Art is a Relationship

It is also a gift meant to be shared according to Simon Sinek

Jan 8

Happy Sunday, dear readers! The Bay Area has been pummeled with consecutive storms since Christmas. Last week, we woke up to the sound of water dripping from the ceiling. Argh! The roofers came and patched it before another storm system arrived. So far, the leak has not returned. More heavy rains and gusty winds are in the forecast this week. Crossing our fingers, there won’t be any more drips. Here are the current stats:

NWS Bay Area 🌉 @NWSBayArea

Since wet weather returned late Dec 26, 2022 San Francisco had, in 13 days, 11.16" rain so far (still a few hours until midnight). For any 13 days of time on SF record, it's the wettest since 11.17" rain Dec 15-27, 1871. SF water year to date 14.82" rain, currently 21st wettest.

Thank you for the wonderful feedback and comments (both public and private) from last week’s post! Having this newsletter inspires me to dig through my archives and share these mini-projects with you. Here it is again in case you missed it.

Sundays with Stella

The Beauty of Limitations

Watch now (2 min) | It's been raining all week in the Bay Area. In our neck of the woods, it's called an atmospheric river. I love it when it rains and I am a self-professed pluviophile. The caveat though is that commuting in the rain annoyed me. In 2016, the rain returned after a long period of drought in the Bay Area. So, I thought to myself, why not do a creative project…

3 months ago · 9 likes · 6 comments · Stella Kalaw

In the meantime, I am still on the coffee cup collage train and made three new ones this week.

Stella Kalaw (@stellakalaw) • Instagram photos and videos

I’ve also uploaded the most recent ones to my online store. Have a look! I hope you’ll consider purchasing a print in support of this newsletter.

Buy Collage Art Prints

Fear and doubt come into play whenever I share my work online. I still feel a level of anxiety before pushing the send button. It’s easier now than it used to be. This video by Simon Sinek gave me a fresh perspective on sharing my work with others.

Art has to have another human being involved. Or to me, art is about a relationship, right? You can't call yourself a romantic or somebody who chooses to love another if nobody ever feels your love. You know?

The foundation of a relationship is trust. Consistency is essential to build trust over time. With trust comes connection. This is ultimately what any artist/writer/creator yearns for. Through Sundays with Stella, my intention echoes this not only for the new year but for years to come.

I used to think art speaks for itself. It does on some level but I learned that branching out to writing stories deepens connections. We relate to each other as human beings through shared experiences and as Simon touched on in the video, “art in some way, shape, or form is always personal or semi-autobiographical.” Personal stories provide context and meaning to some of the pictures or collages I create. Oftentimes, inspiration springs from it.

Now that we’re in a new year, I’d like to ask you, dear readers, what have you enjoyed so far about Sundays with Stella? Any topics you’d like me to dive into? My archives are available for free. I encourage you to read or revisit my previous post and let me know your thoughts. Let’s start some conversations. Thank you so much!