Thank you for all your lovely questions, comments, shares, and stories this past year. I reply personally as messages come in, but I wanted to take a moment to answer a few of the repeating questions here. (All text is included in my current and upcoming books). This post is a part of a new series called Q&A Interviews. Thank you for asking and Happy Spring! XOXO ~Amor Milagre
Q: What are your favorite recipes and foods?
A: My favourite foods are simple and raw such as strawberries and tomatoes. We love seasonally sun-ripened fruit and vegetables from our garden. I write simple, fresh, delicious recipes, influenced by European, peasant-style, zero-waste cooking. My favourite recipe right now would be our healthy green smoothie that we have every mid-morning. I’m including the recipe in my upcoming vegan organic cookbook collection. We eat fresh organic food, mostly from our gardens; other food is from a natural, healthy, local organic shop featuring produce from local farms. These foods help heal and prevent illness. They taste naturally sweet and full of unique flavours.
Q: What kind of camera do you use? How do you get such clear pictures?
A: I use a small, simple digital camera. It’s not about the kind of camera you use, it’s more about how you see your world, and that perception translates into the closest camera version for screen and print. Thank you for all your lovely comments about my photos! I very much enjoy photography. My senses love natural imagery as much as the sounds, touch, taste, scents, and energy of Nature. I began by using an old manual camera, which I like the most. The shutter click alone….lovely! Until I can make a dark room again, I’ll use this little digital camera. Make sure your lens is clean for clear pictures, and see it first with your senses and heart. It’s more about you, and not your camera.
Q: My kids love your books!!! They get so silly! We like trying out the games and ideas from your books. As a mother, I find the routines helpful. What were your favorite books when you were little?
A: Thank you! My goal is to encourage the imagination for children of all ages, 0-1000+. As a little one, I loved the Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh, Ziggy, Beatrix Potter, Tasha Tudor, The Secret Garden, faerie stories, and tons more. It’s fun to read all of the new books. We adore the worlds of so many books, and now my books are recited here daily! It’s a fun cycle to share your own world through children’s books. We have lots of new favourite books now, too. We request books from the library before adding them to our holiday wishlists. Libraries are really important for every community and to house all the old and new books. I now share our Favourite Book Reading Lists here on my organic lifestyle journal.
Q: What are you favorite cities? Do you teach classes when traveling?
A: My favorite cities so far are: Lucca, Positano, Perugia, Assisi, San Gimignano, (Tuscany, Amalfi, Umbria) in Italy, Rouen, Étretat, Le Havre in France, Bruges in Belgium, and quiet sleepy towns on the ocean with fresh food. I would have loved to travel all over, but I was ill for a long time. Hopefully, wherever we move next is my favourite! In the future, we may teach classes while travelling, and that info will be posted here. Thanks!
Q: I love your style!!! How did you come up with such a unique look?
A: Thank you! I try things. I like styles from various ages. I can’t help but be myself. Being sensitive, I’m very aware of what speaks to me, what fits well, and is comfortable. I sense how patterns, colours, and textures play with one another. Each body is unique, and we all have our own world of evolving style. Look within instead of copying others and your style will accumulate naturally. I make most of my own clothing, which you’ll see in my upcoming organic collections here in my shop. I also try to only wear/use fabric and materials that are organic, sensitive, healthy, non-toxic, soft, durable, and ethical. It’s important to know how a company’s process works in totality before buying from them. Look for truly ‘transparent’ brands. I list everything about my current and upcoming organic apparel collections on my site so customers can see exactly what the product is and that I made it with Love. Fashion and style are different. Style is you, fashion is them. Style is constant/evolving, and fashion is fleeting/cyclical. More information about sustainable, personally customized wardrobes is featured in my upcoming design style book collection. I’m always interested in learning about new cultures and attire. Playing with design allows new ideas to form in my hands. Just like in gardening, the hands and senses measure naturally and the most accurately when making something.
Q: Your books are very helpful. Where do you get your ideas? Do you ever get writer’s block?
A: My ideas come to me in a constant stream from all times and worlds/my senses. I never have enough time/energy to record and produce them all. Sadly, so many hilarious ideas are sleepily lost until hopefully found again in a different version. No, I never get writer’s block, but I do have to take pauses and little breaks so I’m not so exhausted. It’s the opposite issue, I have to stop myself from working all the time. Our life is quite crowded with full days, but we’re simplifying, so I’ll release many more collections soon! I encourage everyone to trust their own voice. (It’s not a good idea to copy and or try to steal from others. Only their unique perspective and experiences form their own words. What are your words? What do you think?) If you feel blocked: Release, let go, breathe, and change directions. Go for a stroll or lay still and close your eyes. Too much ‘go-go-going’ gets you nowhere. Meditate on your breath and relieve the pressure. Eat well. Start fresh. Let new thoughts in and balance…I sometimes teach a creative writing class. I’ll post the info here.
Q: Your messages are of love and peace. Would you say you’re a pacifist?
A: Yes. Clear communication is everything for a loving and peaceful life for all.
Q: What kind of mediums do you work in?
A: All kinds, mostly watercolour, pencil, charcoal. More oil paintings are coming up, as we’re redoing the studio in future seasons. I also enjoy sculpture, textiles & apparel, film, photography, cooking, book design, gardening, and lots more. I hope to make a pottery studio later on and release a ceramics collection in my shop. Watercolour bends with my mind. It flows and it’s my favourite go-to for designing everything from interiors to apparel to book characters +…
Q: What do you do for relaxation:
A: Meditation, salt baths, walks outside, drawing, dancing, laughing, yoga stretching, journaling, writing, music, movies, reading as a family, and grounding in the garden and at the ocean in the fresh sea air.
Q: When will the new apparel collections be available?
A: 2019 Summer and Autumn. I’m very excited to release these organic handmade items into the shop.
Q: What kinds of music do you like? I look forward to your “music of the moment” blurb on each post.
A: I Love many kinds of music, depending on mood, time of day, and what we’re doing. I love gypsy violin, acoustic guitar, voices of many cultures, rock n roll, blues, jazz, holiday songs, choirs, old movie soundtracks, slow oceanic type songs, and anything that matches my energy level/frequency and feels a match of sound. As a synesthete & empath, it’s important to soothe and release the senses with peaceful exterior stimuli, such as music, places, people, etc. Singing is a way of relaxing and improving lung strength. It’s also a form of meditation chanting and yoga breathing. Moving your breath in sound is an amazing way to use your imagination and shape air. Playing and listening to music are amazing ways to improve brain connections and memory. Stay tuned for more mood music on these journal posts. What songs are you listening to today?
Q: You have a unique style of drawing and painting. Where did you learn? Where did you go to school? How do I come up with my own style of art?
A: Thank you. I get this question quite often. I didn’t ‘learn my style’ from anywhere specifically, it’s just my own evolving expression of my world inside and around me. I did take a few anatomy drawing classes/design classes in school and college. I felt it was limiting to the teacher’s preference of line style with no room for creativity there, even after ‘accomplishing’ traditional techniques. I practice drawing all the time, and my eyes practice even when my hands aren’t drawing. I did attend college at a ‘prestigious’ design school in NYC, but I feel anyone can learn anything without college or paying for classes. I teach a unique children’s class (free & local), called The Crayon Club, to help everyone begin seeing through their own eyes and imagination with many other fun features. A book for this is coming up so people everywhere can learn, too. I also teach various types of private and group classes for all ages. We have so much fun with our daily homeschool art class. It’s just a part of life here, like lunch. Art therapy for all is an amazing release and inspiration for the inner Self. All you need is a will to learn, to request books at libraries, watch instructional videos or artist documentaries, hang out at galleries and museums, look at forms before drawing, and try out different healthy things to teach yourself, which is really what I have done. Classes are limited to the teacher’s style, ego, and critique, so you really end up teaching yourself outside of the class. It takes a lot of work and time to pay off college tuition. Even if you have a full scholarship, your time is valuable. I don’t agree with the way education is set up. It needs a complete redesign. ‘Education’ is really meant to be about the students and helping them design healthy lifestyles. Everyone has special gifts and can use them in their professions, if desired. If you choose school, make sure you take time in between/during the required curriculum to think about yourself and what you want. We have choices in what jobs we choose, if we look for the choices. You can even create your choices and invent customized options, like I do. For artists, you can go to a school, or you could get a job and spend what money you have on a few pencils and paper, and save the rest for living expenses for living a healthy life. Learn computer programs if you like, but learning to SEE first, even before drawing by hand or computer programs, is vital for a healthy vision and developing a creative flexibility in your mind. Drawing is looking and feeling, and not much looking down at your paper, just referencing it. There is a connection with your unique sense of perception. Even if vision is not your primary sense, you can draw by connecting with the energy. Draw apples, buildings, yourself in the mirror/by feeling your face, everything…then focus on your own messages and develop your own interests/style. Most of my artwork is not in my shop yet, so remember not to limit a person’s ‘style’ to one look or what you’ve seen of their ‘portfolio’. People can make things in different collections and ‘styles’. Often, I teach art classes for all ages, including beginners and advanced artists who get stuck in a ‘style’, which just means stuck in life. Be free! Try new things for a healthy balance!
Q: How old are you? You sound young, but write like an older person.
A: … Ageless or really old, but not that old for humans in the way you’re asking about. Old soul empaths write how they feel, what they sense…it might not always be what people understand at the present time.
Q: Why are you a vegan? I’m thinking about it, but it seems too limiting!
A: For good health and peace for all, and if you research it well, you’ll see the choice is clear. I talk a lot about this in my books and in these organic lifestyle journal posts. I feel it’s a very important choice for respecting Nature and ourselves. It’s not limiting to improve your health. Like any transition, it takes a little bit to adjust, but it was all positive changes for me. The vegan lifestyle feels healthy. I was raised to not be vegan, so I am simply back to how I would naturally eat and live. It’s so much easier and loving in many ways. More on this is coming up! Eating organic plants feels good, and there are so many options. My cookbook collection is coming up to help with transitions and recipes!
Q: What country are you in? Do you ship internationally?
A: Amor Milagre is a US based company that ships internationally. Thanks!
Q: You have such vision! Why aren’t you in charge of a department in a design firm or corp? Would you like to be? Contact me here….
A: I’ve always seen things as they are and how beautiful they can be. I make goals and help myself complete them. I’ve always known that I wanted to have my own company at home. I’m still not fully where I know I can be, but it takes so much time/health to get around other’s plans/barriers and environmentally-caused illness. It also takes time and energy to recover from difficult maternity illnesses. (My healthy happy parenting/children’s books encourage listening and helpful guidance to allow children to walk their unique path). During and after college, I briefly worked at large design companies (against my instincts/plan) and was offered a ‘bigger position’ of running design departments, but it was entirely wrong for me so I quit and tried to heal from illness while opening my own company. Building the ‘something important’ that only I see, with no resources, is difficult, but to me, it’s my vocation. I have to. I want to. I feel it will help. ‘Start Small’ is one of my upcoming books, and this message is in all of my books and work. Illness can take up so much of your life, but if allowed to choose a healthy natural lifestyle, illness fades and your work shines. It’s in everyone’s best interest to come back to Nature and stop all types of abuse and pollution.
Working in a big company was limiting, uncreative, and the environment, unnecessary pressure, and lifestyle was ill-making. Their practices, and the lack of healthy practices, were shocking to me. (They didn’t even recycle). This is why there are so many products on the shelves that don’t fit anyone, because they didn’t check anything before production. They wasted so much, they copied bad designs, and the materials were not sustainable in the first place. There are a lot of wasted materials and energy in production as well. The makers are not in healthy places or paid fairly. Communities near factories are polluted and create illness. Life cycles are very important. Who is reviewing the life cycles?
Having complete creative control, direction, and expression within my own company is healthy for my lifestyle…to live. I control the materials, messages, environment, and my schedule. Everything I make is unique and handmade. Corporations, as I know them, are very unhealthy in their totality. It’s frustrating because they have resources, but they are usually making the wrong choices. A major change needs to happen for companies before it’s even worse off for the world. I Love my company, and my customers appreciate a loving, healthy, evolving collection to adopt into their lives and homes. We design our life to make sure our family’s health comes first. So, no thank you for unhealthy corporation job offers. I do consider custom design projects. You can visit my design page, and message me with details and proposals.
Q: Where else can I see your collections?
A: My collections are exclusively sold here at amormilagre.com. Amor Milagre is just me. One person, lovingly doing everything. I chose to do this so I can make sure everything is sustainable, handmade, accurately priced, shipped quickly, and so I can provide healthy communication with my customers. My company is designed to be a positive place and experience. I may do things differently, but I inspire my viewers to see that as a positive for them and for Nature. This also allows customers to be on the computer less and go out and enjoy Nature more! Less online comparison hunting through websites and more passion and fun! I post updates on this journal, so everything is easy to keep up with and enjoy.
Q: I’d like to work at Amor Milagre, how do I apply?
A: (Please see the answer above, too). Possibly in the future, I may choose to have a shop building address with additional company features, but for now I’m exclusively an online shop. Thank you very much for your interest. For those asking, I recommend one of my classes to aid in enhancing your gifts and helping you in your self-exploration journey. Several people who ask to apply, after a chat I hear, are artists who have lost their passion and confidence. My books can be very helpful for this, too! Starting over can be a very positive change! I like helping others find their passions. You are bright stars, shine your Light! Thank you for wanting to be a part of Amor Milagre, and you can be, by being Purely You! I do have an upcoming series that I’ll be accepting submissions for soon. It’s all about promoting positive changes all over the world. Check back on this journal for details.
Q: What are your tips for picking interior paint colors?
A: I have many! It depends on the project, but for all paint: Choose durable, well made, no-VOC paint from a healthy, green company. My upcoming design books and design atelier services provide more info for interior design advice. Make sure your colours soothe your unique senses and lifestyle. I do like to compliment skin tones by choosing paint that is flattering. The home is a wonderful place to think about all kinds of customizable and pleasing design ideas. Please message me for design projects and questions. My Colour Moods Fashion & Personal Style Series may be helpful for finding ‘your neutrals’ and favourite colours.
Q: Will you be teaching organic vegan cooking classes again?
A: I’d really like to. We’ll see if I can fit them into my 2019-2020 schedule. I think it’s very important to share what we figure out to help others in their healthy lifestyle evolution. Thanks, they were fun! It feels good to help.
Q: Who are your favorite fashion designers:
A: Luisa Beccaria is a favourite for aesthetic inspiration, and I haven’t found any favourites for sustainability yet. Brands would need to become more consistent and ethical before I could recommend them. They can also talk about their chosen ethical materials. Otherwise, how is the general public, who looks at designs for inspiration rather than actual purchasing options, to know what the collections are made of? Growing up, I followed Dries van Noten’s collection each year for colour interests and men’s shoe designs, and also various looks/designer collections from each season. There is not really one designer that I connect with each year, except sometimes Luisa. I really liked Dior’s 2017 SS Couture Magical Garden Fashion Show & Collection. (This was the first couture collection from Maria Grazia Chiuri, the house’s first women’s designer). I like collections that are imaginative, natural, feminine, sweet, yet strong in the senses. There are a few organic children’s designers we like, but they’re not consistent enough yet to reference. Of course, I love my own organic collections, which will be releasing in upcoming seasons, for all ages. The fit of most brand collections, for ready to wear clothing, needs so much more attention. I want to inspire designers to produce less, and to produce infinitely better quality than the market reflects. Timeless designs that fit well can proudly appear every year. Trends could be seen in a more fun way, still made well, but less quantity and pose less risk to the classic wardrobe and wallet. ‘Design’ needs a redesign.
Q: Why don’t you post pictures of yourself? We want to see you? You frustrate me when you write about things and I can’t see you doing them. 🙂
A: Fame by physical recognition is not desirable to me because it is not real. My universal messages of Love are the focus. Readers can connect with Amor Milagre’s messages in a pure way, without Earthly ‘teachings’ of what to connect to by appearance. I support my family with my specifically designed ‘A Gentle Life Collections’ by helping others connect with their inner Self for a healthy life. This is a good time to practice using your imagination! We do not believe it is safe to post personal pictures online. We encourage people to keep their privacy and to not put everything online. For example: Wait until your children are grown up to ask their permission to post their picture online. Ask others in your photos and in the backgrounds for their permission, before posting. Why do you need to post personal pictures online? It’s simply not safe. We encourage people to develop natural friendships in their daily life, to be confident by Loving their inner Self, to not seek exterior approval, and to LIVE offline. There are so many wonderful things to do without computers, electricity, and clicking sounds. Go Live! See how wonderful it is! Laugh and smile naturally, without taking selfies… Go breathe, without a phone app telling you when… Personal photo albums are fun to hold and share stories with Dear Ones. Trade printed photos with a handwritten letter. Redesign the way you see the Self. Love Being Purely You!
Q: Your gardens are so pretty! I want to start a garden, but don’t know where to start? Advice please!
A: A passion for plants is a great start. You can start by thinking about: What kind of plants you like. How much space you want to use. How to prepare it, whether it’s soil outside or pots on a balcony. Colours and moods you desire and adore. Bookmarking gardening books from the library and using a Pinterest folder for gardens are good ways to organize and review what you like. Narrow your admirations down to a few to start with. Create a simple structure and start with a few plants. Seeds are a great way to start. Planting bulbs with patience and Love in a natural planting arrangement is fun. Edit as you go and learn. Start with a few to learn how to care for each type of plant. Perennials are helpful, beautiful, and economical. How much time do you have before you want to see blooms? Do you want organic edible plants? Visit local gardens and conservatories for inspiration. More info can be found in my books, these journal posts, my upcoming gardening books, and in the gardening section of your library. Plant what you Love! A garden is a friend who adores you and provides so many healthy benefits. No garden is too small to enjoy!
Q: What is your favorite vacation spot?
A: Home on Sundays. It’s quieter on this speck of Earth on Sundays, and we love pajamas.
Thank you, and I’ll pause the Q&A for now. Most messages are answered personally. I did receive quite a few questions about how to best frame my artwork collections. I will be releasing some inspiring information about this soon!
It’s a new Season so time to rest, be cozy, explore, and enjoy simple Springtime pleasures. Thanks and please check back for upcoming collection releases! ~Amor Milagre
Music of the Moment: This Will Be Our Year, The Zombies
