The Twelve Nights + The Threshold
Held by night. Turning to light.
✬ spin your phone to landscape and enter ✬
On the winter solstice, Artistic Clarity honors the long-keeping hours ⁓ the protected stretch of night that holds the art before it is ready to be seen.
This is not dormancy.
It is stewardship.
Something is steeping.
I’m quietly building a new website, with new offerings forming beneath the surface. Less noise. More intention. Fewer promises, better kept. I think you’ll be pleased.
In the meantime, I’m offering you something small and sufficient:
The Twelve Nights + The Threshold ⁓ a simplified seasonal practice you can begin tonight, December 21, and carry gently toward the new year.
No urgency. No overhaul.
Just a nightly return to the conditions your art will need in 2026.
How It Works
Each night:
5 minutes
One page
A warm drink nearby
That’s all.
The Twelve Nights
Nights 1⁓3 · Listening
TONIGHT⁓DECEMBER 23
Each evening, write one sentence in response to:
"What does my art need in order to feel protected next year?"
Do not explain. Do not qualify.
Stop when the sentence is complete.
Nights 4⁓6 · Clearing
December 24⁓26
Each night, complete this phrase:
"In 2026, my art no longer needs to carry ⁓"
Think weight, not wounds.
This is an edit, not a confession.
Nights 7⁓9 · Inviting
December 27⁓29
Each evening, write one short paragraph beginning with:
"If my art felt supported, it would look like ⁓"
Describe days, not destinations.
Hours, not outcomes.
Nights 10⁓12 · Naming
December 30⁓31
Across these nights, give your art practice three names:
A private name (for your inner life)
A working name (for the world)
A secret name (never explained)
Names alter posture.
Posture alters practice.
The Threshold
New Year’s Eve
This is not a resolution.
It is a crossing.
Write a brief note to your art practice dated December 31, 2026.
Begin with:
"We did not rush."
End with:
"I kept you."
Fold the page. Place it somewhere quiet. Look at it in 12 months.
No sharing required.
No proof demanded.
The work knows when it is being kept.
The night has done its job.
The light can take it from here.
These newsletters are free of charge. However, they do take time, energy, and a lifetime of artistic experience to put together. If you’d like to buy me a cup of tea as a bit of thanks, I’d appreciate your generosity. Buy Pattie a Cup of Tea.
More soon,
Pattie Miles
Founder
Artistic Clarity