A door into September

Plus an inspiring interview with one of my favourite illustrators

Dearest Friend,

I have been thinking a lot about doors lately.

We have decided to replace our front door, which is a lovely solid wood door of undetermined age. Instead, we want a door with mullioned windows in the panels, which will allow the morning sunshine to stream into our front room. Currently, the old door is still in the doorframe, and the new door is lying on the floor in our living room, waiting for its last coat of paint. We have chosen a colour called “gallant grey” which is a little bit grey, and a little bit blue, depending on the lighting.

The month of September is a bit like a door, isn’t it? The autumnal equinox is a door that opens to a new season, when the light wanes and we long for cozy evenings and long books.

But September is also a door to new beginnings: a new school year, new school supplies, new hopes and dreams. New challenges.

Did you know that January is named after the Roman god Janus? Janus was the god of gateways, doorways, and beginnings and endings. He is always depicted as a head with two faces, each face looking in the opposite direction. When one starts something new, one looks forward to what is coming, but also backwards to what has already gone before.

I often think of September as a second January. We are so lucky to get so many opportunities for fresh starts in life. Each day is a new beginning.

What sorts of doors are you facing at the moment? I hope your doors will swing easily on their hinges, not squeak, and have well-oiled locks. I mean that literally, and also metaphorically.

Sending virtual hugs,

Jane

P.S. Please hit the heart to send some love my way!

P.P.S. This is a long-ish email with lots of good things in it. If it gets clipped in your inbox, just click “View entire message”.

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Follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they

were going to be.

-Joseph Campbell

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September Sketches

I’m using up every pencil before I buy any new ones. When they’re really short, I put them into pencil extenders.

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A Creativity Interview with Candace Rose Rardon

Note: I “met” Candace a few years ago on social media and we immediately became kindred digital-friends. We both love recording the world around us by drawing and journaling. Her newsletter, Dandelion Seeds, is full of deeply meaningful observations of the little things in life that are so magical, but that we are apt to miss because we are too busy to see them. Whenever I read one of her posts, I am reminded to take a deep breath and enjoy the present moment.

1. What is your favourite hot drink?

I adore tea and coffee (so much so that I’ve written books about them both!), but if I had to choose between them, my favorite hot drink would be an oat milk latte – it’s comforting, it’s creamy, and it always has a way of helping me come home to myself.

2. Do you have any creative routines? Things that you do regularly to keep your creative muscles strong, or before you start a creative session?

After I gave birth to my first daughter in 2022, I went months without picking up a paintbrush. Finally, when Elena was nine months old, I was longing to rediscover my creative rhythms as a new mom, so I started a newsletter here on Substack – it’s called Dandelion Seeds, and I share a new illustrated essay every Tuesday.

I love holding myself to a weekly publishing schedule, because it keeps my creative muscles strong, and it keeps me active as both a writer and an artist. Every post is like a mini-workout for both of my favorite creative practices.

3. Planning your life: do you use digital devices for schedules and to do lists, or paper, or a mix? (all of our brains organize things differently!)

I am very much on Team Paper! 

For me, there’s nothing more satisfying than sweeping my pen across the page as I tick off another item from my to-do list. It’s such a tangible way of celebrating small wins and keeping myself going throughout the day – or through a creative project – that just doesn’t feel the same on my phone.

4. Are there any paintings, poems, books, songs, movies or shows that you return to repeatedly for inspiration?

When it comes to inspiration, there is no one I turn to more than the late poet Mary Oliver – both for her beautiful depictions of the natural world, and for her poignant insights into the world within.

I often include a Mary Oliver quote on my sketches, and at the start of many of my illustrated essays for Dandelion Seeds.

In case any of your readers haven’t come across her before, I would say three of my favorite poems of hers are “The Summer Day,” “Morning Poem,” and “Sometimes,” which includes this beautiful passage:

“Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”

5. Where in the world are you based? Does your location influence your work?

It absolutely does. I first set out to become a travel writer, and even though that isn’t my main focus as a writer now, place will always have a big role in what I create.

My husband Jose is from Uruguay, and we lived in the country’s capital, Montevideo, for seven years together. Then, just a little over one year ago, we moved to the city of Antwerp in northern Belgium.  

While the impetus for our move was a new job for Jose, our new home has also been a source of fresh inspiration in my own work. I’ve loved getting to know the natural world around Antwerp – from hearing blackbirds sing in our local parks, to spotting the first bluebells and crocuses during our first spring here.

Some days, it feels like I can’t go for a walk without getting another new idea for an illustrated essay, and I’m grateful to have such inspiration on my doorstep. 

6. Do you have any favourite supplies to work with? (writing supplies, art supplies, music supplies, craft supplies, apps…?)

Acrylic inks! After painting only with watercolors for years, I started teaching myself acrylics – specifically, Daler-Rowney’s FW Acrylic Inks – during the pandemic, and I immediately fell in love with them.

They have all the fluidity of watercolors, but with the opacity and vibrant colors that acrylics offer. For me, they bring the best of both mediums together, and they especially help me capture water and skies in a way that I never quite could with watercolors.

My journey with acrylic inks has reminded me of how something as simple as trying out a new medium can open up a whole new world for us creatively.

7. Do you keep a journal? Or a notebook in which to jot inspiration and ideas? If so, do you write by hand or on a device?

I have a favorite kind of notebook I’ve been using for years. I usually go through one every three months or so, and I’ve filled more than twenty of them now!

I literally call it my ideas notebook, and I fill them with everything from to-do lists to essay ideas to the occasional journal entry. Just as I prefer to use paper for planning, I love looking back through old notebooks and having a tangible record of how my stories and projects have evolved.

8. Do you have a dedicated space for your creative work? Or not? (Sometimes the kitchen table can be the most creative place in the house!)

I couldn’t agree more about the many wonderful uses of a kitchen table. In our old apartment in Uruguay, there wasn’t enough room for me to have a desk, so one side of our big dining room table became my dedicated workspace – and it’s where Dandelion Seeds itself was born a year and a half ago.

Once we moved into our new home in Belgium, I was delighted to realize that I could fit a desk into our bedroom. As much as I love how the simple act of opening up our laptop or setting out our paints can transform any table into our studio for the day, there is also something magical – and even a little sacred – about having a space to create that is ours and ours alone. 

9. What do you do when you feel creatively blocked? Do you have any tricks that help to jump-start your creative soul?  

Whenever I’m in need of a fresh start creatively, the best thing I know to do is to step away from what I’m working on, and better yet, take a walk – it’s amazing how much a little fresh air can help you find a fresh sense of perspective and excitement about what you’re working on. But this can also be the hardest thing to do.

Before I became a mom, I would often spend all day working on a story or illustration. I loved all those long, uninterrupted hours, but it also meant that if I was feeling blocked or stuck on a project, it was hard for me to “admit defeat” and take a break — and that can be so crucial in figuring out what isn’t working.

I’m now a full-time mom of two little girls under three, and the windows of time I have for working are much shorter — usually during naptime or after the girls are in bed. But I’ve been really surprised by how much these new rhythms are working for me, because breaks are much more built into my days now and I’m often able to get the perspective I need.

I’ll be out on a stroller walk or giving my daughters a bath when suddenly the solution I’m in need of — whether it be the right ending for an essay, or an idea for a new illustration — will just come to me, much more naturally than if I’d been sitting at my desk, simply waiting for it to arrive.

10. What advice would you give yourself if you could travel in time to visit your younger self?

The first thing that came to mind when I read this question was another poem by Mary Oliver. It’s called “Don’t Worry,” and it’s very short (the whole poem is just three sentences), but I wish someone had shared it with me when I was younger:

Things take the time they take. Don’t worry.

How many roads did Saint Augustine follow before he became Saint Augustine?

At the beginning, there were so many things I wished would happen faster — things like finding my voice as a writer, getting better at watercolors, and feeling like I was “getting somewhere” on my winding professional journey.

But as Mary says so beautifully, I really have come to believe that things take the time they take, and that’s brought me a lot of peace.

11. If someone doesn’t know your work, where should they start?

Right here on Substack! As I mentioned earlier, I have an illustrated newsletter called Dandelion Seeds. Every essay is hand-lettered and hand-painted, and I hope it brings a bit of beauty and wonder to your inbox.