Nicole's Art Club Visit & Artist Zine

When I was in high school I was very uninterested in academics. At some point I fell behind and I was not able to advocate or speak up for myself and my needs. So I leaned into the things I was good at - art. I would ditch my other classes to hide away in the art room. If I couldn’t get out of class I brought my art supplies to them, which was some times enjoyed but mostly seen as a distraction. I grew up in a small town (my class size was less than 90) and luckily, eventually I graduated. For me art has always been safety - a way to express myself and escape. It has been years since I was in high school but I can still recall how I felt during those years.

Over the summer of 2024 I acquired lots of old plaster slip casting molds, which I decided to give away. While we live in a capitalistic society and some of these molds have value I find it much more exciting to find other ways of distributing them like trading or donating. During that time I met a few of our local art teachers and started chatting about their classes. I was eventually asked to meet with our high school’s after school art club. The opportunity to speak with young artists was such an honor especially as I remembered my high school years. Knowing that are time was limited I put together a handout or zine to hopefully provide some inspiration or at least share some thoughts. I hope that regardless of if these students pursue an art career they will at least find something helpful along the way and know that I am rooting for them.

Since we’re sharing, below you can check out some of the pages I included in the zine. Feel free to leave a comment with something that has inspired or helped you along your creative path.

~ No Ai was used in the making of this. Please be conscious of the energy and environmental impacts that Ai has ~