June 6, 2026 | Cupboard Monthly

Welcome to the Cupboard! We have sparkles, bookmarks, tape, postcards, half-eaten cookies, burnt toast, echoes, pillowcases, paperclips and I know I saw a banana slug around here somewhere...

Friends, do you know where you are? You're on my silly website (or perhaps surfing your own inbox), reading the first issue of Cupboard Monthly, my new art and literature newsletter!

This blog will be speckled with exclusive poems, artistic sneak peaks and personal musings. Return here each month to keep up with my art and get a taste of my latest inspirations and appreciations.

With a comfortable arm's length from social media and the ongoing goal of creating more intentional, slow-paced communications, I have peddled my brain in circles trying to find the best way to keep my loved ones in-the-loop on creative pursuits. One principle rings clear: It makes sense to go back to basics.

Consider this newsletter something like the worn cabinetry at your grandmother's house. There's stains by the knob and watermarks on the patterned liner. Inside lives your favorite mug. It's a junk drawer that, while junky, still holds your favorite things. No one else would think to look there for the crimson and olive-print cocktail napkins but you know they're in there, and your wisdom comes in handy during the final hour leading up to the party.

Most of all, it's my hope that Cupboard Monthly is a petite escape from internet chaos; that it leaves you feeling rested, as opposed to that "brain in a blender" feeling you get from your social feed.

Looking for a break from the noise? Go ahead: reach into the Cupboard, pick out your favorite snack and join me on the patio where we'll kick back and start the 6th on a good note.

Making Stuff

My favorite mixed media collage so far, Frugal Luxury Ladies! View on Etsy →

I am completely obsessed with mixed media collage right now and will probably write about it, ad nauseam.

To set myself up for success in crafting these funky pieces, I will put on trashy TV and situate myself in front of the coffee table with at least two beverages (positioned far away from the paint jar, of course. If you know, you know).

First comes the watercolor: I prime my paper with generous strokes of water to start things off on an uncontrollable note. I never formally learned how to watercolor, so I tend to paint as if I'm drawing. Oh well! A lesson for another day. I don't sketch out the teapot or candlestick or vase or whatever comes to mind. The objective here is to have fun, to play.

A new piece entitled Marty and Suki's House. View on Etsy →

I let her dry, go for a little walk with my husband or switch the TV to something even more trashy, and begin to collage. I've been using a variety of home and garden-type magazines, as well as a few vintage issues of LIFE from 1942 and 1960. Collaging is the longest part of the process.

Finally, I add my finishing touch: the doodle. This is a wavy line I use to tie everything together and add extra dimension to the piece. I've been using Pigma Micron pens in size 08-10, but I'm sure a black Crayola crayon could do it if you put enough sass and vigor into your strokes.

Writing Stuff

This year, I picked up the old quill and started writing poetry again. I was six years out of a regular practice.

Boy howdy, has it paid off!

If you dropped a hobby and you've considered picking it back up, consider this your sign. You can start again, and again. There are no rules. We're all going to die.

I am moved to report that my poems were selected for publication in three different literature magazines this spring: Unbroken Journal, Three Panels Press and Hawaii Review. I will send links to the latter two issues after their release. You can read Issue #49 of Unbroken Journal here.

In extremely humbling news, my ekphrastic sonnet, Garden of Venus, was shortlisted for two different Panel Awards from Three Panels Press. I cannot put into words the surprise and honor I feel to have been considered in their inaugural recognition program. Thank you to Jhazzy Jhane and all the amazing creatives at 3PP for their time and consideration.

You can read my interview with Jhazzy, "Pulling Over for Poems: A Conversation with Elle Estérre," out now on the Three Panels Press blog.

Read the Interview

Passage of the Month

The daily work — that goes on, it adds up. It goes into the ground, into crops, into children's bellies and their bright eyes. Good things don't get lost. Codi, here's what I've decided: the very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. What I want is so simple I almost can't say it: elementary kindness. Enough to eat, enough to go around. The possibility that kids might one day grow up to be neither the destroyer nor the destroyed.

— Hallie Noline, Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

Until next time, may the road rise to meet your feet! Thank you for reading.

Best,

Elle ♥︎