Welcome to the winter 2020 issue of New Feathers Anthology. We began this project last spring, just before the pandemic transformed all our lives. Our original concept for this journal and the anthology was to support and encourage art and artists. During the process of working on it over the last year, I have been greatly inspired and uplifted by the works of the artists from all over the world, by the collaboration with my friends, and by the joy of engaging in creative work. This journal has been one good thing in a very hard year. Thank you to all the artists who contributed and to my coeditors and co-conspirators, John O’Leary and Caroline Chapman.
For the winter issue, we did not set up a theme. I was interested in seeing whether a theme would emerge, and for the most part, one did. As submissions came in, the themes of identity and mortality appeared again and again—which seems appropriate. I would be surprised if many of us were not thinking of these questions these days. Thematically, this issue of New Feathers begins in the clear light of summer and, as the days grow darker, passes through the meditation and rumination of autumn, and enters the darkness and mystery of midwinter. I hope you enjoy the works included in this issue and that we all pass through the darkness of winter to the light and hope of a new spring in 2021.
Wade