May 25 New (England) Zine Letter

Welcome to the May 2025 edition of my Zine Newsletter. New-Zine Letter. If you want to get it right to your inbox monthly you can subscibe here. The same format in the email (images and text -- in case you can't read my handwriting) are available further down this post. Happy reading!

Thank you for reading! 

keep scrolling for the text version of the New Zine Letter

New England (Zine Letter)

Happy fricken May! 🌷 Since I last checked in I’ve been bopping around New England and Southern Cali seeing family and friends continuing the wedding world tour!

It’s been great getting to revisit all the spots from my college years in Boston with fresh eyes and see what’s changed. Like, The Fens in Boston recently underwent an upgrade and I can’t talk enough about how nice it is now. I’m now determined to bring my art materials there and spend and afternoon plain air sketching or painting.

In Cali we spent most of the weekend in the Temecula Valley💍🍷, then extended the trip a night to stay in Pacific Beach🏄‍♀️. By luck the last available room at our inn was right on the water and I got to spend my sleepless jet lagged hours sketching out on the balcony watching the waves, surfers, and pelicans fly by. I also biked around the coast & up to La Jolla and was blown away by all the bike lanes in SD. Yay for biking!

Amid the craziness I’ve been working on a new painting process. In the past I’ve painted from reference photos or detailed sketches in paint, then bought materials based on the reference. Over the last couple months I’ve shifted toward a method of traveling with a sketchbook and sketching in pen, pencil, or (mostly) crayon, then using those sketches as the reference for a painting. While this method grew out of a lack of space for my supplies while traveling, I’ve found it allows the resulting painting to be more loose in color and form and more closely mirror the memory of the time of the sketch. In these recent paintings I’m also restricting my color palette by only using remaining paint from 2020. It’s been fun working in this way and aligns with my belief that available materials should shape my artistic vision.

ART SALE!   

These works will be available for a limited time from 9:30am Fri June 6th to 11:59 pm Sun June 9th. Early access is available for newsletter readers from Thurs June 5th @ 12 noon EST / 5pm GMT. Use code NWSLTRXOXO in my online shop to unlock early access and DM me if you have any questions / want to see what works will be available!

Have You Seen The Green Flash? 

Have you or someone you know witnessed the sunset phenomenon called the Green Flash that happens just as the sun is setting? If so where were you or them?

It's always been a dream of mine to see the green flash ever since watching pirates of the Caribbean as a young girl (iykyk) and my obsession with it was reignited after seeing Malcolm Jones' 'The Green Flash' (2002) sculpture (above) in Pacific Beach, San Diego this month. The text on the sculpture reads: 

"The real sunset phenomena called the green flashis often cited but seldom seen.It can manifest itself to a one-time visitorwhile eluding local residents for decades.In this way, viewers become divided into the visual "haves" and "have nots". 

"To increase your chances for becoming a "have",start watching a few moments before sunset on clear, cloudless days when waves are smalland the Sun remains yellow almost to the horizon."

If you are a green flash 'see-er' get in touch at sierraflanaganart@gmail.com. 

What They Need to be Selling @ Baseball Games

I'm petty because I've gotten covered in mustard at 3/3 games I've been to this year 😂

Where in the World is Andy The Ant?

Can you guess where Andy is? Be the first to guess correctly and I'll draw your portrait in a future New-Zine Letter!

↩️(Last month Andy was @ the Mangawhai Library in New Zealand!)

Culture Nutrition

Here are some of the things I've read / seen or places visited in recent weeks.

Movies

One of Them Days 🖼️

Wicked 🧙‍♀️

Kiki's Delivery Service 🧹

Pink Panther 💘

Thunderbolts ⚡️

Sinners

Wallace and Gromit Vengeance Most Fowl 🐧

Chicken Run 2 🐓

Live Shows

Red Sox @ Fenway ⚾️

Museums

Museum of Fine Arts Boston 🎨

New England Aquarium 🦭

TV

Miami Vice 🚬

Overcompensating 🏛️

Succession (sn 2) 💵

Games

Wingspan

Pikmin 4

Cardinal Cardinal

Are we all into birdwatching now? I was gonna draw cardinal Sean O'Malley but it felt too niche...

Thank you for reading and subscribing! Your support means the world :,)

xoxo - Sierra