The good in progress

We’re now moving onto the next section of issue five; Progress.

Of course, we are introduced to the section with a beautiful artwork by Jennyfer Marie, then we get a perfectly written introduction to the meaning behind Progress. Sophia Smithwick, as you have seen me rave on about in previous posts, blessed us with her gorgeous pastel artworks again, but she also wrote an incredible and creative ode to the art of process.

You can see by the way she has written and edited this piece, that she has taken her time and sat with it to make it appealing to look at, as well as read. She takes a moment to pause, and reflect on the moments in between creating, calling it the ‘mid process gestation period’. She believes that taking your time with a piece of work is rooted in deep listening, or some people may call it /intuition/, then when the time is right, you will be called back to work on the piece further.

Newfound energy seems to carry the artwork forward, with a certain vitality that is well received - that potentially was lacking before - I call this type of pause amongst the creative process the ‘slingshot’.

Sophia is a deeply sensitive and in tune artist, feeling her way with her emotional intelligence and self-reflection. Through this deep understanding, and the spiritual guidance needed to take her to the right place at the right time, her artworks are a gentle and powerful reflection of her inner self.

You can find her work in numerous places, including her specially curated and creative Instagram @softworn2025 and her Substack Softworn.

As we get better at our main medium we tend to forget to leave room for experimentation - vital to our sense of wonder and imagination.

So, what should you do when you feel like things are getting stagnant and you need a push forward? Sophia suggests a notion she likes to call: medium pivoting.

Do: Have smaller projects to fall on in times when the IDEAL isn’t working. Utilising this time to create with less pressure is extremely healthy and usually ends up informing the greater work anyway.

Don’t: Be scared to use pauses throughout the process as ‘ambition rest stops’. Experimentation is a key part of helping your work stay alive to its potential evolutionary pathways.

Thanks for being here 💛
Danielle J. France
artist, writer, editor

Please note that mail is now being sent out every fortnight 🌷