Welcome, and thank you. Do you want to make some weird art?
Two giant collections of Printables in one spot to show my gratitude
My name is Rikki Horvatic. I am the writer and artist behind Contemplative Creativity, the space where I share about my life as an artist. I also write Letters to Imaginary Friends, which is where I share my fiction writing. You may know me on various social media platforms as starmothmystic (formerly starmothpress).
I am a sober stay-at-home mom who was diagnosed with bipolar and inattentive type ADHD. Those are only identifiers to help you understand the lens of my own personal experience. My goal, everyday, is to live my life taking care of and loving my family, and being creative. Creativity has been the important factor in my journey since getting sober in 2017, and becoming a wife and mother in 2018. The other part is my spiritual practice, which is so intertwined with my life as a creative it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.
A poem I wrote this week after a moment of nostalgia watching the fireflies. This image is included in the Printables below.
I write, often, about my struggles with depression. I’ve also droned on about how this relates to my relationship to social media and my phone. I’m a person living in this world, and am seeing it torn apart by those in charge, and by the division amongst us all. I don’t necessarily think that creativity can save us all from ourselves, but I do think that it can help to build bridges. I know that it has opened my capacity to have difficult conversations, sit with discomfort and hold paradox.
I restarted my creative journey while pregnant with my daughter with knitting and crochet. It has taken many forms: needle felting, wire-wrap jewelry, drawing, painting, art journaling, creative journaling, scrapbooking and writing. I’ve recently been experimenting more in depth with cooking, and trying to learn how to garden.
I have this habit of shaming myself for sharing my creative life on the internet. I have a habit of hating how dependent I am on the community I’ve made through a screen when it’s so difficult for me to hold a conversation in real life (the attention struggle is real). My memory, whether it’s the ADHD, the 10 years of alcoholism, the phone or a combination of all of it, is also getting worse.
So, this space will be a playground where I experiment with things that bring me joy. And I will invite you all to come along for the ride sometimes. I am currently working on an art-journal-with-me class called POCKETS where we work through prompts together and create art to fill a handmade pocket journal (there’s a video for that process, too). I’m also sitting with my ancestors while working on an art series called Crawling Veins. There I reflect on the idea of ancestry and lineage while playing with collage.
This is a page from one of my sketchbooks/journals. Abstract collage is easily one of my favorite forms of self-expression. This includes painted papers and vintage paper. I made it in three minutes — not as a brag, but to say it really can be that simple.
Ultimately, I think we should all be making weird art. It’s the one thing I know to be true. It’s one of the ways I approach working with my kids, both emotionally and academically. And I really just think we all yearn to make our art, show someone, and have them actually see us. So when I say I’ll be inviting ya’ll along on my creative explorations, I mean it. I want you to make stuff. It saved my life. I think that it can help you, too. It won’t solve all problems, but expressing your creativity in whatever way you feel called to in the moment will help you to be better equipped for handling the rest of your life.
I don’t intend to make any other grand intentions at this point in time, but as I have been struggling with my identity as an artist as of late…I decided to look back through some old journals and some of the work I’ve digitized. I cannot recommend this process enough because showing up daily, even just for five minutes, really adds up ya’ll.
I ultimately decided to compile all of my “old” Printables I’ve shared previously in one place. I also created a new collection of Printables of more recent work. This includes my poetry and photography, illustration and abstract work. I invite you to print any of these to use in your journal, to pin up for inspiration, to tear up and include in collage, or anything else I haven’t thought of. I wanted a way to give back to the community who has always been there, even when I have doubted myself the most.
I hope they inspire you to create. I hope that you give yourself patience and love today. And I hope that we all learn to love each other better.
Enjoy, and thanks so much for being here.
Rikki
Let’s Connect!
Feel free to respond to this email if you have anything you’d like to share, or leave a comment! I am back on Instagram in a much more intentional way under starmothcreates. I’ve also meandered back to TikTok for the time being, link below. I’ve hit a creative flow that has felt really good to share. I’m going with my gut. Feel free to find me in any of those places, or simply connect here. Stickers and care mail are available through Ko-fi. Reminder that most originals are available and that I am open to discussing price and/or trade. Prints and other items are available through Redbubble.
I love this! I seem to overthink when I'm creating art. Is it good enough? Will anybody like it? I think just making it no matter what.. should be enough. I'm going to make some art right now.
Why, YES! I would love to create some weird art. 🖤 Following and subscribing.