To whom it may concern..
Hi, I’m Leanne. I am an artist and I am also a person in the world. These two things are innately connected. It’s a beautiful thing, in my experience, to exist on earth as a creative person. The issue is, delivering art to the world takes time and money, and sometimes I have no money, and most times I have no patience. I’ve arrived at a point in my life where I am bubbling over with thoughts and ideas and I have no place to put them. Since I am still very much alive, and very much seeing the world through an artistic lens, it is time I make a space to catch the off-gas (sorry) of my brain.
I am here for the in-betweens, the fringe ideas, the left-behinds. I am here for the 2 am voice notes I leave myself that never see the light of day, or the photos I take of garbage that make me feel more or less alone in the world. I am here for out of focus film photos, and poems about train rides and coffee. I am here to interview my friends about love, and to record myself crying when the sun sets just right. I’m here to therapize my therapist and review my favourite crunchy snacks. I am here for the half-written songs and the short stories I’m too embarrassed to submit anywhere else. And mostly I am here because I need to be here.
I would love to offer a specific breakdown of what I will be offering, but that would defeat the purpose. I want to open this new space and allow myself to create without boundaries or fears. A friend recently sat me down to express her ongoing observation of my aversion to social media. She’s not wrong. I would rather eat playdough than have to put my artistic process on display. Much of my creative life has existed inside the fear of failing or the fear of succeeding. I oscillate between both like some sort of weird, narcissistic pendulum. In reality, it doesn’t matter what the outcome is, all that matters is that I continue to connect with and explore my own artistic nature. I think it’s easy to lose that sense of wonder, especially as we age and taxes become real. Starting this Substack is an attempt to combat my own creative fear and create a direct flow from my insides to the outside.
To start, I’ll be sharing all my content for free with an option to pay a monthly fee of your choice. In the future, I’ll be releasing content that will require a subscription to view. This is only because I believe my time is valuable, and while I am not trying to put barriers around anyone’s access to art, I am trying to sustain my own. There will also be instances where some of my content is connected to a current project or release, so you will be receiving early access or “sneak peaks” by paying.
So, I welcome you to join me. It won’t be clean or concise, but it will be honest and straight from the source. I am a lover of all things that make our brains feel *different* and I encourage you to engage in whatever way you feel is true to you. I want to share my art when it’s fresh and exciting to me, and hopefully to you.
I look forward to whatever this may be.