EMPOWERING THE SOURCE with Printmaker-Weaver Nick D’Ornellas

When you write in a journal, you often discover what you think by seeing your thoughts on paper. Making works the same way—your hands think through materials, and you discover what you know by seeing what emerges. This meditation explores creative work as externalized thinking, a conversation between your conscious intentions and your intuitive knowing.REFLECTION QUESTIONS → What question are you carrying right now that might be worth answering through making rather than thinking?AFFIRMATION → I make something and it teaches me / We speak back and forthWANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3

Your visual language isn't something you need to invent or discover hidden deep within yourself—it's already emerging in the choices you make each time you create. This meditation guides you through observing your recent work with friendly curiosity: what patterns keep showing up? We'll practice bringing conscious awareness to what's already there, so you can work with your patterns more intentionally rather than accidentally.REFLECTION QUESTIONS → What patterns did you notice consistently appearing in your recent work?AFFIRMATION → What shows up again and again is mine / I trust what persistsWANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3

Creative inspiration isn't scarce, requiring special trips or perfect conditions—it's abundant, hiding in plain sight. This meditation helps you expand your attention to notice inspiration in places you usually overlook. We'll practice a particular quality of noticing—curious but not hungry—and build cross-pollination between creative and everyday activities.REFLECTION QUESTIONS → What would shift if you trusted that creative possibilities are abundant rather than scarce?AFFIRMATION → Everything I see can teach me / I open my eyes widerWANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3

What if you approached your creative work like a scientist approaches experiments—with genuine curiosity rather than pressure? This meditation helps you shift to a "What happens if...?" mindset. We'll explore experimental questions (doing the opposite of what you usually do, using the "wrong" tools deliberately, combining things that supposedly don't go together) and practice reframing failure as results rather than mistakes.REFLECTION QUESTION → What would need to be true for you to give yourself full permission to "waste" materials on experimentation?AFFIRMATION → I don't need to know how this ends / I only need to beginWANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3

Our bodies have so much to tell us—where we hold tension, what hurts after hours of making, what feels tight or soft. This meditation guides you through a gentle full-body scan, not to fix problems, but to notice what's present. We'll develop body literacy so you can recognize what your creative practice asks of you physically and respond with practical care.REFLECTION QUESTIONS → What might help that area feel more supported during creative work?AFFIRMATION → I clear the path for what wants to emergeWANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3

Making with textiles connects you to something vast—humans across every culture and century have worked with fiber and fabric. You don't join this tradition by having a long line of quilting grandmothers. You join by pulling up a seat at the table and picking up a needle and thread. This meditation helps you recognize the knowledge already living in your hands, understand that textile wisdom is open-access, and feel your place in the universal human practice of making.REFLECTION QUESTION → How does understanding textile work as open tradition change your relationship to making?AFFIRMATION → I receive what was given freely / I share freely what I've learnedWANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3

This guided mediation is a part of WONDER YEAR, a year-long exploration in building and sustaining our creative practice.We’ll be moving through it together in real-time on the NOOK with live creative challenges, weekly reflections, journaling prompts, and more.Here on SEAMSIDE, I’ll be sharing a new guided meditation each week for the next three months—thirteen in all.My hope is that each one keeps you good company on your creative journey.…Many makers carry a quiet voice that says "I'm not good enough." This meditation helps you remember your inherent creative worthiness—not something earned through skill or output, but something that exists simply because you choose to show up. We'll reconnect with moments when creating felt natural, anchor belonging in your body, and recognize that your particular way of seeing matters.REFLECTION QUESTION → Which moments of natural creative joy surfaced, and what do they reveal? AFFIRMATION → I belong here / My hands know what to doWANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3

This guided mediation is a part of WONDER YEAR, a year-long exploration in building and sustaining our creative practice. We’ll be moving through it together in real-time on the NOOK with live creative challenges, weekly reflections, journaling prompts, and more. Here on SEAMSIDE, I’ll be sharing a new guided meditation each week for the next three months—thirteen in all.My hope is that each one keeps you good company on your creative journey.…GETTING STARTED → Starting something new can bring up all kinds of questions. Do I really have time for this? Am I good enough? Is this selfish? This introductory meditation creates space to acknowledge those doubts while establishing something foundational: you have full permission to be here. We'll explore what sustained creative practice actually looks like, visualize the natural rhythm of beginning and deepening, and help you identify a guiding intention for the year ahead.REFLECTION QUESTION → What quality or intention do you want to cultivate through this year of practice?AFFIRMATION → I belong here / This time is mineWANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3

Step inside a packed gallery at the Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum where I share the stories behind my SOUTHERN WHITE AMNESIA collection.This isn't a high-polish artist talk—it's a raw, honest exploration of how I discovered my family's deep involvement in slavery and transformed that uncomfortable truth into quilts, dolls, and primary source historical documents.This presentation demonstrates how textile work is uniquely positions to move into uncomfortable spaces and become a vehicle for historical reckoning and repair.You'll also hear about my decision to donate 100% of proceeds to HBCU scholarships and discover practical frameworks for approaching inherited trauma through the metaphor of "tending" rather than "mending" historical wounds.→ Curator page for the SWA collection→ Get your copy of THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR NEXT QUILT→ Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK→ Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM

In this special episode of SEAMSIDE, you'll hear reflections from a variety of community members who found connection, creative renewal, and unexpected insights while stitching side by side at our HUDDLE retreat. Working with textiles alongside others unlocks family stories and personal histories – there's something almost magical about the way fabric becomes a bridge across time and relationships.WANT TO JOIN US FOR THE NEXT HUDDLE?Learn more about our upcoming retreat here. And you can always email me at [email protected] for more information.→ Get your copy of THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR NEXT QUILT → Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM