About Me

Hey Tender Hearts, I’m Ames. A collage artist, poet, and writer living in the countryside in the UK. And,  I have been listening for poems in everything since I was eleven years old. In birdsong, in conversations overheard in cafés, in the margins of books, in the way light falls differently every single morning. Words have always felt like something alive to me. Something that wants to be gathered.

These days, I gather them with scissors and a typewriter.

There is something about the click of typewriter keys under my fingers. The slow, deliberate intention of it, the little ding at the end of each line that puts me into a state I can only describe as meditative. Collage does the same. Both ask me to be slow, to be present, to choose carefully. In a world that insists on speed, they are my most joyful acts of resistance.

When I am not at my art desk, I am helping people grow their own organic food on a community food project near my home. I have my hands in actual soil and metaphorical soil every single day, and both feel essential. I draw my inspiration from plants and seasons and the things that move at their own pace, take their time, and answer only to the elements.

I come from a mixed heritage family we lovingly call the fruit salad family: a vibrant, delicious mix of different colours and flavours, and the source of more joy and laughter than I can measure.

The Tender Letters grew out of all of this. Out of digital burnout after years of writing online, out of a deep belief that small and slow interactions can change the world. And, perhaps most tenderly, the belief that when we are engaged in acts of love (the real, practical, verb-shaped love), is when we are truly at our very best. That's also why I created the FLAME and HEARTH memberships, because I actually want to connect with you, and for you to connect with each other. To weave the threads of community, co-creating a vibrant tapestry of connections and diving deeper into what it means to build a culture of care. 

This is my love letter to the world. I am so glad it found its way to you. 💌