It’s the time of the year where veils are lifted. Where the unseen realms feel closer to our tangible world… But maybe it’s also a time where we allow our own inner veils to lift. And see the truths we’re pretending not to see… See the stories we have married to people, places, situations, that are only held in our imagination…

When only Love is real…

Where ‘Being Love’ doesn’t just mean ‘Being Light’, but being a beacon of truth- which may not appear as light to those who cant yet see the dark too.

And being present with it all

A Samhain Ritual workshop

If anyone is interested in creating their own protective Sigil - a personal intention planted within a symbol, where the symbolism is only legible by you - the ritualistic workshop that I made last year is online and available for you to do - either for Samhain or after. On your own or with friends. The link is right here <3

And some island moments…

Scorpio Season/ Samhain feels from the island…

With love,

Emily

To say thankyou for being here, here’s a 20% off shop discount for all art, workshops, tattoo vouchers, etc xxx

Holding on through the tangles of heartache ~

Curled up into a homely tight ball, while nursing wobbly emotional seas, I visualize a white dragon, gently coiling around me, her strength mirroring all that she touches. Her strength and softness amplifying each other. A reminder of how the unseen realms holds us through any storm, any turbulence, any tangles of the heart. We are always held. Especially when we almost forget, exactly that.

Remember that freedom comes when leaving the earthbound gravitational stuckness of believing that this earth suit is all that exists. And that when I am living with divinity, and with awareness of the divinity within myself, the attachments to everything outside will begin to soften. When i realise the air around me is not separate, but breath itself, i will return to belonging to all of existence. The sky and the sea, and me, will all lose their edges.

But can I remain deeper connected to myself while connecting to you?

Can I let our worlds touch at their edges without forgetting that I am always whole?

Belonging is not found by another. But by loosening all I believed I needed outside myself. Nothing is broken. And nothing is missing. And nothing that wasn’t meant to be left behind still remains. Death and rebirth, beginnings and endings, hold hands tightly. You can survive losing someone you love, when you remember that love itself reaches way beyond the edges of being human

I’m super happy with how these came out! I have just 9 dragon art prints looking for homes.

Dragon Art Print <3

HANDPOKE MENTORSHIP AUTUMN 2026

Ive shared enough how much i love this journey- how much of an inner-art-world ride it is, and how its truly amplified my own love and joy for this precious craft. I wont keep talking about it, but… if you’re feeling the call to diving into this art form, or ready for a new creative career, or to work with this beautiful craft, theres some more info right here. Or feel free to reach out for an introductory call. This is the last week to sign up.

The America/ Australia time zone is now full , but there are still a few spaces left for the Europe/ UK cohort. We begin soon! October 13th.

All the deets <3

I am soon returning back to Thailand. And cannot say thankyou enough to everyone I’ve crossed paths with this summer. I’ll re-open tattoo books in early Spring for 2027 bookings- from this newsletter space first. Thanks for being here :)

Love Emily x

A journal story from the road:-

I spoke to my ancestors on the drive. Well, not actually on the drive, but at that static point in the journey when the driving had stopped because the van had broken down again.

I was reflecting on my past -intentional- choices to always buy old vehicles in Thailand.. my motorbikes were older than me- and would regularly break down, usually in the middle of nowhere in mountains. After a while, this became an invitation, and a necessary one.. into trust, in learning to communicate in broken Thai, and into meeting the kindest strangers. And putting myself in the hands of something outside myself in order to be guided and looked after.

Over a decade in Thailand hasn’t just softened me. It has given me a deep love and trust in humanity and in strangers. I am so thankful for the beauty of Thai culture, and for not seeing strangers as a danger, but simply as someone I haven’t met yet.

This is how things were for my grandparents when they were younger. They didn’t have phones. They couldn’t press a button to get help. They would talk to a stranger. If that stranger was rude, they would wait and talk to another. That’s how life naturally went. The humanness of it, shaped it. Always.

And as my van broke down again, I experienced the sweetest reminder of that humanity somewhere near Birmingham, where I didn’t need to put on a dress and play the damsel in distress, but strangers genuinely wanted to help…

I was rescued from the highway by a kind man who shared how, at his dad’s funeral, he met his soon-to-be wife - and how love and life can interchange so magically sometimes.

After being towed into the city, I met another kind man who let me sleep in the broken van under a security camera outside his garage.

And another who came and saved me when I realised a drunken fight was getting a little too close at 3am and the metal van walls felt very thin (turns out it was just his colleague drunkenly swearing at his mistress on the phone but oh well…)

It’s a privilege to feel safe, held and supported. But it’s also a practice.

Chatting to the skies, on my drive, my grandma reminded me that I am living the life of a single, childless woman in her late 30s - with the kind of freedom that the women before me dreamed of, and fought for, and that I now get to live. For all of them. Their prayers have become my practice. And I cannot forget gratitude for this.

And oh, I am thankful for this freedom. The abundance of freedom. My life, my work, my boards, my books, and all my joys are on my back in this metal home. This freedom won’t last forever, nor is it supposed to, and nor do I want it to. But for now, I will treasure it.

The world is changing, and fluidity is essential these days. Trust, too. Building community and friendship wherever you are. Returning to seeing the kindness in strangers, and not feeling so alien from each other. We are all different and we are all here together.

The world does not need any more enemies.

It needs small steps to bring togetherness and humanness whenever we can. To allow anyone we meet to feel some sense of belonging. The power an individual has to make changes, feels like it is at an all-time high.

And at the same time as women have all these possibilities in front of them, and a single, childless life can be a powerful one… Still today, not all women have freedom in this world. And no one is free until all are free.

We still carry fears from men’s wars, men’s sexual abuse, the safety of children being threatened by twisted power dynamics and patriarchal fuckery.

But this is the time of women rising. We have power and possibility like never before. The world is not going to centre men for much longer.

And it’s not the time to wait for the men in charge to make changes.

[cos they wont].

I thank the women who came before me. Who gave me this amount of freedom. I do so, whilst holding onto my sharpened deer antler when I’m in the van alone at night. Just because there’s still some way to go until freedom and safety are fully restored and gender balanced…

The conversation with the skies and ether concluded:- ‘Make the most of your privilege of being alive right now. You were born into this life. Enjoy every second of it.’

Tattoos and learning to tattoo…

Aaaaaand last chance for skin story tattoos this year! Bath might be full (maybe one space left), but if you’d like to connect in Dorset or Cornwall in September/ early October, drop a little message in the tattoo wishes form. I’ll then be back in North Thailand for the winter, and also North Sumatra!

Also…. If you’re feeling curious about diving into the SACRED ART OF HANDPOKE… I have a new community/container/mentorship cohort beginning October 13th for 10 weeks - this one is slighter bigger and longer. I love sharing this art form/ communication form/ soul work. If you’re curious message me to jump on a call to chat human-to-human and see if we fit and it suits you. My favourite thing about these journeys is the community aspect. Creating, learning and healing any creative blocks in togetherness is the way (in my eyes).

I’m actually writing to you from my lunch break on a training course- which is opening my mind and heart in entirely new ways… I’m keeping it quiet until I’ve graduated (no point talking about things while they’re still unfolding…) but cannot wait to bring this new practice into creativity…

With love

Emily x

Logo design for Meg…with huge gratitude to all those who employ human artists to make logos/posters/illustrations. We appreciate you keeping our art worlds alive and well!

Let’s begin with these… This will be the last opportunities to sit together in 2026, before i return to north thailand. Medicine festival is fully booked now, but if you’re in the fields, please come say hello :)

Dublin - August 28-30

Bath - Sept 15 -18

Cornwall - end of Sept

Dorset - early Oct

North Thailand - Winter

Booking form right here <3

I am also retraining in September… this doesnt mean an end to tattooing, but im excited for it to evolve… Im keeping it quiet until it forms.. xxx

I would still love to ink this design below…

“What you commit to, you accomplish.” – Abuela (via Nicole)

Can you commit whilst remaining non-attached to the outcome…?

Does commitment have to restrict flow? Or can it be reframed to be continuously present, and dedicated to a chosen objective? Does it have to promise away the future, or can it be more so for the current breath, and maybe a few ahead… because dedicating promises to an imagined future, in a world of constant flux, in ever-heightening possibilities and change, seems redundant.. To hold on tightly to one idea in this current timeline asks for a dangerous dance with attachment…

In order for true presence, I cannot look too far ahead. In order for true commitment to being fully in the moment – in all the feelings, senses, states and awareness – I have to surrender my control of the future. I have to let go of any story that suggests it knows what’s coming. I can send out my prayers, intentions, energy and then let it go, give it to Spirit. And return to dancing with all possibilities. I commit to being fully present with all that unfolds. I commit to giving over control. I commit to trusting all what’s meant to be will be. I commit to making my heart strong by practicing loving, and letting go – again and again.

And to remember:- THE ONLY LOVE WE NEED TO HUNT IS INSIDE OURSELVES. Let that sink in. And deepen. Whenever you react, look into it. Find what story you’re seeing. Find what stops you from seeing that every single cell in your body worships you. You are your body’s God.

-messy journalling after reading some toltec books. These pre-eclipse days are ridding any need to polish words, and to just let it all fall out…

A beautifully held descent

Everyone seems to be talking about Greek Mythology. If you want to truly meet the mythic heart of the great stories of descent, then there’s nobody better to guide you there than Libby. She’s a storyteller, Dream Witch and psychotherapist who isn’t just ‘talking’ about Greek Gods, myths and wisdom but who is transmitting from them. You will be fully immersed in the realm of soul and held whilst you swim through grief, longing, love, dream, devotion, mystery and the depths.

Why would you travel to The Underworld? Because descent is unavoidable. Instructions for the Underworld will teach you to trust it, to revere it and to make magic with it. When you descend to the Underworld with devotion, grace and guardianship, you will find that there is so much magnificent eros waiting for you there. You will become skilled at the methods of descent, and ascent, as you return on the other side imbued with life force, clarity and a conviction to live wildly. In devotion to the mystery at the heart of it all.

To come and taste Libby’s holding.. join her for a free ritual to honour the Goddess of the Harvest, Demeter, on 19 August, 5pm BST. It’s free. I cant recommend her work more. Libby holds people so beautifully through dreamwork, shadows, love, and bodywork.

Join here

With love and thanks for being here,

Emily x

Because being human is always changing

Let go

Let go

Let go

Of all expectations

And beneath is only

Love.

Art and journal words from before the Moondance ceremony:

How does a moondance begin? Is it from when the ceremony is opened inside the circle? Or from the first sweat lodge? Because somehow it feels like it’s already opened. Or at least begun.

This week, I prayed for a potentially intense project to be smooth- and somehow, the time halved.

And soon after - as I left the solstice celebrations at Glastonbury, my van broke down in the middle of the road. Again, I prayed. Breakdown recovery was hours away, the police too, but a kind older American man stopped, helped for a good amount of time and managed to open the bonnet with a giant screwdriver and fix it.

I make the plane that I didn’t miss, full of gratitude for all that is - and then the pilot announces an emergency landing, putting me back into prayer and trust.

This is all part of the dance. And I’m already dancing. Dancing means to surrender. Let go. And trust the great mystery.

The days before the ceremony - or weeks - the challenges and shadows seem to amplify. Asking for deeper trust in Spirit, deeper prayers, and to look carefully and closely at what is ready to be transmuted/transformed.

It doesn’t just exist within the ceremony circle. Similar to birth… a mother - and a baby - starts to “become” and form, and “be”, before the moment of birth itself. The beginning isn’t a fixed date, but more so an unfolding.

It’s the energy that goes towards anything, that gives it life and presence. Even before material form happens. Through thought, intentions, heart beats and the connections we call in.

This dance changed all my perspectives.

It feels like “time” now makes more sense. Like the centre of the clock suddenly exists. The path ahead is clear, and held by energies stronger than I would have known.

Porto Cathedral speaks down to me as I write:- “The ceiling is only the edge of what you know.”

I know there’s more to dance. More to unearth. More to remember. And I am grateful that the moondance shapes my life like this.

Chapter 2 Skin Story bookings

Once I’m back online, all booking requests will be replied to and allocated chronologically- to keep it fair.

There’s still some spaces, but please write soon to guarantee a spot.

Book below…💚🪶

https://inkandearth.com/tattoo-booking

With love to all of you from north Portugal from the Quinta where we’ll soon be dancing!

Emily x

…And everything is exceptionally beautiful. Alive. Blossoming. And inviting us into the celebratory fairy realm. The natural world is rejoicing. And it seems like the Earth really does want to play.

But as I walk through the streets of Glastonbury, on the way to Chalice Well and the summer solstice festivities, I stop in a few shops and cafes and ask the people I meet how they are today. In almost every conversation, most people replied with something along the lines of: “I am tired... I’m on the edge of burnout… I’m exhausted… I have an autoimmune illness and I’m always tired…”

This feeling can be exasperated at this time of year. The earth is rejoicing, but our tired minds cannot always match up to it. The sun suggests an urgency to go outside and “have fun” or else it’ll disappear, and you wont have spent your fun tokens in time. It’s the same as feeling depressed while in paradise. The contrast with nature feels so jarring that the unwanted states of being grow tenfold.

I realize the loneliness that comes with tiredness. Tiredness often makes us believe that we are the only ones who are not full-of-life right now. We look at the outside world full of speed. The cogs of the system still running at their usual pace. We assume that we are the only person who cannot keep up with it. But no, we are a tired culture at the moment. I certainly felt the pressures of time and work and lack of rest this week…

A Solstice wish for you… is that you can break away from the pressure and cogs of society and give yourself permission to rest, even when it seems like the rest of the world is fully alive. That you can sit still with the flowers, instead of dancing among them. If you wish to…

And remember:

You are lovable for your tiredness as much as your awake-self.

You are not alone in this tired-human realm.

Even when tired, there is still radiance within you.

If you are booking in for a tattoo with me this summer, and have any appointment wishes to make you feel more at ease/ more comfortable/ more able to rest during it- please mention it in the space on the booking form (linked below).

And happy solstice 🌞 however this season looks to you

TATTOO BOOKS ARE NOW OPEN FOR CHAPTER 2:

Happy to share the booking form here, ahead of social media: BOOK A SKIN STORY TATTOO

Scheduling takes me awhile, so please allow up to 7 days for a reply. I will open my books on instagram tomorrow, but will open all requests chronologically, so even if I havnt replied, know that you’re at the top of the list!

Dates and locations:

June 23-24 Porto

July 9-13 Great Goddess Gathering, North Wales

July 15-16 Dorset

July 18-20 Berlin

July 25-26 Falmouth, Cornwall

August 2-4 Hackney, London

August 5- 7 Dorset

August 12-16 Medicine Festival

August 28-29 Dublin

September 3-6 Heart of the rose festival (TBC)

September 10… Falmouth, Cornwall (TBC)

Share your tattoo ideas here <3

Inspiration for chapter 2…

New paradigms // Underwater vision //Supernatural beings // Love is always at the core- and if it’s not- it’s not the core. // There is no 5 year plan. Just a present plan to return to the heart- and the core of the earth, as often as possible...

These are some of my sketchbook scribbles for inspiration…But as always it’s your personal stories that shape the art. Not just my thought bubbles. I’m more grateful than ever to still be working in this field... Some photos of recent Skin Stories below, and mood board pics:

Much love as always,

Emily x

Less than three weeks in England and I’ve munched away all my fingernails and already spent some time in front of a happy lamp. Or was it a sad lamp? I’m not sure what they’re called. I’m not sure what many things are called. I don’t know the rules, and I don’t know why these systems are in place if so many of them are already broken.

And at the same time, I cry tears of joy almost daily. I can see even more laughter lines, and feel this belonging in my bones when I recognize a plant from childhood. I fall in love with everything my ancestors loved multiple times a day. I feel the surf high, no matter how sloppy the waves are, just because my sister is next to me, bobbing in these wild Welsh waters, held afloat by liquid dragons. I delight in being able to play in the river, which is covered in dragonflies, knowing that there’s beavers and otters nearby, and then cry at the invisible pollution all at the same time.

All at the same time.

Everything is always happening all at the same time.

..Even more so nowadays?

When did everything speed up? They say age does this, but does the world not spin faster now too? Is it from over-connecting with everything to such an extend that we forget to connect with what’s right in front of us?

Too much empathy sometimes feels like it’s killing me. To stay afloat [on land], it’s essential to postpone some of the compassion and heartbreak. We can’t connect with the wider world all the time. We can’t talk to every single homeless person in the city. How many people are we meant to connect within a day… 10? …100?

How many plants and animals are we meant to connect with in a day? More than the number of humans? What was intended back when we were all in villages? (We definitely were not expected to reply to emails daily).

The only way to learn capacity is to push the edges until hermit mode calls.

Almost 38 years of dancing with balance, and it still seems like the only way to find it, is to dance between polarities. Forever swinging on that pendulum, knocking from one side to the other until a natural brief moment in the middle.

Perhaps the pendulum dance is the balance itself. The middle doesnt exist without the sides. And, when you choose to allow it all in - and allow yourself to feel it all -I guess that’s the only way.

- text to speech journalling, while driving my new/old beloved home-on-wheels around Bristol… maybe this isn’t allowed in the British rule book, but like i said, i don’t understand all the rules and tape...

CANCELLATION SPACE FOR LONDON

Chapter 1 of this year’s tattoo tour was full, but I now have a last minute cancellation space for Hackney, London this week:-

Either Friday 12th June afternoon OR Sunday 14th June in the afternoon (only one space available). Grab it below if it’s for you.

And, there’s one small (up to 3 hours) space left for Porto on June 22nd

www.inkandearth.com/tattoo-booking

Chapter 2 will be shared in mid-June. Soon. Still waiting to hear back to confirm some exciting locations..

I’ve had a few lovely invites to new spots, thankyou- I love hearing from people in different corners of the world. I’m happy to consider travelling to new spaces if there’s 8 or so people who would like to sit for a Skin Story tattoo (to make the travel and energy make sense). Or I’m always keen to co-create alongside pre-organised retreats…

I really love being back here!

Thankyou for reading, and sticking around

Emily x

The island is emptying again and returning to the hands of the hornbills and Sea Gods. The magic seems stronger when there’s less cords, ties and energy streams flowing between humans. The bigger characters here remain longer, not yet washed away towards societies’ pull. ‘Flute Man’ still remains, and appears with his speaker and flute whenever his name is said, dancing along the sand and playing his eerie music until the waves somehow disappear... And the rest of the storybook, with creature names, and fairytale qualities, are going nowhere fast, making micro movements between land and sea.

And the swell lines, even if smaller than years before, roll in with tangerine sunsets now. The clouds morph between every highlighter pen- green to orange to pink. Fluorescent skies are still held above, while the plankton is illuminated before full darkness. I paddle with fingers covered in stars. The Lyrid meteor shower is in full force- one escapes the star belt and shoots into the atmosphere with a glowing green face and wriggly gold tail, making it seem implausible that we are alone here. Life is illuminated and never silent. Even the colourblind and deaf can feel this kind of aliveness in the spaces between.

I spend most my days art-ing with two humans who are so comfortable to be around that I feel the peace of being alone, alongside the joy of connection. The Moken kids come by to surf, skate, and bounce off the walls- causing destruction and the most colourful play.

We chase the small slow moving water lumps. I am for once, not craving big waves, debauchery, or the learnings and lovings that come from the highs and the lows. I am finally sinking in to finding not peace, but joy, in the Middle Way. The Middle Way holds space to breathe, and space for time to move as it pleases, without being carefully carved and chiselled and controlled. And when time moves like this, the mundane becomes magic. Tomorrow doesn’t exist for the Moken, and I wonder how much more magic they see because of this. This island is one of the rare, last remaining portals, divorced from Time.

Freedom from time constructs a canvas for magic. Away from the watch, the phone, and other people’s schedules. This mad Little Rock used to always be a place where phone signal and internet didn’t work. A decade ago, I would arrive and leave the outside world and time on its own shore. Now, I work online from here, and use my phone daily, yet somehow the memory of that past timeless timefull time-exempt passage of existence still runs the show.

I will find even more magic when i enter the spaces between time.

And these windows/ glimpses of timelessness often come from the middle. Not from seeking the heights, or inevitably falling into the lows. But from gently being. Being in the slowness and steadiness. Being in the waiting room between bigger happenings. Having enough rest so when these spaces come, I can give my entire self to it.

I will find magic within the middle way.

Without chasing more. The middle is not mundane, or a boring coloured beige. Not beige, but blank enough to hold space for all to exist. It’s a space that’s not yet full, and therefore holds potentials to paint it as you wish.

Without time pressures, I live with more gratitude and devotion.

It is certainly a privilege to divorce from time, and something i love and appreciate deeply.

Supporting the Moken Sea Gypsys:

Every month a % of art sales goes towards the Moken kids education. (Whether art sells or not). I mean the kind of education that comes outside the sea in the classroom…!

Use the code “SEA WITCH” for 30% off all Art in my shop - including custom tattoo designs <3

Photo of recent wave play on the island (minus the waves…)

Chapter 1 of Skin Stories update:

Thankyou for all your beautiful requests. I love reading everyone’s stories. I’m really looking forward to bringing these to life! I currently have these 3 (maybe 4) spaces left…

BATH - June 4th

LONDON - June 14th (and a small one on the 13th)

PORTO- June 22nd

Tattoo booking form

With love,

Emily x

I can put on my lipstick for the sea. Walking out there, exhaling that little bit longer as i touch the salt. Pretending that it’s just me and her. Because that’s where my nature is held. Gently.

The same as one drop of water alone cannot cause a tidal wave. One human alone wont be facing any human storms. But you put the ocean together and it turns wild. You put me next to another, and the challenging mirrors appear. You put me in a crowd, and i feel somewhere between exhausted and somewhere between a raging tidal wave.

On the other side of the portal is love and peace that comes from not needing anyone else to open this heart. The spirals in the shells, echo those in the skies, and the stars in the sky echo those under the water in their luminescent jelly. Cicadas collide with my door throughout the night as waves collide on the sand. I sleep and dream and stir between worlds.

This island is between worlds.

I am between worlds.

And it feels like it suddenly makes sense to be between planes.

It’s not normal to pretend everything is logically just as it seems. Is it?

Who is my self under all my other selves? How many layers do I not yet see? Performing and pretending is washed away faster with this amount of sweat and sea.

I am here to grow. To wash my thoughts. Watch my thoughts. And plant seeds with my thoughts. A strong love frequency requires more undoing than additions. Get back in the sea and wash some more away. You are creating everything with your mind right now, whether you want to or not.

Time does move differently here, at a rapid rate. Is it because we’re surrounded by the emotions, the sea and her endless motion? Like the waves, the human storms come, fallouts happen, and calm resumes, forgiveness happens, everything changes at a pace that i cant keep up with. Until I accept that change will be inevitable, and let go again and again.

And so again, i put on my lipstick for the sea, paddle away from humans. Loving is easier when the only mirror is watery.

🐚🌺🌞All tattoo requests have now been replied to… thankyou all for sharing and trusting me…

Check your emails please…

Im waiting for deposits for confirmations, but do still have some spaces- maybe not for Bath, but theres definitely 2 for london… booking form is here xxx

Thankyou.

Much Love

Emily x

And 30% off all art with the code: SEA WITCH

I have decided to open this year’s tattoo tour in 2 chapters… So I can dive deeper into the stories and requests from the first part of summer, instead of trying to open and hold everything all at once… Here’s the first part!

DATES AND LOCATIONS:

May 22-26 - Soul revolution festival

May 27-29 Dorset

May 31th- June 4th- Bath, near Bristol

June 10-14 London

June 15-22 Dorset

June 23-24 Lisbon/ Porto

The Tattoo booking form is RIGHT HERE 💫

A heads up… Chapter 2 will include: Dublin, Dorset, Medicine Festival and Cornwall - in the second part of Summer. I’ll open booking for this at the end of May/ early June. I wont be able to chat about designs or book anyone in until then, just so i can focus all my energy on the first Chapter of Skin Stories - unless we are working on a custom tattoo design ahead of time. I’m grateful for this change which allows some breathing space and more gentle energy. It’s easy for creativity to feel the need to be more fast paced..!

Quitting ‘hustle culture’…

I prayed and watched the moon until she was visible between two branches- framed perfectly- until she disappeared again. That’s the kind of segment of time I like to measure life by. Ive been leaving my phone unattended more often and lacking any interest to socialize outside of the people i already know and love. I wonder if this is because I’m lacking connection with myself somehow- and thats why I can’t connect outside myself? Or because actually, im enjoying my own company, and don’t have any gaps I wish to fill with others. I feel it’s the latter. The beauty of getting older, is the self love growing and less need for outside entertainment. Im not excited by tequila anymore. Im excited about finding segments of time that feel so full that the awareness of man-made-clock time disappears. There’s a lot of that on the island. In watching the sea, sky, sun, tides, birds, crabs, sand. Nature’s pace recalibrates too much excessive internal fire.

Im scared that in this modern day life I’m noticing less. Or remembering less. Overfilling my mind with what’s not real: future worries and excess global thoughts. Looking back on the covid chapters i spent on this island- when i turned off my phone and only saw all that exists in front of me- and played with the perfect offshore swells- all was well. Same as now- we are not meant to consistently connect with 8 billion people- or we will lose the connection we have to ourself. It’s a fine balance. When you can, help those without a voice, outside your vicinity. But don’t disappear and forget the beauty thats still here. Holding all polarities is a modern day balance game…

Yesterday i woke up early, walked immediately into the sea, before any aware breaths, before drinking water, before thinking about my phone.. I saw my island uncle also rushing to the water which had some moving lumps bobbing in it. I recognized the familiar 8 sea otters on their island lap. I paddles behind them- in the magic- with my heart 2 inches higher. The otters fished and chatted to each other. I practiced imitating their “yips”, trying to join their Raft. At the end of the bay, i watched one of them perch on a rock to devour a huge fish, where a black kite then swooped down, briefly considering battling the otter for breakfast- perhaps also believing this creature was more cute than ferocious, before getting close enough for eye contact and reversing a swoop upwards again. I sat on my board watching the nature show, undoing my braids from the night before, feeling privileged to be part of this- to experience real life unfolding with this much wonder. This kind of richness- awe- and full connectivity only happens with space- when other parts of life are silenced for a moment (checking the phone/ the time/ the news outside of whats really here).

I didn’t know what i was praying for on this full moon, other than deeper connection to spirit, and expressing gratitude. But now i realize, this Libra moon, highlights a longing for the kind of balance that deepens connection to the trueness of life: to care for what matters outside myself (others), but also know when to look immediately in front of myself - smell the hibiscus, lily inions and jungle, to watch for sea otters or dolphins. And slow down enough to see the patterns, the tides, the clouds, moon and sun. And remember whats really real- in order to make life itself even more real and alive.

Don’t get distracted from life itself.

-Words from the island hut & photo from the Mangroves- the heart & lungs of the island.

‘May God Protect her like the Moon’…

Also, im so thankful for the Substack space being a place of free speech. Instagram likes to hide posts/stories/visibility for posting about Palestine… still…

This is a piece for Muhammad based on one of the beautiful poetic things he said- wishing for safety for his newborn niece.‘May God protect her like the Moon’. All digital download sales from this go directly to Muhammad and his family.

There are a few more digital downloads in my shop now too, as shipping costs to the US have increased, sometimes it’s easier to print locally rather than me mailing them to you.

With love,

Emily x

20% off all artwork for Substack readers xxx

I forget where we were… before that first time we collectively turned upside down… back when environmental issues were front page of global fears… where we didn’t have to compartmentalize daily… where we didn’t know our own courage… where if 2026 me could have told 2019 me what was going to unfold, she would have panicked herself into a puddle and given up… we never know our strength until we have to use it

I’m desperately trying to re-see the individual. What happened to them to make them act in this way? Return to empathy. Governments don’t always represent humans. We are all equally deserving of peace. Things are not always as they seem. Trying to see whats ahead is tiring. Trying to hold on is tiring. And tiredness makes us believe we are puppets. Somedays I feel 6 years tired. We don’t have enough shoulders to hold the entire world. The only way to hold on is to keep letting go.

Return to peace. Retune to compassion. Rethink those assumptions. Release it and pass it over to something much bigger than all of this. We’re only passing through.

Let go and you will be held. Let go and you’ll feel the web beneath catch any fall. Let go and trust that you aren’t the only one, and you’re not the centre of the picture. Let go and see how many different pictures there can be

- Journal thoughts while the world is continuously chaotic..

How not to be a Humble Healer

On the topic of mentorship.. I know my handpoke mentorship course has now closed (and begun with a lovely bunch of humans!) ..And I am in the process of writing a new one focused on the creative inner child in all of us…

But, before that begins… I wanted to share with you all- if anyone is interested in leveling up their business, the sweet Colette has created a program - “How not to be a Humble Healer” to support anyone who works in a Holistic way- who holds space- and wishes to build more community and grow their dreams! She holds a fantastic balance of compassionate care, alongside ‘making shit happen!’

She has a free webinar on Tuesday April 14th at 7pm GMT.

You can register (for free!) right here: Yes plssssss.

And here’s some info on her program: here xx

And lastly, a discount code for 20% off all artwork for all Substack folk - thankyou for being here

With love,

Emily x

Sometimes I make the art that I need to hear

Not always the words that I’m already living by..

I speak of slowness and gentleness

But sometimes find myself chasing work and waves and pieces of my heart that I’ve left all over the world…

This sketchbook page told me that it’s a good idea to lessen some of the Asia tattoo tour. There’s fuel shortages, a faster paced world than ever, and I feel in my entire body, a need to slow down and rekindle joy in the simple. It’s the time to stay local, and find the bliss in the less. And this personal need is also what the world needs.

I will still be in the big city of Bangkok this weekend, then on the island… then back home to Chiang Mai before Europe.

If you’d like to meet in Thailand: book here (Europe dates coming soon…)

Sorry to cancel Indonesia, but this feels right, for now…

The Final Handpoke Mentorship Course

…And, ive decided that this will be my last Sacred Art of Handpoke Mentorship course, for now. This final one begins on Tuesday 24th March.

In the future, I’ll have a pre-recorded course with options for 1:1 learning instead. I love this course- and put my heart and soul into building it- but it’s time to move onwards to new ways of communicating and sharing this craft…

If you’d like to be part of this last 8 week journey, read about it here…

For any of you who are interested- a Substack special - and only until friday- there’s a huge 40% off discount on the course (for 3 places only). Right here. Or theres a 20% discount on instagram with the code ‘handpoke20’ until Monday…

Europe Pre-tattoo tour…

A few people have mentioned their wishes to work on a custom bespoke design slowly- and hold onto it for many months before even considering it to be tattooed. If that suits you- there’s an option for that here. If you do choose to then get it inked by me, i will deduct £70 from the tattoo price.

On change / everyone is an Artist in 2026:

So, you chose to be an artist.

You signed up for a life of constant change

and naturally, the changes don’t stop

Until one day

your wishes too begin to change-

longing to trade a little freedom

for anything of a little stability.

The kind of stability that pretends that you can plan this life.

Control it. Shape it. Bend it to bring some more ease…

Do you need stability?

Or just one slow breath-

A moment of quiet before the world rushes in,

Where the outside noise

Intends to drown out your inner knowing.

Exhale.

Trust the great mystery.

You are always being held-

in your living, in your dying,

in your breath, in your being.

Desire won’t let you hold on tighter

To love is also to let go

Creativity is born from challenge, not comfort

You love the ocean for her calm, and her storms.

Fear isn’t a barrier, it’s an invitation.

Happy New moon in Pisces, and almost the Astrological New year, Ostara, and Mercury turning direct… The end of the week has skies full of hope.

And lastly, Happy birthday to my lovely mother, who also does all the post and packaging of artwork on here. Thanks mum! So much love to you x

20% off artwork x

From last nights dream:- The world has shown its darken obscurity this week. So if these evil extremes can exist, in the ways of nature, the opposite must too. I dreamt of an underwater world that came to the surface in dusk. Electric blue wisps and merfolk who knew wisdom above ours. Who walked through times and planes without human limitations. Where water and land existed at once.

And then in waking life, a hypnotherapy journey spoke these words:

‘These are the times we’re meant to grow from

Your soul came here to grow

The world is always in balance

You don’t need to do anything to balance it

You are enough just by being

If it feels like there’s a lot of darkness, there will also be a lot of light.

You asked for these high contrast times’

A free workshop from a wonderful witch / dream worker…

I might talk and paint a lot from dreams, yet I’m no dream therapist. But my wonderful friend Libby is. She is soon to be leading a FREE online workshop on March 23rd sharing some of her storytelling gifts, mythology and symbolism wisdom… It’s online. And free. And she’s really fucking fantastic… This feels like a good time for all of us to step into our myth and write our own life stories…

I’m really looking forward to this-

Sign up here xxx

Helping each other/ earning some dollar…

As I’ve shared before, last year I realised how I actually love sharing the craft of handpoke just as much as practising it myself.

This will be the last course I teach before I begin tattoo touring again (thank you for your patience with tour dates and locations!).

The course begins on Tuesday 24th March. The day after Libby’s workshop!

I usually try to map my work alongside my cycle… but I slightly mistimed this one, and it falls during the week of the month when I really don’t feel like being visible online. Writing newsletters somehow feels safe, but showing up publicly feels harder. So I’m asking for a little help from this community.

If this course comes to mind for a friend, artist, or someone curious about tattooing, I would be very grateful if you shared it with them…

To say thank you, I’m offering an affiliate share: for every person who signs up through you, you’ll receive £268.

The course is online, so people can join from anywhere in the world, the only big requirement is a love of art and drawing. And patience for slow art!

If you’d like to help (and hopefully receive something in return), you can create an affiliate account through this link using the password “password” - which you can then change afterwards. Feel free to message me here or on Instagram if you’d like to chat about it. Accounts may take a little time to be approved…

If you prefer the old-school way, you’re also very welcome to simply recommend the course by word of mouth, your friend can mention your name when signing up and I’ll honour it that way too.

And if this path is calling you personally, I’m also offering four scholarship places, available until March 16th :) Just message me to chat and organise a phone call xx

https://www.inkandearth.com/mentorship … there’s more info about the course/ journey here.

I’ll share some testimonials on my social media soon. Cos thats what really counts. I’d rather let the past mentees say what it gave them, rather than me trying to big it up!

And lastly, i know things are heavy globally, but please remember that the world still needs your art, your music, your poetry, your song, your reflections, now more than ever.

There is still beauty to be found. I am writing to you from the middle of a power cut during a soft-ish Thai storm, and there is just one little firefly floating around the room…

Sending you all love,

Emily x

Where does peace live in the body? Where does it live outside the body? Where is the place you hold everything? The mushrooms danced and whispered:- Do not divide. Stay away from division. Even in the dark. Hold the people close to you close. Stay curious. Look at the complexities. Nothing is black and white, and prepare to be surprised this year. Can you hold deep enquiry whilst the world is fast and firey? Don’t pretend to be shocked, your body knows change is coming. Buckle up, before you buckle down. You are stronger than you know. Stay away from your fucking phone. Stay away from right and wrong boxes. It’s not so simple. As above so below. As outside so within. The outer world is a reflection of the inner world. There is still peace. There is still peace. Energy craves to match its own. Learn how to shapeshift yours. And then the world will change. You don’t need to do anything- you are enough just by being. It’s not your job to hold up the world, and this thought will break you. But if you want change- it’s in your hands to make it. Try and fail. Just try. Cos failure doesn’t exist- it’s only redirection. You are more powerful than orange paedofiles would ever want you to know. You write this story. You still hold the pen. If you put down your phone, you can pick up the pen.

…words after a day of hosting an Inner Child Art Workshop, handpoking some Skin Stories, experiencing a water rebirth, and a mushroom ceremony…

And a deep feeling of the possibilities of unity, as women from many different cultures, backgrounds, ages and religions, easily melted into togetherness.

Summer 2026 tattoo tour & Sale

I know I said dates would be published and books opened tomorrow, but I’ve made the choice to delay opening them.. And listen to the need for slower choices. Who launches things on an eclipse anyway… (This double Virgo will be hiding). I’m trying to listening more to both my inner world- the happenings in the world- and guidance from above, and then respond... This moon/eclipse is meant to be about ridding perfectionism, so this is an invitation to make some changes and slow down...

So now… Tattoo books will now open 23/3/26… From this space first… (i will definitely be in SW England, Portugal and Ireland).

To make up for this slowness, i have a surprise 50% sale on almost everything in my art shop… here’s the quick link- or use the code ‘bloodmooneclipse’ at the checkout

https://inkandearthstore.com/discount/Bloodmooneclipse 🌟

This actually includes courses and workshops too… Right here <3 there are still spaces for the Handpoke mentorship journey beginning at the end of March

Thankyou for being here. Thankyou for allowing me to still make art. Thankyou for being some of the humans who remind me that there is still peace in the world. And that anything is possible.

Much love,

Emily x

I am so excited to welcome in the new Lunar year- and close the last transformational year, and would love to invite you to join an online space to be part of this together… Through art, and co-creation. Online communities, and joining worlds from the comfort of our sofas can be so powerful. Energy knows no boundaries of distance…

Time: 1pm Tuesday 17th February 2026/ 8pm Bangkok time / anytime on replay!

As you know, symbolism and meditation is a powerful language i love, and co-creation taps into an energy that is beyond words. (If you came to the Samhain Sigil workshop, know that this will be completely different, but with a similar style)

For this you do not need to label yourself as ‘an artist’- there is no art experience needed. Just for you to be a fully-feeling-breathing-living-human-being. Sharing is always optional. Come as you are- no need to be anything other than what appears on the day.

We will be saying goodbye to a year that was transformation for most. And cocreating a new year (or new world even ;), where we honour our inner worlds and needs and how to step forward from a place of peace.

This will be half-art. Half-honouring. Half-visioning a future- and creating an art piece to serve as a reminder for this. (Three halfs are possible when we create our future…)

In this immersive workshop, you’ll learn to realise your own intentions- turn them into visual form, and hold onto this reminder in the year ahead of the fire horse.

So looking forward to creating art and sharing energy with you all 🤍

🌙Join here:

https://inkandearthstore.com/collections/mentorship-courses-and-workshops/products/🔮-art-psyche-snake-year-into-horse-year-inner-transformations-into-outward-manifestions-🔮-copy

(Cameras are welcome to remain off, and sharing is optional)

For those of you who would like to know the plan….

• Grounding meditation

• Guided decent: The Snake’s last skin/ The Cauldron

• Symbolism Creation: Devouring Fear

• Collective Meditation: Kali… (Death=Birth)

• Fire Horse Artistic Activation

• Integration:- the gentleness of Fire (Brigid)

• Closing Invocation

-Words from a festival meditation chat

And as the new year is just around the corner, the last remaining lunar calendars are 50% off. And there’s 30% off other prints until the Lunar New Year too…

https://inkandearthstore.com/products/2026-astral-calendar-being-forest-printed-on-elephant-poo-paper-🐘-💩-🍃?_pos=1&_sid=051cae419&_ss=r

Much love, and enjoy these last few days of shedding all that you wish to say goodbye to…

Emily x

The Celtic fire festival and a lion in the sky. I feel the last days of winter. Fur boots don’t have long left on the feet. The Koels are singing. Dry season here is arriving. Movement out of stillness- and the fire horse- are on the horizon. This Yang world craves lightness. And lightness only comes from dropping some of the weight.

The recent Yang has made me appreciate the Yin. After a month of building a magical festival- I feel the sacred fire within- the creativity in the chest- that I planted outside my work/business/tangible personal gain. And now there’s little left to show of it, apart from the words from people who are suddenly feeling at home in themselves, who have found new kinship. And for me, the world makes even more sense. When Art loses the balance of giving- it doesn’t feel like art. Making art with little self benefit- ironically seems to benefit the soul the most. Pointless art, is the least pointless of all. Returning to play, is returning to all that it means to be alive...

Chiang Mai Creative Workshops!

…I’m feeling how Art is a tool for returning home to the self, more than ever- and in perfect timing- as starting tomorrow…!

Myself and Sami (who is an amazing relationship therapist) are co-creating and hosting an in person 4 part workshop series-

✷ HEALING THE HEART ✷ -with Arts & Somatics.

This will be in real life- in Chiang Mai at Kindred Arts Studios. Message me if you’re in this beautiful city, and if you’d like to join. (We’re not actually in the city, but on the edge of the forest).

There will be an online option coming this March (with just me)….. This will be suitable for anyone experiencing grief/ heartache/ feeling like they cannot let go… If you are interested in joining this online creative journey, where in a small group we will explore self-art-therapy practices… Reply to this email with the word “HEART WORK” and I’ll put you on the waitlist. I’ll share more about this in a week or two once the webpage is live!

AND, to mark the end of the snake year…

I put 50% off the few remaining Astral calendars (they’re nearly gone, but I’d like them all rehomed for the new lunar year) AND there’s also 30% off all art prints until Feb 17th. In the theme of shedding, I’m making space for new art…. This discount is automatic, no code needed…… Art shop xxx

And (last one), I’ll be hosting a 90 minute Online Arts Workshop on the theme of SHEDDING. It’ll be on February 17th (lunar new year). I will share a link in the next newsletter too.

With love and all the blessings for Imbolc,

Emily x

The monk at the monastery told me- “if you spend more than 1 hour a day on the internet, it’s not possible to remain present, and peaceful.”

We can choose to reply to all messages and emails, and do so immediately, -or we can be more present with the world in front of us. Not both.

The more phone time I have, the more out of nature’s time I feel.

This last part of winter- this last moon cycle of the snake year feels like the time to remember slow gentleness.

To Trust the timing of life.

Nature’s timing, divine timing, seasonal timing…

Time is not running out

Or moving by too fast

All will unfold- and arrive- and release- in the right time

And we don’t need to sprint on the hamster wheel of capitalism to thrive…

Slowing down in 2026 is going to be a fine art, but please remind me if I move too quickly- that the faster I go, the quicker life will pass by…

This new Art print is available here - I’m also gifting a FREE Astral Calendar with every print order this week 💜

Ikigai - realizing your purpose

A 2026 gift for you… Just save and print this image and then fill in the gaps…

Ikigai is a Japanese concept meaning “a reason for being,” representing the source of value or purpose that makes life worthwhile, combining: what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. You do not have to always reach the centre of it- but aim to find as many crossovers/ overlaps as possible. It can be a great tool for questioning which areas of your life are full, and which you might want to focus more on…

I do this practice every year (usually at the start of the Lunar year), and wanted to offer the same to you…

Handpoke Mentorship…

I know I’ve spoken about this a lot already and this will be the last time, as after this one, I’ll be creating some different courses... BUT, if the new year has got you craving a new venture/ or you are curious about stepping into this path that I love so dearly…

I have 2 spaces left for the America’s/Australia/Asia time zone… one of these is a scholarship place too… We begin on Thursday! Email, or IG or whatsapp to chat.. (before Wednesday!)

Handpoke mentroship - last call for 2026 <3

And whether or not you choose to celebrate the Gregorian calendar or not, happy January, and midwinter rest… Seasonally, it’s not meant to be the time for jumping out of hibernation just yet, so if you don’t feel like it- know that you’re just in flow with the seasons ;)

With love,

Emily

Driving to the temple, I thought I saw a man meditating on the mountain side. It was just a log. Or maybe, I saw a log meditating, and it was just a man. Does the reality weigh more than the initial feeling? I cried at the dragon’s breath below honey dipped mountain tops. Not honey coloured- but soft spikes, as if a God had dipped his fingers in the honey of this Earth canvas, and some of it had become stuck as he tried to let go. The mountains hadn’t wanted to leave God’s hands. Is that why these giants so easily bring us to tears? Because they feel closer to the heavens?

I came to the temple to learn how to let go.

And maybe the opposite is the paradoxical inevitable part of it… By clinging on so tightly that I’m white-knuckled, with hands cramping, a heart already aching, that eventually I’m going to become so desperate for a breath of lightness, that I’ll have to drop it all.

That the fear of change will eventually outweigh the pain of staying the same. And the reason for being alive will gently nudge towards newness:

When we live fully, we naturally love fully. But when we love fully, we don’t want to let that go. We don’t want that energy state to change. But no feeling is meant to be felt forever. No feeling is final. No feeling is meant to be outside the realms of motion and change.

Read more

I know January is an entire year away yet… But if you’re craving a new creative path… stability from your art… a way to work in a connective meaningful way… a career that holds your values and beliefs… that celebrates traditional methods… and a wonderful bunch of people to cocreate with and support each other… 🦋 Come join the handpoke mentorship community 🦋

…I am grateful for the age of AI, bringing back traditional methods and handmade crafts. This course focuses on every single part of the process being made by hand. Being human. A human with hands. And hearts. And a wholehearted passion for making art out of this beautiful world

The next journey begins January 8th and the two call times mean that it’s possible for people in Aus/US/Europe/SE Asia time zones.

…And I’m asking you guys for some help with this. Marketing isn’t my jam- i would rather spend time on making art/ writing workshops. So any sharing is much appreciated… If anyone signs up through you, you receive 100GBP as a thankyou. Your friends can also get 20% off this course, if they sign up before December 16th… (payment plans and discounts are available too)

Here is a link to the info about the course:

https://inkandearth.com/mentorship

The code is “20offplease” or the direct link is for 20% off the payment is:

https://inkandearthstore.com/discount/20offplease?redirect=%2Fproducts%2Fthe-sacred-art-of-handpoke-tattoo-mentorship-8-week-course-january-2026-%E2%9C%A8

Here’s a photo of Rosie’s beautiful tattoos. She finished the course in Spring this year, and is already tattooing and owns a beautiful studio in north Devon. If you’d like to visit her for a tattoo, reach out here <3

If you’re interested in this path- message me and we can chat about it on a quick call.. i just prefer real chats when this course is intended to be so interactive.

✉️: ink.and.earth.1@gmail.com

Forever grateful for all those who trust me to take me on these art journeys.

Astral calendars

Every year I receive these from the elephants (and humans), I spend so long looking at the different specks that have passed through these beautiful giants and into paper, and into art.

This is my 6th year of making these. Because I still find that watching the night sky, makes everything make sense, always.

I print in small batches. Always. There are 20-something left. Thankyou. I love you

2026 ASTRAL CALENDAR 🔮

Emily x