MARCH/APRIL NEWSLETTER FROM THE STUDIO OF RAQUEL P MILLER

I write to you mid-April. The morning started off sunny, I was able to begin a new book out on the steps of the library, warming my body under this April sun. And now late afternoon, the sky has turned gray. I’m sure when I step outside there will be a chill in the air. And this fluctuation is all too familiar now. I am waiting for Spring, sunny days, warm evenings with my windows open.

Two weeks ago I celebrated my 30th birthday. Amidst all of the chaos and plans and events, I was able to spend a really beautiful week celebrating the turn of this new decade. I was scared I was not doing enough for it, scared that I would let it pass me by, and feeling a great deal of heaviness and sadness that I would not be able to celebrate with my mom, or Amber. But I found myself surrounded by love, friendship, and softness. It turns out it was exactly what I needed.

I’m thinking of all the small serendipitous moments and cycles that are appearing before me. And feeling a great sense of awe as I step forward in my life, and begin a shedding, a letting go, in order to feel myself blossom.

MY MONTH IN REVIEW AND WHAT’S COMING UP:

1. I’m so happy to share that Esper Gaspardi and I received a slot in 82Parris’s show season. Our show Memories to Give opens in October.

2. Pencils and Inks, curated by Isabella Rotman and Mili St. John just came down at the Portland Public Library. Izzy and Mili are founders of CAMP that made it's debut here in Portland on April 5th and kickstarted my birthday celebration week.

3. I have a new painting on view at the Buoy Gallery as part of the annual ARTPM show. Send pics if you’ve seen it! I never make it for open hours!

4. In collaboration with Angelica Laboy, I made 8 ceramic vessels for her floral arrangements for her market at Portland Yoga Project. All the vases sold!

5. Another ceramics collaboration underway: I am partnering with Fourth Friday for their May BIPOC Happy Hour for Paint and Sip: Mementos and Keepsakes on May 23rd. I will be creating two, ceramic paintable items for folks who attend. More details to come.

6. I’m so happy to collaborating with Indigo Arts Alliance and Daniel Minter to co-facilitate workshops for Daniel’s piece to be installed at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens this summer. In the Voice of Trees: A Clay Bead Making Workshop will be on May 10th and 29th at my clay studio Mill Pond Ceramics. Stay tuned for more details.

A snippet from our proposal of Memories to Give:

This show explores grief, memory, and transformation. Through altars, shrines, and vessels, we claim space for our stories beyond loss. Our work is not about static mourning but fluid regrowth—honoring those who came before while forging/discovering our own narratives.

These are a couple of pages from my February entries in my daily journal.
The Feb 3rd MOVE SLOWLY continues to transfix me, and we are now in April.

1. Myself and Flo Edwards. | 2. Group photo of Veronica Perez, myself, Esper Gaspardi, and Rosalba Breazeale in front of a floral backdrop made by Danielle Arroyo| 3. My painting “Handprints on the sky” for the auction.

Ceramic ventures keep finding me and I am so grateful. At the beginning of the year, I was able to create and sell 16 ceramic butterfly ornaments, delivering and sending them all over New England. Following that, I collaborated with Angelica Laboy for her market at Portland Yoga Project, creating 8 new ceramic vessels for her to create floral arrangements in. All of the arrangements sold! I felt good to get back into the studio and have a project to focus on, and I am seeing now, that without the structure of a weekly class, the projects help ground me. My next project will be to create trinket dishes and small matchboxes for Fourth Friday’s BIPOC Happy Hour coming up at the end of May. I’m excited to be supported by Flo and to create custom wares for her event that attendees can then paint and customize themselves. And finally, also happening in May, I will be co-facilitating two bead making workshops with Daniel Minter for his large community based installation at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

My Substack blog COLORS OF PASTEL is another way for me to share and archive some of my inspirations each month. Books I am reading, art I am seeing, moments from the Maine Master Naturalist Program… yada yada! Fun, informal and sometimes I write things there, too.

Thank you so much for reading this months belated newsletter. I am having a hard time getting these out each month so I am reframing my approach to send them out every other month if need be. This year has been so rich and fulfilling so far, but it has been busy. A lot of my art energy has been focused on application opportunities. I am grateful for the ways I was able to hone my writing and recenter my focus and intentions in making.

As I finish this newsletter, the weather has been consistently warmer, the daffodils are suddenly here. Tree buds are bursting, and I’ve been watching a cardinal couple each morning. I’ve started painting again, too. Small, and in my daily journal. But already, I feel as if I can see a part of myself I have not seen in a couple of months. Ebbs and flow. Our cycles of creation. I’m happy spring is here and happy to arrive back to my practice. Until next time, my friends.

* the title of this newsletter comes from the song “Good Stuff” by Bnny *