thank you.

dear friends,

I am beyond grateful for each of you.

When I started brassy almost three years ago, it was a deeply personal project that explored the depths of my own identity. Creating the work was invigorating, yet sharing it with the world terrified me—vulnerability has never been a muscle I enjoy flexing. However, in the summer of 2017, I put my soul in a book and that book in a gallery and online, and I felt such pride as I had never felt before. I thought Brassy was done. Yet not even a year after completing Brassy: an exhibition, I once again found myself revisiting the idea of womanhood and sense of self. I knew I wanted to create a digital space to unpack these ideas, but I also knew it could no longer be exclusively my story. The idea of expanding brassy and putting it out into the world as something reborn beyond itself was exciting but again, gave me pause. What if I did it wrong? What if no one understood? What if no one cared?

Over the course of this project, I often found myself wading through that self-doubt and confusion, navigating a space that felt strangely familiar yet at the same time incomprehensible. After years of working on some form of brassy, my Masters was coming down to this new, digital experience and I was left constantly pushing the goal posts further away from myself. I didn’t always have the right words to explain my vision, oftentimes the project seemed too vague, and more often than not, I was sure the entire undertaking was a mistake. In that place of uncertainty, I wondered if bringing in contributors was the best decision. Not because I questioned the work that would be submitted, but because I doubted the purpose and value of the project. There were days when I truly wondered whether or not brassy deserved your contributions. Yet over and over again, you proved that doubt to be wrong, rallying behind me and supporting this endeavor wholeheartedly. For that I am so grateful..

I am so incredibly humbled to have had each of you join me on this journey. Thank you for entrusting me with your stories, art, and perspectives, and for supporting me as I navigated the scary space between creation and enough. Without your excitement and belief in this project, brassy would cease to exist and would remain only a shell of what it could be. Instead, you helped breathe life into what I hope becomes a launching point for further explorations. I don’t want brassy to end with my graduation. I want it to continue to grow, to continue to share diverse identities, to be a home for beautiful stories of beautiful women.

As each of your submissions rolled in, I found myself humbled and completely in awe of the creativity and expression of women. Your words, skills, perspectives, creations—they truly represent the best of us and it is an honor to be able to share them through brassy. I don’t think I’ll ever stop saying thank you.

I hope you take time to explore the site. I feel there is so much to learn here and even more still to come. In 2019, I will be launching a workbook (and some swag), as well as a possible marketplace. I also have plans for additional pieces for the site, have a few other contributors lined up, and I hope to continue to engage folks through Instagram. I am beginning to envision a platform of constant growth and endless exploration. I don’t where this project will end up, but I am excited to ride out this journey. Thank you for coming along as well.

You are all magnificent humans and I owe you the moon.

with all my love,

Maren