I’ve (Dani) been an Ariel Gore devotee since I first came across hipMama Magazine on the racks at Community Market in Santa Rosa. Gore, the creator and previous editor of the DIY parenting zine, launched the publication as a school project which immediately spread a wave of much-needed relief through the homes of unconventional...
To dig into the pages of a Vanessa Davis book invokes feelings that are eerily similar to cozying up to her in real life. Her ability to transfer her snappy wit, hilarious honesty and vibrantly-colored life stories to the pages of her comics is uncanny. The author of two illustrated bio-comics– Spaniel Rage and...
My (Dani’s) introduction to Mike Sacks consisted of cyber-exchanging one another’s disturbing Cuddle Party articles. From there, the glory of his writing filled many sleepless nights with muffled outbursts of laughter which coincided with frequent suppression of the gag reflex, most recently a result of tearing through the pages of Sex: Our Bodies, Our...
The fact that Laine Justice creates her masterpieces of art with a series of paints and paint brushes– and not a magic wand– is utterly mind blowing, as is the patience and thoughtful time she carefully crafts each piece with. With an instinctual draw to the tender and delicate details of each character that...
Sorry seems to be the hardest word… but does it have to be? Something as simple as a sincere apology can change the course and direction of our lives. It can offer the validation that is often needed for decisions to be made… or avoided altogether. But what about those incidents that are misconstrued,...
Far from the bumpy backwoods roads of her youth, Kacey Koeberer is living the dream. And by “the dream”, we mean: she is actually using her brilliant mind to make a living. In Los Angeles, no less. A decade after completing her undergraduate degree in Sociology at the sun-shiny campus of UC Santa Barbara,...
Trane DeVore eats, breathes and sleeps with his creative wheels churning. The author of two published books of poetry– series/mnemonic (1999) and Dust Habit (2005) – he is currently at work on his UC Berkeley dissertation on “sensation and perception in Thoreau’s writing”. His poetry appears in numerous international publications and his photography was...
Jared Powell’s commitment to his unconventional and often romanticized artist lifestyle is the stuff that dreams are made of, really. He answers to no one, lives his life on his own terms and continuously challenges ideas and assumptions about what it means to live a creative life. Sometimes grumpy, usually thirsty for a tasty,...
Laurel Roth somehow manages to integrate her love of science and nature with her artistic eye for detail. Without the typical water-color or pastel seascape that is immediately conjured in the mind’s eye when the words “nature” and “art” are linked together, Laurel’s work instead incites wide-eyed adoration and mind-rattling astonishment to each and...
Sara Sanger is the type of woman that little girls and grown women alike look up to in awe. After receiving her BFA from Sonoma State University, Sara went on to pursue her photography career which led her into the world of rock-and-roll with her amazing band. Petals and Bones adores Sara’s no-nonsense approach...