Brace Yourself

Looking Backward to Move Forward

From tiny experiences we build cathedrals.

—ORHAN PAMUK

Somehow I can’t quite commit to wrapping up this last year, it was too much and too confusing and did not come together into a clear list of things. I can’t seem to commit either to a set of resolutions for this coming year just because other people are doing it right now. Unless the resolution is starting to jog again. But still. A year has turned over, and a lot did happen. I published a children’s book. I ran a workshop at The Storm King and The Painting School and The Smithsonian institute and the Toronto Public Library. I worked with a perfume company and a Poetry Prize, an abstract composer of creek music and so many others that I love. I made ink from roses and hawthorn blight, street dust, and poinsettias. And I do believe in taking stock. I believe in recognizing that everything has a past and that a clear-eyed view of that past makes you enter the future stronger, more honestly. I also believe that we creative people ( along with almost everyone else ) might need to brace ourselves a bit in 2025. And so with all of that I am asking myself the question:

Did I learn anything last year that I can take into this year?

If I had to put the answer into words I would say that I learned that I am way weaker and way stronger than I thought I was. Or maybe more than that, that the whole world is way weaker and way stronger than I thought. But I don’t have to put it into just words and I would rather keep it open-ended because maybe my learnings will remind you of your learnings and so be less of a prescription and more of a spark.

from Lorine Niedecker: Collected Works, edited by Jenny Penberthy

Jess Glass Photography at the Storm King Event

There You Are By Adukwei Bulley

And Lots more inspirational pictures for members of the Colour Lab including Life and Death Lessons from Guillermo del Toro….A huge Thank You to all those who support the continued inky community into the coming year.

—JL