End of Year Look Back to Look Ahead

At the beginning of the year I knew my art was changing, that I was changing as an artist but every time I tried to write about it it came off sounding whiny and a bit melancholic. I don’t know how many blog posts I wrote and deleted throughout the year. I couldn’t put it into words until just these past few weeks but I think I’ve got it now: transformative.

I started taking workshops this year and joined a few monthly membership groups and it’s is there I found my art community and my art language. Looking back I had always created my art in a vacuum, and in that vacuum I got stuck. What do I mean by creating in a vacuum; I learned alone for the most part, taking classes at a local art store when something caught my eye or found myself wanting some community. I developed some excellent work ethic but also developed some bad habits and beliefs about making art that helped me get stuck.

Have you heard of the podcast called Art Juice? This podcast in particular helped me put words to my struggles as an artist. It also gave me a path. In that podcast they put other artists in my path that would help me see and feel my way out of feeling stale. If you don’t know it, check it out. Another very helpful podcast on my journey is the Savvy Painter podcast, both have helped me immensely. And I cant forget the 21-day creativity workshop called Spark that really shifted my thinking and my journey as an artist.

This year, I learned that:

I love collage;

I love ripping painted paper and collaging them into my art journal

I love ripping up old cookbooks to create collage papers

I discovered art jounals and mixed media,

that bubble wrap is awesome for visual texture

I love grids as part of the underpainting

I got reacquainted with clay

I discovered new colours that I now can’t live without

I started 37 painting and finished 28

I created 7 mixed media pieces, 2 are not finished

I sold 5 paintings

I leaned that I don’t have to keep painting landscapes because that’s what I chose 6 years ago

that not knowing the outcome is ok

that serious work comes from serious play

that I can jump from canvas to journaling and its ok

that my paintings are a bi-product of my creative process

That I can recreate and re-envision older pieces

Transformative is right!! Sitting here on New Years Eve I am grateful for taking the time to look back. I don’t make resolutions or pacts with myself for the new year, I know that I will carry on with this evolution because I cant imagine my life without these new found practices. Thank you all for coming along this journey with me, I truly appreciate you support and comments.

Happy New year!!