Destiny Radiates | Summer 2026
Honor the Cycle
The Pacific Northwest brings big feelings along with every season's change. The winter sends us into our caves to hibernate, both physically and emotionally. But summer brings us back to life like we're flowers. Hiking and biking. Picnics at the park. Plans on plans on plans.
Kristin Foster's "The Village" reminds us to follow nature's lead. Dig deep when the weather cools. Remember yourself and your community when you have thawed, when you're ready to come out again. Honor the cycle. But don't lose yourself in the cold, dark season - come back into the light.
The Village
kristin fosterThere is no village in the winter.
Just homes, buried beneath the cold. Families dug deep in the burrow, siloed in silent waiting until the sleet and snow pass by.
On the solstice, we feel the world stirring. Our limbs unfurl fresh and green. We step into the new-minted morning, as clouds flee blue-painted skies. We blink. We breathe.
And all around us, other creatures emerge from their dens, with a billow of dust and a rattle of bones. We croak at one another, clearing rusty throats ‘til they remember the taste of words.
There is no village in the winter.
But when the sun returns, we shake off hibernation. We cross the street to greet our neighbors - hands, recently thawed, heavy with gifts. Are you well? Are you hungry? Here, take some - I have plenty. Our cubs tussle on the lawn, and we marvel at how much they’ve grown.
In the winter, we are cave-dwellers. But thanks be to the summer. She melts our wild, solitary ways, and blesses us with belonging again.
Gretchen Gambill, is a Tacoma-based tattooer and artist. She loves the PNW landscapes and spends her free time hiking, baking, and doing yoga. She loves animals and spending time with her dogs, Olive and Poppy. Originally from Kansas City, MO, she began tattooing in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2019 but now loves to call the PNW home.
Gretchen is passionate about empowering her clients to make self-affirming decisions and to connect with their bodies through tattooing. She works in a thorough, intentional process to create tattoos for all bodies.
She is inspired by the interconnectedness of nature and creates surreal relationships in her art. Emphasizing mindfulness in her creation process, she seeks to evoke the feeling of being completely present, through her art. Using imagery from nature and culture, she illustrates the fleeting beauty of the world around us. She often uses the motif of duality and nature being the constant in our interconnectedness.
In her studio practice, she abstracts everyday objects with natural and architectural elements to create surreal environments that welcome the viewer to evoke a connection with oneself in the present.
@gretchengambilltattoo @cygnitattoo
Kristin Foster is a novelist, a former small-town journalist, and the co-founder of Foster’s Creative. She received her B.A. in Creative Writing from Colorado State University Pueblo. She finds inspiration in storytellers and artists, in the ocean, and in her kids - which sounds like a cliche. But kids never stop telling stories; which means that, as a writer, she never stop taking notes.
