Reconnecting to the Creative Heartbeat Workshop | May 25, June 8 & June 15

I'm so excited to announce a new 3 part workshop/gathering open to all levels of creative from any medium all about uncovering and connecting to what sparks for you! Whether you're searching for inspiration or want to explore your creative self, these workshops make space for experimentation and compassionate growth, all with a goal of developing a piece/project to share at the final workshop.

These will be happening on Thursdays, starting May 25, and continuing on June 8 and June 15, outdoors at Gwynne Vaughan Park in Chilliwack. Cost is $100 per person, which includes all 3 workshops.

For more information, check out the event and to sign up visit the event page here: https://www.sarahsovereign.com/reconnecting-to-the...

GRIEF HOUSES | Narrative Photography Project

A photo of a house photo found in a thrift store

I’ve written and created a lot around grief - I always have. Sometimes I feel my gifts are grief: I carry the stories of my family, of the people who have passed, and I create vigils of art around their memories.

My first significant experience with loss was when I was 11 and my mom’s best friend passed away. She had been my babysitter growing up, I spent many, many days at her house, bugging her cat, having stand offs with her around finishing all the food on my plate (even when it was tuna with onions in it), and so many sun-filled days at the beach with her when our families would vacation together. I feel so lucky that decades later I can still remember her so clearly, so well - clear enough to hear her voice. I am almost the age now that she was when she passed. It’s a long time for the world to be without her. I wrote her a poem when I was 11, my tears staining the face of the doll she’d sewn me years ago - art was the way that I processed the enormity of something so big and so impossible. That pull to create art has been a gift.

Since then, I have experienced a significant amount of loss, and every single one is so different. Every one is sacredly held in the halls of my memory. Grief, like healing, is not linear. It ebbs and flows like rivers that flood and recede through the seasons. In my experience, in time, it gets easier: but the space that person left behind will always remain.

This project, “GRIEF HOUSES” is about that space. It’s about creating a portrait of the person who has passed by what they left behind. It aligns quite a bit to ideas I first explored in my thesis, an autoethnography about personal objects left behind and different losses: losses through death, and losses through dementia. It’s also a project that’s moving at it’s own pace: I imagine I’ll be creating and working with this theme over the next year and I’m being flexible both to the stories submitted and honouring my own energy as I unfold it.

If you’d like to participate in this project, I would so love to hear from you. You can submit through the Grief Houses submission form found here. I am especially looking for houses/spaces before they are packed up and sorted through, and while I would love to document a whole house, I’m also open to apartments, rooms (even in hospice), etc. All participants will need to sign a release to be a part of the project. If you’re unsure, please reach out anyways and we can see what’s possible.

If you want to support community projects like this, you can join my Patreon. Funds raised through Patreon go into projects like this and allow me to continue creating and keep participation barriers as flexible and open as possible.

One of my favourite photos: my grandparent’s sunlit living room after my Nan died, Aunt Dorothy sitting in Nan’s chair and my grandpa gently letting us all know we could leave anytime.

It’s a photo that’s full of grief, shifting rituals, a portrait of someone made up of their absence and what they’ve left behind.

I’ve been (slowly, so slowly) developing a project around houses & grief, and I’ve thought of this photo a lot as I do.

Kitten Party with ABC Cat Rescue Foster Kittens | Chilliwack Photographer

For your dopamine and mine, I went and photographed some sweet baby angles* that Audra is fostering for ABC Cat Rescue. ABC is a rescue that works within the Chilliwack community to care for & find homes for cats who need them. They have a Patreon if you want to sign up or more info on donating here - even a small amount per month helps keep the rescue going, and the work never ends - I’m so lucky our community has someone like Brittany and everyone else working through and with ABC!

If you’re inclined, also check out FCM Community Cat Trappers, who work with feral colonies of cats!

These kitties, Astra (grey, f, yellow collar “an all around gem”), Orion (black, m, green collar “playful and snuggly”), Lyra (grey, f, turquoise collar, likely not available, international treasure “flopsy and fluffy”), Nova (black, f, purple collar, “chill and affectionate”), Sirius (grey, m, blue collar, “independent, playful and cosmic cuddler”), Vega (grey, f, magenta collar, “sweet, quiet, & tiny with Nancy from Stranger Things vibes”)

*spelling intended, ifykyk

**shoutout to Luna, who looks salty af in so many of these images I LOVE HER

Audra Blossoms | Chilliwack Portrait Photographer

A sunlit dreamy day to take your bestie out to your favourite blossom tree. These gave us both major Bridgerton vibes, too. Yet another example of how springtime is the best time.