I'm an artist, surface pattern + fabric designer, author, mama, and online teacher in Portland, OR. I believe in the power of art-making as a tool for radical self-care. I help people feel a little bit brighter and a little bit less alone through the art and products I make, the words I write, and the classes I teach. Come join almost 10k people in my colorful, uplifting world!
Happy New Year! š
|
Hi Reader ā Happy 2025! It's been a minute since I've written a Tuesday email, and I'm happy to be sitting down at my keyboard right now, channeling whatever's meant to come through my mind, my heart, and my fingers in this moment. Today is my second day back in my quiet studio after a wonderful and much-needed 2 week winter break. My kids and I didn't travel anywhere and mostly just hunkered down together at home, which was exactly what I think we all needed. I introduced them to the show The Voice, which I watched when it first came out many years ago and haven't watched since ā and oh my gosh, we were all quickly obsessed and miiiiight have binge-watched a bunch of the last season of the show. š«£š¤£š„° It was so fun, and also a little sad for winter break to end and the reality of school and work to set back in. Ha. Now that I'm back in the studio after my little pause, I'm gearing up for my free Art-Making For Inner Awakening workshop that starts on January 23rd and the launch of my Unleashed course (registration opens on January 28th!). If you're wanting to make art-making more of a habit as we start this new year, if you're wanting to find a way to ease some of your anxiety or worry, if you want to get to know yourself better this year, and if you just want to tap into your creativity in general ā I GOT YOU. I've also been painting up a storm the last couple of days in the studio! I finished 2 commissioned paintings, and I made this funny little painting above as well, which I'm calling the patron saint of new beginnings. Snakes symbolize new beginnings/endings/the cycle of rebirth and regeneration, and coincidentally 2025 is the year of the Snake in Chinese astrology. I love the symbolism of the snake, so much that I even have one tattooed on my arm. This painting is the start of what I think will be a daily-ish project.... though it's not fully fleshed out in my mind yet, so I haven't fully committed. ;) I'll share more once the idea has fully gelled! My word of the year this year is SPACE, and I think that'll be next on my painting list... the patron saint of space. I wonder what she'll look like? (What's another word for patron saint? I'm not religious, so this doesn't feel quite right, but I'm not sure what else to call her... send me your ideas!) That's what I've got for you today, my friend! I hope your start to 2025 has been easeful so far and that your holidays were merry and restful. I'm excited to share with you all the good things I'm cooking up for you this year as we move through the months. It's going to be a good year! Sending love and color your way today. Until next time... ps ā What are you looking forward to in 2025? What are you hoping to let go of? What do you want to invite in? Hit reply and let me know if you want to! :) LET'S BE FRIENDS ON IG!
|
āJessica Swift.
I'm an artist, surface pattern + fabric designer, author, mama, and online teacher in Portland, OR. I believe in the power of art-making as a tool for radical self-care. I help people feel a little bit brighter and a little bit less alone through the art and products I make, the words I write, and the classes I teach. Come join almost 10k people in my colorful, uplifting world!
Hi Reader! I hope you're having a wonderful week. I'm enjoying a quiet Thanksgiving week at home this year with my kiddos instead of traveling to see family like we often do (well, more like a "quiet" week ā I hear C and G bickering about something in the background right now, which is pretty standard), and it's funny how things work out so perfectly sometimes... We loosely planned to go to California for Thanksgiving and then decided to go in December instead. Then we made plans for a...
Hi Reader! The refrain-on-repeat in my house right now is "I'm sooooo excited for Christmas!". I wonder how many times I'll hear that between now and Christmas morning? 1,000? A million? Infinite? I still remember that feeling so well from when I was a kid ā the bouncy, tangible anticipation so huge I could barely stand it. Waking up in the middle of the night on Christmas to sneak into the living room to stare at the presents under the tree in awe. Removing one torturous ring each day from...
Hi Reader, What a day here in the United States. I took myself for a long walk earlier today to absorb the news and to wrap my mind around the huge changes coming our way that will impact us in the months and years to come, both here in the USA and around the world. Wherever we each fall on the political spectrum, we're ALL on the human spectrum, and I think most of us can probably agree that there's a lot of darkness in the world right now. A lot of division in this country, and a lot of...