Bye for now
so long Substack, hello United States Postal Service
Dearest reader,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for subscribing to Lost Art, which began five years ago (!!!) as an email and is now ready to change form.
The year of our lord 2026 brings Paper Choir, a collaborative print publishing project between artist and friend LK James and me.
tl;dr
I am ending Lost Art and launching Paper Choir, a collaborative print publishing project with artist LK James
Our first publication in March 2026 is a personal essay about Lost Art
Annual subscriptions to Lost Art will be completed via Paper Choir
Monthly and free subscribers can get 15% off new Paper Choir subscriptions with code LOSTART
What is Paper Choir?
Paper Choir is a collaborative print publishing project between artist LK James and writer Sarah McColl. An annual subscription will include four quarterly mailings in March, June, September, and December of various risograph ephemera (zines, recipes, notecards, illustrated diaries, stickers, collaborative texts, posters, postcards, broadsides, etc.).
Our first publication is a personal essay about Lost Art: how it started, what it came to be, why I needed it, and why I don’t anymore. It should be a satisfying conclusion to this online project.
Why?
Our goal is to share our infinite enthusiasm for fleeting beauty, precious time, and insights of the ordinary by mailing creative works on paper, made by us for you.
For us, making things by hand (including writing!) is not a pastime but an accessible, everyday way to reach The Good Life, by which we mean a creative, connected state with ourselves and with a community in the real world, free from anxiety and judgement, and available to us all.
Paper Choir is our experimental effort to embrace analog, old-fashioned technology as a form of offline expression and communication that is both intimate and genuine.
The backstory
In the fall of 2024, LK and I made Digging Deep, a zine printed on LK’s risograph. Our kids played while we collated. Then we all ate sesame noodles together. I laid in bed that night buzzing with clarity. I thought, This is what I want more of in life. Paper Choir is that thought made manifest. It is our homage to the life and work of Virginia Lee Burton and the Folly Cove Designers.
The logistics
If you are an annual subscriber to Lost Art, the remainder of your annual subscription will be completed via this new endeavor.
If you are a monthly subscriber to Lost Art, I urge you to subscribe to Paper Choir. Code LOSTART gets you 15% off which makes it less than what you spend on this monthly email over the course of a year.
If you have enjoyed Lost Art as a free subscriber, please consider subscribing to Paper Choir. It is not an email! It is honest to goodness mail, made by hand, the kind you’re excited to see appear in your mailbox.
In closing
If you love paper beauties, risograph zines, and/or mail art, I would be delighted if you considered subscribing for yourself or a friend. If you geek out at stationery stores and love a handwritten letter, you’re in for a treat. Paper Choir makes a great last minute gift!
I haven’t been this excited about a project in a long time. Here’s to your creative excitement in the new year. Here’s to thoughtfully stewarding our attention and time. Sending love, warmth, rest, and so much gratitude for your readership.
Many solstice blessings ✨
Sarah