Happy February! (02/05/2021

Hello All!

It has been 4 weeks since my last installment. I hope that the new year has welcomed you and (maybe more importantly) you have embraced it with open arms. I mentioned in my last letter that I am writing a book, and I will share with you my early concepts and ideas.

I started by brainstorming characters, I haven't used any of them yet but you can see who you identify with most:

This is the idea that had been brewing in the back of my mind for months:

A boy or person named Timothy (maybe), moves with his family from the city to a development.

There are ten properties, theirs is the only one built. Timothy's father is a contractor named Marvin.

Timo is fearful of the natural world but he is full of questions.

Eventually he meets a Heron named Bog who challenges him with difficult questions about the land his family is developing. These questions lead Timo on adventures that shape his love of nature and ultimately help him to protect the forest.

Here are a couple of early drawings of Timothy

Art Newsletter Edition One ! (01/04/21)

Hello All!

Happy New Year! And welcome to my first newsletter of 2021.

I have become increasingly dissatisfied with social media and its insidious connections to capitalism, widespread emotional insecurity, and addiction. That being said there are aspects of platforms like instagram that I have enjoyed and appreciated immensely: the ability to find like-minded individuals, to share and enjoy the artwork of others, to support a network of artists and easily communicate with them. I turn to this older form of communication, that despite being only 52 (?!?) years old, has roots in letter writing a practice almost as old as written language.

The nature of these emails will be varied and I hope you find them entertaining and thoughtful.

I have done quite a lot of illustration in 2020 and narrative has become an important aspect of my art-making. It has been challenging to not really be able to see friends or go on grand adventures. As a result I have sought adventure and comfort in stories, ones I've read and ones I've invented.

In particular, I would like to tell stories that connect all of us to our childhood. Especially with that childhood ability to be present. As I've grown older I have grown disconnected from the truth that every moment is new and different from the next. As children most experiences are not only new but also unfamiliar. As I age my brain builds on the fallacy that it knows the limits of reality; that it can expect and anticipate what happens next. This is a good thing most of the time, it means that we can keep ourselves safe, we can make educated decisions by predicting outcomes. But it can lead us to dead ends, you reach what you think is the end of a road when really you just haven't looked carefully through the briars to see what could be on the other side.

Children both notice the world more because it is incredible to them and because they haven't lost the belief that there is always something more to be experienced.
I hope my drawings help me to keep these truths alive in myself and in others.

While I haven't had a particular focus up to this point I hope to soon. And until then I hope you enjoy these drawings!

Love,
Jules

P.S. Please reply with any artwork/comments/questions or bits of fluff you wish to share! I'd love to hear from you.

Map of Beth’s Holler. Jules Davis. Pen and color pencil. 2020

The Goddess Boan at the Well of Nechatn