I need to winter
I don’t love winter
But I love wintering
I can store it for later
I can be more of an artist in my journal with my dog and coffee
I can hibernate
I can have a relationship with the unknown
My value is the freedom to be my own me
I don’t have hours
I do have heat now
I do have a sketchbook club
Stitching, reading poetry with random
people
This is my time
My slug time
What if I were making something just for me?
“I’ll do it in February”
But that is the shortest month
Being a creator, you create the life you want to live in
How do we show how beautiful it is?
So many little studios and tinkerers
We’ve got to make it if we want it.
This article appears in February 13, 2026.
Thanks so much for submitting this here! I’ve been thinking about your poem filled with quotes from our artist talk at the Gazette a couple weeks ago, and am so happy it exists where it can be read and shared.