter my chosen theme, every 100-day project is at times boring, exhilarating, tedious, burdensome, surprising, enlightening, endless and, before I know it, already over.
nadiahassan.com
@bynadiahassan
Night Gardens
Nikki Painter
VIRGINIA, USA
Observing nature and drawing intricate patterns are forms of meditation for me. Patterns within my gardens are not decorative: they imply depth and space, and they build a buzzing energy. When I started these works, I felt worried about the time commitment that hand-drawing so many tiny patterns would require, but I found that I loved spending time in my invented spaces. I even recreated them to explore various moods conveyed by different colour palettes. I don’t track time spent on each work, but I would estimate that a 10" x 10" piece takes at least 80 hours to complete.
nikkipainter.com
@nikkipainter_art
Wendy Solganik
“Some people run, some people meditate, some people practise yoga. For me, it’s always going to be watercolour. Even just painting simple shapes requires meticulous concentration. It’s just the right balance of skill and challenge for me to get into flow. I lose track of time and I’m just creating.”
willawanders.com
@willa.wanders
Judy Ormshaw
“When I started the playmat, a gift for my grandson, it was simply a means to an end. In other words, it was work. By the time I finished the base, the project had shifted from work to divine flow. It felt like each step was being given to me to bring forth. Flow seems to imbue the objects that I make in that state with an extraordinary essence.”
@judyjujubeart
René Shoemaker
“It was all captured in a moment of perfection: an inviting chair, the sun streaming through the windows and splashing on the floor. Time stood still as I applied the dyes to the silk, lines landing exactly where they belonged, the colours blossoming—luminous and alive. I created this painting under the conditions of flow, a complete immersion in the world of colour and light.”
reneshoemaker.com
@rene.shoemaker.art
sweet spot is after dinner, sometimes working late into the night, when everyone in her house has gone to bed. For her, it is the best time to eliminate distractions, get work done and have any chance whatsoever of achieving flow. “I put on some chill, mellow music and just ‘settle.’”
Steven Kotler states that, for some, time limits or deadlines actually help create a sense of urgency that can be a valuable external flow trigger. However, consciously trying to chase or force flow has proven detrimental. Anthony D. Kelly, a visual artist, writer and integrative psychotherapist says, “Being stressed is like being thrown a ball with a closed fist.” For him, seeking flow is counterproductive. Instead, he finds it more advantageous to “set-the-stage.” Much of the flow he experiences is the result of a “germination” phase that happens over weeks or months ahead of time. It’s a phenomenon backed by science, but he says the simple act of thinking about an upcoming creative task and letting it percolate in his brain creates space for ideas to bubble to the surface when they’re ready. Kelly says it’s this valuable think time that primes his brain for future work sessions and makes achieving flow much more likely.
The father of flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, wanted nothing more than to help us put more and more of our everyday lives into the “flow channel.” Decades later, we have uncovered its undeniable benefits, identified ways to optimize conditions for flow and learned strategies to reduce flow blockers. We know infinitely more about how to realize Csikszentmihalyi’s important goal, but perhaps the most important step toward achieving flow is to actually make time to practise our craft. Flow will not happen until we, as Cheryl Chudyk said, “hunker down and work.” Anthony D. Kelly, too, recognizes the invaluable act of simple forward motion. “If I just move one piece of paper from one end of my desk to the other, I might see a relationship. Sometimes the momentum can get me going. Flow or no flow, it’s time well spent. It opens the door, and I just start to roll with it.”
Cheryl Chudyk
“For me, ‘getting away’ can be helpful for getting into the flow, as are larger projects with multiple steps. This project, a 20" x 30" silhouette created at a residency in Scotland, encompassed both. I’m a big fan of trying new media and approaches, so delving into scherenschnitte, the German art of paper-cutting, was an exciting first for me. Over the course of several days I created a prototype, sketched it, studied reference images and meticulously cut them all out. Flow is very personal, but for me it’s that wonderful feeling of uninterrupted creative continuity.”
@stitchpixie
RESOURCES
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow. HarperCollins. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2004, February). Flow, the Secret to Happiness [Video]. TED. ted.com.
Doyle, C. L. (2017, August 7). Creative Flow as a Unique Cognitive Process. Frontiers. frontiersin.org.
Gaston, E. et al., (2024). Can Flow Proneness Be Protective against Mental and Cardiovascular Health Problems?
A Genetically Informed Prospective Cohort Study ncbi. nlm.nih.gov.
Kotler, S. (2014). Create a Work Environment That Fosters Flow Harvard Business Review. hbr.org
Kotler, S. (2024). How to Get into Flow State: 8 Tips to Unlock Peak Performance. Flow Research Collective. flowresearchcollective.com
Kim Koehler
“I woke up on a Sunday to a family of snails dripping off my new marigolds like big, jewelled earrings. I suppose I had never slowed down long enough to notice snails eat before. ‘Be the snail,’ I thought. I put on music, made a cup of coffee, and opened my sketchbook. Feeling a sense of calm, my decisions came intuitively, and I finished it the same day. The composition, the colours, the heart of the piece—they just flowed. To tap into this, I know I must do the things that fuel my urge to create: get in nature each morning and show up to my art practice ready to play.”
Kimko-design.com @kim_ko_design
Tamisha imagines having tea with her 10-year-old self
tea… with me!
my creative playground
NINO YUNIARDI
vulnerability in transitions
Often people are interested in taking on a new hobby and learning new creative skills when they are in a transition—when we move to a new city, we might want to make new, creative connections; when we experience a breakup or go through a divorce, we might want to explore new interests; when we have kids for the first time, we might look for new ways to nurture our own self-care through creativity; when we have kids that go off to college, we might explore ways to fill new-found free time; when we experience death of a loved one, we might be motivated to do something that we have always wanted to do as soon as possible. These are just a few examples of challenging transitions most of us experience at some point, all of which tend to leave us feeling a bit more vulnerable than if we were not experiencing the transition. It is hard to “put yourself out there” no matter what the “out there” is, navigating new territory on our own. Our creativity tends to reveal itself best once we find the ways we will be most comfortable exploring it.
Once when I was teaching someone in a private lesson, I asked her why she chose a private lesson rather than a group class since we had classes to cover the exact same project and skills. As a business owner I was simply wondering if the days and times were not good for her. She shared that she was going through a divorce and didn’t want anyone to know she was learning to sew or learning to sew her own clothes. I was surprised by this so I asked her if she might share more. In her career she was expected to dress conservatively, but what she really wanted to do was to dress in bright bold colours in fabrics she chose.
She simply was not ready to reveal her new self, this new identity she was crafting for herself, even in a class setting where nobody would actually know her personally. She said it seemed more “real” if she was growing and changing in a new creative way in front of others. It made her most comfortable to learn in a more private setting until she was ready to reveal this new aspect of her identity she was making for herself.
transformative creativity
Think
Creativity as Curation and Cure
Kara McKeever
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, USA
For many years, I thought I had to focus on one creative medium—writing—to have any hope of “succeeding” at it. But I often felt frustrated with myself, struggling to create beneath the burden of trying to be good. I even dreaded trying to write, so most of the time I didn’t. Meanwhile, I designed and arranged my living spaces over and over, craving colour, composition and contrast. A few years ago I started making collages, and suddenly I was spending hours at it every night. I rediscovered creating for the joy of it—to please myself, to make more of what I want to see in the world. Now making art is a regular part of my life, and I’m still learning new forms.
karamckeever.com @karammck
Emerging as Hannie Art Studio
Anne Prybyla
BURLINGTON, ONTARIO, CANADA
My business card has recently changed from corporate executive to artist and surface pattern designer. I marched my career to a corporate rhythm successfully but not soulfully.
Thanks to the pandemic, watercolours, inks, doodling and pattern design became the beginning of my new purpose, aligning my who and my why. Redefined as a creative, I see and appreciate nature in more detail. I am thirsty for daily learning. I am more artistically and technically skilled. I am expanding my community and networks with supportive, kind, kindred spirits that show me I belong and am good enough. Every day I am a work-in-progress, and my joy is that I am thriving in personal growth and the emerging me. I feel my soul now!
hannieart.com
@hannie_art_studio
The Beauty of What We Each Offer
Carole Meyer-Rieth
RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, USA
I struggled with comparison, especially when I was a younger mother and artist. One night, I had a dream that I presented a jar of honey to another mom whose creativity and productivity I greatly admired. In the dream, she received my gift gladly even though (as in real life) she is also a beekeeper who already has honey of her own. I woke up from this dream very happy, realizing that we each have our own unique and good “honey” to share with others. I made this painting to remember that just as the types of flowers chosen by bees influence the flavour of their honey, we each have a unique self to offer, and this uniqueness comes through in our art. That is beautiful!
Finding Wings
Catherine
Stonehouse
LA SELVA DEL CAMP, TARRAGONA, SPAIN
Art makes me face that part of myself that is too hard on myself. It makes me dissolve resistance, to flow with the process. It opens my senses so that I notice little details, colours and poetic combinations. It helps me be comfortable in being uncomfortable in trying new things and working out creative solutions. And it connects me with other people who love colour and light and nature.
I’m not saying I’ve achieved all these things definitively. It’s not that I was a caterpillar and now I’m a butterfly. Some days I’m a butterfly and everything is bright and flowing; some days I’m a caterpillar, munching on leaves and dreaming of wings; and some days I’m in my cocoon, mysteriously transforming into something unexpected.
@cath_stonehouse
My Creative Journey
Florina Gavrila
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, USA
Before embracing my creativity, I felt disconnected and unfulfilled in my job. I didn’t know what I wanted or who I truly was. Starting my creative journey helped me discover new layers of myself. Art quietly asks me who I am and who I want to become. To overcome challenges like self-doubt and lack of motivation, I turned to selfdevelopment books and created a daily art routine, even if just for five minutes. I began making changes in other areas of my life too. With every piece of art that I create, I feel more connected to myself, and my selfportrait becomes clearer. For me, art is about sharing beauty with the world while finding beauty within.
@florina.gavrila.design
Leaving Marks
Lynda Rush Myers
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, USA
I was 70 before I knew that art and poetry were part of my spiritual practice. Over decades, I taught English and I was a technical writer and editor. I wrote poems on rare occasions. Since 2001, I have pressed toward a daily poetic and artistic practice. I read poetry by emerging and celebrated poets. I study and write in poetic forms; gather fibres, textiles, found paper and heirloom ephemera and compose mixed-media pieces with my handwriting and poetic lines. Initially, I did not value my own work or put a priority on pausing to write or make art. My creative pursuits took last place. Now, I live a creative life. Whether I work in intervals of 15 minutes or fill the hours from dawn to noon, I cherish my practice. I am a maker. I am in my upper seventies. I am grateful for each word I write or mark I make. I hope to leave behind stories of my days in the classroom, books of poems, an illustrated children’s book and mixed-media art! Want to read a poem? I have a few!
“My
Life Is a Collage”
Karen A. Deutsch
STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA, USA
“My life is a collage,” said Eileen Agar (1899–1991).
I’m 76 years old and will be going to a retirement home in one to two years. My husband and I are starting to downsize. Despite that, I have been obsessed with making collages.
Josette Urso, an artist and teacher at Cooper Union, has said that she will choose a shape or colour and then look for something that can have a conversation with it. I love that because it is basically what I’ve been doing for years but never put into words. I tear out pages for their colour, which I choose instinctively. I work quickly, and when I waver I say “Just Do It!” Lately I’ve been
adding figurative shapes to my collages, and having them meld into abstract backgrounds. With a nod to Picasso, I want to maintain in collage not necessarily a childlike quality but an honest expression of what I am feeling at the moment.
Perhaps I’ll finish 100 collages this year and quit. Hopefully someone will pick up the mantle and get as much satisfaction as I have in my lifetime.
@sundaycollage
My Obsession with Shibori
Debbie Maddy
GRAHAM, TEXAS, USA
I was in my sixties when I took a one-day indigo class with simple shibori techniques. I fell in love with the beautiful blue and white of the indigo-dyed fabrics. I became obsessed with learning more about indigo dye. I went to Japan to learn how to make the designs. I bought Japanese shibori books and studied intensely. I sought out other classes in person and online and learned techniques from India, Nigeria and Mali. It became clear to me how the different countries have designs that are very similar to those of other countries. I am proud of what I have accomplished in my later years and I am still learning and designing to make something “my style.” I have written a book and have 11 fabric lines out now. You are never too old to learn and have fun with art.
debbiemaddy.com
Transcendence Through Art
Judy Ormshaw
TRENTON, ONTARIO, CANADA
I devoted myself to art after retirement. I learned to “see” and now my eyes are better at noticing; through noticing, the world is more beautiful. I think about how to represent things I see artistically. The more I do and the better I get, the more confident and the less intimidated by subject matter I become. Artistic confidence translates into personal confidence and I see myself with loving eyes. I now see perfectionism as a liability but in my working days it was important to be accurate. I am nicer to myself, which I hope makes me a nicer person in general. I do art for me, not for “what might sell.” This has come to mean that although I hope that I’m seen as a decent person, I’m no longer troubled if I sense I’m not someone’s cup of tea. I trust myself more and as a result I’m ok with being unconventional. I realize that being mindful of the mundane is expressing myself artistically. I’m satisfied. IT IS GOOD.
@judyjujubeart
Floating with the Stars
Tatiana deFigueiredo Gebert
TUALATIN, OREGON, USA
My father passed away suddenly a week before my birthday last year. It was a profound loss for our family. He was a man who was multilingual, world travelled and absolutely charming… my idol. Before his death he had a stroke, and all of those languages mixed like floating stars in a galaxy. He is now my muse.
nightowlcreation.com
@nightowlcreation
Morning Art Practice
Barbara Burns-Dore NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS, USA
I’ve spent my life creating art. My creations serve my need to be seen, heard and honoured as a unique person. At different phases of my life, art has healed me. It guided me through the death of my parents. It filled my soul when my kids left home for their own journeys. Art has always been there for me.
In retirement, I developed a morning art practice. It has given me clear purpose and direction and has been important in my development as an artist. Through constant artmaking, a style and proficiency has unfolded.My daily practice is about meditation, reflection, self-expression and connection. It is my gospel. It reflects what matters to me.
Neuroscience research suggests that being creative contributes to our brain health, and in my case this feels true. Allowing myself this sacred time has enhanced my well-being and mental health. Make time to make art.
@papergoddess2
Life’s Work A Visual Memoir
B. A. Lampman
VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
I’ve made art all my life, but none of it transformed me the way my project Life’s Work: A Visual Memoir did. I worked for two years on a show that dealt with my late mother’s Lewy body dementia, and my difficult relationship with her. Both artistically and personally, the show was a watershed moment. Artistically I pushed my own boundaries, exploring genres I had no experience with. As for personal transformation, there’s frankly no gauge for the absolution I experienced writing and creating artwork that delved into this painful material and making it public. It was truly life-changing.
balampman.com
@balampman
anisa makhoul
Anisa Makhoul is an artist living in Portland, Oregon. Her specialties include editorial illustration, book illustration, pattern design, home decor and fashion. Her clients include Vogue, Anthropologie, Adobe, TIME Magazine, The Financial Times, Penguin Random House, Hallmark Cards and TeNeues Publishing. She is the author-illustrator of You Are Your Best Friend: Everyday Rituals for Self-Care, published by Chronicle Books.
Please share a bit about your background and how you got your start as an artist.
I’ve always been an artist at heart. Even as a kid, I’d put prices on my crayon drawings and make my parents buy them—it was my first foray into both art and entrepreneurship! I later pursued my passion more formally, studying media arts and printmaking at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD). After college, I began exploring textile design, creating handmade clothing adorned with my own prints. This allowed me to combine my love for both printmaking and fashion, and it became the foundation for the creative career I’ve built today.
Why are creativity and artistic expression important to you?
Authenticity is at the heart of everything I do, and creativity is woven into the very fabric of who I am. When I’m not creating, I feel a deep sense of boredom and sadness—it’s as if something essential is missing. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that creativity isn’t a luxury for me; it’s essential to my well-being. It’s how I process the world and express my most authentic self. It feels like the one thing I’m truly meant to do, and that makes it crucial to my survival.
You describe your style as “a mix of Naive, Contemporary and Pop art.” What particular influences or inspirations are you drawn to?
I’m drawn to the DIY and homemade aspects of graffiti—how, before the internet, you could create your own public show without needing a gallery. That kind of self-expression has always fascinated me. Folk art also plays a huge role in my work because of its accessibility and honesty; it always feels like it comes straight from the heart. I also love the storytelling simplicity of children’s book illustrators from the ’80s, like Tomie dePaola, whose work carries such warmth and charm.
Margaret Kilgallen and Peter Schumann inspire me with their bold, handcrafted approaches, combining naive art with deeper political narratives. My family is from southern Lebanon, along the border with Palestine, and I grew up with beautiful illustrations of Palestinian resistance from artists like Burhan Karkoutly. Those images have left a lasting impression on me, showing how art can be a powerful tool for expression and resilience. Corita Kent is another influence—her use of vibrant colour, text and social justice continues to inspire my creative process.
In the next while, do you foresee any new transitions or transformations in your creative life? What are your hopes for your artwork in the year ahead?
As I approach my 50th birthday next year, I find myself reflecting on new themes in my work, particularly the importance of slowing down and embracing rest. I want to focus more on paintings on canvas, allowing myself the space to explore these themes deeply. I also strive to protect myself from being busy at all costs. My hope for the year ahead is to cultivate a more intentional creative practice, one that prioritizes my well-being and allows my artwork to flow from a place of genuine inspiration rather than obligation.
anisamakhoul.com @anisamakhoul
Bold Strokes Studio
Logan Kelly Langham
VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
I am a self-taught abstract painter with a day job that funds my art practice! Living on the West Coast of Canada with a home studio overlooking the Pacific Ocean is a dream come true. I am inspired daily by the light and colour of the natural environment that surrounds me. Victoria is known for its gardens, and my eyes take in the full colour spectrum while walking through my neighbourhood. I am also inspired by local street art and, of course, our surrounding forests and the ocean. I paint and live my life intuitively, and I love it!
boldstrokesstudio.com
@boldstrokesstudio
Want to be featured?
Submit your studio story!
uppercasemagazine.com/ participate
Liberty Paper
Claudia K. Lee
LIBERTY, TENNESSEE, USA
I’ve been a fibre artist for more than 40 years, beginning as a weaver/spinner/dyer and then discovering papermaking.
Twenty years ago, after spending three years as the fibre resident at the Appalachian Center for Craft, I bought a small farm consisting of a house, barn and a few outbuildings. A few years later I was able to build my studio, Liberty Paper, a working and teaching facility in Liberty, Tennessee. My studio consists of two buildings connected by an outdoor breezeway.
I turned the back of the studio into living quarters for myself and have tenants living in the house.
My latest project will be offering two to three people the opportunity to come to the studio for two months in the summer as work/study assistants. They will help in my studio, learning to use the equipment, making paper, helping with orders and learning how a professional studio works. In exchange they will receive instruction as well as having personal time in the studio.
claudialeepaper.com @libertypapermaking
Whenever I think about a legacy, I know that passing on all that I’ve learned is the best thing I can do to keep this field of hand papermaking growing and thriving.
THIS IS A LOW RES PREVIEW OF A HIGH QUALITY QUARTERLY PRINT MAGAZINE
I’m definitely inspired by materials and the curiosity to see what I can do with them. I’m a ‘Judy of all trades’ because of this, but I do so much that I’ve been finding that materials are crossing over into more unconventional realms, paper at my sewing machine for instance.
JUDY ORMSHAW
Circle
Your
Make connections, nurture your creative spirit and grow your business! community
Inspiration is created by practice and circumstance. I think ‘being inspired’ is a skill that can be learned and refined. Look. Gather. Sort. Mix things up. Compare and contrast. Pay attention to the details. Then, let things percolate and prepare for serendipity.
JANINE VANGOOL
For me, inspiration is a subconscious combination of experiences/images/thoughts into something new. So I try to enrich my life with thoughtprovoking experiences so as to fill the ‘tank’ that my mind uses for that process. It’s fascinating how it works and sometimes, looking back at my work, I can see how unrelated things ended up together in unique ways.
I also feel like the idea of ‘finding inspiration’ is not very accurate. The word ‘find’ implies that it’s something that is already out there and you can look for it. I don’t see it that way. For me, inspiration is an internal sorting and combining process that helps us generate new ideas. Inspiration cannot be found, we can only create an environment filled with interesting ideas for it to feed off of.
ARIADNE KRITONOS
The UPPERCASE Circle is our online home for print subscribers. Connect with kindred spirits—both near and far—who share your interests.
Access to the community is always FREE when you have an active subscription to UPPERCASE magazine!
Look for a reimagined Circle in 2025 that will include paid options to access content from previous UPPERCASE editions, plus more opportunities to enhance your creative business: courses, guest speakers, online events and more.
uppercasecircle.com/landing
I find inspiration in many places, but I have to slow down to take the time to look closely at nature, or take a break and visit a museum exhibit.
FRANCIE GASS
As a fibre artist, it’s looking/seeing the sculptural possibilities in textural yarns and threads that give me inspiration for my next piece!
BARBARA MURAK
Share your work with your peers and potential customers.
Get personal posts from Janine plus links to what’s currently inspiring, interesting and informative.
Video archives of past learning events.
Organize swaps, trades and other group projects.
Monthly Show & Tell get-togethers.
We had the most fab time cutting and sticking paper on my @uppercasemag postcards.
DAWN CLARKSON
I made collages out of my collection of UPPERCASE postcards!
DEBBIE ABSHEAR
Have you made something with the kraft envelope, upcycled the magazine or reused the postcards in an interesting way?
Please share your pictures and stories of my books, magazines and fabric on Instagram: @uppercasemag #uppercaselove
Looking forward
65 April-May-June 2025
The next issue of UPPERCASE is the Surface Pattern Design Guide and will feature 100 surface pattern design portfolios selected from reader entries. Submit your work by January 20, 2025.
uppercasemagazine.com/spdg6
66 Jul-Aug-Sept 2025
67 Oct-Nov-Dec 2025
68 Jan-Feb-Mar 2026
Calls for Submissions
Sign up for my weekly newsletter for behind-the-scenes updates and the latest on open calls for submissions for UPPERCASE books and magazines. uppercasemagazine.com/free
Pitch your article ideas and suggestions! uppercasemagazine.com/participate
Volume G: Glue
This volume will be all about collage, assemblage and other sticky creative pursuits! To be released in 2025.
uppercasemagazine.com/volumeG
Volume B: Botanica
This perennial favourite is in its third printing! To be released by early December 2024. uppercasemagazine.com/botanica
MICHELLE SHAIN
the art of slowing down
Afunny thing happened when I visited the Uffizi Gallery in Italy.
Fifteen minutes into my visit to one of the world’s oldest and most magnificent art museums, I felt the edges of panic set in.
My daughter, who had just begun a study abroad art program in Florence, seemed to glide through the great halls, as serene and radiant as Botticelli’s Venus, the subject of one of the Uffizi’s most famed paintings. At first, I could do nothing but follow her, helplessly, from room to room, take deep breaths and watch as she sketched paintings she never dreamt she’d see in real life. At some point, I turned my attention to the hands and feet in each artwork. This calmed me. I spent the rest of the time studying nothing but the hands and feet. I could not tell you most of the works we saw that day, but I could describe to you, in great and loving detail, the art of the hands and feet.
Recently, I read a study that found that the average amount of time a person spends in front of a museum artwork is less than 30 seconds. Blame it on overwhelmingly large museum exhibits with crowds racing from one piece to the next, blame it on the glorification of a cultural ethos rooted in the idea that more is more. Regardless, the results were sobering and I cringed when I read them—not so much in judgment of others but in recognition of my own tendencies. Art has always been the great love of my life; I have
devoted most of my years to the making of it, thinking, talking and writing about it and, of course, studying it. But in honesty, I am also sometimes thoughtless in my pursuit, guilty of cruising through exhibits at breakneck speed, right alongside the surging crowds, inhaling the art as opposed to savouring it.
To be clear, I don’t believe there is one right way or preordained time frame in which to experience art. What I do believe in is paying attention to how we connect with it. When I first discovered Slow Art Day, an annual event that encourages participants to slow down while looking at art, my first thought was “how has this idea not naturally occurred to me before now?” Every April, participating museums and galleries all over the world invite viewers to select a few works and look slowly (at least 5–10 minutes) at each one and then talk about the experience afterwards. In the midst of rapidly shrinking attention spans and an increasingly frantic pace of living, this can feel like a radical act. To stand with any artwork for an extended amount of time is to make way for a more thoughtful unravelling and to trigger an even deeper curiosity. Not unlike getting to know a person, your notions are mostly preconceived until you enter into a real conversation and this, dear reader, takes time—likely more than 30 seconds.
Clearly, I was overwhelmed that day at the Uffizi by the sheer volume of works on display, the weight of the history, the size and chaos of the crowds and the seemingly insufficient amount of time allotted. I left wondering if I’d blown my one real chance to experience some of the greatest artworks in the world. But what slow looking teaches us is this: quality over quantity. More is not always more. And what I know now is that I’d met the overwhelm in my own way, perhaps intuitively, with my own sort of slow looking, and in doing so, entered into a wholly singular dialogue with the art—three hours of the kind of conversation I could never have predicted. Given the chance to do it over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Except maybe I would have slowed down my looking even more.
