February 2026: Constellation Keepers
What are you navigating by?
This month, we're making lanterns — punched, cut, and folded from paper, tin cans, glass jars, or whatever you have around. We'll pierce them with star patterns that glow when lit from within, creating small lights to guide us through uncertain times.
Drawing from Polynesian navigators who crossed oceans by starlight, papel picado artists who turn paper into lace, and James Turrell's installations that make light itself art, we'll create constellation keepers — lanterns that remind us sometimes a pinhole of light is enough to find your way.
When We’re Gathering
Date: Sunday, February 22, 2026
Time: 4:00-5:30pm EST/1:00-2:30pm PST
Duration: 90 minutes
Where: Online
(Zoom link sent at registration)
Cost: $20
Creative Lineage: Who’s Inspiring Us
Our project this month draws inspiration from:
Polynesian wayfinding traditions where navigators crossed thousands of miles of ocean using star patterns as their map.
James Turrell's light installations that turn entire rooms into experiences of color and glow.
Mexican papel picado — the delicate cut-paper banners that flutter at celebrations, turning solid paper into intricate patterns of light and shadow.
Japanese shadow play and the art of kagee, where hands between a light and a wall create birds, rabbits, whole stories.
These artists and traditions remind us that making light in darkness doesn't always mean fighting shadows; it means learning to work with them.
Making is a Meditation
Making and conversation go hand in hand. As we pierce patterns into paper, tin, and glass, we'll also…
Explore
What are you navigating by right now?
Where do you need more light in your life?
Where are you a light for someone else?
How do you stay hopeful in a sometimes dark world?
Gently Unlearn
The need for complete clarity before moving forward
Waiting for someone else to light the way
The trend towards hopelessness when life becomes overwhelming
Practice
Trusting small lights
Working with shadows
Being lights for each other
Creating navigation tools for uncertain times
What You’ll Need
The Usual Suspects: Keep these basics on hand for all Art & Alchemy sessions:
Scissors
Glue stick, white glue, and/or glue gun
Markers, colored pencils, pastels, or crayons
Paper (any kind works)
For This Session
Paper for lantern body: cardstock, vellum, tracing paper, or even brown paper bags work beautifully
Cutting tools: scissors, craft knife (optional), or even just your hands to tear patterns
Poking tools: awl, fork, chopstick, bamboo skewer, thick needle, or even a pen — anything that can puncture paper to create light patterns
Light source: battery-operated tea light or small LED (no open flames!)
Optional decorative elements: tissue paper, wax paper, pressed flowers, lace, ribbon, string for hanging
Optional: hole punch, stencils if you want extra guidance
What You’ll Receive: A Zoom link, detailed supply list and inspiration guide will be sent when you register, along with a downloadable guide to our favorite craft products.
Your Co-Hosts
Alice Chen has spent years studying how Polynesian navigators crossed vast oceans using star patterns as their map. She holds the reflective space for our gatherings, guiding conversations about the lights we're following, the darkness we're navigating, and the small glows that are sometimes enough. She'll help us explore what it means to be our own light-keepers.
Megan Rossi is an artist who creates with Chaparral Made, working with natural materials and the interplay of light and shadow. She knows that sometimes the best part of a design is what you cut away — the holes that let light through, the spaces that create the pattern. She'll demonstrate the cutting and folding techniques that turn simple paper into glowing lanterns.
You’re inner creative is waiting for you and so are we!
Join Us
What is Art & Alchemy?
A monthly virtual gathering where we slow down and reflect on a theme of the month all while making art, building community, and remembering that creativity isn't reserved for artists; it's a way of being in the world.
Each session includes a facilitated discussion and lightly guided project that invites reflection, play, and creative courage. Follow our prompt or bring one of your own that's been calling for your attention. Both are welcome.