Instagram by Elizabeth Leyk, whose Created with Human Intelligence badge is featured within.
Dear Reader,
Welcome to a new year of creative potential!
We're starting the year with a new issue befitting our present moment. Within issue #64 (Jan-Feb-March), you'll discover how creativity supports us through challenging times, guides us through transitions and helps us transform into who we're meant to be.
I'm very proud of this issue, this magazine, and the community we've built together—sixty-four issues! I don't have the words to fully describe the focus, determination (my stubbornness to make it work), and time investment it has taken to get here. But I do have a physical representation of it all, with these printed magazines spanning 16 years.
Some of you have been with UPPERCASE magazine since its very early years. I am so grateful for the mental (and shelf!) space you've dedicated to this publication over the years. (Special thanks to contributors Andrea Jenkins and Brendan Harrison, who have been with the magazine since its early days. And a big thank you to Correy Baldwin for his ongoing writing contributions and copyediting.)
Most subscribers don't have a complete print library of back issues. Though some older issues are still available through my UK distributor, on this side of the ocean and in my inventory of back issues, fifty issues are sold out and no longer available in print.
And so, a giant undertaking...
Re:issue will resurface and remix older out-of-print articles and inspiration from the UPPERCASE archive. It will combine a monthly grouping of articles pulled from the past with updates to profiles plus new content, all curated around themes and visual motifs pulled from a decade and a half of articles and ideas that are specifically still relevant today. That's the beauty of inspiration—it doesn't go stale! In fact, pulling older articles and juxtaposing them with newer ones offers some excellent UPPERCASE serendipity. It has been a joy to go through my magazines this way and see the threads through the years. (Eventually, the archive will have a searchable index, but that will take longer to implement.) My primary intention is to make the archive and re:issue valuable add-ons to an UPPERCASE print subscription.
I've started building the framework and sample re:Issue editions. I will be populating the digital back issues over time. With each reissued article, you can flip through the original page design and explore the entire issue.
This paid service will be a separate space hosted in The UPPERCASE Circle, which has also had a significant refresh...
your creative community
From its printed pages to this online community, UPPERCASE brings together creatives seeking beauty, inspiration and motivation so that we can cultivate meaningful connections and nurture our creativity.
The UPPERCASE Circle is a special perk for print subscribers—it is already included with a print subscription!
An UPPERCASE Circle access link is provided in the email sent after a new subscription or renewal has been purchased, so check your messages for one entitled "Thank you for subscribing! ❤ SAVE THIS EMAIL". If you can't locate that message, request access here if you have an active subscription. Reviewing these requests is a manual process; I'll let you in as soon as I can.
I've designed new icons, banners and graphics galore.
I've brought back The Daily UPPERCASE — one prompt posted every morning that you can ponder over coffee or use as a creative spark in your sketchbook or journal.
In the Marketplace, UPPERCASE subscribers can share their products, services and courses with fellow readers:
In Textiles Love (previously called Quilt Centre) I've been sharing some of my feed sack finds, like this vintage quilt top that will be given to one lucky person (by random draw) who preorders the Feed Sacks reprint.
Have your work seen by Windham Fabrics, Halfpenny Postage and other surface design industry buyers and experts! Win your own collection with Windham Fabrics and be one of 100 designers featured in the Guide. Submissions for the 6th edition of the Surface Pattern Design Guide are open until January 20.
If the $40 entry fee is a barrier for you, email me with the subject 'SPDG6 Free Entry', and I'll send you a discount code!
The first 200 Feed Sacks preorder customers will receive an authentic feed sack swatch with their book.
Feed Sacks (2025 Reprint)
The Colourful History of a Frugal Fabric
Author Linzee Kull McCray explores the history of the humble feed sack, from a plain burlap or cotton sack to exuberantly patterned and colourful bags that thrifty housewives repurposed into frocks, aprons and quilts in the first half of the 20th century. Extensive imagery and reproductions of these fabrics create an inspiring sourcebook of pattern and colour—and offer a welcome visit to a slower-paced way of life.
Though “Glue” is the title, we are exploring all manner of mediums and methods that artists use to hold it all together. Some examples include paper collage with hand-painted papers, collages made with found ephemera, taped paper constructions, sculptures held together with wood glue and nails, mosaics grouted to a surface, art posters wheat-pasted in an urban environment, textile art using fusible adhesive and stitching… beyond traditional collage, we are looking for an eclectic variety of interpretations on how creative works can be held together.
The entry fee is $100.All entrants will receive one copy of the finished book, regardless of their publication status. There are no additional fees or remuneration for participation. If the fee is a barrier to entry, email Janine to request a discount code.
