Introducing the Updated Evergreen Reflection and How it Came to Be
Evergreen Reflection as a brand was first created in 2018 when I decided to create something tangible with my photographs to celebrate Christmas. I decided to make an Advent Calendar with images and writing for each day to give people a meaningful way to celebrate Advent.
Advent Calendar Cards originally created by Whitney in 2018
For me, this project was more than just wanting to make a product to sell for Christmas. It was the culmination of years of creative wandering after leaving wedding photography, a profession I had held for over 12 years. I wanted to avoid picking up a camera for nearly a year, and slowly I found myself bringing it along everywhere I went. I found peace when I viewed the world through my lens that I had never experienced while documenting weddings. I began to make images for myself rather than someone else. Then by the end of 2018, I had hundreds of photos but no idea what to do with them. So with a desire to learn more about Advent, and the longing to make something I could hold in my hands, my calendar was created, and I set up shop on Etsy. I initially branded my Etsy shop as Advent Art Collection. Shortly after, I changed the name to Evergreen Reflection to expand what I had created.
The original Advent Art Collection Logo.
The original Evergreen Reflection Logo
My next project was similar and based around Holy Week. Then Taylor wrote me in 2020 about using some of my images in a newsletter project she was creating for Advent. I enthusiastically said yes! Taylor has always supported my work, and I admire how she writes gracefully about the intersections of justice and faith. Then in 2021, we collaborated again with Taylor’s Easter newsletter. By the middle of 2021, we discussed what would become Poeima: Rediscovering the Art of Advent.
I loved working with Taylor on all of her projects. Her beautiful words fit so well with my images, plus we made a great collaborative team. Besides being family, Taylor and I have connected in many ways to our faith background, our wrestling with ingrained belief systems, and our love of artistic endeavors. We are honest with each other, and speaking for myself, Taylor pushes me in the ways I need to finish our projects together.
A fun trip and time to connect when we visited Treasured Haven Farm Sunflower fields here in Minnesota.
Our success with Poiema: Rediscovering the Art of Advent was surprising to both of us! In the same way that I created my Advent Calendars, we went into creating our book as a way to push ourselves creatively. We designed it to give form to our ideas, to make something tangible, and we knew from the beginning that an enriching process was more important to us than success. During our virtual meetings over 2021, we would reassure each other that it would be worthwhile even if only our mom's bought a copy!
Showing our excitement over preparing our Kickstarter campaign!
We have now decided to make our collaboration official with our partnership in relaunching Evergreen Reflection as a place for us to continue our collaboration throughout the year. Our shared creative spirits, our longing for a peaceful and love-filled place to belong, and our hope to provide others a way to find that in themselves and in community are what we desire Evergreen Reflection to be.
The new and updated Evergreen Reflection Logo.
Taken from our About page: “As a symbol across cultures of life and endurance, the Evergreen emerged a perfect symbol of the space they wanted to hold for others. A space free of judgment and full of welcome, curiosity, and creativity. Through writing and images, Evergreen Reflection gives you a place to start on a journey to reflect on how you want to grow individually and within community. Our work has a spiritual foundation in the Christian tradition, yet we are not aligned with any particular denomination and welcome people of all faiths or no faith. Our guiding principle is Love, and we approach life through a lens of hope and wonder.”
We are both thrilled about what is in store and are excited to meet those of you who join us. We want to hear from you! We want to know your stories and welcome you here. You can email us at hello@evergreenreflection.com, and if you are ready to join us on this fulfilling journey, sign up for our newsletter.
We can’t wait to see what’s next!
