Work Notes 

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I made a survey to find out where you're at in your creative cycles to plan Fall curriculum 

Dear reader, 

I was picking out special books for my future shop and studio space on the day Dolly Parton died. I was finding all sorts of books and Everyday I Pray For Love from Yayoi Kusama stuck out to me as well as a great children’s book about her. In my survey about the shop a handful of people noted the importance of having things for kids. The next day she died.

I spent the week in a sort of strange hole, collecting images of Yayoi’s work in Are.na, listening to Light of a Clear Blue Morning on repeat a weird amount of times, both reminding me of a time with a person I loved and a time by myself. I’ll never forget the first time someone played me that song, it was like my whole world changed. My friendships were strong then, I didn’t care about my debt, my head was in the sand.

It’s been a long long time since I’ve known the taste of freedom. 

If you’ve never listened I beg you to hit play and do only that today. It will really make the shit of everything else feel a little different.

This eclipse season took me right the hell out. Turned my insides into mush and rearranged my spirit. Everything I thought I knew felt twisted back to how it was years ago. The universe full of nothing and everything all at once.

I sense we collectively learned things about these people we didn’t know when they were living. One that sticks out to me was I had no idea Dolly’s production company produced Common Threads : Stories From The Quilt (watch full doc here for free), a beautiful documentary about The Aids Memorial Quilt. But of course, but of course.

Something that happens when my favorite artists die is I just want to make more art. As much as I might wish they were still here, it feels of great service to spirit, self, and the people to channel the grief into creation.

While I write this I am blasting Dolly, swinging through the hits and the B sides. And don’t get me started on fucking with some Trio, The Pain of Loving You. COME ON PEOPLE.

All to say. Some people die. And by some I mean all of us. It might make you return to their work or hear about it for the first time. And it’s ok to be really sad, even if it’s someone you never knew personally. I think it helps us transmute the grief inside of us that we don’t know what to do with yet.

In the Yayoi Kusama video the next line is ever expanding and ever destroying itself.

Some things need to be brought forth with great spaciousness, and some ready to be demolished.

I’ll leave you with Dolly and a quilt, two of my favorite things. Let this level of joy permeate into everything as an act of resistance. They want us to be small, to be defeated, and today I am in a great state of refusal. Channeling Dolly and Yayoi’s immense service to the people through art making. What a blessing.

→ My favorite vintage account is Minor Works. If you’re into vintage LL Bean watch out.

→ I wrote about opening up a new shop / studio space and then immediately had a crisis and renamed it. More soon!

→ New favorite shop/space inspiration is Working Loose in Maine

→ This family is everything

→ A reminder that the Trans Lifeline still exists

→ Join me in donating to help Mohamad get a lawyer

CLASSIFIEDS : 

Why Am I Still F*cking Single -- a zine to to lower the bar on self love and raise the bar on being your full self. Use SENDME for free shipping. 

Contain Your Multitudes (mail course): Shape your ideas through journaling as a creative practice. 6 letter lessons mailed monthly—sign up by Oct 1

Creative Spirit Club offers monthly snail mail for makers and seekers — part pen pal, part spiritual friend, part middle school art teacher on peyote.

Book a classified ad for next week here 

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