Mending, in Practice
Mending, in Practice isn’t just about my story — it’s about the truth that we are all healing something, whether or not the stitches are visible.
January 19th-31st
Inspiration
So many of us are carrying more than we let on.
Our bodies hold injuries, illnesses, and recoveries that don’t resolve on a clean timeline. Our hearts carry grief, endings, disappointments, and losses that the world often expects us to move past quickly. Even when nothing looks “wrong” from the outside, there is so much quiet mending happening beneath the surface — work that is slow, tender, and often unseen.
Healing doesn’t arrive all at once. It happens in small, daily acts: tending a scar, learning how to trust again, finding your footing after something has changed you. And yet, we’re rarely given space to honor that process. We’re encouraged to be resilient, productive, and ready for what’s next, even when parts of us are still stitching themselves back together.
Mending, in Practice is my way of honoring that truth — that healing is a verb, not a finish line. This residency is a commitment to slow, deliberate repair through material, process, and presence. It’s an acknowledgment that making something by hand can be a form of care, and that beauty can emerge not in spite of our wounds, but because we chose to tend them.
And like all meaningful acts of mending, this work isn’t meant to be done alone. I will need support — not just to make the work possible, but to affirm that this quiet, honest labor of healing matters.
What is “Mending, In Practice” Residency?
From January 19th-31st
I’ll be working on The Mending, In Practice Collection—a new body of mixed media pieces. This period of focused creation will allow me to explore the theme of personal and collective healing in-depth.
Why I’m Calling This a Residency
Though I won’t be traveling to a formal studio space, I’ll be dedicating this season to a self-directed residency centered on slow, intentional creation. During this time, I’ll immerse myself in the practice of mending — working by hand, following the pace of healing rather than the pressure of productivity. I’ll share glimpses of the process, the materials and metaphors guiding the work, and the evolution of the pieces as they come into being. Patrons of Mending, in Practice will be invited to witness and support this unfolding creative journey.
The result will be a body of work shaped by repair, restoration, and care — pieces that hold the truth that healing is not linear, not tidy, and not meant to be done alone. This collection will reflect the quiet strength it takes to tend what has been wounded, and the beauty that can emerge through patient, attentive mending.
In the spirit of reciprocity and shared healing, 10% of all patron contributions to this residency will be gifted to energy healer Sky Bradshaw, whose Jin Shin Energy work was a vital part of my own cancer healing. During a time when I could not have afforded that support, Sky offered her work to me at a significant discount — a generosity that made deep healing possible.
These funds will be used as scholarships, allowing Sky to extend that same care to others who are navigating illness, grief, or transition and need energetic support but may not have the financial means. In this way, Mending, in Practice becomes not only a personal and creative act, but a shared one — where healing is passed hand to hand, stitch by stitch..
Hi, I’m Alisha
I am an artist, writer, and creativity guide whose work is rooted in process, presence, and the quiet labor of making meaning by hand. I work across watercolor, abstraction, and mixed media, creating pieces that hold both beauty and fracture — paintings shaped as much by what has been mended as by what has been lost.
Over the past year, my creative practice has been inseparable from my life. I have navigated breast cancer and recovery, undertaken a water fast as part of my healing, moved through the ending of a long relationship, and found my way back to deep, sustaining friendship. Through it all, art has not been an escape, but a companion — a place to tend what hurts, to listen closely, and to stay present with what is still becoming.
Mending, in Practice reflects a turning point in my work and in my life. It marks a fuller claiming of myself as an artist, and a commitment to honoring healing as an ongoing, embodied practice rather than a finished state. In this residency, I am exploring mending not as erasure, but as integration — using material, repetition, and care to give form to the slow work of repair..
Why Sponsor This Residency?
Mending, in Practice isn’t just about me creating art — it’s about honoring the truth that healing is something we are all engaged in, often quietly and without witnesses. This residency exists to make space for that work: the slow, deliberate tending of what has been broken, changed, or wounded.
When you sponsor this residency, you’re not simply funding a project — you’re helping create the conditions for mending to happen. Your support allows time, attention, and care to remain at the center of the work, rather than urgency or output. It affirms that healing — whether physical, emotional, or spiritual — is worthy of patience and presence.
This residency isn’t only for me. It’s for anyone who knows what it means to live with unfinished healing. For those who are learning how to move forward while still carrying tenderness. For those who understand that some of the most meaningful work happens slowly, by hand, and largely unseen.
By sponsoring Mending, in Practice, you’ll be invited to witness the evolution of a new body of work shaped by repair and restoration. You’ll see the process as it unfolds, and, if you choose, hold a piece that carries the marks of care, resilience, and integration — not as a symbol of being “fixed,” but of having been tended.
Art has long been a vessel for healing, connection, and remembrance. Your support makes it possible for this work of mending to be practiced with honesty, depth, and devotion — and for its impact to extend beyond the studio, stitch by stitch.
Mend with me this winter through Sponsorship at one of the following tiers. Want to Sponsor the project but have a different idea in mind from what I’ve outlined below? Shoot me an email awielfaert@yokeandabundance.com with subject line “Mending, In Practice Sponsorship” and let me know what you have in mind.
$15 Holding Thread
This tier is an invitation to be close to the creative work without expectation or obligation — a way to quietly support the residency and stay connected to the unfolding process.
What’s included:
Access to a private Telegram community where I’ll share behind-the-scenes glimpses of the residency as it unfolds — works in progress, materials on the table, questions I’m sitting with, and reflections from inside the creative practice.
The ability to comment, ask questions, and engage with the work in real time, in a small, supportive space held for curiosity rather than performance.
This tier is for those who want to witness the practice of creating and mending as it happens — to stay close, offer encouragement, and hold the thread alongside me..
$50 – Steady Hand
Includes all perks from the Holding the Thread level, plus:
A Live Creative Healing Workshop
Saturday, January 24 | 12–2 PM EST
This gentle, guided workshop invites participants to explore their own healing through journaling and creative practice. We’ll reflect on what you are currently tending — emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or creatively — and then work with simple materials such as watercolor, crayons, and markers to create a piece inspired by your healing process.
No prior art experience is required. This is not about making something “good,” but about using creativity as a way to listen, process, and tend what’s present.
The session will be recorded, with the replay sent within 48 hours.
A suggested supplies list will be shared by January 10, with encouragement to use materials you already have on hand.
$100 – Mending Steward
Includes all perks from the Holding the Thread and Steady Hand levels, plus:
Exclusive access to a private Artist Talk live Q&A Zoom session
Friday, January 23 | Time TBD (either 12:00 PM or 6:30 PM EST)
This live session offers space to go deeper into the residency — the creative process, the materials and metaphors shaping the work, and what I’m learning as the practice of mending unfolds. There will be time for questions and conversation in an intimate, small-group setting.
The Q&A will be recorded, and all patrons at this level will receive the replay after the session.
$250 – Steward of Repair
Includes all perks from the Holding the Thread, Steady Hand, and Mending Steward levels, plus:
A thank-you card featuring a work from the residency, offered as a small gesture of gratitude and a reminder of the care and repair you helped make possible.
A signed, limited-run giclée fine art print created during the residency — a tangible piece from Mending, in Practice, ready to frame and live with.
This tier is for those who want to support the work of mending and also hold a physical trace of it — something made slowly, by hand, and shaped by the practice of repair.
$500 – Practice Keeper
Includes all perks from the Holding the Thread, Steady Hand, Mending Steward, and Steward of Repair levels, plus:
A 5x5 original artwork, hand-painted during the residency and inspired by Mending, in Practice — a one-of-a-kind piece shaped by the slow, attentive work of repair.
This tier is for those who want to help hold the practice itself, and to live with an original work that carries the marks of care, patience, and presence.
$1,000 – Circle of Care
Includes all perks from the previous tiers, plus:
A personalized, 4-hour private retreat, offered as a dedicated day of creative and reflective practice, held either virtually via Zoom or in person (for those able to travel to me).
This one-on-one retreat is designed as a spacious container to slow down, reflect, and tend what is present for you — creatively, emotionally, and spiritually. Together, we’ll shape the time around your needs, which may include guided journaling, creative exploration with accessible materials, conversation, rest, and integration. This is not a prescriptive experience, but a responsive one — held with care, attention, and presence.
To honor the depth and care this experience requires, Circle of Care is limited to four patrons.
The private retreat must be scheduled and completed within the first three quarters of 2026. This offering expires after September 30, 2026, and is intended to be booked when the timing feels supportive and aligned.
This tier helps sustain the broader work of Mending, in Practice, including the creation of healing-centered artwork and the extension of care outward through scholarship support..
Follow Along With The Light Returns Residency
Help the light return with creativity by becoming a patron of this project.
FAQs
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I’ll donate 10% of all patron contributions and 20% of the profits from art collection sales created during the residency.
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The 20% donation will go primarily to the NC Artist’s disaster relief fund, and a portion of the donation will go to those in need from the January 2025 winter fires.