Shape, Found
I've been staring at a photograph of a staircase for several weeks now.
It's one of two pieces Rouba Abou Chabke (@truebyrou) sent in for this month's packet. Four stories of stairs, shot straight on, so straight that all the depth flattens out of it and what's left is just line after line after line. The second piece she sent is a composition of tiles where every single one carries its own shape. A circle here. A heart. A square. A few actual letters, laid down inch by inch. Both photographs are proof that somebody built something with real intention, and if you look at them the right way, all that intention stops reading as a staircase or a floor and starts reading as pure pattern.
I didn't go looking for this theme, it landed in my lap! I was reviewing submissions the way I always do, sitting with each piece and asking myself the same question I ask every single time: does this make me want to create?
Somewhere in that pile I noticed I'd pulled aside a handful of pieces that all had something in common. Lines. Repetition. A kind of structure I hadn't been looking for on purpose. Once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it, so I reached back out to a few artists and asked for more work in that same vein. Rouba's photographs became the clearest example of what I was chasing, real, built structure that softens into abstraction the longer you look at it.
What made it click for me is how directly it talks back to July's theme of "Color, Unleashed." That packet was beauty without structure, color and shape doing whatever they wanted, no rules to follow. "Shape, Found" is a response to that. It's beauty with structure. Lines that were placed on purpose. Patterns that repeat because someone meant for them to.
Here's what's landing in your mailbox this month:
- 4 full sheets, 8 by 11, printed on sticker and cardstock paper
- 4 half sheets, 4 by 6, printed on sticker and cardstock paper
- 4 ATCs, wallet sized cards
- 1 zine featuring art and inspiration
- plus a little something extra tucked in
Every image on every piece is new and built around this idea of structure and softness in conversation with each other.
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I'll say this too, since I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Themes don't stay still for me. Right now I'm circling ideas like soft impressionist landscapes, bold modern faces, dark and moody gothic shapes, mesmerizing swirls and lines. We shall see which rise to the level of getting them into your hands, not all of them will. I will say, watching a theme evolve from one packet to the next is part of what makes this fun for me, and I hope it's part of what makes it fun for you too.
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The Hola Society ships every month. Every packet is made by women artists, sourced with intention, and full of things you will actually use.
Founding subscription pricing is still open. When those spots are gone, the rate goes up, and the people who got in early are locked in for life. If this packet is making you think about it, that's your answer.
