Hi everyone!
Thanks so much for taking the time to vote in the polls last week! I’ll definitely be sharing more of my creative writing work: keep scrolling here, actually, for a poem in progress.
What does your writing notebook look like? 👀👀
It’s the Week of the Bee here in Flanders. As a beekeeper, I’m honour-bound to talk about pollinators and native plants.
Here are Central-European-specific gardening tips on what to plant now to help pollinators later as the year turns.
Milk Thistle (bonus: it’s edible)
Black-eyed Susan
Echinacea (purple coneflower)
Monarda (aka Bergamot aka Bee Balm. Talk about a personality crisis)
Elderflower (edible! And you can make wine out of it what’s not to love??)
Cilantro/Coriander (yes really! There are flowers! And all of this plant is edible)
Creeping Thyme (down with concrete, grow this everywheerrrreeee)
Zinnias (extremely helpful as the weather grows colder but, in my garden, at least I’ve never managed to keep them alive. Sunflowers: ditto)
You might have gathered from the picture above that I’m making this into a zine!
And of course, I’m working on a zine that has completely nothing to do with that monthly zine project aka @mozipro, an event I’ve been running for 3 or 4 years now with 600+ participants 😅 🌱 🌱 🌱
I’d like to make a sweeping statement and say THIS IS THE FIRST ZINE OF A SERIES but let’s just not. I’d rather not. I have a lot to say in this area of ‘expertise’ as it were, from my beekeeping background. So there probably will be more.
I’m not an expert. I’m just an info collector.
Some notes on zines:
Poetry in progress (plus a big note to self)
I’ve never shared drafts of my work before. It feels very…out of my comfort zone, but I’m glad to be showing my work.
For your eyeballs: an art journal spread
Thoughts: do you dare to investigate your fears? What happens when you do?
If you’re wondering what I mean by art journaling, I see it as a personal, private process where you have total freedom to experiment with different media and techniques until you create something that speaks to you.
There’s no right way or wrong way when it comes down to it: just follow your artistic instincts. You don’t even have to show it to anyone. I certainly don’t share all my pages or spreads.
I think I love art journaling too because the ‘anything goes’ feel of it is very close to zine-making. If you’d like to peruse a related explainer: Art journaling: what, how and why.
Reminder: Shop zines & weavings under a pay what you want model. Shop here.
Thanks so much for taking the time to work with me on this! ádh agus grá, & tot de volgende,
Jessica
I LOVE seeing your writing and creating notebooks Jessica! And a huge YAY to to you and your poem! I really look forward to and appreciate your inspiring shares each week, thank you!