🌊 Autumn Bottleship
Somehow, there’s still water in the river, which feels like a gift.
Hi friends,
This is Lucy Bellwood, writing to you from the imperceptible edge of fall here in Southern California. Somehow, there’s still water in the river, which feels like a gift.
A lot’s happened since my spring update: a new studio space for me in downtown Ojai, a pacemaker and skin cancer removal for my dad, a further 116 pages penciled for Seacritters, a return to tabling at A2CAF in Ann Arbor, a restoration project, a little tender guerrilla activism, and a month away in England to sort out some family belongings in storage. I’m tempted to recap it all in detail up front, but I’d rather cut to the chase and tell you about some…
EVENTS!
You can find me back in Ojai at Bart’s Books this Saturday, October 12th from 6-7pm interviewing Carson Ellis! Her new book, One Week in January, pairs a fragment of her 2001 diary with a series of gorgeous contemporary paintings. It’s an exploration of being young and creative and restless and broke in Portland and it has me thinking all kinds of thoughts about changing cities, significant relationships, and how we relate to our younger selves. The event is free! Hope to see you there.
If you missed my last Bart’s interview with multi-hyphenate powerhouse Tessa Hulls, there’s now a recording of our conversation right here.
Over the summer I started a draft of this update using the classic Five Ws of journalism. Going to roll with that for the remainder of the missive:
Who is doing work I find myself admiring, learning from, and emulating?
I ended up writing too much about this, so I’m going to make it a miniseries of weekly newsletters over the next month. Consider them brief love letters to people I am proud to know.
What am I doing to nurture a sense of possibility and community?
Attending 30-minute daily Zoom gatherings with Jewish Voice for Peace, who have been holding space every single weekday for the past year to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Their heartfelt community helps me channel despair into action.
Writing letters to encourage voter turnout for the 2024 election. You can help me reach my goal of sending 100 letters by writing some of your own here! I promise they make it easy. (If you’re in the US, many voter registration deadlines are already upon us. Double-check your registration at Vote.org.)
When will I settle on a regular update cadence for this newsletter?
Never!
Where are things at with my new studio in downtown Ojai?
Coming along beautifully. If you live in town you might’ve passed the old Basic Premise space, formerly the old-old Theater 150 space, and seen this in the window:
I’m having so much fun kitting out the space, organizing shelves, dreaming about hosting comics workshops in the future, and still dancing every morning before I start work. As of right now: if the blinds are up, do come in and say hi.
Why did my dad leave so many of my his parents’ belongings in storage in another country for 30 years?
Great question. Probably because it’s hard to confront the accumulated ephemera of a life, especially when that ephemera dovetails with grief. Double-especially when it’s all just tucked away on another continent. Out of sight, out of mind. But I went over to the UK this past month and spent a whirlwind week sorting out what we could bring back to the US.
The trip was inspired by some sad things (my godfather passing away last year, the loss of another close family friend, the desire to see my maternal grandparents’ graves), but the overall experience was deeply life-affirming. I haven’t been out of the country in six years—my longest-ever stretch! Getting to hug friends and family members and reconnect with this other half of my identity was a huge deal.
How am I, really?
The trip shifted some deep-seated stuff from these past three years of caregiving. I don’t know how long it’ll last, but right now I feel fired up; hopeful, on a personal level, in a way I haven’t been in a long time.
So that’s a lot of stuff! It’s a pleasure to be getting this out the door and into your hands. If you’re so inclined, drop me a reply with a little about what’s new in your world.
See you next time!
—Lucy