Hello hello!
I’m back to writing on my Substack, and this feels momentous for some reason. If you’re reading this and wondering what or who on earth this is, hello, this is Shub, and I’m resuming my Pockets of Stillness newsletter, from another platform.
“Not good enough”
First up, here’s a snippet from a blog post I wrote last week. If you feel stuck because you feel like your art (or anything else) isn’t good enough compared to someone else’s I hope this post will help you shift your approach, even a teeny bit. Incidentally, the post was born at the end of a gruelling workout.
In a matter of seconds, I went from feeling proud of pressing my highest weight so far, and also getting a personal best on my swings, to feeling like I wasn’t fit enough because, hey everyone else wasn’t as tired.
It was fascinating to watch how my mind jumped to making comparisons even though, my body had really pushed hard and performed at its best just a few minutes ago.
The joy of working with my hands
(TLDR: Making paper from egg cartons — great fun to do with kids)
I watched this delightful Instagram reel that uses egg cartons to make paper, and instantly knew that this is something my daughter (and I!) would enjoy trying out. And so we did. The process is fairly straightforward — tear up and soak the cartons (or any paper), pulp them in a food processor, and you can press the pulp to make paper.
We don’t have a mould and deckle (yet) so I looked for alternative tutorials and found one this one had clear and super helpful instructions on making paper with just a tray.
It was super fascinating to paint on too, and it made me think about the lifecycle of things. We had used an egg carton made from recycled paper, and to give that one more new lease of life just felt …..nice.
Also, I recently had a chance to see some work by the Korean artist Lee Hyun Joung, and I went looking for more of her work and saw this video of her making paper (Hanji) from mulberry pulp. This entire process feels like such a labour of love — the act of making the paper first, waiting for it to dry, and then making more art on it.
Besides making paper, I have continued to crochet, watching some beginner-friendly tutorials from Little Hive Crafts. I did some linocut carving and printing (with my super-enthusiastic and very directive child) and have been making more art in general. I’m enjoying exploring, experimenting, and making art that feels good to me. Not for my Instagram or the newsletter, but at the moment, just for myself.
Things I read that brought me delight
This lovely interview with Maria Popova of Brain Pickings. The part where she speaks about dealing with cynicism and despair that comes from self-comparison by “coming back to the source of your delight and the real rewards” really spoke to me.
Poems that spark joy in this lovely newsletter from The Alipore Post.
A book I finished recently: We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman. It’s a tender, funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking book on life and loss.
Thank you for reading. Until next time, dear reader, I hope you find plenty of sources of delight.
Love,
Shub