VISUAL ART
ISSUE 4 / JANUARY 2023
This is the One That Turns Out the Work by Lauren Broyles
Lauren is a self-taught analogue collage artist who enjoys hunting in thrift stores, antique marts, and used book sales for colorful images and ephemera for her work. In her daily art practice, Lauren incorporates feminist themes as well as juxtaposition, altered scale, metaphor, and elements of surrealism into her collages. She is the founder of the Pittsburgh Collage Collective, and you can find her work on Instagram at @soraya_and_daisy, where she often talks about the role her art plays in her identity as a woman in long-term recovery.
Diet Coke, my drink of choice. “Taste the feeling“ is an old Coca Cola slogan that has become my sobriety slogan, hence the name of this piece. It doesn’t take a drink to taste feeling, just the work and for me, that includes daily painting.
Taste the Feeling by Monica Mangan
“Set wide the window let me drink the day“ is a quote from a poem by Edith Wharton in “Artemis to Actaeon and More: Selected Verse” and the inspiration for this piece. Home sick with Covid, I was prolifically painting in my studio for a week with the most glorious sun shining in to my space. In my sobriety consciousness, I was acutely aware of the hard earned joy of maintaining a presence in the moment which was fueled by this light. Only by stripping away the dark layers can we begin to build new the bright patterns.
Drink the Day by Monica Mangan
Mix media
16 in triangle canvas
Acrylic paint, magazines, gold and silver foil.
My Groomer was a Cowboy by Colleen Gray
Double crown bezel wire encases this Solar Quartz Cabochon creating a necklace that embodies winter beauty. Even if things may seem dark. Look for the light and beauty. It's out there. Stay kind to yourself.
Solar quartz, like other quartz, is believed to enhance energy, bring emotional strength and uplift with great power. It improves the connection to spirit and harmony. Solar quartz is also said to be protective, purifying the spirit, mental state and physical well-being.
Winter Solar Quartz Necklace by Lost Flower Designs
Double crown bezel wire encases this Teal Labradorite Cabochon and adorned with a little sun charm. Through my sober journey I have been really drawn to the sun. Connecting with that energy has so healing.
Sun Labradorite Necklace by Lost Flower Designs
Double crown bezel wire wraps this Blue Teardrop Labradorite Cabochon then finished off with a moon charm. All three elements are so connected with each other making this creation such a powerful healing talisman.
Labradorite dispels negative energy, insecurity and fear, and enhances self-confidence
Moon Teardrop Labradorite by Lost Flower Designs
Matty Heimgartner (they/him) is a sober multimedia artist and writer from the San Francisco Bay Area. Their visual work has been shown in various galleries and fairs throughout the Bay, and published in Cerasus, Beyond Words, CreativPaper, and Artist Portfolio. Their nonfiction has been published in Reed Magazine, The Rromp, Beyond Queer Words, and Thanks Hun.
Dream Girl by Matty Heimgartner
Caroline Strong is a sober and self-taught artist in Tasmania, Australia. Her artwork is very diverse mainly using ink, and drawings range from landscapes, houses and gardens, botanicals, Australian native animals and the most popular…pet portraits!
So please enjoy…and ‘get lost’ in the beautiful world of Caroline’s creative mind and talent with C Strong Designs.
Find
A place to call home
The courage to be oneself naturally
Strength
Slow living
The positives
Forward focus
Sleep
Self control
Calmness
Tranquility
Enjoyment in your journey
Visualisation
Meditation
Beauty in nature
Abundance
Happiness
Hope
And
Peace within
Find by Caroline Strong
acrylic on canvas
40x30 in.
2022
“wood, water, mirror” is a reflection and meditation on the self-destructive part of the psyche that often shows up as addiction. I initiated this work with the intention of making peace with, listening to, and trying to understand that exiled entity. Within this theme is the idea of the cyclical nature of time, how we tend to circle back on our many selves, as well as how we can view aspects of these old selves in the same way we do ancestors.
By approaching even the most frightening, monstery parts of ourselves with reverence, patience and curiosity, we learn from them and heal. And any work we do in this way ripples beyond time and space, benefiting not only our present, future and those who follow, but also our past selves and even those who came before us.
The title, "wood, water, mirror" is simple and points to actual parts of the painting which are also common elements used in ritual. The multiple hidden “scars” and cursive-y scrawls beneath the upper layer of paint signify the concealed or cut-off aspects of the psyche and the worldly self, respectively. The layers, used in combination, suggest the reunion of the exiled inner parts with the person in the present. Ultimately, the very top layer—the revelation—simply could not exist without the underlay of wounds, “mistakes,” confusion, and time spent utterly lost.
Wood, Water, Mirror by Alyson Khan
Lala is a Welsh tattoo artist of 11 years and lifelong illustrator specialising in freehand and custom tattooing at her private studio in South Wales. She has created design work for musicians and companies such as Red Bull and Skindred. Lala is also an LGBTQIA+ intersectional feminist and writer, publishing blogs about her life and experiences as a sober Autistic business woman and abuse survivor, living with complex PTSD, Hypermobility, Fibromyalgia and inattentive ADHD.
The Spoon Theory is a term used by numerous disability groups such as neurodiverse and chronic illness communities. It uses spoons as a visual way to explain how much energy someone has throughout the day. Each action causes us to hand some spoons over in payment. For most people, they can rest and recover with a seemingly unlimited supply of spoons. However, there are others who only have a set number to last them the whole day, and once your spoons are gone, they’re gone!
I hid that I was struggling for 30 years. What I wanted to do and what I was able to do never matched up, but I tried so hard to fight it and live each day as “normally” as I could. I would make excuses, pretend I was busy etc. I would use drink and drugs to make social events more bearable, especially if I was out of spoons for the day. It would deplete me of spoons for days afterwards and leave me feeling worse than ever, needing to repeat the cycle in an attempt to feel better.
I got sober at 30. I found out I was Autistic at age 31 and diagnosed with lifelong Fibromyalgia at 33. Getting sober paved the way to so many answers as to why I’ve struggled so much my whole life. I’ve had to radically change things to be a healthier fit for me. I’m now happy to say I’m disabled and proud, and 5 years sober and counting. Save your spoons to save your life!
Save Your Spoons by Lala Inky
My abstract analog collage work is an exercise in conjuring beauty from found materials such as old books, magazines and photographs, that I primarily find at estate sales and thrift shops. I’m drawn to upcycling materials already in existence, because it’s a reminder to me that you can take whatever you have been given and create something beautiful.
Ride The Waves by Maggie Reuter
Chronic pain has plagued me off and on over the duration of my life. This piece of artwork was a somatic exercise to reflect my body from the inside out. Sobriety has exaggerated the awareness of these sensations. Drawing helps.
Heat in Lung by Carol Hamilton
The first submission of 'Heat in Right Lung' represents the heat/emotional distress experienced in the right lung/liver. I have drank alcohol to deflect processing emotions for the better part of my life. I grab a colored pencil instead of a drink. This piece is an attempt to somatically meditate on cooling the body, slowing things down.
Committing to Cool Down by Carol Hamilton
My new project is called Scribing for a Better World. I scribe conversations in real time around social justice, peace processes, power and transformation. While people speak (in events, conferences, meetings) I listen and draw visual 'notes'. These can be used during the dialogue to promote reflection and discussion or afterwards as a reminder or promotional material.
This creative blossoming is the love child of sobriety. I am able to listen, focus and be present more than I would have imagined in the past. It is this presence that allows me to create real time art of stories that matter.
Scribing for a Better World by Alexandra Plummer
