Welcome! I’m Andrea, an artist, photographer, and writer from small-town Ohio.
In addition to the Midwest, I’ve also called Appalachia, the Deep South, and the West Coast home. Work has taken me from family farms to major sporting events to university classrooms. In short, I’ve lived America from many perspectives.
Everything interests me, but I’m mostly searching for reasons to pause in this chaotic world. The older I get, the more I celebrate the wonder of nature. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me baking, gardening, playing tennis, swimming, and seeking meadows filled with wildflowers.
At Birchbark Journal, I tuck away my artwork, essays, and short stories. I commiserate. I encourage. I vent. Most of all, I care.
Read all of my posts on here, on the blog itself. Subscribe at Patreon to receive monthly recaps via e-mail and show your support for independent art and writing.
This blog is entirely reader supported with no advertising. My goal is to avoid corporate influences and offer a quiet, relaxing space.
What is the Birchbark philosophy?
If I’ve learned anything it’s that, at heart, most of us hope for similar things in life. We need security and good health. We want to know where our next meal is coming from. We wish the best for the next generation. We yearn to love and to be loved.
Achieving these wants and needs isn’t easy for individuals, let alone a whole society. In some ways, we do need to take a step back. And, in some ways, we do need to take massive leaps forward. Mostly, though, it’s important to just breathe for a minute and appreciate where we are now, what we have, and what we share in common.
How did Birchbark Journal get its name?
The bark of birch trees was used to write manuscripts and draw pictographs as early as two thousand years ago in what is now Afghanistan. It was also a known writing and sketching surface in ancient India, Ireland, Nepal, and Russia as well as North America.
So many different cultures. So many different languages. So many different belief systems. One medium.
The service of birch trees doesn't stop with communication. The bark has built baskets, canoes, dwellings, and rattles. Bark, buds, and leaves serve as medicine. Birch seeds also provide nourishment for wildlife.
Birch bark doesn't fit into one tidy little niche. It serves a myriad of purposes. The same is true with this journal.
Is Birchbark accepting submissions?
Most work here is my own. If you have a piece of art or writing which might be a good fit for a guest post, feel free to e-mail me. Regrettably, I cannot respond to all submissions.
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Thank you for being here. Take what you need, and I hope you’ll come back. If you can, please support my work by subscribing.
With hope,
Andrea