Dearly beloveds,
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? In November I drafted a post called “My GRE Story,” but I was so discouraged that that was the only idea I could come up with, I had to take a break from the newsletter.
Now I want to share a few things I made in the past month or two and talk about what I’m excited to make this year. There are Five Things and A Painting at the end :)
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In November, I turned mine Oranges 09 into a video:
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At the end of November, I started virtually meeting with four friends every night for CAMP 2020, a program loosely based on the UVA Young Writers Workshop. Someone would announce a word and theme for the day, we’d all write or make something in response, and then share our work at the nightly reading. We did this every night for four or five weeks, and then it kind of dropped off during the holidays. It was a really nourishing and inspiring time (thank you Thea, Nora, Ginny, and Victoria).
Anyway, during CAMP I started this series of comics that were chaotic and fun to make, so I thought I’d share them here. You can click on the titles to view the comics as Google Slide presentations (higher quality).
#1 Adornment
#2 Employment
Those are the first two, and the third, Fulfillment, is right here.
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Right now, I’m most excited about making my own clothes and learning how to alter/draft patterns. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and I finally have a sewing machine and other resources that will enable me to do it. It’s hard for me to find clothes that are affordable, fit well, and have the kind of craftsmanship and design details that I like, so I’m hoping that I can solve these problems by making most everything myself. I’ve been reading books, watching tutorials, saving reference photos, and choosing the patterns I want to start with. My ultimate goal is to make a pair of pants that fit perfectly.
Five Things
A lil playlist I made: the first three songs are about 2020, the last three are entrance songs for 2021.
Participate in the Free Black Women’s Library 2021 Reading Challenge:
A recently published corner office interview with dear friend L Scully.
Learn about the solidarity economy framework with the Highlander Center this Saturday, January 9 from 4-6pm! Register here.
Some notable books I read in 2020: In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, Real Life by Brandon Taylor, Fairest by Meredith Talusan, and Luster by Raven Leilani.
What were your favorite books this past year? What are you looking forward to reading this year?
A Painting for Settling Into the Depths of Winter
Arnold Friedman, Snowscape (1926)
Thanks for being here ~ thanks for following along. I still don’t have a clear vision for this newsletter, but we’ll see where it goes this year. ♡ Ava