Hello beautiful humans,

I was on the stoop with my cat on Tuesday. My partner and I are training him on a harness while he is still a kitten. He loves looking out the windows and meows at the door to go out. He has dreams of catching a bird in flight. When he is out on the leash he sniffs, sits, stares and eyes dart from the birds hopping tree to tree to the spiders crawling through the bark and dirt. It helps to reset his mind to be outside. It calms him.

While I was sitting there a neighbor walked by with her dog and we said our hello’s. Then she sighed and said that today was a day of grieving. She didn’t specify the reason. I didn’t ask either. Then she followed with, today is for grieving and tomorrow will be for something better. Then she went on her way.

My senses have been inundated with all sorts of revelations this week, some of it surprising and some of it not. The pull to go numb with anxiety is strong. I don’t think I am alone in this.

As I mentioned before, I want to be as present as possible when I write to you. So it is important to acknowledge when things are strange and heavy and require space to grieve. So here we are.

I also want to provide a space to breathe and take in something else. Something to nourish your mind. My nourishment arrives in art; creating, digesting, and sharing. So here we are. Breathe.

Here is what I have occupied some of my time with.

The above photo is a project I am working on this week. It’s for a fundraiser for Big Door Gallery in Oakland and Live Art Walls,(that sponsors the wall across from APE.) The wall across from APE is a curved wall on 18th and Mission that has been a source of rotating murals for years. I have taken numerous photos of that corner and some have become paintings.

The auction is called LOVE LETTERS. Artists are each assigned one or two letters. I was assigned v and E about ten days ago and this is how it’s coming along. I am going to turn them in by the end of the week. All the letters will be auctioned with the starting bid at $50. I’ll let you know the details closer to the time and where to see the final work.

One of these paintings is a watercolor on wood and the other is on paper. I often work in pairs but rarely on different substrates. I am having an interesting time working on them concurrently. I think about the characters and the words they help create. Words like victory and enough.

Each day reminds me what I love about painting. I enjoy how colors create space.

A lot of my work documents actual places. I think that is important to continue because, as we can see, histories can be actively erased. Some of my work also relies on feelings. How colors, markings and spaces feel. I think this is also important because we live in a world that encourages us to doubt our senses, what we saw, heard, felt, etc. So if my work makes you feel things then that is awesome.

Trust your instincts.

Find the things that bring you back in your body, in the present. I will do the same. Feel the emotions and make space for grief, joy and everything in between. Then tomorrow will be for something better.

Take Care,

Zoe

Latest Read: Whiskey Tender:A Memoir of Family and Survial on and off the Reservation. This hit me in a different way because it is the same generation as mine. Buy at your local bookstore or even better, check it out from your local library!

Art Date: Urban Romance: Join us in the underground Muni station for art, music, and collective love for the city.

TONIGHT!! - Thursday, February 5, 2026
5:00–9:00 PM
The Urbanist Kiosks – Union Square SF MUNI Station
please RSVP here

Inspiration: The whistle blowers, the ones bearing witness and the ones who are not afraid to tell the truth out loud. Keep it coming.

Shout Out: To my neighbor for sharing her grief with me.

This is #9 of Zoe Ani’s Tidbits & Tangents. You can subscribe or view the archives online.