An introduction to the blog.
The theme of 2023: Running through my fears like…
Hello, it’s me Sam.
I’m so freakin’ happy you found your way here!
Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE a great story. Where did you come from? Where are you heading? Who are you now? Who were you then? What gives you LIFE?
I think that as a species we have been designed to tell stories of our travels, life lessons, hopes, highest highs and lowest lows. When we listen to the stories of those who have gone before us, those who are slogging through life alongside us or leaving our stories behind for the ones following our footsteps, I think we become interconnected with not only each other but with the world around us in a deeply impactful way.
When I sit down with someone and get to hear honest and open stories about all they’ve been through and all that they’re dreaming of being, I can’t help but connect with not only that person’s true essence, but also myself in a way I never have before. Stories put us in the shoes of those who walk a different path than we have, they widen our own world view and show us that we are not alone in existing, even if we are each on our own unique path.
My story, is a winding road of self discovery.
I’ve been lucky enough to grow up in the mountains of Montana AND see so much of this incredible world we live in, within the USA and far across the pond.
With all the adventures I’ve been privileged enough to embark on, however, I would still say that I had always taken up a safe haven in my own smallness and fear of being seen since I was young enough to choose who I thought I might be.
I had a crippling fear that if I ever showed up as who I truly was, (or even tried to stand up just to see who that might be) I would find that it wouldn’t be enough, that I would prove to myself and those around me that I was insignificant, my deepest fears were right.
I’m telling this part of my story because I think that it is a tried and true experience that millions of people can relate to. Especially women. It’s a life long challenge I’ve worked through (and continue to work through) that is so easy to think that you are the only one on the outside fighting for your life, when in fact I don’t think I’ve ever talked about this struggle with anyone who has ever hesitated for even a moment to say “Oh my god, same.”
This winding road, has had the biggest impact on my art throughout my entire life, and will certainly continue to weave it’s way in and out throughout the rest of it.
Calling yourself “an artist” comes with it’s own club jacket embroidered with the words “IMPOSTER SYNDROME” in bright red letters all across the back. Let alone putting something out into the world that feels like it came directly out of your true being and heartspace to be judged, accepted, loved or rejected has been a constant feeling of fear and anxiety for me.
Over the last year, I’ve tried to really step into who I truly am and take ownership of what I create in a way I never have before. I’ve put my face on my social media, let people see some of my original art, started reaching out with local business owners and creating incredible relationships and partnerships. In looking at 2022 as a whole and giving myself the space and the clarity to see where I want to go in 2023, I realized that there was a lot of things I was making/hustling for/and forcing my business forward in that ultimately didn’t actually align with who I was or what I wanted The Grizzled Moon to even be or stand for.
What I realized was that I was rarely actually creating any original woodburned pieces, which of all the things I was making (earrings, prints, digital pieces, cards, glassware, mugs, stickers, candles etc.) was actually what I was connected to the most. This year I started walking back more products than I ever have, I’m grounding down in who I am as an artist and what The Grizzled Moon was always meant to be and slowly giving myself the space to let go what no longer gives me life, and make way for the things that truly align with who I am.
Woodburning artwork is a practice I was fascinated with from an early age.
When visiting my grandparents in Minnesota, I would spend hours with my Grandpa in his little wood shop carving little figurines, painting cutouts and woodburning my name and little details into the woodgrain.
Later on in life, when working for a summer camp in Colorado, I began playing with a woodburning tool that was in the woodshop onsite, burning different designs and carvings into whatever wood I had on hand.
From there it was like a reunion for me, memories of time spent with my Grandpa doing something we both loved came flooding back. After that, depicting my love for the wilderness in geometric designs and patterns with a woodburner in hand was inevitable.
My hope for this blog, is to share the stories that weave in and out of The Grizzled Moon.
Every piece I make has a story to tell, every high and low, every new face that comes through the studio, every new commission project that comes through, collection being crafted, art installation or event that heads to the calendar.
For the artist struggling to show up in their business, for the collector looking to find an original piece that connects to a piece of their wildness, for the one passing through curious about the process, and for myself honoring where I’ve been where I am and where I’m going by letting my stories take up space, we are all welcome here.
I hope you take with you what you connect with and leave behind what you don’t. Your wildness is meant to be here.
Stay wild moonchild,
Sam
