"After all, dictators are always afraid of poets." ✒️

"After all, dictators are always afraid of poets." - Ursula K. Le Guin. Quote featured on Vladimir Verano's Risograph print in HEX THE PATRIARCHY.

It's hard times for small businesses, so we can't really afford to abandon platforms like Facebook and Instagram just yet, no matter how disgusted we are about their policies and leaders.

But if you're leaving those platforms for Bluesky, we're there too!

But even if you're not, thank you for being on this newsletter! It lessens our dependency on social media, and every little thing helps. <3

TONIGHT, January 21, 6:00 PM: The power to shrink things is in your hands! Or, well, you can hold the shrunken things after the oven's done with them. :P Come turn your art into magnets, brooches, earrings, and other cool stuff at Shrink & Drink! 🤏

TONIGHT, January 21, 6:00 PM: Ballard Sketch Team meets at Hattie's Hat! This casual hang is a great place to chat and doodle with fellow artists, brainstorm new ideas, or just catch up over a good beer and burger! 🍔

Wednesday, January 22, 5:30 PM: This month's Watercolor Landscapes is SOLD OUT! Avoid missing out again and sign up early for February's class, which will feature stunning skies and an exploration of wet-on-wet techniques! 💧

Thursday, January 23, 6:00 PM: Join us for Intro to Needle Felting and learn how to stab to create instead of to destroy! Productive stabbing! 🪡 SOLD OUT! Join us next time!

Friday, January 24, 3:00 PM: Got comics projects you want to tackle this year? Have you thought about the fact you'll need to draw your main character(s) over and over and over again for most projects? How do you make things easier for yourself but still interesting to the reader? Cartooning & Character Design for Comics can help you figure it out! ✒️

Saturday, January 25, 11:00 AM: Gather up some photos and join us at Watercolor Pet Portraits! Get a watercolor crash course while painting your fav lil guy!! 🐶

Saturday, January 26, 2:30 PM: Professional screen printing often utilises large setups and require lots of space, but DIY Screen Printing will teach you all the necessary fundamentals of screen printing on a DIY mini screen! ⏹️

Sunday, January 27, 11:00 PM: Intro to Alcohol Markers got pushed back a week due to instructor illness, and ONE SPOT opened up in the meantime! Snag it before it's gone again! 🍊

Access to safe abortion is a human right! This short zine explains one kind of abortion: with the use of pills misoprostol and mifepristone.

Abortion is vital healthcare and part of comprehensive sexual health. This zine aims to provide readers with accessible information about the pills mifepristone and misoprostol as options to manage abortion.

Created by pro-choice community members, it covers the medical abortion process step-by-step, including what to expect, precautions, access, and more. Community knowledge is power and access to abortion saves lives!

Come Draw Bugs! with us! Break down these complex creatures into approachable shapes and maybe they won't be so creepy? Don't worry, all the reference material is either fake or dead, and often behind glass too!

Monday, January 27, 6:00 PM: There's more than one way to make an embroidery stitch! And you can learn a bunch of them at Embroidery Stitch Sampler! Expand your technique repertoire and have fun while doing it! 🪡

Tuesday, January 28, 6:00 PM: Get fresh eyes on your troublesome project at Fresh Look, our bimonthly peer critique meetup! Get supportive input and constructive criticism, and check out what others are up to as well! Share ideas and visions as you work through the tough parts of your projects together! 👀

Wednesday, January 29, 5:00 PM: Learn gouache basics while painting some beautiful mushrooms at Paint a Gouache-shroom! Mushrooms come in lots of shapes, sizes, colors, and kinds, perfect for exploring different kinds of techniques and textures in a new medium! 🍄

Friday, January 31, NOON: Join us for our monthly Block Printing Workshop! Whether it's your first time or your fortieth, it's a great way to carve out some dedicated time for art, with all materials provided! You'll be pulling prints from your new block in no time! ⏹️

Friday, January 31, 6:00 PM: It's the last Friday of the month and time for the regularly scheduled session of QU-ART, our queer artists meetup! Commiserate about the state of things or just get some time in on the art project that's keeping you grounded for the moment. 🏳️‍🌈

Saturday, February 1, 10:00 PM: February's Make a Zine Crash Course will be covering advanced zine formats! Already tried the classic beginner zines? It's time to level up your game with 16-page zines or even square zines with pockets. Learn the advanced techniques and then print using our Risograph machines! Zine beginners familiar with paper crafting are also welcome! 📔

Saturday, February 1, 1:00 PM: Dang, this Book Binding Workshop is already SOLD OUT!! Book ahead for next time! 📚

Saturday, February 1, 5:00 PM: The littlest of lil guys! Come conquer your fear of creepy crawlies or contribute to the cheerful energy of bug enthusiasts at Draw Bugs! In person this month! Break down the shapes and legs and other bits that make a bug a bug; learning how to draw them can be the first step in accepting them as a brilliant part of nature, even if you still think they're kinda gross! 🐞

Sunday, February 2, 11:00 AM: Color Theory for Artists will be covering dry media (such as pencils and pastels) this month! Blending and putting colors together is already different across various wet mediums, so it's no surprise that there are unique considerations and challenges in dry media too! Join us and learn all you ever wanted to know and more! 🌈