Creative Fuel with Anna Brones

My shop is back open! // The fall edition of Creative Fuel Quarterly analog newsletter is coming later this month. Hello friends, After a little break, the newsletter is back. It was nice to have some time away from writing these weekly missives, but I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

Attempting a feather drawing. Did you miss out on the summer edition of Creative Fuel Quarterly analog newsletter? I have a few extra copies left if you want to snag one. // My online shop will be going on summer break on August 10th. Between now and then you can take advantage of the summer sale: 20% off all orders. Hello friends, I often come into August feeling like I do at the end of the busy holiday season in December: tired and dragging myself across the finish line.

Since it’s summer, you have permission to procrastinate. // And maybe you need some washi tape with vegetables to brighten your mood? Hello friends, A few weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing a potential project. “How would you scale that?” he asked. Isn’t it strange that we immediately opt for business and economics language? Thinking about how to scale something is in the same vein as the popular statement “you could sell that,” a response often offered when someone likes what you’ve made.

New washi tape in the shop! Do you need some that says "made with artist intelligence?” Yes you do. Hello friends, Last week at my local thrift store I found a true gem: a book titled 1001 Questions Answered About the Seashore. Published in 1957, not only are the questions great, but so is the typography and the illustrations.

Everything you need for a salty girl summer. Hello friends, The tides have been low this week, and a morning swim has required a trek. I prefer to swim at high tide when it feels like you’re in nature’s infinity pool. But these low tide mornings have other perks. Down the boat ramp, onto the slippery, muddy bits, a few pieces of broken shells and barnacles digging into the bottom of your feet. The exposed shore is strewn in sea lettuce, which glows a fluorescent green in the morning sun.

If you don’t have a Made with Artist Intelligence sticker yet, you probably need one. // Summer is the season for night swims. A while back a friend asked if I would be interested in going to Bellingham to see a live production of Phoebe Wahl’s book Little Witch Hazel with her family. I’ve loved Phoebe’s work for a long time and I am not going to turn down a cool art event that a toddler is excited about, so of course I wanted to go. Handmade puppets and set design as well as live music? Yes, please.

It’s the last weekend to sign up for the summer installment of my new analog newsletter Creative Fuel Quarterly! If you’re a paid subscriber, you have a discount code for 20% off the first year. Click here to find it. // It’s salty girl summer season. Hello friends, The summer solstice is tomorrow. I was chatting with a neighbor the other day and she said, “oh no, that means the light is going to start going away.” I laughed.

Thank you to Katherine May for having me on her podcast. // Do you need a must be nice seagull in your life? Hello friends, I finally decided to do it: launch an analog newsletter! Say hello to Creative Fuel Quarterly, a seasonal snail mail subscription. I have been thinking about doing this for a very long time. You may remember a couple of years ago I sent out an experimental analog newsletter. This one: Analog newsletter from three years ago.

Natural dyeing and block printing workshop update: the July 18th one sold out quickly, so we added another one on July 19th. Registration opens at 10am Pacific on Sunday June 7. // Thank you to Keris Fox for asking me all about creativity and MONEY! // And I sat down with Brendan Leonard for a fun interview. // The spiral is the process. Hello friends, My final book draft is due at the end of the month, and I am beginning to feel that intense energy that comes with an impending deadline.

Or: letting birds be birds. Papercut, Anna Brones, 2026 In the shop: night swimming, coffee sunrises, and sunflowers. Hello friends, I’ve spent the last few weeks in an ongoing standoff with the birds, who are hellbent on taking seedlings from the garden. I walk outside to inspect things, and inevitably, there it is: the beginning of new life, chomped off and left behind. Not even the decency to actually eat the thing. This has resulted in an assortment of failed attempts to keep the birds away.