Fourth Year Art Nun Renewal

How The Art Nun Journal Was Born

In the late autumn of 2022, I began developing a monthly, online, arts-oriented journal/blog titled Art Nun of Central Washington, which highlights positive-spirited “alternative views” that I and many other artists and writers have offered to the world as antidotes to the negativity and shallow commercialism that fill our daily lives. 

As I’ve mentioned previously in the journal’s opening post, The Artist’s Purpose, I initially questioned what the real value might be in taking time to focus on art, nature, and gardens, in the face of overwhelming inequity, political upheaval, conflict, sorrow, and the possibility of the earth's destruction due to our own selfishness and ignorance. 

Little by little, I began to attune myself to the idea of incorporating a state of balance that would allow me to contribute to my civic responsibilities as a world citizen (voting, community service, advocacy for those who promote the Greater Good, etc.), while still preserving—through artistic expression—my connection to the deeper, restorative layers of the human psyche that keep my spirit alive.

In response to this challenge, I’ve made it my daily practice to set aside time to truly examine and celebrate the small and often unappreciated miracles that exist all around us in nature. This awareness has taken many forms, some of them quite unusual by most of humanity’s conventional standards: 

During the hot, dry summer months when the garden pollinators struggle for survival, every morning I fill empty containers with crushed ice to deposit in the shallow, rock-lined dish where the bees, non-aggressive wasps and birds congregate to drink and bathe. They always arrive when I call to them out loud in my familiar, friendly, sing-song voice:

Hello little friends, it’s that time again time to soothe your bodies and souls with some fresh, cold water!!

As a dedicated gardener, I’ve also developed additional strategies for ensuring the success of my garden’s plantings. After years of careful observation, I began to recognize the emerging leaf patterns of volunteer plants that spontaneously emerge on their own schedule. Many of these plants are sunflowers, whose seeds were dropped by birds as they foraged in the leaves and flowers. I’ve always been careful to leave these plants alone to mature, so the birds would have something to eat when early winter arrives.

In the close-up silent video below, an industrious honeybee completes her job of pollinating a volunteer sunflower:

Since so much of the earth’s environment continues to be threatened and erased by human-generated “progress,” I’ve made it my calling as the Art Nun to set aside time to celebrate the small miracles of growth that exist all around us. I still continue this practice on a daily basis to invite beauty, depth, subtle humor, attention to detail, and patience into both my writing and visual art applications. I hope that from this example, others may choose a similar path of thoughtful appreciation of the earth's wonders.

My Fourth Art Nun Anniversary

Today’s Fourth Year Anniversary of my Art Nun journal also marks the 60th post I’ve created for this journal since its beginning in 2022. As you explore and enjoy all the insights that my journal offers, I hope you’ll come away feeling uplifted and enlightened by its wide-ranging research, the reverent attention I give to nature, a variety of true stories, and occasional behind-the-scenes profiles of extraordinary “knowns” and “unknowns” from all walks of life.

I thank all my readers for your interest and support. I also want to extend a special thank you to my patrons for your monthly and annual contributions.

You can participate in this journal’s purpose by writing me with suggestions for subjects that may be suitable for future posts. If you know someone who might be interested in reading my journal, send them a link to your favorite post. You can even give them a gift subscription.

And now, onward to Year Five!

Sandra Dean, Visual Artist
Tieton, Washington USA