An Afternoon of Tea, Art & Story: Celebrating The Dragonfly Journals
There are some gatherings that are meant to be more than an event on a calendar.
On Sunday, September 27, 2026, Mystic Dragonfly Creations and Herb & Smudge Apothecary are coming together for an afternoon centered on books, art, nature, music, conversation, community—and, of course, tea.
This is not meant to feel like a formal book signing where you come in, buy a book, and leave.
I want us to sit down together.
There will be afternoon tea and handcrafted finger foods, original art and natural discoveries from Mystic Dragonfly Creations, signed copies of The Dragonfly Journals, live acoustic guitar music from Stephen Mitchell, and time to actually talk, laugh, ask questions, share stories, and enjoy one another’s company.
At the heart of the afternoon is the question that has followed so much of my creative work:
What is this?
Where art, nature and story meet
Mystic Dragonfly Creations began with art, but curiosity kept widening the work. Paintings led to closer observation. Natural objects led to questions. Questions led to photographs, notes, comparisons, simple tests, research, journal entries, and eventually books.
That growing record became the Dragonfly Archive.
The Archive holds both evidence and imagination, but they are not treated as the same thing. A stone remains a stone. A photograph remains a record. A painting remains an artistic response. And when an object becomes part of a fictional story, the story is allowed to grow without pretending to replace what the evidence can actually support.
The object comes first. The story grows from what is actually there.
That is the spirit I want to bring into the room on September 27.
Meet The Dragonfly Journals
The afternoon will celebrate the first books in The Dragonfly Journals, including Ignivar’s Heartstone: How One Forgotten Stone Awakened the Dragonfly Archive and Ignivar: The Flame-Born Guardian — Keeper of Fire, Stone, and Story.
The books grew from real observations, artwork, memories, and discoveries, while Ignivar and the larger mythology belong to the fictional world of the series.
Ignivar is the amber-furred, blue-blazed, flame-tailed guardian at the center of that story world. His fire, speech, guardianship, and adventures are fiction. The curiosity underneath them is very real.
The stones are real. The questions are real. The research is real. The story is where imagination takes those questions next.
And one principle remains at the center of the Archive:
The Archive has never feared the words “I don’t know.”
Those words are not the end of discovery. Very often, they are the beginning.
Come sit at the table
Herb & Smudge Apothecary is helping create the kind of setting I hoped for from the beginning: warm, welcoming, and unhurried.
You do not need to know anything about geology. You do not need to have read the books. You do not need to be an artist.
You simply need to be curious.
If you have ever picked up an unusual stone and wondered what you were holding, loved an old family object because of the history attached to it, noticed something beautiful in a garden, or found yourself fascinated by the stories hidden in ordinary things, you already understand the spirit of the afternoon.
I especially hope people bring their own questions and stories. Someone almost always has a stone tucked away somewhere, a childhood memory of finding fossils, an unidentified family object, or a strange discovery from a beach, field, creek, garden, or old property.
Those conversations are part of the experience.
Live acoustic music with Stephen
Stephen Mitchell will join the gathering with live acoustic guitar music. In the spirit of the event, his music will be woven into the afternoon rather than staged as a formal concert.
For this gathering, he is also affectionately billed as “The Steampunk Guitar Master.”
The idea is simple: tea in hand, conversation moving around the room, books and artwork nearby, and acoustic guitar becoming part of the atmosphere.
More than a book signing
I am proud of The Dragonfly Journals, and I will happily sign books. But the books are part of something larger.
They grew from my painting, my curiosity, the natural things I kept stopping to examine, and the growing realization that art, observation, memory, and storytelling did not have to live in separate rooms.
This afternoon gives me a chance to share that world in person—and, even more importantly, to hear what other people have noticed, wondered about, remembered, and created.
This is meant to be an afternoon of connection, not a sales line.
Come have tea. Try the handcrafted finger foods. Listen to Stephen play. Look through the books and artwork. Ask questions. Tell me what you have discovered. Stay awhile.
I think we are going to have a wonderful afternoon together.
Event details
Event: Afternoon Tea with The Dragonfly Journals
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM–5:00 PM
Location: Herb & Smudge Apothecary, 201 26th Street, Galveston, Texas 77550
Co-hosted by: Mystic Dragonfly Creations and Herb & Smudge Apothecary
Featuring: Afternoon tea, handcrafted finger foods, signed books, original art, natural discoveries, conversation, and live acoustic guitar by Stephen Mitchell.
Admission: Complimentary. Seating is limited.
RSVP: Please select “Going” or “Interested” on the Facebook Event to help us prepare and to receive event updates.
Continue from here:
View the September 27 Facebook Event →
View the official September 27 event page →
Read why this afternoon means so much to April →
Start with Book One — Ignivar’s Heartstone →
Shop signed editions by April Louann Mitchell →
Explore The Dragonfly Journals →
Explore the Dragonfly Archive →
Read more Archive stories →
Connect with April →
— April Louann Mitchell
Artist, author, and founder of Mystic Dragonfly Creations
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