Hearth Zine: Art, Earth Heart

Hearth is a zine created by Meredith Luce — an artist, designer, educator, and aspiring naturalist based in Kemptville, Ontario.

The focus of this tiny monthly publication is to share ecocentric art, craft, and poetry. The objectives of Hearth include inspiring creativity, encouraging feelings of joy and hope, skill sharing, and other good stuff. Essentially, things of art, earth, and heart!

This is a labour of love and generally distributed for free. If you would like to have next month's issue mailed to you or donate, CLICK HERE. Your order helps to support the production cost of this project. 

Issue #1 | March 2025

Contents:

• Printmaking and poetry by Meredith Luce
• HOW TO > Make your own collagraph print
• Fold out poster featuring full print of this issue’s cover art

Poetry

February’s Triumph
Meredith Luce (2023)

February’s triumph:
Cerulean skies
Gauze laden branches
Chickadee’s cheerful cries

Rough skin of milkweed
Bare hands cupped tight
Made fair as in spring
By gold February light

Winter’s Temple
Meredith Luce (2023)

Alone,
Beech leaves tremble,Like windswept moths
With tattered wings.

Behold
Winter’s temple
Where spring’s ghost sleeps
‘Til Robin sings.

HOW TO  > Collagraph

Collagraphs are a fun way to repurpose scraps of paper, packaging, and found objects to create a unique piece of art. Select your materials considering that rough and absorbative surfaces will take more ink and print darker. Smooth or slippery surfaces (such as plastic) can have ink wiped away to create lighter or white areas in your design.

1. Collect your materials.

2. Arrange them on a sheet of cardboard or a washed, opened, and flattened milk carton. Glue them down in position.

3. Using a rubber brayer or small foam roller, apply acrylic paint or printing ink to your plate. You can use a scrap of fabric to wipe away any spots where you don’t want the ink to print to the paper (such as areas of the background).

4. Place a sheet of paper carefully over the plate. While holding the sheet in place with one hand, use the other hand to rub the back of the paper, working your way over the entire sheet.

5. Gently lift up your paper to see your finished print!

Tips > Taping the plate to your work surface will prevent it from sliding around when you are printing on the paper. Acrylic paint dries quickly, so print promptly if using paint for this. If it doesn’t work well, re-ink and try again!

Poster