Last year and this

Last year was not the most productive year I’ve had. I made fewer cards than the previous year (though not by a lot) and did a lot less other art (mostly explained by 2019’s output including a series of art cards and about half of the projects from that year’s Wanderlust).

My favourite project of 2020 has to be the series of artist soul abstract landscapes, closely followed by my fabric landscape.

As far as themes go, when I am colouring for cards I am happy to work with any subject — flowers, people, critters, whatever — but for anything else I am becoming more interested in focusing on natural subjects: landscapes, trees, foliage, flora, and associated textures. Though man-made patterns and textures have always appealed to me as well. My photo collection is full of pictures that I intend to look through for inspiration.

I am still enjoying playing with different mediums though I am a long way from being proficient with any of them, with the exception of my Copic markers. I like the looseness that comes with much mixed media work and I think that has helped drive my interest in abstract art in general. Conversely, I have also developed a love for the art created by printmakers and want to do some experimenting of my own.

On a personal note, I have coped with the pandemic’s lockdowns and restrictions well — I’ve never been a particularly gregarious person and am generally more than happy with my own and my other half’s company — add in an abundance of caution along with a touch of anxiety and keeping myself amused at home is a breeze. 2020 also brought a very late autism diagnosis which has helped explain a lot about how my mind works. Less welcome was the cancer diagnosis which came out of the blue at the end of October, I am well at the moment and it’s simply another thing I am dealing with one day at a time. My other half and I will be joining in a civil partnership just as soon as restrictions allow; we were originally going to do it in November but it had to be postponed.

Over the next year my aim is to declutter, relax and experiment.

• Declutter by discarding some of the projects and ideas, both arty and otherwise, that have been sitting in the some day pile for so long that it’s time to admit that they just aren’t important to me.
• Relax by taking the time to sit and colour with my Copic markers just for the sake of colouring.
• Experiment with various printing techniques that I have come to appreciate lately. I also fancy doing more in the way of fibre arts. And maybe try my hand at some more abstract painting.

So, in 2021, I will continue making cards for close friends and family, but otherwise, card-making is not high on my priorities (and I already have a stash of — checks — apparently 175 cards). I shall be dipping into Wanderlust 2021 whenever a project takes my fancy. I also have a list of “things I’d like to make for people” and at least a few of those really should be completed. And there are a couple of in-progress projects that have been sitting around waiting for me to get around to finishing them.

Plenty to keep me occupied while the world tries to get back to something resembling normality.