dear friends,
as autumn wanders into istanbul — softly and slowly, like a cat — I’ve been enjoying how ripe the days still feel. except that now, there’s wind, and thunderstorms at night, and time suddenly seems to be picking up speed. it’s as though I’m waking up from a nap, but realizing that I need to get dressed and leave the house, fast. I’m anticipating that autumn will bring creative flash storms, spontaneous births, and deaths.
this month, I’m still working through rebirthing house on the webs. in order to not get bored, I’ve been recreating it as a journey that I would be excited to take. I’ve realized that a course is a vessel for imaginative processes, inquiries, and deep, daily devotion to walking the path. in this case, the path is digital world-building.
I’m currently working through Day 4 of 7. as always, you can explore the Introduction and Day 0 Incubation lessons, at your leisure.
~
🍊 this week: I spoke about the process of making a home on the internet, shared a painting of figs & plums, a work guide for moody creatives from my archives, and more reflections on home as nesting & accumulation, and web world as water.
🎙️ making a home on the internet
inhabiting a home on the internet is really about making space to be yourself, in the world. I share my 3 cyclical processes, and answer Q&As.
LISTEN ON APPLE | LISTEN ON SPOTIFY
making a home on the internet — kening zhu
inhabiting your infinite creative self
🍂 end of summer figs & plums
saying goodbye to summer with a visual feast of figs
end of summer figs and plums — kening zhu
saying goodbye with a visual feast
🔮 messages from the archives
a moody creative’s guide to work overwhelm
writing this post in 2023 marked a key turning point in my artist/business life. if i told you now how moody and emotionally consumed I used to be, you probably wouldn’t even believe me.
a moody creative's guide to overwhelm in work — kening zhu
on growing a creative business as an emotionally-driven artist — dealing with moods and energy, creative procrastination, paralysis, inertia, constipation, and guilt.
pomegranates from naxos island
after painting figs, I dug up one of the last fruit still lives I painted — from my autumn on the greek islands, in 2022.
pomegranates from naxos island — kening zhu
my host gave me some fruit from her garden, and then I went to the market and bought more pomegranates
a slow accumulation of things
I took this photo in berlin winter, 2020. this post reminded me of how a website world, a creative practice, a home, a life — all of it is about a slow accumulation of things.
a slow accumulation of things — kening zhu
life and art and love is just the slow accumulation of things
creating a nest ambience
in a very different phase of my life, how I tried to make myself feel at home in a new life/apartment/city/country. from berlin, 2020.
creating a nest ambience — kening zhu
in the mood for home
web world as water
why & how I relate to my digital ecosystems as bodies of water
web world as water: digital ecosystems that give life — kening zhu
a system for integrating creation and sharing your work
📝 notes (what's rolling around my head)
mantis coffee shop - it looks as though I will be opening a coffee shop with my partner this month, in my neighborhood. some weeks ago, he told me that a female mantis bites off the head of the male mantis after sex — in order to provide more protein for her pregnancy. a few days later, while on the ferry, we were dreaming up coffee shop names. I proposed “mantis.” this week, his friends/partners enthusiastically said yes to this cafe name. they are signing the lease today. this weekend, I’ll start working on branding, design, and interior decor.
a digital memory palace of my childhood - as a website example / tutorials for house on the webs course, I decided to create a digital home for my inner child — a website world where I can slowly reconstruct memories of growing up in the 90s and 2000s — of a China from a different era, tech nostalgia and ESL classes in small town NC, and immigrant child confusion. but, the more I do my own creative exercises in the course, the more I feel inspired to actually build this website, and inhabit it, for real. (oh, and I’ve been watching a lot of Sherlock Holmes).
🍄 inspiration log
it’s been one of those weeks where i have consumed very little, so there is nothing here to share, except maybe this song: milagro by alper tuzcu (featuring marcelo woloski & nicoh kwan). I’ve been savoring it walking in istanbul at night, on my way to tango.
🪄 new offering: asynchronous advising
after much incubation, I’ve decided to create a new container for asynchronous advising. you can work with me, 1:1, in a slow simmer way — over a 3 week container of deep written dialogues and guided inner work.
read more about my advising process here.
currently, I’m booking clients for October.
asynchronous advising (~3 weeks)
🌸 goodbye for now...
until next week, my friends.
to deep dives ahead,
🪼 kening
.
.
.
🗺️ this is guide.notes 48, a weekly letter on creative alchemy & growing digital worlds.
🍃 find me on my podcast: botanical studies of internet magic.
🏔️ explore my course: house on the webs.
🪷 work with me 1 on 1: advising & creation services.
💧 send me a gift. water my world.