What has this got to do with art? EVERYTHING!
I’m sitting here with my fingers on the keyboard thinking back to 2023 and how it all began. Deep breath!
The year started out very positive with that ‘fresh start’ feeling, until January 6th, when we woke up to a flood in our kitchen and family room. The next four months were focused on dealing with our insurance company, contractors, no kitchen and the disarray. All while trying to manage my family and my business. Well, as you can imagine there were no new year resolutions for 2023, lol. What I didn’t realize at the time was that would be my lesson for the whole of 2023! After four months we looked back and realized it was worth all of the chaos, anxiety, frustration and energy. Having wonderful people to work with, appreciating what we have, family and friends, help and support and the absolutely beautiful end result of a new kitchen and new flooring.
The rest of the year we had frustrations, disappointments, pain, and struggle. But in between all of it is joy, deep love and most importantly, spiritual growth. We just had to pause and listen.
In April, right after our downstairs was finished we woke up to quite a mess downstairs from our dog Chewie, at the time we thought it was a stomach bug or he had eaten something bad, later we learned he was very ill. We took him to the vets to get him checked, they gave him fluids and medication to help him feel better. Over the next few weeks, he was on and off with not feeling well. He would be fine then a couple of weeks later, he would be ill again. We tried everything to help him, with multiple visits to the vet. Then in July we took him to see a specialist and they knew immediately what was wrong. The specialist noticed his lymph nodes were swollen, something the vet did not check (big sigh). On August 1, we found out he had stage four lymphoma, for the next coming weeks we focused on giving him all the love, comfort, treats and fun that we could give him. We wanted him to feel loved and happy! This is so hard to talk about! On September 1st he passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family. He was a beautiful gift that brought us so much love and we miss him every day! He was only eight years old.
So that was my year so far and it was almost over!
I have spoken to many artist friends and they agree that 2023 was tough in terms of being able to sell their work, there was a huge drop. Which is perfectly understandable considering everything that is going on in the world. Yes, my art sales have dropped, but I will not give up, it’s all about creating what we want . I have had some absolutely wonderful things happen this year, such as filming and launching two new online classes, selling over about eighty paintings and meeting new friends. 2023 was about spiritual growth, maintaining and ‘getting through’ 2023. I am so thankful for the lessons and I truly believe that the seeds planted in 2023 will see growth in 2024. All of my life events, circumstances and situations impact my art in a deep way and sometime I don’t realize how until much later. I wear my heart on my sleeve, my art is my life story. Recently I started documenting and writing about my life and how it has influenced my art. Hopefully I will publish in 2024, we will see!
I want to thank my collectors, followers, family and friends for your love and support! No resolutions, just prayers and faith. Happy New Year my friends, I hope 2024 brings you love, joy and lessons!!!