An Honest Word About the Art in Hearthlight

In this highly polarized society, I steer clear of political debates and fueling those particular flames. The country is divisive enough. If I could leave anything behind, I would want to leave behind warmth, love, comfort, and a sense of joy, which is the heart of my newsletter Hearthlight.

The primary focus of Hearthlight is to showcase my writing, share my voice, stories, and updates about my projects as they grow and become books. Its secondary focus is to grow my audience and to connect with them in a personal way. There is nothing more personal than my words. I write them carefully and share them openly. I want Hearthlight to feel polished, warm, and beautiful when it arrives in your inbox. The words will always be mine, but I also care about creating an atmosphere that makes the experience inviting for you as a reader.

While designing the first issue of Hearthlight, the first draft consisted of stock images of fire, with the title of each section added. Until recently, I had been obtaining my images from Pixabay and processing them through Canva to create my artwork. These tools are powerful and have given me the ability to appear knowledgeable in graphic design.

For the look and feel of Hearthlight, I was trying to build a brand that felt warm and inviting, but fell short of the ability or funds to pay for original artwork. So, I began to play with ChatGPT, testing the engine's capabilities to see just how far I could push it, and to my delight, I found another potent tool to add to my toolbox. AI didn’t hand me finished art. It gave me sketches to refine, directions to pursue, and sometimes even mistakes to laugh at. The vision, the prompts, and the choices were always mine. I see AI as a new kind of brush in my hand, not a replacement for the artist.

In many ways, I see AI in the same vein as the computer on Star Trek. That was also a type of artificial intelligence. No one questions when Commander Riker stands in the holographic suite and tells the computer to design a particular atmosphere. Riker does not write the code to create that holographic experience, but it is his prompts, his vision, and his choices that determine how the program runs. In the same way, my prompts, vision, and choices drove the creation of these generated images.

I understand that using AI to generate images can be complex. The debate is on ethics. I have heard the discussion from both sides, and I’m choosing to camp somewhere in the middle ground. I am a one-woman show here. What you read is what you get. But, like everyone else, I use a spell checker. Grammarly has been enormously helpful as I hone my writing craft. I choose to believe that AI can be used responsibly, and the first step in doing so is openly acknowledging its use. Writers have always relied on tools — spellcheck, Grammarly, typewriters, Canva — each one shaping how we bring stories to life. AI is simply another in that long line of helpers. The difference is transparency, and that’s why I choose to name it openly.

I have addressed this on my Patreon, and now I want to delve deeper by posting it on my website and sending out this additional note. I am not a graphics designer, nor do I pretend to be. ChatGPT generated all the artwork in Hearthlight. I choose to share this with transparency because I believe in being honest about my creative process. Every image is unique — explicitly crafted for Hearthlight using my prompts, my vision, and my words. These aren’t stock images; they’re one-of-a-kind pieces that exist only here, built to match the warmth and legacy I want this space to carry.

At the end of the day, the artwork is only one part of the overall feeling of Hearthlight. The heart of the content is the writing, which is always my own. As an indie author, I am not wealthy, nor is my time unlimited. Through tinkering and experimenting with AI, I have been able to design artwork that reflects what I would create, had I the talent and the time. Someday, as my career grows, I would love to collaborate with human artists whose work I admire. For now, AI is my bridge — a tool that allows me to give Hearthlight the visual presence I dream of while keeping my focus where it belongs: on the words themselves.

Of course, AI content does not come without its share of headaches. At times, the artwork “glitched,” and there were strange combinations of letters, cats the size of bonfires, and dogs sitting on mantelpieces. These little hiccups along the way are part of the charm of AI and part of the challenge. Unfortunately, it meant those images, no matter how comical or lovely, were unusable. Were a human behind those images, we might be able to tweak and change things until they were just right. Which, I understand, is part of the debate.

I have a dear friend who is a graphics designer. Her artwork is always incredible, and I wish I had the funds to pay her what she was worth. Since I cannot, I have turned to AI to utilize it, not as a means to cheat, but as a sketchbook. I could easily remain silent about the artwork, but I choose to be open about it because I believe readers deserve to know the truth about what they’re seeing. My goal isn’t to pass off something it’s not — it’s to bring you closer to the fire, to share stories framed in warmth. That’s the truth of what you’re seeing, and I want you to feel included in the process.

The goal in using these images is not to be dishonest, nor to distract. These images are designed to enhance your time with me and your overall reading experience. I strive to be as ethical as possible, and I have considered issues such as copyright infringement, labor practices, and the value of creativity.

In the future, as my platform grows, I would love to find a way to expand Hearthlight so that more artists can be involved. The words are the fire; the art is only the glow that dances along the walls. What lingers is the warmth of story and memory. My invitation is simply this: come closer to the hearth, and let’s tend it together.