Glow by Lady E

I keep seeing these Pentel Vistage Watercolor Sticks at SM Stationery. And every time I see them, I look. Then I leave them there. I was curious about them, but my friend told me they were student grade. Apparently, that was enough to lodge itself somewhere in my brain as you don’t need those. So I didn’t buy them. I actually saw them again just last Saturday. Looked at them. Still didn’t buy them. Except this time, I had completely forgotten about something rather important. My $4 Mont Marte watercolors. I’ve been exploring painting more seriously lately, and those inexpensive little watercolor tubes surprised me. They may not be fancy, but they work really well with my hand and the way I naturally paint. And that’s making me rethink the way I’ve been judging art materials. Maybe the question isn’t always: Is this professional grade? Maybe sometimes it’s: What can I do with this? Because a material can have all the impressive credentials in the world and still fight my...

  Nineteen days have passed since our last issue, and almost a week since I quietly waved from this little corner of the internet. I’m still here. Issue 03 is taking shape, just not all at once. Some pages are written in long stretches of focus. Others arrive between packing orders, refilling tape, answering messages, and waiting for the Cricut to finish another cut. The work behind Glow has never looked particularly glamorous. After nine days of staying in, cabin fever finally won, so I slipped out for a few hours. I wandered through shops, admired beautiful things, came home with a little inspiration, and remembered that stepping outside sometimes feeds the pages just as much as sitting in front of them. Yes, that’s a My Melody paper plate 😊 with Mochi Donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts and Cobbs Popcorn Back at my desk, writing continued with a pink doughnut, bright yellow popcorn, and whatever little treat happened to be nearby. Not because it was perfectly styled, but because creativ...

  It didn’t look like a big decision. Just paint. Watercolors.  Something small enough to say, this should be fine. I didn’t think about it too much. Didn’t analyze. Didn’t pause the way I usually do. I chose quickly. Because I was missing these colors.  The price was okay.  Cheap compared to my usual watercolors.  Cheap and convenient because I can choose the exact colors. I believed that  this will work. And at first, nothing seemed wrong. Until I started. The paint didn’t respond. It didn’t flow. Didn’t soften. Didn’t listen. And suddenly— something that should have felt effortless felt resistant. Heavy. Frustrating. Off. I tried again. Maybe it’s just me.  Still the same result.  So I stopped. Not because I didn’t want to paint. But because something in me refused to keep going when everything felt misaligned. And that’s when it became clear. It wasn’t just the paint. It was the decision. The quiet moment where I said yes to something that did...

Glow Girls who have been with me from the beginning know that I need to fully live something before I write about it.  Even if the idea was there. Even if the structure made sense. Even if it would have been easy to turn it into a piece. Something in me always resists.  Not loudly. Just enough to stop me. I don’t create from what I see. I create from what I feel. There are things that look beautiful on the surface. Images that are polished. Moments that seem perfect. But if I haven’t felt it— it doesn’t belong in my world. I can’t curate something I haven’t experienced. Not honestly. Not in a way that lasts. Glow is not a collection of things. It is a collection of felt moments. A photo is not chosen because it is pretty. It is chosen because it holds a feeling I recognize. Something I’ve paused for. Something I’ve sat with. Something that stayed with me longer than it should have. That’s the difference. Between seeing beauty and experiencing it. ...