EDITOR'S LETTER: DECEMBER 2025

I love it when new experiences bring back specific memories. Over the past few months, there were two experiences that made me pause and reflect.

The first was a metalsmithing workshop I took at UW-Milwaukee this past summer, where I learned how to etch on metal using a process called acid etching. I used a photo I had taken of Lake Michigan as my design. Seeing the lake etched onto a piece of copper was exciting—it reminded me how calming it is to be near the water. When Iʼm in sync with its motion, I feel my mind begin to ease.

The other experience was going to my new studio to repaint the walls after a five-month absence. The repetitive motion of rolling white paint put me in a meditative state. The lack of Wi-Fi access also eliminated the need to check my phone, creating the perfect place to be alone with my thoughts. I find it interesting how life impacts our actions versus our actions impacting our lives.

In This Issue
Mindfulness is essential to our well-being. Whether we are walking through nature, turning off our phones, making a creative mess in the studio, and trusting our hand to make a mark on paper, we find ways to become joyfully lost in our thoughts. Enjoying the process defines the experience we will have.

In the elementary lesson “Painting Like Pollock,” Matt Mazur introduces his students to the abstract painter Jackson Pollock and his drip paintings. An abstract expressionist painter, Pollock centered his work on emotional output and being in the present. The energy, movement, and mark-making in his work reinforce the joy in the process of making art, regardless of the outcome.

Melody Weintraub’s lesson “Textured Assemblages” introduces her students to making three-dimensional forms out of clay. The tactility of the medium, getting the hands dirty, and the repetitive nature of slab-making and adding texture provide the perfect setting for engagement.

At the high-school level, in Debra Edgertonʼs “Patience, Purpose, and the Art of Seeing,” students learn to slow their active minds by channeling that energy into focused observation. Through blind contour drawing, they develop hand-eye coordination while blocking out distractions. The perfect backdrop to developing the mind’s eye is to build your spatial awareness and improve your sketching skills.

There was a point in our lives where we were selective as to what we decided to do with our time. This was a time when we took good care of ourselves. Today, we find ourselves going from school to Zoom meetings in the evening, meeting deadlines, while trying to make time to be creative and be social. I invite you to take a step back and find that special place where you can reset.