The Liminal — Pink Moon Cycle — March 2026
MARCH 18, 2026 · THE PINK MOON · ELEVENTH ISSUE · WWW.FOXANDTHISTLE.STUDIO RSS
THE FOX & THISTLE LIMINAL A MONTHLY CREATIVE ALMANAC WEAVING TOGETHER ART, EXPRESSION, AND REFLECTIONS
Look Out For: Tufts of grasses, moss brightening, trees budding, daffodils, tulips, unfurling ferns, wild onions, clover, flowering apples & pears, cherry blossoms, pollen dustings, morning fog, shifting light, spring rains, damp earth, warming light, earthworms, ladybugs, carpenter bees, ants, early butterflies, baby bunnies, active squirrels, robins, cardinals, geese, arguing blue jays, sunning turtles, pooling water, muddy paths, & getting outside again!
Look Up For: The new moon on the 18th sets the stage for the Vernal Equinox on the 20th, when daylight begins to take hold across the Northern Hemisphere. From here, the days lengthen more quickly, and spring settles in as the month unfolds. The next full moon arrives on April Fool’s Day, once considered the start of the new year in much of the Middle Ages. The following new moon falls on April 17th.
THE PINK MOON CYCLE → → ● 3/18 3/25 ● 4/01 4/10 ● 4/17 · · · NEXT: THE FLOWER MOON
THE LIMINAL is published in concert with our 2026 FORTNIGHT CALENDAR, a free download is available for subscribers.
This digital zine is interactive—most sections are clickable and will take you further into the site.
Public Playlist Pink Moon Cycle 2026 Fox & Thistle Studio · 19 songs, 1 hr 7 min
I almost never work in the studio without music. I've set up a playlist of some of the stuff I've been feeling lately, and plan to update it each month with the newsletter.
It's not exactly curated, but not not curated either.
Inside this Issue: Festina Lente—Part Three: Transformation, Dive Bar Ensemble, Pride in the Post, Generational Cookware, Structural Silence, Sideways Progress, Tradewinds, Art Nouveau Monograms Offer, & Prince George's Crab Cakes
FESTINA LENTE — MAKE HASTE SLOWLY
Part Three: TRANSFORMATION — the Crab & the Butterfly
Crabs molt. They walk sideways, then grow too big for their skin and break out of it. They are extremely vulnerable at this stage in their lives. To move forward—to progress—they have to abandon the very thing that got them to exactly the place they are. The crab changes position without changing form.
Butterflies on the other hand change form without position. From the slow and sluggish existence of the caterpillar into a life of vibrancy, flight, and light. They seem two different creatures. May the bridges I burn light the way.
Non-linear progress clusters and rises like a tide. Diversification. Exploration. Balance. Breadth. Uninterrupted motion is not equal to vitality. We are greater than the sum of our parts. The butterfly is not better than the caterpillar. The full grown crab is not more important than the juvenile.
The changes are not upgrades to narrative. They are the narrative.
Still to come in our FESTINA LENTE series:
Turtle & Sail: AGENCY
Diamond Ring & Foliage: COMMITMENT
Dolphin & Chameleon: ADAPTATION
These collages were made from salvaged newspaper about twenty years ago. Most have found homes. I was studying Dubuffet and I remember searching far and wide for a newspaper in French for the accordion player. Not an easy task in southeastern VIRGINIA.
The slow unraveling thread of a beloved civic instrument
The UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE predates American independence and embodies a radical democratic promise:
That every person regardless of wealth, education, or status, could reach any other person across a continent defined by distance.
The guaranteed delivery of packaged and sealed ideas at modest price to any address in the land was a fundamental building block of American democracy, and its importance is fading into memory. These artifacts of thought and intention also acted as vehicles of what was perhaps the most democratic art gallery in human history. The postage stamp as a considered object was curated, printed, and distributed by the millions to every address within the United States. Giving unparalleled access to fine art, scientific achievements, national heroes, native wildlife, historical sites... the subject matter remains limitless. They acted as small reminders of patriotism, not in a moral or partisan sense, but as a civil collective.
As the digital landscape slowly replaces this quiet and taken for granted American institution with faster and better communication methods, it is worth considering what benefits were quietly carried by 250 years of slower communication. At a moment when the conversation seems particularly skewed towards surveillance, we might remember that protection of privacy was not merely a concept thrown into America's founding documents because it sounded important.
*all stamps pictured predate 1978
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A dedicated cast iron cookware section is coming soon to the shop. I collect these from estate sales and auctions, put them in a lye bath for a couple of weeks, then re-season them with avocado oil. Each of these pans has lived whole lives before, and will easily last another lifetime again...
There is silence in being a creator. It is very easy to find these days, inside the numerous and vast online communities. It is almost as if the constant noise of these platforms makes the silence more pressurized. It belongs to those who once stood close by. Those who used to encourage you. Those who looked at a drawing, an essay, a poem and said... this is interesting. This is different. This is unique. In all sincerity. But doing new things is expansive. Occupying bigger rooms means signals travel farther. And the echoes emphasize the distances. One might not want to take a position because others are watching. A review. A share. A signup or subscription. A small public nod that says ‘I recognize something here’. There is a particular kind of silence that lingers in containers you once happily lived in. Within spaces you can no longer stretch inside of. The absence in those places is familiar. It’s expected. But the boundary between who you were and who you are becoming is never quite as far away as it seems. People come and go. Encouragement abounds in the private places. Recommendations and suggestions of every shape and size. People love pairing a hobby with harmless praise. But building a practice around something unexpected has far greater implications. As if i must now earn back the trust that i broke in growing. Because when the work starts to have direction, or weight, or teeth... the silence changes.
sideways is frontways if you turn to the left,
and backways is sideways from there,
and a step to the right with a spin around twice,
another twirl and a flip in the air.
but wait that's not right! from where'd you begin?
all the people are starting to stare.
it matters not if you turn to one side
and collapse to the ground in despair.
there’s nowhere to go, each direction is blocked,
yet there’s quite a big secret to share,
what you’ve truly been doing, right from the start
was filling a basin with care.
More poems in the Verses section of our blog, impetus inaction
My brother has opened an HVAC company called Tradewinds. After more than a decade of work and school, he earned his Master’s in the trade. I work with him sometimes on installations to support my studio. If any of my readers around TIDEWATER, VA need any help with their heating and cooling systems, or know someone who might, give us a call!
Tradewinds HVAC
(757) 405-7629
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Lately, I've been playing with monograms. I pull letterforms from an old Art Nouveau reference book, fit the ones that I like best together and then color them by hand on an iPad. It's slow work and I find it settling.
For now, I'd like to offer a monogram to each subscriber at no cost. Send me a note with your initials and a couple colors of choice, and I'll make it for you. I use mine as the profile pic on the contact card on my iPhone.
WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK! Did a part of the Liminal resonate? Or do you have an idea to contribute? Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit—splat, boing, zing! We're on a journey, and your ideas can help shape it!
Thank you for reading. If it moved you, please pass it along.
If you'd like to support the studio, visit the shop or drop something in the tip jar. https://ko-fi.com/griefNgravy
Richard W. Saunders
THE FOX & THISTLE LIMINAL — is a PRODUCTION OF GRIEFNGRAVY press liminal@foxandthistle.studio
THE LIMINAL · PINK MOON CYCLE · MAR 18, 2026
