Dear Reader,
Welcome to our fourth issue, Spring 2022. As I write this here in Wisconsin, we are in the thick of early spring: snow began the week and summer-like conditions will end it. Which is what spring is: a dance between winter and summer, with days that snow and days that warm, a cautious but steady lightening from long stretches of darkness, and yet not fully defined by its neighboring seasons but rather, a time all its own of transition and awakening, birth and bloom.
In many ways, the pieces in this issue reflect the push-and-pull feeling that encompasses much of spring: some pieces have glimpses into what is ahead while some look at what is behind, others include both. There are some works that are shatteringly heart-wrenching and breathtaking in their precision; others are loose and light, soft and warm. We find pieces that interact with the non-human natural world and pieces that engage in the struggles and successes of humanity; there is both buoyant color and staid black and white. There are questions and answers; change and stasis; tension and ease.
So I invite you to explore these many-layered pieces individually as well as enjoy them as a complex whole, much like spring itself, and marvel at the creations that members of our community have birthed into the world.
Be safe and be well.
Sincerely,
Lia Vellardita
Managing Editor