🐸 Maestro Kambô - New Design Announcement!

Hey friends,

It’s Friday the 13th, but we felt lucky once our new shirts made it past UPS delays, just in time for our next event!

Our brand launch at Longmont Pride last weekend was a smashing hit! Thank you so much to everyone who showed up to support our launch - those shirts look goooooooood on you!

The response we got to our brand story and mission, the careful time we took to select garments ethically made with sustainable materials, and the quality results from our domestic, artist-led print shops we collaborated with all reinforced the reasons we are doing this.

We met folks from many flavors of life - some who just love frogs, some who seek out original designs, some who feel a connection to the Amazon, and natural healing. One person took home an El Guacamayo Malu t-shirt after sharing his story of connecting to the scarlet macaw on a recent trip to Costa Rica. Another asked important questions about our sourcing, printing, and impact (and we answered every one!)

This validates my wager - that folks from all walks of life gravitate towards art and story to meet on common ground. From a place of shared values, we strengthen community, and that’s what we’ve set out to do with Earth Medicine Apparel Co. Connect more folks, help more folks - wearable art is our means of doing so.

As we prepare to vend at Boulder Pride this Sunday, June 15, I am stoked to announce that our 5th design is finally available!

We’re officially launching the Maestro Kambô design this weekend—our flagship offering and the design that started it all. If you’ve read our previous newsletters, perhaps you recognize the portrait.

This shirt is perfect for medicine ceremonies, global adventures, festivals, and anywhere else your journey unfolds.

We’re working on unboxing, tagging, and receiving the inventory right now. Come see us this weekend to learn more about the legacy of Jhonny Javá and try one on!

In the meantime, keep reading to hear more about why this design is so significant for Earth Medicine Apparel Co.

A Design That Changed Everything

Kambô Maestro was the first image I ever made using Adobe Illustrator. I had just finished two design courses and was still learning how to use my drawing tablet. I spent countless hours building a color palette directly from a photo of the Kambô frog I took, layering digital brushes that mimic woodcuts, ink, and liner pens to preserve a hand-drawn aesthetic. I was obsessing over getting the textures just right.

And even more importantly, I was sitting with the weight of what it means to draw someone’s likeness, especially someone like Maestro Jhonny Javá, who had such a profound influence on my life.

Before even starting the design, I wrote to his widow, Uli, and their children. I shared how much Jhonny meant to me, how my journey to the Amazon inspired this brand, and asked if I could use a photo I had taken of him as the basis for a tribute piece.

Weeks later, I received a blessing from Uli that not only gave me the green light, but initiated a relationship that would become the heart of our first impact mission. The Javá family’s healing center—now maintained by Uli and her children—acts as a Nature Reserve in the Napo River Valley, Loreto region, Peru. With your support, we’re helping them rebuild their maloca and infrastructure, so they can continue sharing their Earth Medicines with people from around the world.

Sharing Jhonny’s Legacy and the Work of Ecomunidad Nativa Kambo Family

Though many people outside of South America may not know his name, Jhonny Javá has had a far-reaching influence on how Kambô is practiced around the globe. He was, quite possibly, one of the first maestros to integrate deep jungle wisdom with insights from the chakra system, human physiology, and direct experiential medicine in a way that could be accessed by people from vastly different cultures.

The ripple effect of his teachings can still be felt in the way many practitioners approach Kambô today—balancing science, spirit, and structure. Sharing his story through this design is about more than remembering a teacher. It’s about illuminating a legacy that continues to shape healing pathways globally.

Launching at Pride, Where It All Began

I couldn’t think of a more powerful moment to launch this design than at Boulder Pride. Not only is Boulder the site of the first same-sex marriage license in the U.S., it’s also where I took my first big leap as a queer artist into entrepreneurship.

To me, Pride isn’t just about celebration—it’s about visibility, healing, and community resilience. The Maestro Kambô design holds all of that and more: a tribute to a teacher, a milestone in my creative growth, and a symbol of cross-cultural collaboration.

Whether you’re joining us in person or supporting from afar, thank you for being here. You’re helping us build a brand that’s more about connection than about clothing.

Coming up soon in EarthMed Threads

• 🐸 All about our first Earth Medicine - Kambô

• 🗑️ Ways we strive to reduce our waste from sourcing through fulfillment

• 💫 Website Launch Update

• 🎨 More about our design process - and the different printing techniques our partners utilize to bring the digital designs to life

📣 P.S. Shoutout to Fox&Nug for documenting our first event!

My heart is bursting with gratitude,

Founder
Earth Medicine Apparel Co.