The 12 That Shine

What I learned from a year of letters and drawings.

Over the last year I sent out 47 of these letters with a drawing.

Here is what I have learned from that practice.

1. A chore can be a creative practice.

I’m an artist. “Marketing” makes me throw up in my mouth. I’m working on long form work. My newsletter felt like a distraction and a job I had to do that I put off until as long as I possibly could. This year I learned it could feel different.

I started thinking of my newsletter as a place to practice writing. It became about my artistic growth and not just a task on my to do list.

At first the illustration was an afterthought. As the weeks went on the illustration and the letter started to work together. I found I really liked going back and forth, writing a first draft of a letter, then doing an illustration, then doing the final draft of the letter- which sometimes changed entirely. My newsletter became it’s own project that I love making. This project has made me fall in love with storytelling, and story has become the common thread that I can carry with me between music and writing and art making.

2. Damn! I did that!

I learned that sometimes I’m pretty good at this. Like maybe I am a picture witch after all. I didn’t predict how much I’d geek out on illustration when I started this project to get better at writing, but I definitely have. As the old saying goes: when you geek out, you get better. My drawing skills are growing, but I think the real surprise has been in the way I have been learning to SAY something with my drawings. It’s exciting to see story emerging in my compositions. It’s fun to see how I have once in awhile kind of nailed it with the notan, which is a Japanese term for the harmonious use of black and white in art. It’s satisfying to communicate feelings with an image. This project pushed me to just keep making the drawings, and some of them really delight me. Focusing on quantity made the quality rise. Who knew?

1. They definitely aren’t all winners.

There are many that I’m like, “Oh geeze, I sent that out?” Cringe. Blush. Eye roll. Onward, because that’s the quantity part of this strategy. Make a whole bunch of work, because every piece that DELIVERS will have a mountain of attempts underneath that, uh, don’t. You still gain skills with the duds. The face may look like a goblin, but you learn something about fingers. The chorus may not have a hook that takes you anywhere, but the rhymes are fresh.

I used to think when I wrote 12 songs I had the album. Now I know that’s probably just the beginning. When you focus on quantity, you eventually get to choose 12 that stand out and polish them into the 12 that REALLY shine.

The 12 That Shine

I have gone back through the drawings I did for this newsletter this year and chosen 12 of my favorites. Some of them appear pretty much as they were. Some were parts of the duds that I recombined and reimagined. It was a joy to go back through my year and create a collection to share off the screen. I found themes of bravery, embodiment, and connection.

I’m offering these drawings as my first ever calendar! It’s a postcard calendar- which means when you are done with a calendar page- you can snip off the artwork and send it with a note to someone you care about.

Pre-orders are available NOW, and I will have the calendars to ship the week after Thanksgiving. Holidays are coming! They are 5” x 7” unbound, and would look great on your desk with a stand like this beauty I found.

I have wanted to do this postcard calendar for a long time. I love the idea that I can share my art in an affordable way and encourage correspondence in the real world. Letter writing’s a profound way to slow down and be offline. I hope this calendar inspires a practice of consciousness and connection.

I am so thankful for your attention and presence in my life. It’s really meaningful to have people who read my words and see my sketches. I hope this project resonates with you, and if you are able, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your contribution to this calendar fundraiser that I hope will enable me to keep writing these letters for another year!