Autumn rarely arrives all at once. September is more subtle than that. The trees have not necessarily surrendered their leaves, nor has the landscape become the fiery spectacle we now associate with the season. Instead, something happens to the light. Greens become duller. Fields dry into ochre and gold. Shadows lengthen. The same landscape that appeared almost endless in July suddenly seems aware of time. For painters working outdoors in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these changes were not merely seasonal decoration. They were problems of color, atmosphere, light and perception. And for women artists, landscape could offer something else: access to a world beyond the portrait, drawing room and domestic interior to which women were so often culturally associated.

Above Milan, Elisa Seitzinger’s Sole in Virgo brings astrology, tarot, sacred iconography, and contemporary illustration into conversation with the historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

In our previous issue of Bruja Magazine, we explored the enchanting world of Ana María Gómez López and her project, Serecho a Mano. Through handcrafted sculptures inspired by folklore, memory, and imagination, her work reminds us that art has the power to resurrect wonder in a world that too often forgets how to dream.

Through vibrant color, dimensional mixed media, and symbolic storytelling, Selahmon Risingsun transforms canvas into immersive portals of healing and transformation. Her work explores grief, resilience, spiritual awakening, and the ongoing journey of becoming unbound.

Cassandra’s photography captures the quiet strength and emotional depth of the feminine experience. Her images often explore vulnerability, identity, and the subtle connection between the body, nature, and spirit. Through soft light, thoughtful composition, and an intuitive approach to storytelling, her work invites viewers into moments that feel both intimate and powerful.

There is a particular kind of visual language that emerges in the final weeks of February. It is not the language of winter in its depth, nor the language of spring in its arrival, but something suspended between the two. It is within this threshold that the work of Elizaveta Kryuchkina finds its resonance. Her portraits do not depict seasonal abundance.

Time is narrowing around Cunning Folk.

Exhibitions like this do not exist permanently. They appear for a moment, gather objects that have survived centuries, and then quietly disperse again. What remains afterward is memory. Documentation. Absence. With its closing date set for February 22, the exhibition has entered its final days, and with it, the last opportunity to stand in physical proximity to the lives and practices it reveals.

Yule has always been a threshold season. A turning of the wheel where warmth becomes a prayer and the forest becomes a cathedral of shadow and spark. It is a time of lanterns, antlers, evergreen crowns, and the ancient promise that light will return even when the world feels sunless. It is in that sacred in-between where Pamela Salerno’s photography feels most at home.

Article Written by Epifania Arriagada Photographer by Pamela Salerno

The work of Brazilian photographer Marina Utrabo is a perfect vessel for this threshold. Her imagery does not shy away from the truth of winter. She walks directly into the emotional landscape that Yule represents. Her portraits feel like myths pulled from rivers, from memory, from the places inside us that still speak in the language of tide and shadow.

Pamela Salerno steps into the Winter Issue of Bruja Magazine with the quiet power of someone who sees the world differently. Her art exists in that liminal space where reality softens and spirit rises, where women unfold into deities and the ordinary remembers it was once myth.

This weekend, I visited the Alabama Center for the Arts for a special one-day student display honoring Día de los Muertos. The exhibit was a collaboration with Decatur City Schools, showcasing young artists’ interpretations of the sacred celebration of remembrance.

Written by Epifania Arriagada

There is a haunting beauty in the work of the London-based photographer known on Instagram as photos_frompastfuture. Her images linger in that space between presence and absence, clarity and blur, intimacy and mystery. She does not loudly promote herself, nor does she maintain a glossy professional website. Instead, she exists everywhere in fragments: on Instagram, on Unsplash, on Medium, and even on the cover of a published book.

Written by Epifania Arriagada

Yesterday, Shelby Lien celebrated three years of sobriety — three years of choosing clarity, resilience, and life. Today, August 28, she steps forward with another revelation: one that carries both shadow and spirit.

As we edge our way closer to the first print issue of Bruja Magazine, we peel back the layers of artist Andrea Atia. Her work does not whisper—it burns. Her portraits smolder in crimson and shadow, holding a tension between concealment and revelation.

Jeannette Gomez is a multifaceted creator whose work blends artistry, intuition, and the wisdom of her spiritual path. Through her craft, she channels stories, emotions, and symbols that speak to both the mystical and the everyday. Her dedication to honoring tradition while exploring new creative expressions makes her a powerful voice in the modern magical community.

She is soft-spoken at times, but her brush is loud. Across multiple mediums, she pulls from imagination and recovery to reveal images that toy with the fragile edges of childhood and the lingering shadows of trauma. In S. D. Smith’s world, innocence is never pure and darkness is never entirely without charm.

Her work is a paradox—sweet yet unsettling, whimsical yet weighted with truth. Colors drip with nostalgia, shapes bend into the surreal, and every stroke feels like a confession you weren’t meant to hear. She doesn’t shy away from the unsettling parts of the human story; instead, she invites you to walk right into them.

At Bruja Magazine, we believe artists are spellcasters in their own right—shaping stories, bending emotion, and leaving us changed with every brushstroke, stanza, or frame. Our Artist Spotlight series is where we honor those voices and visions, sharing glimpses of creators whose work hums with that undeniable resonance. This week’s feature is gifted writer, Stephanie Alvarez.

With the season upon us,
let us rise in the energy of creativity and truth.
Let us be our most authentic selves,
running barefoot through the valleys of our souls.
Let the shackles of darkness be broken.
Let us learn, transform, and manifest—
like monarch butterflies with no borders, no bounds…
guided only by the clock of our souls
and Mother Nature as our compass.

There is a place just beyond the veil of what we call reality—where dreams, memory, and feeling twist into shape. Surreal photography lives there. It doesn’t just capture what’s in front of the lens; it captures what’s behind the eyelids when we close them.

Read Poetry by the editor and creator Tiffany Arraigada