WELCOME TO BE HERE NOW
A monthly newsletter during the whole year of 2022 where I share creative practices and processes.
Welcome To Be Here Now is a monthly newsletter where I’ll be sharing practices and processes. Many of the things I often keep to myself (and the depths of my archive), waiting for the right moment or to have enough time to polish them. I’ll be focusing on ditching my perfectionism and connect with those who connect with what I do.
There will be 12 newsletters, released every full moon of 2022.
Why every full moon? As reminder to stay connected. Also, the full moon is a time for culmination and fruition, surrender and release.
There will be 12 newsletters, released every full moon of 2022.
Why every full moon? As reminder to stay connected. Also, the full moon is a time for culmination and fruition, surrender and release.
WHAT
Monthly newsletter
Practices
Self Initiated
WHEN
2022
Monthly newsletter
Practices
Self Initiated
WHEN
2022
SUBSCRIBE
JANUARY - FEBRUARY
40 days of drawing
I started the year with 40 days of drawing. Just like morning pages, the practice consists in drawing 3 (A5) pages first thing in the morning for 40 days. I created a few prompts which allow me to be consistent, yet present every morning. The sense of continuity of the practice is something really worth trying. It keeps me focus, and it helps me to create resilience and flexibility in my creative practice overall.
FULL PROJECT HERE
all 120 drawings
MARCH
Mundane Magic
An on-going series of open ︎︎ meditations
As reminder to pause
As a reminder of simple beauty - all around
Staring at what simply happens in front of us.
In depth.
Until hypnotized,
Nothing and Everything.
As reminder to pause
As a reminder of simple beauty - all around
Staring at what simply happens in front of us.
In depth.
Until hypnotized,
Nothing and Everything.
FULL PROJECT HERE
Contemplation is underrated, but in my opinion it is an art form and a practice.
As well finding beauty in the mundane. Mundane Magic is an on-going series
focused on the practice of contemplation.
Regardless of how you might, or might not connect with it I wish
they remind you, to tune in with your own sense of contemplation to find
moments of magic for yourself in these uneasy and unpredictable times.
APRIL
STONE SKIN
WIP photo series.
This is a work in progress series. The images were captured while staying in Lanzarote over 3 weeks earlier this year.
Partly captured in an exercise of contemplation. Partly captured in an exercise of portraiture of nature, stones and myself (within this environment). Lanzarote brought my imagination to an utopian world. Warm and wild, dry and empty. There are almost no trees, almost no agriculture crops. Very few people. There are volcanos, and lava stones everywhere. I see them as sculptures, and in this world art can be experienced with all our senses, we can smell it and touch it. There are so many stones that I now connect to them as living organisms. I wonder if they can feel, breath, think? They must, I believe. Can they shape-shift into another body, being? And over time, as I walk over them, can we transfer our bodily qualities into one another? As I sit and lie endless hours on them, I get their heat, even the marks of their shapes on my body. What do they get from me, I wonder? Can our bodies merge into something new? What would that look like? A new skin, stone skin.
This is a work in progress series. The images were captured while staying in Lanzarote over 3 weeks earlier this year.
Partly captured in an exercise of contemplation. Partly captured in an exercise of portraiture of nature, stones and myself (within this environment). Lanzarote brought my imagination to an utopian world. Warm and wild, dry and empty. There are almost no trees, almost no agriculture crops. Very few people. There are volcanos, and lava stones everywhere. I see them as sculptures, and in this world art can be experienced with all our senses, we can smell it and touch it. There are so many stones that I now connect to them as living organisms. I wonder if they can feel, breath, think? They must, I believe. Can they shape-shift into another body, being? And over time, as I walk over them, can we transfer our bodily qualities into one another? As I sit and lie endless hours on them, I get their heat, even the marks of their shapes on my body. What do they get from me, I wonder? Can our bodies merge into something new? What would that look like? A new skin, stone skin.
[In the Past] My body carried stones inside for some years, many years ago. The repercussions of that invasion were rather traumatic, they stayed locked in my cognitive memory till not too long ago, and weight deep in my physical body for way too long.
[In the present] Perhaps it is time to befriend those stories and let my body be, free of fear. T.B.C.
FULL PROJECT HERE
MAY
THE IN BETWEEN
Reflection + Website release
The In Between. A place I had struggled with in the past. In between interests, in between jobs, in between roles and skills... At times, The In Between was addressed to me as a place that is not professional or serious enough to be considered. With that, I felt confronted and often lost, in a space that is not black or white. But over time, I made peace with external opinions and realised that The In Between is actually the place that I feel most identified and comfortable with.
That's what is at the core of this new website.
The In Between. A place I had struggled with in the past. In between interests, in between jobs, in between roles and skills... At times, The In Between was addressed to me as a place that is not professional or serious enough to be considered. With that, I felt confronted and often lost, in a space that is not black or white. But over time, I made peace with external opinions and realised that The In Between is actually the place that I feel most identified and comfortable with.
That's what is at the core of this new website.
JUNE
VOYAGER WORKSHOP
In early June I had an experience that boosted my energy and made me reflect on the importance of collective practice. In the beginning of the month, I participated in a creative jam session organised by voyager.xyz. Voyager is a creator DAO for art, music and media. They focus on building a community based on resonance and creative practices.
This jam aimed to gather people (friends and friends of friends) who have a regular creative practice in different mediums. Think, poets, creative technologists, illustrators, coders, designers, film makers, XR, visual and multidisciplinary artists. The sessions were structured around several creative exercises, both individual and collective. The focus was in the processes and the conversations around it. The result will be published in what will be Voyager's first digital Zine. (I'll make sure to share it once is launched and I can assure you the result is already looking pretty incredible!)
We were all invited to be present and participate in the exercises with an open mind.
There were time constrains, even some technical ones, but the main prompt was stay connected throughout, with your practice and with your partners. The whole experience was truly inspiring! Seeing so many talented people coming together, often leaving their comfort zones and egos behind, for the sake of practicing.
Stepping into new territories and embracing unknown challenges in this creative process. It felt like most of us managed to communicate with each other fairly smoothly, even though we might all talk different languages or idioms.
As it started, I saw many surprised and even doubtful faces. As the sessions proceeded
I saw commitment and enthusiasm, and as we left, I saw big smiles and bunch of people feeling equally inspired by what they had experienced in those few hours.
To conclude, I realise that collectively we spend too much time around our own thoughts and ideas, practices and processes, but there is something really powerful when we come together willing to participate in something bigger than our own little universes. There's something profound and ritualistic about it that trigger my curiosity and makes
me want to gather in practice more often.
JULY
WATER COLOUR
| This month i write you from the warm Sicily where I have been spending the past few weeks. I am working, but I get to go for a swim after work most days and that has been a precious ritual. Salty water, warm sun, love it s much! |
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When I look at these images I see something really different form anything I would ever do myself, I don't know exactly what to think about it. Part of me feels challenged by it, almost uncomfortable, but also super curious and excited. Putting the results in the side, I feel quite humbled by this process, as well by my naive approach to it initially. I am grateful for finding a half ground with someone else (thanks my love!), for dissolving the ego, let go of expectations and embrace something new and unexpected!
AUGUST
SICILY RECAP
Thank you all for the warm feedback last month, it is always so nice to hear from you!
I returned to Amsterdam where I kept exploring with water colour. It expanded as a little ritual, mainly when I am outdoors, in nature, sometimes as a side for breakfast.
Working with colours feels definitely like shifting gears. Using a palette that I am not a huge fan of reminds me of an important principle I like to keep in mind in most projects
I get to work on (big or small, commercial or self initiated), work with what you have, work with what is. Despite how hard I try and work to define and create best case scenarios, we all know of the never ending constrictions and out of our control factors that often deviate the focus on a project. Work with what you have had became a bit of a mantra over the years. And do your best with it at that particular moment in time.
While in Sicily, for the first time in a very long time, I was out of colour film (to shoot). I had with me only 2 rolls of b&w film. So again, shifting gears. I am really not used to shoot b&w, never felt particularly driven to investigate it, but somehow that was what I had, so I embraced it for what it is and shot few images. I am not sure what i will do with the images, not sure if i can use some of them as part of a series, but for now that is not important.
I rather focus on being flexible and adjust to what happens and what I make happen, as I go.
Enjoy the rest of your summer and enjoy (whatever) processes you are going through!
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SEPTEMBER
THOUGHTS
This month the newsletter will take a slightly different shape. Rather than a practice or a process, i'll share some thoughts. It won't necessarily reflect on a creative outcome, at least not yet. In a few weeks we will be transitioning into Autumn. I am always amazed on how seasons come and go, and how nature dictates so much change around and within us.
More than ever this year I am observing the seasons and its changes with different eyes, and an extra pinch of curiosity. As I carry a little human inside me, I observe myself and
my body naturally shifting, adjusting and transforming gradually over the past 6 months.
These changes remind me of the seasons and its natural process of death, renewal and transition.
In the process of pregnancy, I have been thinking a lot of how we - humans, get to experience such distinct emotions and events in one lifetime. Ups and downs, and polar opposite sensations and states of being/feeling, at times simultaneously. Lately, I have been often reminded that despite fragmentation, compartmentalisation or illusion, we are really all of it.
The messy, absurd, mysterious, unpredictable, ugly, unbalanced, plenty, complex, magic, ecstatic big picture. A place where life and death, love and grief, pleasure and pain continuously dance together, not necessarily in a reasonable or logic way.
I recently read Walk Through Walls, by Marina Abromovic, which i loved and really recommend. I was struck by a Bruce Neuman' statement cited in the book “Art is a matter of life and death”. In a way this might sound extremely dramatic, but I agree.
Art is a matter of life and death and everything in between. A vehicle to express all the above.
Over the past months i have been sharing bits and pieces, different practices, ideas, projects. The idea has been always to share the process and its importance. Moving forward i am really curious and excited to start bringing all the fragments
together, as one.
OCTOBER
SLOW DOWN
The past month has been a busy one. Life and work intertwined. Autumn arrived as I am getting bigger by the day. Nature is asking me to slow down, but I have been finding difficult to do so. My body is getting slower, but my head keeps moving fast, wishing and wondering about all the things I would like to get done, on top of the ones I am already doing. The perfectionist in me can't help but feel that all it is, is not enough, but as I stop myself I know that is just the mind chatter I need to shut, a trait i know fairly well.
Exactly 10 years ago i was embarking on what was the biggest adventure I've been in,
by then. Moving to Australia for what would have been a year away from the routine in Amsterdam/Europe. Away from endless screen hours everyday, on a rush and a constant run for the next opportunity to get work in the creative industry in Amsterdam, away from what 'I was supposed' to be doing. Moving to Australia for year reflected the need to spend more time in Nature, wanting to discover a new culture, in a new continent, in a different hemisphere, being exposed to a new and distinct lifestyle. Little I knew how much the 2 years, I ended up staying down under, would have impacted my life, my perspective in the world, values and priorities.
Exactly 10 years ago i was embarking on what was the biggest adventure I've been in,
by then. Moving to Australia for what would have been a year away from the routine in Amsterdam/Europe. Away from endless screen hours everyday, on a rush and a constant run for the next opportunity to get work in the creative industry in Amsterdam, away from what 'I was supposed' to be doing. Moving to Australia for year reflected the need to spend more time in Nature, wanting to discover a new culture, in a new continent, in a different hemisphere, being exposed to a new and distinct lifestyle. Little I knew how much the 2 years, I ended up staying down under, would have impacted my life, my perspective in the world, values and priorities.
The first period in Australia was strange, in many ways. One of the things that stroke me the most was realising that concepts like 'what is supposed to be done' were inexistent. The pace was overall slower and most people around me allowed themselves to exist in tune with what their real needs were. More in tune with seasons and nature. I started to understand contemplation as a practice, I started to contemplate and allowed myself to slow down, to tap into what really made sense for me.
While I look back with gratitude (and a hint of nostalgia), I remember myself that is okay not to be doing all I thought 'I was supposed to be doing' right now - I remember of how silly that concept is.
Looking back at memories (through photos) of those two years brings me a big smile! I hope it does to you too. Or at least, that it reminds you, that sometimes the biggest accomplishment is being able to slow down - and be okay with it.
These 'down' moments are also essential for creative productivity.
While I look back with gratitude (and a hint of nostalgia), I remember myself that is okay not to be doing all I thought 'I was supposed to be doing' right now - I remember of how silly that concept is.
Looking back at memories (through photos) of those two years brings me a big smile! I hope it does to you too. Or at least, that it reminds you, that sometimes the biggest accomplishment is being able to slow down - and be okay with it.
These 'down' moments are also essential for creative productivity.
NOVEMBER
2D to 3D
As the year gets close to an end, I reflect on this newsletter. How it started, how it has been challenging me, as well fulfilling me over the past 11 months. It's been a great adventure and I am grateful for each of you for being there, participating in this adventure with me. I am starting to look ahead, and still unsure what will happen next year. I would love to continue, but perhaps in another format. I will surely share that with you whenever that is clear to me!
For now will talk a bit about practice. The continuity I aimed at, at the beginning of this challenge has been somehow not so continuous as i wished, definitely not linear or consistent. In the process of documenting and sharing, I have tried to let go of my self criticism and find the the small things that belong to the bigger picture. At times felt really scattered, but I am working on bringing that all together. Then at times, I surprise myself when i realised that even if scattered a lot of these smaller practices already belong to something bigger than each of them individually. It's a nice reminder.
Last month I started a ceramics course, something I wanted to do for years, but never had the chance until now. A new medium, practice, process, approach, all at the same time! It has been mainly a tactile and physical experience which I have been approaching with instinct, not much though behind what i am doing. Trying to figure it as i go and loving it. Part meditation, part play. Last week for the first time I sketched something, imaging what I wanted to build. As i sketched a few things, I suddenly realised that those shapes were part of the shapes I sketched earlier this year, during the 40 days of drawing.
Surprising, not surprising. Realised that they are also connected to a little project i started during the lockdown, when i created a limited edition of hanging embroidery flags with some of my drawings. One of these projects I never shared anywhere, waiting to know what i would like to do it. Perhaps sell them? But again it felt so much work if i would wanted to put this objects out in the world. This is the the moment - still not knowing what will I do with them. 2d lines becoming 3d objects, the ceramics course reminded me of how good is to make things with our hands.
DECEMBER
GRATITUDE
When i started this newsletter it was important for me to align my purpose with something bigger than itself, to use this space (also) as a reminder of the natural cycles that affect us all.
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When i started this newsletter it was important for me to align my purpose with something bigger than itself, to use this space (also) as a reminder of the natural cycles that affect us all.
The full moon is a time for culmination and fruition, surrender and release. In this last full moon of the year, as I practice surrendering and while waiting for the biggest release,
I am reading and finding so many connections to my initial purpose on starting this project.
The gemini full moon is a time of playful, communication and creative energy.
This full moon is an opportunity to work through any need to be perfect.
Being stuck in perfection can limit your creative potential. Experimentation is a great antidote, because it's about discovering what works - without being overly attached to an outcome.
Trying new things in a great way to activate your inner genius. Try not to be too hard on yourself .
This full moon is an opportunity to work through any need to be perfect.
Being stuck in perfection can limit your creative potential. Experimentation is a great antidote, because it's about discovering what works - without being overly attached to an outcome.
Trying new things in a great way to activate your inner genius. Try not to be too hard on yourself .
I leave you with that, hoping that it reminds you to be kind on yourself while pursuing your endeavours, redefining purposes, and ultimately moving forward evolving in every step along your way.
Much Love & Gratitude!
Much Love & Gratitude!
