One of my new year’s rituals it to take everything off of my vision board / inspiration board / mood board (except for one of the Adventure Club illustrations that Kimberly Ellen Hall did for me) and start fresh. The Adventure Club remains because it’s the foundation on which dreams are built. As for the rest of the 2015 images, some have been discarded, others that are more significant will be pasted into my sketchbook, and a few went back on my inspiration wall for 2016.
As you can see there are a few new images already there, including my 2016 word of the year: EDIT. As I wrote in my final post of 2015, in 2016 I want to approach my entire life with even more intention, focus and love.
As I explored some of these thoughts when I was writing in my art sketchbook on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day during our post-Christmas trip to visit family in Louisiana, the word that came up around a lot of my thoughts was “edit.” In 2015 I grew as an artist, most notably by developing an (almost) daily habit of drawing, painting, sketching, or collaging that I started when I took part in The 100 Day Project. More than half a year later, I still create art nearly every single day.
I was sick twice during December. The first time I was too sick to even think about making art. I couldn’t even read or watch TV. When I was sick for a few days during Christmas (yep…awesome, especially when you have an excited five-year-old that you can’t even muster up the energy to play with on Christmas Day), I got to the point where I NEEDED to make art but didn’t feel like getting my gouache palette, brushes, and watercolor sketchpad out. I decided to do some abstract color studies on my iPad. I used Adobe Sketch to create the painting on the right…and, surprisingly to me, I loved the process and the outcome.
When we went to Louisiana a couple of days after Christmas, I decided to leave my gouache at home and create digital art with my iPad instead. After being cooped up on a plane for TWELVE hours instead of four (no, this is not a typo), I ended up creating some of my favorite pattern designs yet. I liked the speed and the ease of editing of using Procreate, and the fact that I could drag and drop layers to see which way I liked the designs best. During the trip I continued experimenting with designs and began to feel much more focused about the types of art that I want to create in 2016.
I feel like my sickness and horrible travel “adventure” led me to a creative breakthrough that might have otherwise taken a long time to reach.
And time I had. Our 12 hour departure adventure, getting to our final destination (by car) a day later, and having our return reservation CANCELLED BY THE AIRLINE and being unable to leave for another 24 hours allowed plenty of uninterrupted time. The United Airlines Artist Residency program is grueling and isn’t for everyone, but it did give me time to focus on nothing but making art. Heh.
As I said, during this trip I was given a dose of clarity about what I want to do with my artwork. Over the next week you’ll notice lots of EDITS in my portfolio and website that reflect more of my creative plans for 2016. Among these are a stationery line, textile designs for the home, a fun, interactive fine art commission offering, and a new series of small works on paper created just for adventurers. I’m so excited about getting started and sharing the process with you here and on Instagram. I’ll be reaching out to art directors to form new partnerships for my surface pattern design and illustration work in 2016 – please email me if you’d like to work together!
I’ll be adding some new fine art reproductions to my Minted shop and having a New Year’s sale on all of my original fine art in my Etsy shop. Be sure to sign up for my mailing list if you want access to the sale. It’s going to happen via email and PayPal and will be for newsletter subscribers only.
While I loved all of the artistic experimentation I’ve been doing over the past couple of years, it feels amazing to be so focused on the type of work I want to make.
On the personal side I’m going to get back to Marie Kondoing my space – EDIT, EDIT, EDIT! – step away from my computer and sketchbook and make plans with friends more often, get back into meditating every day and take more walks, and get more involved in the local art and design community in Seattle. I’m trying to be more conscious of how I spend my time and focusing more on what I’m doing at that exact moment versus thinking about other things that I want or have to do.
I’m motivated, excited, and ready to kick off 2016! Let’s go! xoxo
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