22:32

THURSDAY,

SEPTEMBER 3RD

2026

TITLED:                         LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

better described as a deep cut

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Dear, whoever you are

Thank you so much for being here. for reading this. you're making this real for me and i deeply appreciate you for that.

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​​For years i've held onto my my work ; The art i've created with my thumbs and pointer.

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But Always , i've been afraid to share it. its a very scary thing to be vulnerable and to share pieces of yourself that you don't even know if you're confident in.

 

Ironically, i've been a perfectionist my whole life! At a young age, I took things I heard and saw and eventually became the narrator of my own devilish script. So, without realizing it, i trained my brain to think that if I'm perfect i wouldn't be afraid anymore. 

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When i was 7, i spent every class, intentionally forgetting to pay attention to the lesson. instead, i was in the corner crumpling paper after paper because my handwritten notes weren't good enough...or the title didn't stand out enough..

or the letters were not serene enough, or the color coding was inaccurate.

but..When i was 9, I was voted best handwriting in the class and I got to create the class calendar. 

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In high school, I knew art called. but my Best friends called in the other direction - I went that way. I was a follower, and a damn good one.

I believe it was my junior year of high school, my lunch hour did not align with any of my friends'. Acquaintances, yes. potential friends , for sure. but without mine, I was afraid. so i took my lunch elsewhere.

 

One thing did align

And that was the art room.

I had my (pre req) art class during my lunch period. So instead, i decided to stay and eat with the paint stained sinks and butcher block counters. i felt safe in there. and inspired. 

Alone - just me, my lunch and my project. i was finally able to see really see art for the first time. but not just the art - i was finally able to see myself in it.

 

Art called and I stayed.  

i applied to art school the following year. 

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In college, i finally knew art was my calling. but somehow, it was still attached to the feeling of being alone. i felt safe with it, but the moment my art called to be shared, i always felt unable.

 

The back of the room, headphones glued, eyes watering, my heart on fire - fueled with a passion incapable of being spoken.

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so i worked and i worked and in my mind i finally perfected every project. when my hands are moving and my brain is creating, fear does not exist . 3am procrastination still somehow resulting in pride. 

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no matter the constant iteration and constant paper tearing, new canvases and unfinished projects-   i fucking loved it.

                                                        ive always loved it.

                                                                                            every moment of it.

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although i've strived to perfect everything and struggled to show it ,

somehow, someway i've always found a way to make myself proud.

and that!, i've learned,

is all that matters. 

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i've always been afraid. 

first, afraid to find. 

then,

afraid to show. 

& dont even getting me started on being afraid to share!

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             though now , i've learned

that above all else, 

     i was afraid to be seen. 

 

My attempt to fix this was to perfect it all.

So I perfected

and perfected 

and doubted

and perfected 

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but perfection i learned does not exist. 

what fixed this (...and what im still learning now)..is to exchange the thought of perfection with the aspiration for love.  

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Sometimes the Process of the Project is the Project itself. 

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I love creating. I love expressing my self through my work. I love to share who I am. 

Love can replace fear. And finally im allowing myself to see it that way. ​

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but guess what! i think this project is perfect now.

and holy shit!

im still fucking afraid!

who would have thought! 

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so now im finally ready to introduce myself. 

finally freeing myself from the place i've locked myself in since i was a girl.

im ready to be seen. to share. to release what i love because i LOVE it. 

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I'm here to welcome you to ALWAYS.

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• always creating

• always questioning

• always becoming

• always afraid

• always showing up anyway

• always pursuing

• always dreaming

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My name is Aleya Marie Huebner, I am a small town Minnesotan girl who always found herself  living in a daydream of passion and pursuit. & that daydream is now becoming something real -  a life in graphic design.

 

What once called me, I can now call my own. 

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This project is an extension of myself and a tribute to the heartache i attached myself to and the love i held away from myself.

 

and finally, a place where I allow myself to be seen. ​

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I spent my whole life trying to become ready.
I'm done waiting.
I'm here.
ALWAYS.

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let's begin.

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