the brain talks to the hand

on making real things, spring ephemerals, and a podcast

May 09, 2025

Greetings, earthlings!

Here are three things I thought were worth sharing this week:

1. A blurb about making things by hand

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my desire to overhaul my morning routine to regain control of my life and work.

I spent all week dutifully reporting to my sketchbook at 6am. I drew with pen, pencil, and watercolor. Some of the stuff was good, most of it was bad. I didn’t look at my phone until 7/7:30/8am. Even my paid work this week involved making things by hand, getting covered in wood glue and paint.

This is the best I’ve felt in a long time.

Anyway, Austin Kleon shared this in his newsletter today and it resonated:

A professor recently wrote to me after reading my book Steal Like an Artist and asked me if I had any advice for young graduating artists.

Here’s what I wrote back, lightly edited:

“All the advice and encouragement I have is there in the book, but I would highlight one particular piece of advice, from my hero, Lynda Barry: ‘In the digital age, don't forget to use your digits.’ I believe that people in their generation would do well to learn the magic of making things by hand and how the hand talks to the brain as much as the brain talks to the hand. This is what the makers and users of artificial ’intelligence’ miss: human intelligence is an embodied intelligence.”

2. A favorite spring ephemeral

I spent yesterday jigsawing and sanding for hours and hours. At the end of the day, I was covered in sawdust, my feet hurt, and my body was exhausted.

I got out of the shower around 6:30 pm, grabbed my jammies, and imagined collapsing on the couch. Somehow, as if possessed by a spooky, benevolent Springtime spirit, I put on hard pants, got in the car, and drove to my favorite park to look for Jack-in-the-Pulpits.

Tired and weary, I was delighted to find one 30 feet from the parking lot and an inch off the trail:

My mission was complete, but just like the flowers I look for this time of year, this springtime delight is ephemeral. I let it propel me forward, knowing it wouldn’t be here much longer. I found many more Jacks and Jills, Red Columbine, Bellwort, Woodland Anemone, and hillsides covered in White Trillium. I took nerdy selfies with the flowers and sent them to my friends. I talked to myself in hushed whispers, I asked, “WHO ARE YOU?!” to bright magenta flowers I did not recognize. I was vibrating with joy.

You’ll never regret a walk in the woods.

3. An interview with Ira Glass about work and starting a family

I enjoyed this exploration of “loving” your creative work, the limitations of work, the idea of leaving a legacy in the form of work and/or children, the way priorities shift with age, the ways priorities shift as relationships shift… I don’t know, I just turned 36 and I don’t have kids, and I don’t know if I want them. It helps to hear other people talk about that, even if they’re men who have a much longer runway than I do to figure that out (rage rage rage!).

I remember unboxing my first bag from Swift Industries 10 years ago. I still have the bag. It’s faded and tattered and has carried my camping stuff on many adventures. Here we are in Bristol, a few summers ago, en route to the Green Mountain National Forest:

Swift is a woman-owned company (a huge deal in the bike industry, and most industries, really). I saw Martina speak about that at the Radical Adventure Riders summit in 2018. I was moved by how she talked about making things, running a business, and making space for more women in the bike industry.

Their landmark event is Swift Campout, the “dirtbag holiday of the year,” ringing in summer with hundreds of bike-camping trips around the globe. They work with a different artist every year to brand it. They’ve worked with many artists I love and admire, so I pay close attention to the art rollout every spring. I was completely geeked out when they asked to make the art for this year’s campout on 6/21.

Here’s an interview I did about the project.

I made this work last fall, but the event finally launched last week! It’s been fun to see the work out in the world in promotion and on merch: