Wow, putting together my art collages for my end of year social media posts has made me realise how many creative highlights I've experienced this year. Very grateful for this – it's so easy to focus on the things we're always striving to do better at and lose sight of the achievements along the way.
It's been a big year of creative entrepreneur leaps for me. Here are 5 firsts for me:
- Launching my art website
- Starting my art newsletter (and rekindling my love of crafting words through writing the newsletters and my blog)
- Exhibiting as part of the 2021 Reading Charity Art Fair
- Shipping art overseas for my first few international sales
- Investing in my creative growth by taking two art courses with Louise Fletcher.
Thank you to everyone of you who have supported me in so many ways. Every sale, photo of my work in your home, thoughtful email, social media interaction (comments, shares and likes), exhibition attendance and website visit goes so much further than you might imagine in encouraging me. It really does.
An extra big thank you is also due to those of you who have also lent an ear over lockdown walks and post-lockdown coffees/drinks/dinners for the heart-to-hearts and advice. You're very much appreciated.
In addition to the entrepreneurial goal of launching my website, I also set some creative goals for 2021. My primary art goal was to extend my exploration of colour. I'm looking forward to sharing some of my achievements in this area with you in an upcoming post (they were going to be part of this blog but it was starting to get wordy so I've wisely saved them for the next post).
One of my other areas of creative development this year, as you might have guessed from following my art journey, has been texture. This is less of a conscious goal and more part of an ongoing evolution and exciting exploration of texture in my work. There are so many possibilities and I'm really encouraged by how many people have commented on the texture in my work (really good to know that it's not just me who likes it).
I've treated myself to new tools this year. These include lots more palette knives (because I'm finding I'm needing quite a few to get different effects in a single painting) and a catalyst wedge (that I'm still getting the hang of). I've also extended my exploration of all sorts of repurposed bits and pieces lying around the house. I've learnt that some tools work well for acrylic and others for oil, so it's always worth trying reappropriated implements with different media (and also different paint consistencies).
Looking forward to continuing my art (ad)ventures in 2022 and sharing these with you. Would love to know what you're hoping to see (and read) more of, so please comment below or get in touch if you'd like to drop some hints.
Thanks again for your support this year, I wish you a fantastic new year. Here's to 2022!