Dearest visitor,

I’m a visual artist, singer-songwriter, writer, poet, journalist, and teacher. I wear a lot of hats but the common thread is that I wear my heart on my sleeve. I know that’s SUPER cheesy, but often, the cheesy is the truth.

What is more cheesy AND powerful than love? Love makes us feel alive and connected to ourselves, each other, groups of people, nature, this world, etc. Love gives us courage. We are driven to protect what/who we love.

With my art, no matter the kind, the source is love. With my paintings, drawings, and mixed media works, I express my pain and grief, my hope, my awe, my curiosity, my story, my human experience, my existential questions, my mystical connection to nature. This is an act of love for myself, allowing myself to exist and express myself naturally. And in continually offering my heart up to all of you to share my creations, this is an act of love for you, for this world, for nature, for this strange and bittersweet existence. The same goes for my music and writing. My teaching too.

As a journalist, my focus is to facilitate others telling their stories too as well as uplifting what and who are being overlooked. This is part of why I’m frequently reporting on environmental justice — the overlap between harm to the environment, systemic oppression, and people’s real, lived experiences. Environmental justice stories are also often tales of people standing in their power and fighting for their communities, their health, their connection to nature. That’s love.

I choose to be rooted in love. Whether I’m singing about the trauma and persistent sexual abuse I survived a child and young adult or singing to the trees about how awestruck I am by this one precious life, this is love. Honesty (sharing my truth, my pain, about the complexity of living with complex PTSD, about being a sensitive person who goes through existential crises about once or twice a month): this is how I honor my natural self while connecting with other human beings, reminding all of us we are not alone. Letting the pain be what it is. Letting life be messy. Embracing the dualities of existence while giving myself the space to cry and feel frustrated as well as the space to laugh and scream, “THIS SUCKS!” from time to time.

My love is connected to my boundless curiosity, my drive to continually learn, explore, and grow. I love making art! I love storytelling! I love interviewing people! I love singing, songwriting, instruments, music! For all the dualities of existence, beauty and suffering included, I love being alive. Even as I struggle (and doubt everything!), these pursuits bring me closer to myself, other humans, and this world.

Thank you for visiting my site — I hope you enjoy looking around! You’ll find original art and prints available to order, videos of my musical performances as well as links to stream my music, information on my blog and how to sign up for Chicken Doodle Soup, my free newsletter about healing, making art, and the insights found in everyday life, FAQs, and more.

With love,

Nicole Sylvia Javorsky