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Good night to all the solarpunks out there

Goodnight to the solarpunks kind that sew, the kind that do fiber art. The kind that dream of doing fiber arts but cant. The ones covered in patches. The ones saving patches for days yet to come. The ones

Goodnight to the Solarpunks that garden, those who have fought fines and glares, that make seed Bombs and moss garfitti, that archive data online, that research their native plants vs their invasive plants, that

Good night to the Solarpunks that write the world into a better place, that give us ideas for the path forward. To the beta readers, the editors. Those who spend all night away thinking about if this bug fact being inconsistent will ruin everything but choosing fun anyway.

Goodnight to the Solarpunks that can't do the physical work, who have to take breaks from the emotional labor, who deserve to still be Solarpunk even if they can't do the direct action for one reason or another.

Goodnight to the Solarpunks that provide us with art done with their own inspiration, letting us visualize how the world could be beautiful. That hate their work but share it anyway, that have rough drafts that will never be shared, that use multi media and weird formats for their art.

Goodnight to you all

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oil paint/pastel n colored pencil on paper, mounted on panel 🌞

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Snow Art by Simon Beck (2018)

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my mom got me this little thing and im obsessed with him.... little creature..

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Crafting Cinemas

Crafting cinemas are usually a special night held by movie theaters that encourage you and your friends to bring crafts along to the theater!!

I've seen most of them take place in Australia I will say they are picking up steam world wide bc they ROCK!! The last one a friend was telling me about was actually also a yarn swap which blows my mind.

While they started with doing things like knitting at the movies since it's so portable, most events encourage ANY craft ranging from painting to knitting to rug making to lace making!

So keep an eye out or definitely an idea for a community movie night!!

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Happy Solarpunk Aesthetic Week and Winter Solstice! ❄️

While we do celebrate here, we don't actually experience winter in my region, or any of the classic four seasons! The weather here is basically a coin toss between searing heat and torrential rain lol. So while I was musing over how to adapt a solarpunk aesthetic to a tropical lifestyle, I came up with this!

Lengthy explanations and chaotic ideas below:

Disclaimer: I am not a science-y person, so I'm not sure how any of these would technically work or what materials would go into making them. Hopefully one day someone could figure it out, but I'm just having fun sharing these ideas for now :)

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What works well both in harsh sunlight and heavy downpours, plus is already something that people here use everyday? Umbrellas! How cool would it be to have an umbrella that absorbs sunlight during the day, and turns it into a personal spotlight at night? Or perhaps it could absorb and store large amounts of rainwater, to be re-used later or released somewhere more useful?

My main inspiration for this is the bamboo. This plant already plays a huge role in our lives here -- culturally, economically, and from what I recently learned, ecologically too! Our region suffers from floods often, and bamboo can help to control the flow of water, for example through their roots providing a barrier against soil erosion, or their ability to store large amounts of water and release it gradually during drier seasons. (And that's just one of the many reasons why bamboos are awesome and solarpunky!) I thought it would be cool to have water stored in the 'bamboo nodes' of the umbrella shaft, which could then be detached and used individually, or as components in other tech!

I chose the Amazonian lily pad as the canopy design because 1) it looks big enough to cover a person, 2) it has a wide surface for solar panels to 'photosynthesize' energy, 3) its container-like shape looks as though it could hold rainwater like a funnel while it trickles into the shaft, and 4) it just looks really pretty! Realistically, this canopy might not be able to do everything at once, so I'm hoping for this tech to be modular and highly customizable -- as in, you could replace this 'lily pad' with something else that serves a different function! I did play around with some other designs, here they are hehe

Hibiscus: Our national flower! Have these bad boys growing in my yard so I thought why not. Not sure what functions it would have yet... perhaps the pistil could be a sensor for gathering weather data? Or maybe the anthers are little lights? Maybe it attracts BEES???

Mushroom: Not familiar with the fungi in my area yet so I went with the classic Amanita. Though now I'm kinda regretting because! Wouldn't it be so cool and lunarpunky to design it based on a bio-luminescent mushroom, so it would make sense for the umbrella to glow in the dark? AGH missed opportunities ;;

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Anyway while I was designing the umbrella I thought about giving the model a cool fit too, so tadaaa! A customizable pair of pants that can be worn as a shorts + half-skirt/sarong combo during hot weather, or extended to become a full pair of jeans during colder/rainy times! I used zippers as the connectors because they seem easy to sew on and I like the punky vibe it adds to the outfit. HOWEVER, I'm realising that might be inconvenient or way too time consuming for some people. Maybe buttons, magnets or hook-and-loop fasteners would be easier?

As for the shirt, idk that was just for fun. Maybe it changes colour/design based on the surrounding temperature?

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So YEAH that was my longer-than-expected idea dump for this week! Thank you for reading <3 If you have any thoughts or ways of expanding on these ideas please please please share them with me I'm just really excited to see what people think waaaaa!!! ok bye stay hydrated

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Solarpunk - Week and Art 2024☀️🌱

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My entry for the "Week And Art 2024" contest. Theme : SOLARPUNK! A serene, positive vision of a Solarpunk future, inspired by my favorite place in the world - the Ossau Valley in France. A totally self-sufficient house, a lake, imposing mountains, nature that is respected - and the sound of bees (present and aided by robotic companions), foraging from flower to flower.

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I, uhhhh, took a few days of intense work to make that for an art contest. The full piece is ~10k x 7k pixels, never worked on something that big, will seriously reconsider next time I've got such a stupid idea lmao

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A concept art for my BA thesis film set in a post apocalyptic solar punk world.

A girl and her robot walking over remains of a sunken city.

2024

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🍃Eucalyptus print dress from an H&M tablecloth - I made this AGES ago and forgot to post!

🍃Self drafted bodice with inverted box pleat skirt. The tablecloth and buttons are both thrifted.

🍃Styled with thrifted silk shirt and agate jewellery 🌿

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Queer Resilience Series, watercolor
“We Are Resilient / We Are Persistent / We Are Everywhere”

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Solar engineer uniforms (feat. Grace) for my comic!

The field work getup is gold since it reflects the most UV radiation (and is absolutely unbearable to wear). The designs are a combo of real world welding and hot-temp safety equipment and some guesswork on my part.

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While we don’t have a rigid daily prompt list for our event, we thought we’d give a few as Idea Starters to provide a jumping off point if you’re feeling a bit lost or uninspired. How can we embody solarpunk during the winter? Feel free to share your take on these however you feel fit! 

Holidays: with Solarpunk Aesthetic Week’s winter events taking place so close to the holiday season, tell us if you’re celebrating any and how, or what you imagine holiday celebrations will be like in a solarpunk future? Decorations? Food? Tell us all about it!

Winter: winter comes with its own unique joys and challenges. How do you enjoy the season? What do you think a future society would do to prepare for the season--what would they wear, what would their structures look like, how could they use the snow and ice to their own advantage? How about exploring some polarpunk themes and aesthetics?

Light: Winter is known for being a colder, darker period of time, with some areas getting few to no hours of sunlight--and Winter solstice, the centrepoint of our event, marks the longest night of the year. How can we figuratively or literally light up our communities during this time? Maybe borrow some bioluminecense themes from lunarpunk? 

Color: Winter doesn’t need to be a dreary time! How are you adding some color to the world--with crafts, clothing, winter-growing plants, decorations? Try making an art piece using a color palette! Have fun with it!

Life: There’s plenty of life to be found in the winter! How are you drawing inspiration from plants and animals during this time? What are you planning for spring--a new gardening venture, perhaps? What do you think life will be like in a solarpunk community during the winter--what would they do for fun, how would they stay warm, how are they thriving in this time?

Community: One of the core tenants of solarpunk, and often one of the central themes of many winter holidays. How are you spending time with your community, or working to improve it? How can people work to strengthen their communal bonds during this time?

Crafts: Many people take up their crafting tools when it gets chilly outside! What are you working on, or finishing up? Are you dedicating yourself to learning a new craft this year? What crafts do you think will be all the rave in the future?

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