Support interdependent art making. Get Cool Art.

Trembling Aspen | Series 04_My Life Here | Issue_03

The community of readers subscribed to Trembling Aspen, their financial and emotional support, allows me to make art and write about it.

The support has transformed how I write and make art. It’s not just about stable funding. It’s about a stable, meaningful connection with the people who experience change through my work. That connection animates, energizes, focuses, propels and sustains everything I do in a way I've come to depend on. Thus, interdependent art making.

Interdependent means I can't do it alone. I need your help. And that, it turns out, is a wonderful thing.

*More contribution options down below.

Uh, I'm new here. What's this all about?

Ah, welcome interweb stranger. Can I get you a beverage? (In my imagination I'm getting you one right now.) Take your time, have a look around, click some links, see what you think. I dearly hope you decide to join the interdependent fun.

Hey, I’m Steve. I’m an artist-in-residence in Yokohama, Japan.

I believe art is a verb. Art-making and community building are two great verbs that go great together.

I do both, sometimes together. I write about it all at the Trembling Aspen newsletter.

Trembling Aspen is about what it’s like to make creativity an everyday part of life. What it's like to embrace change, dance with uncertainty, make friends with imperfection, notice beauty, grow meaningful connections, and dare to inspire others. What is it like to live your life like a work of art? I’m learning out loud so we can learn together. Check out some back issues.

The Mycelium Council* is what I call the lovely group of humans who support my work. Last year The Mycelium Council helped launch a multi-sensory, multi-use artist run space called KocoGarden, where things like silk-screen workshops, pop-up cafés, Japanese tea ceremony workshops, Filipino Halo Halo parties, cultural exchange dinners, more cultural exchange dinners, sewing workshops, impromptu drop-ins, and mini-exhibitions took place. The Mycelium Council also helped get KocoGarden into an international contemporary art exhibition; publish a Japanese version of a children's art activity book; host a workshop based on said children's book; and host a second workshop based on the same book. They helped create art work for an exhibition in Yokohama; host a Yokohama/Vancouver event honouring city trees; create a series of animations from another painting series, and lastly (which chronologically is firstly) they helped create a Yokohama City Trees photoessay, my very first residency project way back in April, 2023.

*Mycelium Council Members, if and when you have the time, click all the pink links above to remind yourself of all the art making you supported over the last year. It's pretty epic!

There are 3 ways to support me, my artist residency, and interdependent art making in Yokohama, Japan.

1. Give as little or as much as you like.
2. Contribute the old fashioned crowd-funding way, with perks!
3. Share a link to my support page which you can find here, forward this email, or share my Instagram profile with someone who might be interested.

1. Give as little or as much as you like.

You don't need the perks, you just want to support what I'm doing. (If it's over $100, you'll become a Mycelium Council Member.)

2. Crowd-funding with perks!

One Year Membership | $100 (20% discount)

✅ One year Mycelium Council Membership
😊 The happy warm feeling you get from supporting interdependent art making
✅ One Signed 5x7" Yokohama Tree Portrait print (unframed)

Tier 1 Membership | $200

✅ One year Mycelium Council Membership
😊 The happy warm feeling you get from supporting interdependent art making
✅ One Limited Edition Signed 10x7" print (unframed)

Tier 2 Membership | $500

✅ One year Mycelium Council Membership
😊 The happy warm feeling you get from supporting interdependent art making
✅ One Limited Edition Signed 20x14" print
[創流 Sessions｜日月04_20] As exhibited in Yokohama, Japan (unframed)

Tier 3 Membership | $850

✅ One year Mycelium Council Membership
😊 The happy warm feeling you get from supporting interdependent art making
✅ One Limited Edition Signed 20x14" print
[創流 Sessions |日08_12] (unframed)

Tier 4 Lifetime Gold Star Platinum Alpha Centauri Crystal Membership Membership | $5,000

✅ Lifetime Mycelium Council Membership
😊 The happy warm feeling you get from supporting interdependent art making
✅ Signed Edition 1/20 of 20x14" print [創流 Sessions｜日月04_20]
✅ The 27 original ink on paper drawings
These are the actual print and drawings exhibited in Yokohama, Japan, May 19-June 04, 2023

3. Share a link to my support page which you can find here, forward this email, or share my Instagram profile with someone who might be interested. Spread the interdependent art making joy.

My participation in the Koganecho Artist in Residence program, the art work I create while here, and this very newsletter were all made possible through the financial and emotional support of The Mycelium Council. If you enjoyed this issue of the Trembling Aspen, please consider supporting interdependent art-making by becoming a Mycelium Council Member.