Making a Zine

I’ve decided I’d like to make an art zine.* It’s something I've never done before, and I find the idea thrilling, fascinating, and an opportunity to learn new skills like bookbinding, screen printing, using layout software, and researching topics I love.
I’m very much at the brainstorming stage, which I’ve begun by writing a list of topics that interest me. Specifically:

• Abstract art

• Local sketches

• Trace fossils

• Japan folklore

• Welsh folklore

• Watercolor

• Tiny Polaroid photos

• Local art

• Graffiti

• Street art

• Beekeeping

I don’t know which of these topics I’ll land on, but right now “Graffiti on Cape Cod” and “Japan folklore” are standing out to me.

I’m also intrigued by the idea of art as trace fossils, which are fossils that provide indirect evidence of ancient plants or animals. Meaning, no biological material. So, not a bone, but a footprint. Something left behind that only suggests a former inhabitant(s).

A painting suggests the painter. All around us, we see modern “trace fossils” every day: an abandoned gas station, a lost glove by the side of the road, a Burger King cup discarded.

I’ll share updates here and who knows, maybe I’ll publish my first zine this winter.

*A zine is a self-published, non-commercial print-work that is typically produced in small, limited batches. Each zine is a DIY labor of love and can have nearly anything as its focus.