Help Stell keep the lights on!

Hi, folks! Many of you know Stell Michelsen (aka Stellaria/Senovara) from way back in Dagorhir, or from around Petoskey. She's a brilliant artist, potter, and mom living in upstate Michigan. She’s been inspiring me to better myself in the ten-plus years I’ve known her. In spite of fibromyalgia and mental health troubles, she’s a driven artisan and entrepreneur—but she’s hit a spot of trouble.

Her ex is two months behind on any sort of child support payment, and without that income, she’s spreading herself way too thin. In her own words, “my personal account is overdrawn thanks to automatic utility payments. I can’t use my credit cards because I haven’t been able to pay the biggest bill for the last two months. My emergency stash is gone. [My oldest son has] been draining his savings trying to help me.”

Being a potter is a seasonal business, and things should get better come summer when she hits up markets and art shows. The trouble, though, is:

A. keeping the lights on until summer, and

B. affording to GO to the shows where she can earn some income. Markets make you pay for your booth in advance, and if Stell can’t find that money soon—money that she also needs to keep the gas on and her car driveable—she won’t be able to sell during summer and fall markets—ie, her biggest money-making season.

So, y’all, she could use your help.

If we can raise $1,000, that will cover utilities (which run about $300/month) for her and her family through May. She’ll be able to spend her time building up pottery inventory, instead of scrambling, panicking, and working herself into pain and fatigue.

Stell is so talented, hardworking, and kind: it’s just plain stupid and unfair that the lack of a couple hundred bucks should thwart her. I know, though, that as a community, we can fix that.

If you've ever sewn a facing on a garb tunic or worn a lace-up apron dress, you have Stell to thank for it! She's the one who taught me these skills. I’ve seen her drop everything to conduct impromptu classes on fiber crafts, or hold fussy babies, or help research tricky questions, or comfort a panicked friend.

She has always been so generous with her time and resources, so please rise up: it’s time to be generous back to her.