Meet the visual artists of Issue Six: Solstice
Issue Six: Solstice will not have a print edition, but this post is the next best thing
Dear readers,
It’s been eleven months, two solstices passed, since I first posted the theme announcement for Soft Star Magazine’s sixth issue, Solstice. Over the following months, I received and shared stories of light and darkness, cycles of change, and the inevitable passage of time. I also received several beautiful submissions of visual art that captured those same themes, which I tucked away with plans to incorporating them into Issue Six’s print edition.
Spring then summer came and went, and now in autumn, as the nights grow longer and another solstice draws near, Issue Six’s print edition remains unpublished. It’s been a particularly busy year for me — a promotion at work, planning and hosting a wedding — and unfortunately, Soft Star got a bit lost on the back burner. So the other day, I finally made the decision that I will not be publishing Issue Six: Solstice in print after all.
However, I do want to share the issue’s stunning visual art pieces with you. You’ll find them below, each accompanied by the artist’s byline and some words about the piece’s connection to the issue’s theme. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I did, and maybe they’ll inspire you to re-read Issue Six online.
And just like a regular print issue, I’ll also include a table of contents of the written pieces here:
Poetry
The Human Museum by Kate Wylie
Solstice I and Solstice II by Erica Vanstone
Grizzlies by Nicholas Trandahl
burning is a beautiful song by Willow Gatewood
Fiction
Snip Snap Dragon by Mara Davis Price
The Planet Eaters by Alyssa Jordan
A Lady of the Lake by Korinne West
Nonfiction
Modern Attempts at Ancient Celebration by J.A. Norman
(winner of the Solstice Essay Contest)
The Light Starts Winning Again by Courtney Welu
Issue Six: Solstice | Visual Art
Meike Hakkaart, known as Art of Maquenda, is a Dutch artist inspired by the wild, the macabre, and the deeply human. Her work embraces life’s raw honesty, exploring themes of death, decay, and the beauty found in taboos. With a style that weaves nature, folklore, and emotion into haunting yet intricate pieces, she reflects the cycle of life and our deep connection to the natural world. Passionate about the strange and wonderful, Meike’s art invites viewers to connect with the untamed and the unseen, celebrating nature’s dark and delicate balance.
From Meike: “Just as the solstice marks a turning point in the year, this piece delves into themes of power, mortality, and nature’s reclamation. The stag, adorned with the severed heads of kings on its antlers, represents the fall of rulers and the inevitable triumph of nature over human constructs. It embodies a cycle of dominance and decay, where even the mighty are brought low, feeding the endless rhythm of renewal. Through this, The Trophy Hunter invites viewers to reflect on the impermanence of power and humanity’s place within the greater cycle of life and death.”
Amelia Clark is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator with a focus in comics, publishing, and fantasy vignettes. She cultivates her inspiration by reading, playing RPGs & video games, and venturing into the woods.
Amelia is a long-time Soft Star contributor and a personal friend of mine. This piece was directly inspired by Mara Davis Price’s short story in Issue Six, “Snip Snap Dragon,” in which a family partakes in a strange ritual on the winter solstice, leading to a violent and total transformation.
Both Andrew and Richard are returning artists to Soft Star Magazine.
Andrew is a self taught visual artist who also has interests in learning new languages and singing. I chose “Untitled” for Issue Six because of its interplay of light and darkness and its allusion to change and cosmic cycles (the phases of the moon).
Richard’s artist bio: “Had four kids but now just three. Zen and Love.” I selected “Image 45” for this issue because it reminded me of flame: the flickering winter solstice candle, the midsummer bonfire, the destruction and renewal of great change.
Eliza is another returning Soft Star contributor. She is an illustrator with a love for folklore, nature, outer space, and all the little things that make life magical. She loves drawing whimsical worlds and creatures, and loves taking inspiration from folk tales, the natural world, and her dreams. When she isn’t crafting new illustrations, she can be found enjoying the outdoors, reading, or caring for her cats.
From Eliza: “On a starry full moon night, a small group are gathered at a small stone circle to dance around a bonfire. The people are intentionally a very small, barely noticeable part of the painting in comparison to the sea, misty cliff side, and especially the night sky, to try to capture how we as humans are dwarfed by the grandeur of nature, and how that calls us to celebrate and sometimes worship it, especially in early pagan cultures.”
Sterre is an illustrator and designer who I came across on Instagram. Like Meike Hakkaart, I reached out to her directly to solicit a submission for Issue Six: Solstice. I was drawn to her illustrations of woodland animals, which aligned well with Issue Six’s theme of natural rhythms and cycles. The two pieces above were especially perfect fits, evoking the mysterious yet steady nature of the night sky, the phases of the moon, the cycle of life and death, and our place within it all.
Another piece from Sterre; this one tied in well with summer solstice pieces in the issue like “Solstice I and Solstice II” by Erica Vanstone and “Family Tree” by JH Tomen.
Jessi hails from the cornfields of the Midwest and has, somehow, found her way to the swamps of Southeast Louisiana. She is an artist, poet, Antiquarian, singer, and baker.
Here’s how Jessi describes “Just after dusk”: “A liminal space, a home stuck between it’s life as a keeper of families to a cold, broken down shack just waiting to finish rotting.” I loved this photo’s contrasts: not quite evening, not quite night, both deep blue and vibrant yellow, a house forgotten but not yet gone.
Thank you very much to every single contributor to Issue Six: Solstice. I really believe it’s a beautiful issue of Soft Star, even if it will only live online.
From today onward, Soft Star Magazine will be on an extended hiatus from accepting submissions. I hope to return in the future for Issue Seven, when life has slowed down a bit. For now, enjoy Issue Six, and enjoy next month’s solstice.
Until next time,
Miranda