Notes from the Field: things that inspire me this May 🌸
A collection of recent inspirations: creative conversations, small practices, wildflowers, and thoughts on building a more alive and intentional creative life.
Hello dear readers,
Over the past few weeks, I’ve felt a bit in-between seasons — a period of reflection, with lots of ideas and directions, and slowly finding more clarity about how I want to show up here again moving forward.
A lot of this was shaped through conversations with friends and collaborators, as well as giving a talk at OFFF Barcelona, which reminded me of something I keep returning to:
What I want to do with my work is to open up a conversation and help creatives build a life that is not about abandoning their work or careers, but wanting to feel more alive inside them. More connected to themselves, their curiosity, and the world around them.
And I want this newsletter to feel more like that too.
So I’ll keep sharing more bits and pieces that have inspired me lately:
🌼 Wildflowers everywhere
On a recent hike in the hills of Barcelona, I was completely surrounded by wildflowers — their colors, their shapes, the smell of them in the air. It made me crave being closer to nature again.
That feeling turned into something tangible: on May 17th, we’re hosting a Natural Dye Workshop in Carlota Simó’s garden studio, where we’ll work with seasonal flowers and plants to naturally dye clothing, bandanas, and fabrics.
🫂 Long lunches and evenings with fellow creative entrepreneurs
Recently, I had lunch with my friend and collaborator Marina and was invited to a dinner organized by Adobe during OFFF, and it reminded me how important it is to spend time with people who are building thoughtful, creative lives in their own ways.
Not just talking about work, but exchanging ideas, sharing questions, talking honestly about expansion, experimentation, and what it means to create your own universe.
It also reminded me that I want to share more of what this creative life actually looks like behind the scenes: the studio visits, conversations, walks, collaborations, and small moments that shape my thinking and work. Here is a first experiment doing that :)
🚶♀️ Morning walks before the workday
A recent collaborator told me she wanted to take a walk the morning after I shared an idea with her — to think about it properly before responding.
I loved that. Such a simple reminder that we don’t need to begin every day by immediately reacting to notifications, emails, and screens. Sometimes our best ideas emerge when we give them space to breathe first.
🌼 Making daisy flower crowns for my daughter
A small moment, but one that reminded me how creativity can live inside everyday rituals too. Not everything needs to become productive to matter.
✨ Speaking at OFFF Barcelona
As mentioned, I gave a workshop at OFFF Barcelona on Creative Living — exploring the idea that one of the most creative things we can do is intentionally shape how we live and work.
What inspires me most is seeing how much people are craving this conversation right now. Not necessarily wanting to abandon their work or careers, but wanting to feel more alive inside them. More connected to themselves, their curiosity, and the world around them.
Because so much inspiration, possibility, and opportunity comes from being out in the world: engaging with people, conversations, spaces, nature, art, movement, and new perspectives. Not waiting for inspiration to arrive, but building conditions where it can actually find us.
An ask: I’d love to bring this into more spaces—conferences, summits, communities... If you’re organizing something, I’d love to be part of it!
🌀 A small invitation for this week:
Take one small detour.
A different route home. A slower morning. A conversation with someone new. A walk without your phone. Ten minutes noticing what catches your attention.
Treat your everyday life a little more like a studio practice.
You never know what might open up from there.
🎫 A community conference invitation (NYC):
If you haven’t heard of 99U Conference yet, it’s a celebration of creativity, community and craft. I attended (virtually) some years back in NYC during covid and LOVED it. After 6(!) years, the conference is finally returning to New York City. I’m planning to be there, and I am excited to offer my community a 20% discount code: 99UWelcome20
Out of Office is a creative platform offering tools, programming, artist-led experiences to bring more creativity into your everyday life.
Here’s what’s coming up in our universe:
🎨 Studio Visits + creative workshops
Find new inspiration by going somewhere you’ve never been, immerse yourself in a living artist’s practice and local culture, hear their story, learn new skills, and see the world with fresh eyes. Upcoming studio visits + sessions here.🌿 Out of Office Residency, Sept 19-23, 2026
This residency is an incubator for Creative Living. If you’ve been dreaming about a romantic Italian summer, warm evenings on long, shared tables with family style meals and meaningful conversations with people who want to live a more creative, inspiring life, exploring cute towns and lingering in the shade of the olive trees in a quiet, lush garden 🍝🇮🇹 Join us, Sept 19-23, 2026 — all details here.
Ok, that’s it for today!
Hope you’ll have a wonderful week, and I hope this update brings you something you’re excited about!
Alice