The Shape of Sanctuary
All artwork begins as a small, dormant seed.
Long before the first line is carved or clay takes shape, there’s an idea - small and quiet - that stays with me until it’s ready to become something more.
For The Sanctuary Collection, that idea began as a feeling: the need to create spaces of calm in the middle of everyday noise. I didn’t know what the work would look like at first, only that I wanted it to feel like a deep breath after a long day.
Throughout the year, I took photos and wrote words that carried that feeling.
In the past few months, I began to draw from them - sketching over my photos of Maine cliffs and quiet lakeside rooms, writing words that spoke of rest and belonging.
This week, I’ve been transferring one of those drawings onto linoleum to prepare for my last large carving.
It’s one of my favorite steps: tracing the image slowly, line by line, until the design lives in reverse on the block.
There’s something so grounding about that moment. It’s no longer just an idea, but it’s also not yet finished. It’s caught between imagination and reality - still backward, but ready for action. Ready to carve. Ready to become.
That in-between space is where most of the creative process happens.
It’s the pause before progress, the waiting before clarity.
It’s also where life tends to find us: working, resting, carrying on while the deeper work quietly takes root.
If this collection has taught me anything, it’s to trust that stage. The part where nothing looks complete yet, but everything essential has formed beneath the surface.
The Sanctuary Collection arrives November 12.
I can’t wait to share it with you.
Until then,
May you trust what’s taking shape within you.
May you remember that rest is productive in its own quiet way.
And may you find sanctuary in the slow, unseen work of daily becoming.
With love,
Sarah K
Keep Reading: If you’ve missed the earlier reflections from the Sanctuary series, you can read them here:
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