Of course I could’ve actually shared the actual travel Notebook from the Tunisian desert … Next time, promise !!

(Here’s a little teasing.. stay tuned!)

Love life y’all!
Thank you so much for being here 💖

If you’d like to purchase my work, you can send me a PM or go to my Ko-Fi shop

The energy is indeed firery in every sense of the word.

I literally spend my days between exhaustion and feeling overexcited.

At least the heat has not stopped me from making!

My approach in Art is experimental. It’s only been two years that I’ve really gotten back into a daily practice, although I was trained long ago in Art school.

I want to test everything, I am very voracious and curious of many techniques, and all the art I see on Substack nourishes my curiosity like crazy. The consequence of this is that I don’t really have « a style ». Not sure it really is an issue.

July Collages

I experimented small and simple collages, inspired by :

Some scraps here are from ’ amazing papers bundle, which will provide me great material for a long time !

July Sketches

Even more experimentation in my sketches: limited palette, Neocolor, watercolor, Ink…

The morning dudes at the café and parc:

The Saturday market and other life scenes :

Thanks to for his 10-min challenge, in which learn a lot with watercolors:

My short Basquiat-inspired period :

I always complain I’d like to make more collages. The folks at Duanes’ Faba-doo reunion suggested I mix both. Thanks Duane and Bob!

…and also this!

I made a series of 8 postcards of the emblematic locations in my city for the touristic season :

…and this, too:
Our next Artist Support Group will be Wednesday August 19, 5-6 pm CET / 8:30-9:30 am EST.
It’s twice a month: every 1st Sundays of the month, 5-6 pm CET / 11-12 am EST
and every 3rd Wednesdays of the month, 2:30-3:30 pm CET / 8:30-9:30 am EST
Subscribe and Join for free!

Subscribe now

Thank you so much for reading ! And for your support. That means a lot 💖

PS. If you’d like to purchase my work, send me a PM or go to my Ko-Fi shop

It’s been a while since I haven’t shared a flip-through. Here is part two of the thick Moleskine, one of my favorites out of my big stack of decades of notebooking (is that a word?🤔).

I’m a bit embarrassed with my video amateurism… I’m a sketcher and a collagist, ... def not a videast. Also, I make up new words sometimes (even in French).

Welcome to my new subscribers and Thank you all so much for your support !

See Moleskine part 1

PS1: This Sunday, August 2, we’re having our first Artists Support Group for my paid subscribers. One hour of genuine connection around the beauties and struggles of our artists’ life. Come join!

🎨 info here

PS2: If you’d like to purchase my work, send me a PM or go to my Ko-Fi shop

- for those who don’t know me, I am a French-speaking Belgian Artist and coach living in Loire valley, France
- I am not a pro speaker…. in case you had’nt noticed
- Hence the eeeeeehhs and hmmmmms
- not a pro videast either, obvs.

SAVE THE DATE!
• Every 1st Sundays of the month, 5-6 pm CET / 11-12 am EST
• Every 3rd Wednesdays of the month, 2:30-3:30 pm CET / 8:30-9:30 am EST

WHO IS THE ARTIST SUPPORT GROUP FOR?
- Anyone who has an artistic practice, pro or not. Painters, drawers, dancers, writers, singers, actors…….
- Anyone who has an “artist soul”, even if not practicing currently
- I will limit to 1h and 6 pers. per session, to give a chance to everyone to express themselves and keep it cool.

WHAT WILL WE DO?
This is NOT Coaching. The Artists Support Group is a space for us to connect, share and support each other. Because being an Artist in this world is not easy… right!??! We are special, sensitive creatures. Bless us for that. Connection will make us stronger!
It is not a place to vent, nor a therapeutic session. It is a loving-kind space, non-judgemental and we will try to bring good Arty vibes to one another!
I will be there as your pair, not a coach. I’ll just make sure this space remains confidential, respectful, positive, and that everyone has their say. I might share one or two tips if I feel it’s appropriate. Deal?

WHEN DO WE START?
Artist Support Group #1
Sunday August 2nd, 5-6 pm CET / 11-12 am EST

Artist Support Group #2
Wednesday August 19, 5-6 pm CET / 8:30-9:30 am EST

HOW?
- Become a paid subscriber of Emily’s Notebooks. It’s 8$/month - 80 yearly. No pressure, you can also give it a try 1 month if you want!

I’ve decided to make it FREE for all my subscribers until the end of August. Come join!

- MP me with the slot you’re interested in, and I’ll send you the link.

Subscribe now

Know an artist pal who might be interested? Spread the Word!

Share

Thank you, my dear artist friend, for your support on this journey so far, I feel so grateful. Truly. Hope to meet you soon in this new aventure !

PS. You can visit my professional website at emilyfoucartcoaching.fr if you want to know more about me as a coach. Errrrr yes, it’s in French :)) English version is still… a project :))) (I’m too busy making collages right now!)

See you soon, Love you all, Beautiful people!
Emily

Collages

…and preparing an exhibition! 🔥

I’ve also spent a lot of time preparing my show at the museum (more on that later!) and made a limited edition zine with my Mundane triptych :

Thank you so much for reading ! And for your support. That means a lot 💖

If you’d like to purchase my work, send me a PM or go to my Ko-Fi shop

Hello my beautiful Arty tribe!

I apologize for stumbling on my words and making mistakes in English… but there are interesting juicy goodies in this notebook, I swear!

Mentioned in this video:
- my dear friend , tour guide, french teacher, adult educator, author of France with Véro, a substack dedicated to all things frenchy, in English? Check her out, you’ll leran a lot!
- , multi-talented awesome artist with a big heart, who created the Create Every Day in May, thanks to her!
- , immensely talented collage artist, also a great generous and genuine soul, who fostered a great community of collage artists. Check out his work!
- , also a multi talented artist & lover of paper… thank you for the teabag idea!!
- , artist and author of “We need your Art”… I need your book, Amie!
- and Peter Beard… my Notebook hero (also need to add his book to my birthday wishlist!):

Thank you for being here, dear friends. Let’s continue to shine our art and light to the world!
Love, Emily

If you’d like to purchase my work, send me a PM or go to my Ko-Fi shop
You can also buy my a coffee there, because you know I draw a lot in all coffee shops!

Hello dear beautiful arty people !

First I’d like to welcome and thank all my new subscribers ! Emily’s notebooks now passed the 200 milestone and first paid subscribers, so thank you so much for this! 💖💙🧡

Life has been hectic and busy here. Right now I need a job so bad, so I’m busy searching. Which makes it difficult to crave some time for daily art, but however tiny or sh**ty, I’m still making things!

It’s been a while since I didn’t take you on a stroll into my notebooks. I’ve just finished this one.

Enjoy ! 😀

PS. I haven’t gotten any better at my video setup… but I have a pretty background 😁

A3-format 400gr paper block, primary color gouache tubes, 5 brushes, charcoal, fixative, markers, pencils, fountain pen, Ink, 3 glue sticks, tape, Xacto, a folder of scraps, vintage papers, magazine photos, and two newspaper issues of Libération (Friday + weekend edition).
On Sunday, 8th February I threw all my supplies in a large plastic bag and moved on with my packing for my first Artist residency at Domaine Foray, Burgundy.

What exactly is an Artist Residency?

As a newbie in the “professionalization” of my artistic practice, I had started last year to research about the topic. I found a lot of artist residencies of all types, most of them with the following requirements:

• You must be a “pro” Artist: have a Bio, an artist curriculum stating some exhibitions, other artist residencies, teaching, workshops, even if you’re an “emergent” artist

• You must submit a file with all of the above, plus your education (art school preferably), website, instagram, and, most of the time, a portfolio.

• You must have a “project”: a defined intention, articulated, possibly in continuity with your precedent works, and sometimes linked to the residency you’re applying to.

These “institutional” Artist residencies are generally funded by organizations, private foundations, governement credits.

They provide :

• a dedicated place for the artist to do their work (studio) during a definite amount of time, which can vary from 1 week to several months

• sometimes, covered accomodation close to the studio (sometimes even for family)

• sometimes, a grant + some financial aid for expenses required for the artists work (equipment, supplies)

Artist requirements (depending on the residency):

• including the institution’s project into their work : e.g. talk about the territory, or any current given topic

• providing some time for partners or officials to sensitize or present them your work

• exposing work locally and welcome visitors in the studio on certain days.

That said, most of Artist residencies’ purposes is to provide time and space to artists, away from their usual environment and concerns, so that they can devote themselves fully to their Art during a significant time window.

A kind of patronage.

So it would not be impossible for me to find one, but that would be a lot of research to find the one that fits me (emergent artist) and that would accept my application.

A fortunate synchronicity

I was right in the middle of this research as I came into Domaine Foray, completely by chance, after a spiritual retreat near Joigny, Burgundy.

I was chatting with lovely Lena, the owner, over a homemade soup, a plate of local cheese and bread and a glass of wine. I was completely baffled by this place, a large Auberge decorated in pure vintage 70-80’s fashion, in a beautiful countryside.
I said, I really see artist residencies in this place.
She answered, turns out, we do!
Imagine my surprise.

A former professional in film production in Paris, Lena and her husband Jamie, a musician from California, have been working on this project for years. After a first attempt in another place, they found this one. Their goal: provide a space for artists to create.

This is a non-institutional type artist residency. No institution, no government is helping in funding it. It’s the revenues from the Bed and Breakfast part of the Domaine which make it possible. This allow Artists to acceed the place and have room & board for a low, artist-friendly fee.
You can bring your food, use the kitchen, or order meals. You can cancel last minute if you’re in the middle of something. You can join the collective moments or not. You can totally isolate yourself. Take long walks around. Interact with Mino, the place’s doggy. The place is extremely peaceful, and Jamie and Lena are insanely respectful.
I was amazed by this young couple, their level of commitment. I felt completely free, peaceful, I had nothing to worry about.

10 days of freedom and creativity

This february Artist residency was dedicated to writers, but any artist is always welcome. As I arrived, two writers were already there: Jeremie, who was finishing his first novel set in Beyrouth at the time of the port explosion (he was there), and Serena, who was working on her second.
On the fisrt day I took my marks, and Lena kindly helped me to install my studio in the lovely “reading boudoir” with a great view.
Every day, Jamie would play the most pefect, tranquil, interesting ambient playlist. I didnt even have to worry about the music I’d choose!

I had my goals in mind: paint & collage on larger formats, prepare my first show so it’s ready to propose when I get back, and, of course, sketching Domaine Foray and its people. And share daily to my subscribers, which I did (see below).
The second day, I received a message from one of my best friends, Claire, who had read my previous post about my departure in the residency. She had just sent me money, which covered 1/3 of my expenses!!

In the following days, other artists arrived, mostly from the film industry: Jorge, an itinerant argentinian queer porn filmaker, Coco, a belgian young lady who had lived in London and was writing a new scenario about sex workers for handicapped people, and Bastien, who had lived in south Africa and was working on his new short film. What an interesting bunch of people!

Day 1 ⎮ Day 2 ⎮ Day 3 ⎮ Day 4 ⎮ Day 5 ⎮ Day 6 ⎮ Day 7 ⎮ Day 8 ⎮ Day 9 ⎮ Day 10 ⎮ Day 11

Way beyond my expectations

Needless to say how inspiring and incredibly positive this experience was for me.
On the last days, I intended to show some works I had taken with me and submit my exhibition project to this little assembly.
Inspired, I guess, I asked Lena if I could invest the whole place to exhibit my works: indeed, I enough works in each of my 3 disciplinaries: collage, abstract painting and sketches. At the end of the day, my first exhibition was on the walls: 9 abstract works in the coworking space, 9 collages in the main living room, 13 drawings and 2 sketchbooks in the yoga studio.

When it was time to go, I proposed Lena to keep the works on the walls for a bit. The abstracts all stayed in the coworking, where people come every day. Some of my collages stayed in the main room and Lena kindly proposed I’d choose some drawing to create a nice mix she would frame and leave in the 1st floor corridor which leads to the rooms, where there is a lot of traffic.

Not only had I prepared my first show, I had actually exposed here for everyone to see!

Seeing my works on Domaine Foray’s walls, people wandering around and looking at them was first intimidating, then exciting, and finally, it gave me the biggest confidence boost of my life.
In conclusion, whatever the format, if you get a chance to give yourself the opportunity of an artist residency, grab it! Your entire being will be grateful.

Thank you all for your support and for reading me,

Love, xoxo
Emily

New works produced at Domaine Foray

The Sketches

Buy me a ☕ & purchase my works

Well, it’s kind of what I´ll be doing next week, because yes, my lovely arty folks, I will be in an artist residence from 9-19 February at Domaine Foray, Bourgogne!! 🤩

Domaine Foray is a cozy « Bed & Breakfast & beyond » in a typical thatched-roof estate in beautiful Burgundian countryside. The land, once a vineyard, is now a large wild flower garden for Malo the dog and his humans, with vintage outdoor salons and art hung in the trees.

In the 70-80’s, it was a much-frequented restaurant by the highway, which has been later rebuilt further down (the highway).

Lena has preserved all the seventies furniture and feel of the place and transformed it into this haven of peace and inspiration you’ll promise yourself to come back to.

This is what happened to me as I found myself at Domaine Foray completely by chance last October, as I needed a night in the area where I just had spent a fortnite healing retreat.

The retreat was great, but I have to admit the most memorable part of this weekend was discovering another magical place: Domaine Foray.

As I discussed with lovely Lena, the owner, over the delicious soup and plate of local bread, cheeses and grape she had improvised for me, I asked: you don’t happen to organize artist residencies, do you ? This space is so inspiring. Well, as a matter of fact, we do! she answered.

You know the kind of moment when you feel you’re in a train of synchronicities? That the universe has your back? That you’re in the flow? That’s what I’m talking about.

That’s why I’m back in Burgundy, for a 10-day residency.

It’s self-appointed in the sense that it’s not funded, I’ll still have to pay my room, although at an artist-low-budget friendly price. But there is no file, no CV required, nor any artistic mission linked to the place. Just my motivation!

That being said, it’s still a real artist residence, organized from 9-22 February, with writers, film makers, and other creators I’m so excited to meet.

→ More on Domaine Foray’s Artist Residencies

What I will work on

It’s probably too much but here is what I intend to do:

• Work on my first exhibition: sort and create series out of the works I’ve made lately (collages, abstract paintings, sketches) and show them to the other artists for advice. My goal is to come up with a first series that is ready for submissions to places who exhibit artists in my town.

• Work on larger formats: Domaine Foray has an artist studio! I intend to practice on larger sizes (A3), especially with collage and paint.

• Sketch the artist residence: the place, the people… I hope to improve my sketching skills and use different tools

• A reportage here on Substack! I’ll try to report every day. The best I can, even a short note, a picture, a sketch. I’m so excited to share my first artist residence with you, my subscribers and followers. I owe you so much!

Rendez-vous lundi 8 février! See you on Monday 8th Feb!

If you want to support me for my artist residence’s expenses:

💙 Donate what you want

Love you my Arty tribe, thank you so much for your support. 💖

JANUARY

Sketching in blue ink and thinking seriously about Substack

FEBRUARY

Aix-en-Provence, Marseille and getting familiar with collage again

MARCH

My old Notebook flow is back!

APRIL

The fluorescent spring-summer color palette

MAY

Needing a lot of rest and healing with Art

JUNE

The ICAD daily challenge, sketching and partying in Spain with old friends 🍹🌴

JULY

Applying at les Ateliers d’Offard and working in the heatwave

AUGUST

An endless hot summer 🔥🔥

SEPTEMBER

Les beaux jours : finally breathing with some milder temperatures and enjoying the Indian summer

OCTOBER

The Abstract challenge, Paris, Picasso museum and a David Bowie Collage

NOVEMBER

Ah, the picturesque Autumn… Also, sent 3 collages to the Contemporary collage magazine.

DECEMBER

A short trip to Brussels, family and selling my Notebooks

That's all, folks!

This year, I have many times found myself literally saying to myself in my head “I’m happy”. Yes. And feeling it. Which is something. I mean, this is the first time I've really felt truly present, just enjoying the moment. Just appreciating what I have, the beauty around me.

It's definitely been the year of me coming back as an Artist and, this time, embracing it fully. I’ve felt how it has changed my way of seeing the world.

I don't deny the terrible and frightening things happening in our world. I particularly feel for my american friends, I am shocked and sad about what's happening in the US right now. I could go on and on.

I have chosen a long time ago to keep myself away from the news. I simply can't. I chose to focus on the positive, because there is also beautifuls things happening in our world, folks. There are many.

That's what I want to say for 2026. It can be great if we focus on the good things.

I want to thank all of you, my subscribers, followers, fellow artist folks and friends. Your support means a lot to me.

May this new year be beautiful for you!

Love, Emily 💖💙✨

I have a new online shop with my Zines, Notebooks and am regularly uploading my works. If you want to support me or purchase my work, give it a go! Thanks xx

My Ko-Fi shop

I’ve started uploading Zines, Notebooks, some works...(to be continued). I know I’m quite late for X-mas, but I made it anyway!

👉 Come have a look at my shop Ko-Fi Shop Emilysnotebooks

Happy Holidays Y’all, may you cherish the ones you love 💖✨

First, the large sizes. All unique, hence the slightly different formats (around A5).

24 pages, including blank, squared schoolbook, recycled, and many more including french newspaper, coloring book pages.

The covers are original collages, all notebooks are signed.

La Recluse

15,5 x 18,5 cm - 19€

L’Abbesse

21 x 15,5 cm - 20€

La Collectionneuse

20,7 x 15,2 cm - 22€

La Couturière

19 x 14,4 cm - 21€

L’Architecte

21 x 13,7 cm - 20€

L’Empoisonneuse

21 x 15,4 cm - 22€

Shipping not included. For France add 4€, for International, 6€.

I will post some smaller formats in the following days.

All Notebooks are available on my Ko-fi shop:

https://ko-fi.com/emilysnotebooks/shop

Drop me a personal message if you want to book one.. they sell out fast!

After that, I found myself in a no-man’s-land: no more daily constraint… Being ADHD, I think I need that to keep myself together in my work. Also, the accountability part (posting everyday in a community of like-minded Artists) works for me.

Why the “Abstraction” theme? Because I myself love Abstract Art but realized I did not know that much about it. Much less practiced it. Hence this challenge, plus the little Abstract Wednesday Notes where I posted about abstract Artists from then and now.

I was surprised by the interest it attracted, and so grateful for my Arty Buddies who took it along with me.

I asked them 3 questions:
- Who are you as an artist?
- Why did you take on the Abstract challenge?
- Tell us about your experience during these 2 months. What did you like? What did you learn? What are your takeaways from this challenge? 

One of the interests of a daily challenge is also to let go of perfectionism. BIG thing for me -I seldom did succeed I have to admit, I often spent way more than 30 mins. on my works. So it’s normal that some pieces are really sh**ty! (Talking to myself here).
That being said, REALLY awesome works came out for everyone! See for yourselves:

VARSHINI GOPAL

Hi I’m , a multi-media artist dabbling in different styles of art. My work is inspired by natural forms and a bright color palette. My favorite subjects are usually plant life, patterns, sunset skies, lots of flowers and the occasional landscape. I let the media I use inform my abstracts, whether they’re more fluid or mixed media.

The Abstract Challenge was a very interesting take, since I usually do art challenges with defined objects to draw. I decided to draw with ‘feeling’ instead of objects, and it changed my process. I made smaller paintings that were less defined and more nebulous.

Some people see abstract art as meaningless, but I think it really defines the viewer’s own experience by leaving it open to interpretation. I wasn’t able to do as many paintings as I would’ve liked, but finding a creative community and getting to see some wonderful work by other artists was very inspiring. I loved letting loose and seeing where my paint brush took me. I learned to be less critical of my creative outlook, while also embracing various types of abstract art and mediums!

IVAN ()

Who am I as an artist... I am a see-what-happens kind of guy. I’m not trained, I play with colours, keep expectations low and hope for the best. Sometimes it works. I use the same approach to cooking!

I took the challenge because after spending the summer painting and preparing for the Arts and Crafts market I wanted to do something different and I liked the time/dimension limit in the guidelines.

I was lucky to be able to cut out some time every day for the challenge and I enjoyed that: knowing I had to come up with something following the prompts ( I know that wasn’t compulsory, but I liked that). Funnily enough I have also learnt that it’s not really my cup of tea and most of what I made was at best mediocre. Not trying to fish for compliment here, I just didn’t like much what I was creating. That’s OK, I found the process rather meditative and I’m happy I took part in it. So, thanks again for organizing the challenge!

GEORGE SLADE

I am a midwestern American man in his mid-60s who has looked at, written about, and taken photographs my entire adult life. Over the last five years I have expanded my horizons and determined that I have strong feelings about making visual art pieces that include and often transcend traditional photographic applications. 

The timing was excellent. I’ve been recovering from a serious brain injury since December 2023 and my energy seems to come in bursts. I’ve never thought of making collages before this summer, but I started working with my photographs and a friend’s beautiful and rugged hand-made papers and really got intrigued by abstraction and collage. Emily’s challenge struck a chord with me, and I committed! 

Also, I’d been peeking into the Substack platform for a couple of months and thought this was a great way to connect with a community of like-minded folks. That proved to be true!
 

I liked discovering what “abstraction” means when you are dealing with “real” things like paper and the material worlds that are represented in photographs. I don’t have the answers, but I wasn’t expecting to when the challenge began. I liked making use of the mess on my work table. Every time I committed a collage to my notebooks (I filled one and part of a second during the sixty days) I left behind traces of the last work, then upcycled those into new work. I tried to avoid repeating myself, which wasn’t always easy. I enjoyed the morning ritual, sitting down with coffee, a glue stick, a metal straight-edge ruler, a box cutter, and an ink pad, and discovering what visions I had in my head that day.

Every collage I made includes three things: an improvised, circular ink stamp that I made from a toilet paper roll (because a circle symbolizes eternity); a stamp of an ampersand, because collage is the quintessential art of “and”; the initials ALVB which stand for “ars longa, vita brevis” which has become my motto since my injury. The samples I submitted here are from the very beginning of the challenge and the very end. Judge for yourself if there is any “progress” visible in the samples. Like I wrote, I don’t feel confident that I arrived at any answers. But I enjoyed the presence of abstraction and progress wasn’t the goal. (Look up the notion of “negative capability” and you’ll find my rallying cry for the months of September and October.) I continue making collages and am grateful to Emily for conceiving this fun, provocative, and productive challenge.

Find me on Instagram and the web at “georgeslade.photo” and on Substack at “rephotographica” (https://substack.com/@rephotographica)

SARA SANTA CLARA

My name is Sara and I am a potter who was once a translator. Recently, I discovered watercolour and collage, and since then I have been enjoying exploring mixing media, like gouache, crayons, pastels and poster paints — basically all of my daughter’s school art supplies.

At the beginning of September, my kiln broke. For a few days I felt lost and wasn’t sure what to do. I needed to keep making but was reluctant to continue with clay while we tried to fix the kiln, so I turned to paper and to my watercolours. When I came across Emily’s Note about the Abstract Challenge I thought it would give me a structure, something specific that would keep bringing me back to the studio with a purpose. I wasn’t sure about sharing what I made, but in the end I found that “having” to post daily gave me an extra incentive to stick to the plan of one abstract a day — although, I’ll come clean, some days I made more.

I had started to play around with collage a bit and during the challenge I realised that I really enjoy cutting up pieces of paper and putting them back together in different ways — I had the most fun during the collage parts of the challenge. The first ones I made were very busy and all over the place, but then I noticed they were getting quieter, simpler in style, and my favourites from the challenge have to be the monochrome ones. I also learnt that I quite like abstract art, which is something I hadn’t articulated to myself in as many words. I knew what artists I liked but it had never really dawned on me that so many of them were in fact abstract artists. This came as a bit of a surprise because I always thought I preferred more representational or figurative art. I loved that about the challenge, that it allowed me to dig deeper into what I liked and why I liked it.

Although I joined late in the challenge (mid-September) and also missed a whole week close to the end because of a monster migraine, I think I was pretty consistent which, for me, was already a win. Another huge plus of the challenge was connecting with the other participants and seeing what they were creating. In more practical terms, I (almost) filled a whole sketchbook and, in the process, acquired a sketchbook habit which I am hoping to keep as part of my work going forward. All in all, I’m ready for the next challenge. Emily?

Sara’s Substack:

Aren’t they amazing?

For me, exploring Abstraction felt like a great journey. I now realize that it’s way more complex than just the absence of figuration (just consider the number of abstraction sub-genres until now). Abstraction came following the birth of photography, when artists needed to find other forms of expression than figuration. At the beginning of cubism, Picasso said about his works he was trying to “strip it to the bone”. His entire life was researching, drafting, erasing. Cubism was one of Abstract Art’s foreground.

« La beauté refuse de se plier à la contrainte de la signification. »
”Beauty refuses to bend under the constraint of significance” - Sonia Delaunay

What’s for sure, it makes the brain work, takes it to unexpected universes. It triggers Imagination. And the simple fact that each person is going to travel in a different world thanks to one single of my abstract works rejoices me.

As for the challenge, I came out of it with what I think might be a thing… (my “style”?), or at least a series of works with newspaper, paint and marks. Hurrah!

You can also

☕Buy me a coffee

I’ve never planned to “build a community”, I don’t have any strategy. I’m just an artist enjoying and sharing about Art and other stuff I’m passionate about, like psychology, stress management, going analog, traveling, etc.

That being said, a lot has happened since I first started here on Substack.

For the new folks, let me tell you a little bit more about me.

Where Emily’s Notebooks come from

I’m writing in my Notebooks since I was 18: that’s writing, along with scribbling and sketching, journaling, starting essays, novels, songs, poems...
I was educated at Beaux-Arts and Graphic Arts schools (see post My debut Artist career), then became a graphic designer for 15 years. In 2007, as I switched careers to editorial web mastering (and raising a 3-year old on my own), I ran out of time and completely abandoned visual arts, except for an occasional sketch during holidays.
I became a professional writer. It wasn’t novels, it wasn’t even journalism, it was corporate writing but at least I was writing news, articles, interviews, podcasts and text editing on a daily basis, and I loved it.

And then, long story short: I burned out. Badly. I’m still recovering.

I tend to think my present difficulty to long-form writing comes from there (and also my ADHD, diagnosed lately, along with my Burnout), who knows.

The body and mind keep a deep imprint of where you were and what you were doing when you burnt. It’s like - it is - a trauma. So nowadays, I’m not spending more than 1-2 hours in front of my computer. Max.

Burnout had me working on myself, seriously. And when it wasn’t deep enough, it forced me to go back to work (on myself, not at work-work). Because you really have to reinitialize you hard drive if you want to go through it. Beliefs, values, habits, drivers, your environment, the people you surround yourself with.

The good news of this difficult life challenge is that, really, it’s all for the better. You’re building a brand new life for your brand new you.

Really, folks out there, who are going through the same sh*t, I see you and I love you. You’ll come through this!

The rebirth of my Artist Self

In July 2024, thanks to my dear friend, educator and guide Véro from France with Vero “Lettres de France”, I discovered Substack. I immediately felt at home among many kindred spirits: travelers, writers, artists, collagists, urban sketchers, neurodivergents, solo parents, spiritual searchers and truth seekers. And the incredible kindness of everyone. So far, I haven’t seen one single judgmental nor angry comment on my feed. This isn’t being naïve, I know Substack is not all unicorns and butterflies, and that it’s changing, but that’s another debate.

A few weeks into scrolling and lurking around, a spark started to lighten up in me. Then it became a real tsunami. I started feeling a powerful urge for making Art. Still recovering in my couch, I started making sketches in my notebook. And collages.

In June-July 2025, I participated to Daisy Yellow’s ICAD 61-day challenge. I even got interviewed in the Pinkubator.

I tried to publish more consistently. I have to admit, I publish mostly on Notes. Long-form writing has become challenging for me, so I also tried Audio and Video formats.
I lack a clear editorial line. Thing is, I’m experimenting. Documenting my Artist rebirth is what you see in this Newsletter.

So, now that I have passed this important 100 subs-milestone, Where am I at?

1- I am now producing every single day. It means a lot. It’s a whole, important part of me that has gotten back to life.

2- I am actually considering going Pro (part-time along my coaching practice)! I am starting to build my first show for a local coffee shop, applying to call for artists, artist residencies and considering a platform to sell my works. Who Knew!

3- I am planning on adding Art Therapy to my Coach practice. I am a Burn-out coach (I still need to create a second Substack to post about that, too).

4- I launched my own challenge: the 1 Abstract-a-day Challenge, from Sept. 1st to October 31st. I was so surprised by the nice welcome and participation of everyone! Along with the challenge, I also posted a weekly Note, Abstract Wednesdays, about Abstract artists from then and now. I intend to make a Zine with these.

It’s all thanks to you. Your incredible support, likes, subscriptions and encouragements mean so much to me. Thank you so much, every single one of you!

So where do we go from here?

Here’s what I’ve been thinking about for this new milestone:

- 1 sneak peak into one of my Notebooks every month, 

- 1 “visual journal” every other week: a messy, state-of-current affairs, Emily Newsletter, with photos, drawings, artists I discovered, notes on books or movies, etc. I want to make it loose and sincere and easy. Go with the flow-like.

And I will keep on posting (almost daily) in Notes, of course.

Again, thank you so much for passing by, that means a lot. 💙💜

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Thank you so much for watching! I hope you find it interesting, please let me know in the comments!

If you wish to support my work, you can:

Buy me a Coffee ☕

And I’m loving to participate in this challenge with you!

You can still join us :

1 Abstract-a-day Challenge


If you would like to support my work, you can

Buy me a Coffee ☕

I love abstract Art, although I don't know that much about it, much less practice it.

Yet I would love to. It fascinates me, makes me think, makes me feel. But when it comes to play with it, I'm lost.

I love the idea of playing, in the Arts we practice as in many aspects of life, as Alan Watts stated it:

Here on Substack, I have been mesmerized by the abstract mysterious beauty of the works of , , , and , to name a few.

So as I was looking for a new challenge to keep me practicing, I decided I'd start a 1-a-day abstract piece for 60 days.

Would you like to join?

The 60-day Abstract Challenge

Starting September 1st to October 31st:

• 1 small piece of Art per day (size: A5 max.)

• Any media is fine: paint, ink, pencil, markers, collage, photo, mixed media…

• Abstract= Non-figurative: play with color, lines, shape, light, depth, matter...

• Share with #abstractaday whenever you want (no obligation)

Bonuses!

+ I will share weekly prompts to make it a little more juicy, for those interested

+ Every wednesday, I will also share a Note about an abstract artist (old and present), to feed my soul and yours ✨

Alors, who's in?

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