In this issue:

• Things that help me cope with my least favorite season

• Save-the-dates for art events coming this fall!

Y’all, summer is not my best friend.

We used to get along great. We’ve just grown in different directions. That being said, I am having myself a quintessential American summer. Below are some things that are helping me pass the time until the air cools (which is never soon enough).

Banana Ball

You’ve probably seen them by now. They took baseball and made it entertaining for non-sports-fans like me. Sometimes HBO streams their games on the weekends and I get two hours of low-stakes fun.

Hot Dogs

Kendra the Lazy Genius has an adage: Plan your hot dogs. This means choosing ease whenever you anticipate needing it, rather than reaching for the easy thing as a last resort. If I plan effectively, I can eat hot dogs while watching Banana Ball. Home run.

Native Plants

In 2025 I planted the “Go Big” assortment that I purchased at Myriad Gardens in Oklahoma City. This year they have fulfilled that promise. I’d love to tell you which plants they are, but I don’t remember. 

Mint

This spring I planted mint, which is doing exactly what I wanted it to do: spread like crazy and provide me with fresh mint whenever I like.

Squirrel Sploots

They only sploot when it’s really hot outside. 

All Things Jimothy

If we’re lucky, once or twice a year we get an emotional support weird animal. Jimothy the abbreviated raccoon is my ESWA of choice for this season. 

Of course the crafters got on the Jimothy bus immediately. Here’s one of my favorites by Susann Brox Nilsen:

Cryptids

Speaking of weird animals and the weirdos who love them, this month the Oklahoma City Sketchbook Club has issued a challenge: draw your favorite cryptids. One of my fellow artists shared this illustration suite of North American cryptids by Matt Gyver. Absolutely inspiring, and you can buy it as a poster or deck or cards. Shout out to the Oklahoma Octopus!

Fruit

Some of which went into this salsa - highly recommended.

State Fairs: Growing American Craft

If I was anywhere near Washington D.C., I’d go to the state fair. No, not that one. This one. 

CBS Sunday Morning did a lovely segment on State Fairs: Growing American Craft, open for a few more weeks at the Smithsonian.

The Hero We Deserve

Finally, no one sums up the summer 2026 zeitgeist quite like Tal Levin of The Sword and The Sandwich. Levin manages to capture the all-American absurdity of the season in their essay, Notable Sandwiches #1: American Hero. Here’s a little slice:

But what Dunn did was illustrate a way to oppose fascism that doesn’t require ennoblement of empty symbols, or an assumption of bourgeois dignity that renders culture sterile and inert. It doesn’t require pomposity, or the embrace of sanctioned forebears. It requires courage — piss and vinegar; internal mustard — and it engenders hope. It’s possible to create new symbology in an age of totalitarian vulgarity. It just requires looking beyond the murky surface of a pool enscummed by failure. It requires new kinds of heroes, those on bread and those that wield them.

Save the dates!

I have two art events coming up this fall:

5 September 2026: Maker Market to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Nine Banded Crafts in Oklahoma City

2 October 2026: Palette Swap, a group exhibition showcasing natural dyes, curated by Sean Tyler, at Arts @302 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. More details to come!

I would love to see you there!

A GIF For Those Who Read This Far

Stay cool,
xoxo Sarah