The Taea Made Blog: January 2014

I had the distinct pleasure and honor of being included in Wolftree Magazine's second volume that was released last fall. It has been an amazing little adventure getting to know the founders of the magazine. They're pretty darn cool cats if you ask me. I'd love for you to get to know them as well, and their amazing publication! Here's a Q & A with one of the four founders of the magazine, Brooke Kupcho:

(The lovely and talented Brooke Kupcho.)

Taea Made: Why did you create Wolftree magazine?

Brooke Kupcho: Desiring something vibrant and purposeful to put our creativity and passion in was the main fuel behind the startup of Wolftree Magazine. Noah, editor and chief, had just graduated from MSUM with a degree in Art and emphasis in Photography. Like many fresh graduates, Noah didn’t exactly know what he wanted to do. Feeling discouraged he said to me, “I wish I could just get my photos into a magazine.” I replied, “Why don’t we just create our own magazine?” At first we were joking, but then it became real. So we created a magazine.

With friends like Dustin and Sarah, who help Noah and me dream and dream and dream, it was easy to get Wolftree rolling! I impulsively announced to the social media world that a new magazine would be coming out in May. At the time the team didn’t even own the correct software to create a magazine. It worked though…somehow!

(Wolftree's founders left to right: Brooke Kupcho, Noah Kupcho, Sarah Strong and Dustin Snyder.)

(Noah & Brooke Kupcho, husband and wife duo, at Wolftree's Volume 1 Launch Party.

The first night I had the opportunity to meet them!)

TM: What does Wolftree’s name mean?

BK: Wolftree Magazine in its entirety is about redefining. We want to redefine what art and community are and the depth they really reach. During the dreaming and joking conversations about starting a magazine we decided we needed to name it. In about 5 minutes, Dustin said, “Let’s name it Wolftree.” We thought it sounded cool – so we kept it. Little did we know, an actual wolftree is a tree with a large crown that sucks the nutrients out of the soil and kills all the smaller trees around it. We definitely didn’t want that to be the magazine’s moto. However, we redefined what Wolftree means. We’re a small publication that lifts makers, dreamers, and adventurers up. We have a small crown and help sustain others!

TM: What inspires you?

BK: We are truly inspired by the people we feature within the magazine and on our website. Each person is on his or her very own journey and we are blessed to taste a tiny bit of it. We meet musicians and painters. We encounter people who trek across the states in search of mountains and fog-filled lands. We talk with those who have not settled for the standard and have sought out ways to achieve their dreams. What an inspiration they are!

(Photo of me taken by the very talented Noah Kupcho in Wolftree's studio. The sewing machine

was from my aunt circa 1960, which I've used for teaching sewing classes. I'm sitting on my great aunt's boudoir chair, surrounded by some of my pieces of work.)

(Check out this amazing video by Shane Reetz with some behind-the-scenes

footage from the photoshoot.)

TM: How do you hope to inspire others?

BK: We would love to share the message that people are doing what they love and making it work.

TM: What is your dream for Wolftree?

BK: The dream of Wolftree is for it to be sustainable. We do not need a profit (though that would be a blessing) but, we want for it to continually be printed free of advertisements.

(Brooke & Noah Kupcho at Wolftree's Volume Two Launch Party.

Note Brooke stylin' in some Taea Made textile stud earrings.)

TM: How can others become involved with Wolftree’s mission?

BK: We love partnership. People can collaborate with Wolftree by living their heart’s dreams and doing their passions. Wolftree hosts workshops each month. We have had writing workshops, cooking workshops, and soon will have a coffee-cupping workshop.

We also have a very active website where we do 2 online features weekly. wolftree.co is the URL. Our Instagram is very active as well @wolftreemag is our name. We warmly welcome submissions of makers, dreamers, adventurers’ works and journeys for an online feature or spread in the printed magazine.

(Send submissions to submission@wolftree.co)

TM: Where can people purchase Wolftree magazine?

BK: We have an online store through wolftree.co. Through this store, we have joyously sold copies to individuals in every state and to 6 different countries! What an adventure! Locally, Wolftree Magazine can be purchased at Zandbroz Variety, Proper and Prim, Unglued Market, The Plains ArtMuseum, and ecce art gallery. We also have Wolftree placed in markets in the Twin Cities, west coast, Montana, and throughout North Dakota.

Upcoming events:

We will have a booth at the Unglued Craft Fest on February the 21^st and 22^nd. We will continue to have our workshops in Fargo, ND as well. Our next workshop is a writing workshop, taking place in February. Check out our events tab on our website as we continually update it.

You can find Wolftree's website: here

Purchase Wolftree Magazine: here

Thanks to the creators of Wolftree for sharing your creativity, your friendship and all the laughs!

(*Photos courtesy of Wolftree.)