Entwined 🌿

The best thing about an anthology is that my collaborators all have their own stories to tell about the project. Here are some highlights from our virtual book tour.

• Finding Our Enablers by Hayley J. Dunlop

• Late Summer Embers by Joanna Wolfarth

• This Book is For Busy Mums by Dr. Sheree Mack

• Translating Anxiety into Art by Mindy Wara

We also have some podcasts coming out, but to my knowledge they haven’t aired yet. You can catch the video recording of and Vanessa Wright chatting about motherhood and creativity here.

In the Studio ✂️

I started a new conceptual work with an old chalkboard this week. I find that working with my hands has proven to be a really good reset tool during “the dip.”

https://instagram.com/p/C_tj6h9xJHv/

Here’s the chalkboard in it’s glory days. An artist at work.

https://instagram.com/p/C_wA8oHRyLf/

In the Garden 🌱

After the book launch we spent a beautiful afternoon weeding the front garden and collecting tiny bulbs (snowdrops and muscari) to transplant in the back yard.

The next day I had a massive chronic illness flare due to my immune system response to ragweed. It’s weird how the reaction can be so delayed. I was fine while I was outside, but completely knocked out a few hours later.

We haven’t been in the garden much since then. I hope ragweed season is over soon, because the weather is beautiful (the pollen is just trying to kill me.) I made this for Instagram, but it’s relevant here too.

Nathan roasted these Sunflower seeds while I was working on the Entwined launch last week. The water turned black and I wondered if it was good for dyeing. (Does anyone know?) It was a lot of work and many of the seeds were empty so he may not do it again.

I’m ready for the pollen count to shift so I can go back to mornings like this.

Books 📖

I’d highly recommend having a cozy read as part of your gentle launch strategy. I finished this timey wimey Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett and ordered a witchy Discworld novel for spooky season.

I’ve linked to Bookshop.org here to support indie booksellers. But I buy my copies from Blackwells in the UK because I adore these “Unseen University” cover designs.

Digital Foraging 🍁

Some bits and bobs I’ve collected for you this week.

Instagram 📷

I dare say, with the proper boundaries, I am enjoying Instagram again. Here are some of the posts I would have missed if I quit IG entirely.

https://instagram.com/p/C_U3AOoiE3N/

“Nature does not hurry. Yet everything is accomplished.” by Meg Fatharly.

https://instagram.com/p/C8MappPKeiF/

This video. “The dance of the forest, the shyness of the trees while the forest breathes harmoniously.”

https://instagram.com/p/C4LjPQpJl8V/

“After all,” Anne had said to Marilla once, “I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”

https://instagram.com/p/C_tvbMTSYgD/

This work by Katherine Duclos. She says, “it’s called “To soften ourselves we have to let all of our edges be touched,” and it references the hardness with which I approached the world for the majority of my life before having children. It took becoming a mother for me to reveal my vulnerabilities to anyone and I almost couldn’t recognize what they showed me. It’s been a reckoning for me to figure out how to be my true self amongst others, like I’ve had to grow a new skin these last few years. This one is softer, maybe not as capable of camouflage, but it’s far more secure than any armour I masked with in the past.”

As well as…

• Human Touch Clothing (Process and IG Feed)

• Gender Neutral ASL Signs

• Stop the Arts – a fake UK protest – draws attention to the lack of funding within cultural industries.

Substack ✏️

Two of my favorite reads from Substack this week. (Including a free snail mail swap!)

Notes by Martine

Rediscovering the Joy (and Importance) of Hobbies as an Adult

Are you feeling stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed at work…

Read more

5 months ago · 1 like · Martine Ellis

There She Woz

Introducing: Just One Stamp

When was the last time you got a piece of mail you actually enjoyed? Or the last time you were giddy to see your friendly neighborhood letter carrier because you just knew something fun addressed to you was about to be delivered…

Read more

7 months ago · 27 likes · 14 comments · Woz Flint

Podcasts 🎧

I found two new podcasts about gardening this week and thought I’d pass along some interesting reflections on authorial “failures.”

• Behind the scenes of Gardener’s World with Monty Don.

• Andrew O’Brien’s podcast Gardens Weeds & Words

• Author Brandon Sanderson sharing some interesting early “failures” and how they set him up for his current multipassionate genre career selling books title unseen on his podcast Intentionally Blank.

This time last year…

I recorded my first artist talk with Lauren Frances Evans and Katherine Duclos. We’re all autistic artists mothers and had a really good chat about creativity and neurodivergence. I also talk about how my support needs were completely different before I became a parent because I had more capacity for masking.

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The Compost Heap is free to all. Thanks for exchanging your time and energy. If you’re feeling particularly generous here are other ways you can lend your support.

• Leave a comment (it’s free!)

• Share or preorder Entwined & Ember.

• Buy my book.

• Forward this email to a friend.

• Pledge $3+ on Patreon (or upgrade to paid) for a letter from me each month.

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The Compost Heap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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The Internet is like a tin can telephone. It’s just a rusty can until someone talks back.

What resonates? What are you working on? How do you recover energy?

I appreciate you.

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This newsletter is a curated collection of tidbits from my overgrown Compost Heap (or digital garden.) Rummage around, turn the heap, and see what you can find for yourself. 🪱🐛🌱

Illustrations by Gracie Klumpp of Leave the Fingerprints. 🐞

The Compost Heap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

September 11, 2024

It started when I was seven months postpartum.

“Last week when I was journaling I accidentally started writing a book. It’s a creative handbook for new mums. Not a one size fits all method, but a series of reflections and prompts to help other mothers nurture their inner artist.”

https://instagram.com/p/B5lv0UrAUSX/

I read SO MANY books about motherhood as research.

Books that affirmed creativity is good for mental health. Books that explained the myth of equal parenting. I read about burnout and overwhelm and “the art of doing nothing.”1 I read The Artist’s Way and immediately put it down because I needed sleep more than I needed morning pages.

I took notes on my iPhone. I journaled. I cobbled together the bones of the book I thought I needed. Starting in January of 2020 I went to the library each week to turn these notes into a book while my mom watched David.

Then COVID quarantine hit.

I started navigating a deep depression. I wrote my way through it.2

By June of 2020 I had a rough draft,

“It turns out the three months I took away from this work were actually very helpful. I’ve had enough distance it’s much easier to make cuts and changes. I’ve also spent that time doing more visual art like pottery and weaving and this is informing my book in a good way… This pandemic is teaching me to honor my creative rhythms and that’s no bad thing.”

https://instagram.com/p/CBhLDaGJBx8/

I made it through one round of edits before I crashed into burn out. Whatever resilience and hyperfocus had propelled me through the early months of the pandemic vanished. My world shifted into survival mode and my manuscript got set to the side.

https://instagram.com/p/CB30HtcpeBe/

When I picked it up again it was like a different person had written it. But that space let me see that my manuscript was actually 2-3 books crammed together.

https://instagram.com/p/CQgyaGuhd0D/

I took the first chapter and expanded that into my first book Discover Your Creative Ecosystem. I launched that book in autumn of 2022 and met my goal to break even with self publishing costs.

https://instagram.com/p/Ck01s5ppZBa/

I still wanted the book that I needed as a new mum.

I just wasn’t sure I had written it.

Over the next year I considered a lot of avenues for reviving my “creative mama” book. Meanwhile, I was cautious of centering my own narrative because every mama needs different things. Early on in the process I knew I wanted alternate voices in the book, but I wasn’t sure how to weave them in.

Then I considered an anthology.

It was the perfect solution! I completely scrapped 30,000 words of my own and started reaching out to mothers I’d like to collaborate with. When Twiggy Boyer agreed to be our cover artist my vision snapped into place.

https://instagram.com/p/C8h53yix_n-/

The visual team expanded to include Annie King as cover artist for the workbook, Emily Jalinsky for interior illustrated elements, and Jocelyn Mathewes for cyanotype textures.

Truly a dream team!

It was my honor to curate the stories and prompts that came rolling in for Entwined & Ember.

The last year I have been hard at work creating this book, designing the layout, printing proofs, preparing for the crowdfunding campaign, and sending sooooooo many emails to my collaborators.

This book baby has been gestating for almost 5 years and the last year has been one big “push” process.

I am so excited (and exhausted) to reach this phase.

Now I need your help.

To fund the printing, proofing, and editing (by mama editor Jessica Allowski) we need as many preorders as we can get.

Here are the best ways to support. 🔥

1. Preorder early. 📖

Your preorder signals “social proof” that this is a trustworthy project. The first 30% of preorders almost always come from people who know you directly. Then pledges tip into friends of friends. So it’s more important to pledge now and share later.

2. Donate a copy! 💞

If you don’t need a copy you can donate a book to your chosen library or nonprofit. This was a huge hit for our picture book project last year so I’m offering it again. You can also donate a copy to be made available to a mum in financial hardship.

3. Join the Hype Team! 🥳

This is a grassroots project. So we need your help to spread the word. If you can’t support you can help out by interacting with social media posts, with our upcoming book tour (blogs & podcasts!), and by telling your friends. You can even join the blog hop if you like! Make it official and we’ll even send you a postcard. (There are also lots of images and scripts you can borrow at this link.)

Yes, there is an ebook version!

And shipping is free! Even for international preorders.

Overseas hardcovers will be printed on demand in your own region. This pivot helps us avoid expensive shipping costs.

Shoutout to all of the contributors! 🥰

I’m so honored to have such a brilliant constellation of mothers involved in this project. There are over 55 mothers involved from the writers and cover artists to our editor.

Visual Art Team – Twiggy Boyer, Annie King, Emily Jalinsky &

Editor – Jessica Allowski of Cozy Cottage Editing

Curator – (me!) Sarah Shotts

Anthology Writers – Alexa Villanueva, Anong Migwans Beam, , Bethany Howard, Christina Marshall, , , , , , , , Lindsey Smith, , , , , , , , Odeta Xheka, , , Susan Chiang, Vanessa Novissimo Wright, and .

Ember Contributors: , , , , , , Ciara Froning, , Daisy Thomas Stone, , Erica Settino, , Grace Esteignhagen, , Kati Overmier, , Kayla Huszar, Lindsay Joseph, , Marissa Huber, , Claudia Plata, Rebecca Potts, , & more. (Some contributors requested to remain anonymous.)

Whew! I tried to tag everyone who is on Substack, but if I missed you or tagged the wrong account please let me know.

Thanks to each of you for your dedication and creative contribution.

We need your help to bring this project to life!

Here are the best ways to lend your support.

Brownie points for interacting with posts here and on social media. Every comment, heart, emoji, or save helps signal to the algorithm that this is worth reaching more people. If you don’t have capacity to write a thoughtful comment I welcome a string of celebratory emojis! 🥳🌿🥰💫

I’m really excited to bring this to life! If you’d like to chat with one of the mother artists on your podcast, Instagram Live, or blog please reach out. I’d love for this project to reach as many mamas as possible.

Cheers,

P.S. If you haven’t watched the crowdfunding video yet do it now! It took 7 hours to edit and was a hyperfocus delight. There are dozens of short clips of everyday life woven together with a peek at our newest proof.

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Shoutout to my fellow hyperfocus buds Alexander Hamilton and Lin Manuel Miranda. (Also, why do GIFS only move half the time Substack?!)

In the Studio ✂️

Part of preventative care for my almost mental breakdown was making more art with my hands. I’ve pulled out my soft sculpture brain – which I’ve been working on for 3-4 years. It’s taking AGES to finish because I do a bit each year, my finger splits, and then it takes ages to heal due to a connective tissue disorder.

I recently discovered this needle puller from Mx. Domestic on Instagram. They demonstrate the tool really well here:

https://instagram.com/p/Crzg9oDAJ1W/

I finished half of my brain earlier this summer when my mom was having back surgery. Now I’m hand sewing the “brain noodles” I made last week into the second half.

I recorded another process video here:

https://instagram.com/p/C_OdGnHR4hW/

Home Ed 🍎

We’ve been getting our hands dirty this week with this Real Fossil Dig kit that includes 12 actual fossils. There’s an ammonite, a real piece of dinosaur bone, a fossilized sea urchin, shark teeth & more. I can’t believe this only cost $15 dollars. (This is not an affiliate link, but it probably should be.)

And (of course) we’re reading Magic School Bus to study dinosaur fossils.1

This is a brand new (used) Magic School Bus book for our collection. We found it at a local bookstore called Once Upon a Time.

Here are out other finds.

We’ve also been watching BBC Gardener’s World and learning about pollinators this week. Did you know that flower petals have textured surfaces like climbing walls? 🐝

Digital Foraging 🍁

Some bits and bobs I’ve collected for you this week.

• Pseudonyms lets you practice agency by Henrik Karlsson

• Hank Green on AI, “We’re using this word to mean everything right now.”

• The world is museum of passion projects. (via )

And this.

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This time last year…

I wrote My creative process is slow. Considering the soft sculpture I wrote about above there’s a real connection here. I’m fascinated to see seasonal rhythms in my own creative process with this time travel feature.

And I almost forgot!

I spent ages earlier this week unlocking every lesson for Crowdfunding 101. It’s now completely free! Self Pub 101 will be too, but there are SO MANY pages to unlock it might be a while until I get to it.

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The Compost Heap is free to all. Thanks for exchanging your time and energy. If you’re feeling particularly generous here are other ways you can lend your support.

• Leave a comment (it’s free!)

• Share on social media.

• Forward this email to a friend.

• Buy my book.

• Pledge $3+ on Patreon (or upgrade to paid) for a letter from me each month. Here’s a peek at August’s letter going in the mail tomorrow. (Yes, I’m talking about spirals again. Get used to it.) 😂

Psst… Would you be interested in going completely screen free? 🐌

I’ve been wondering about adding a new Patreon tier where you can subscribe for my newsletter to come to your actual mailbox. Would anyone be interested in that? (I’m not sure what it would cost especially if I include color photos, but if there’s interest I will consider it for 2025.)

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From the Compost Heap is a reader-supported publication. To receive snail mail each month consider becoming a paid subscriber.

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The Internet is like a tin can telephone. It’s just a rusty can until someone talks back.

What are you making? What are you growing? What are you finding inspiring?

What do you think of the idea of an analogue newsletter?

The obvious downside is that it can’t include links so I’d need to shift the format slightly. But it’s something I’m interested in exploring if you’re into that idea.

Let’s chat in comments.

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This newsletter is a curated collection of tidbits from my overgrown Compost Heap (or digital garden.) You’re welcome to rummage around, turn the heap, and see what you can find for yourself. 🪱🐛🌱

Illustrations are by Gracie Klumpp of Leave the Fingerprints.

1

I still owe my international friends a post introducing Ms. Frizzle. Do y’all have Magic School Bus on your Netflix or no?

August 29, 2024

Reading 📖

Next up is an addition to our Home Brew Home Education. I wanted a picture book that introduced the concept of home education and this does a beautiful job of it.

The author / illustrator was homeschooled himself and it comes through in the lively illustrations. It feels impossible to choose which spreads to include. You can see more here. It’s a lovely book. (You can purchase & support an indie bookshop here.)

My own reading has been Meandering by Sofia Lemon & Jung and Alchemical Imagination by Jeffrey Raff.

Both of these books are research for my fiction novel, but there’s always interesting overlaps into other areas of my creative practice. I’m exploring imagery of spirals and meanders relating to writing, but I suspect it will bleed into my visual art soon enough.

These books are having an interesting conversation re: creative imagination.

They are both very academic and Meandering in particular is taking me back to my grad school days. I feel really grateful that I’ve had the mental capacity to dig into these. I credit:

1. Sleep (David has been putting himself down with audiobooks for the past year and it has honestly made a world of difference in my capacity.)

2. Mornings Outside + Nintendo Switch + Khan Academy Kids (these three things are what give me a chance to do my own work – we still don’t have childcare).

3. Expanding self imposed deadlines so I don’t feel like I’m drowning.

I just wanted to mention the scaffolding behind being able to dig into dense reading like this – even if my notetaking feels a bit frenetic and ad hoc – I wouldn’t have dreamed I’d been able to do this even a year ago. Our days are starting to feel expansive enough for me to do deep work instead of surface level work and it’s very restorative.

This illustration is by Eduardo Navarro.

We lost wifi for over 24 hours due to a storm this week, and it was really positive. I also started reading Art Fundamentals and finished How We Might Live (2022).

On my To Read list is I Cannot Control Everything Forever recommended by . It was love at first flat lay for me.

https://instagram.com/p/C-0RPr8RC6o/

In the Studio 🐇

Last year I could barely thread my sewing machine before making my gleeman’s cloak. Now I’ve hemmed 3 pairs of pants. The ironing did flare up my back pain, but I’m still counting it as a win.

While the sewing machine was out I also sewed some “brain noodles” for my soft sculpture project. I’ll probably share more about that next week, but here’s a snippet on Instagram.

https://instagram.com/p/C-5palMRRew/

Also, I’m looking at (shadows) like art – inspired (again) by Marina Grosshoy. This is the kind of post that the IG algorithm really hates. If you have an account and want to give it some love I’d appreciate it. I should probably try to please the algorithm more before launching a book. 😂

https://instagram.com/p/C-9FAoLsys7/

In the Garden 🌱

I was feeling so much better this week (aside from the ironing) we even took a stab at weeding the front garden. You can see how overrun with grass it is, but we made a bit of progress around the herbs. We really need more perennial plants in here to help hold the space against the grass.

Digital Foraging 🍁

Some bits and bobs I’ve collected for you this week.

• “When her baby wouldn’t stay without the mother, she brought the child onto the dance floor, and they danced together.” (Source)

• Why Star Trek’s Graphic Design Makes Sense

• Adam Savage’s Favorite LEGO Brick

• Plans to make a rotating book stand (a la Thomas Jefferson).1

Also…

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This time last year…

I interviewed on my (erstwhile) podcast!

I don’t have capacity to podcast very often, but I’m so glad I made time for this. I’ll be dusting off my podcast microphone next month so watch this space. If I only podcast once a year that’s once more than never.

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This newsletter is a curated collection of tidbits from my overgrown Compost Heap (or digital garden.) You’re welcome to rummage around, turn the heap, and see what you can find for yourself. 🪱🐛🌱

---

The Compost Heap is free to all. Thanks for exchanging your time and energy. If you’re feeling particularly generous here are other ways you can lend your support.

• Leave a comment (it’s free!)

• Buy my book.

• Forward this email to a friend.

• Restack or recommend on Substack.

• Pledge $3+ on Patreon (or upgrade to paid) for a letter from me each month.

---

The Internet is like a tin can telephone. It’s magic when someone talks back. I’d love to hear from you. 

What are you reading? What are you making? What are you finding inspiring?

Let’s chat in comments.

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From the Compost Heap illustrations by Gracie Klumpp of Leave the Fingerprints. 🐞

1

I was a preteen when I saw this at Monticello and the idea of reading multiple books at once was instantly captivating. Having that experience this week made me remember the book stand – and I’d much rather make my own than pay $500 to the Jefferson estate.

August 23, 2024