Goodbye 2023, Hello 2024!
I haven’t taken the time to properly blog for far too long this year, it’s been quite an intense year for me! Social media also doesn’t help, and it’s been taking all the writing energy out of me.
But this is not a post to rant about social media and their bullying algorithm!
So without further addition, here a recap’ of what I created.
Coloring Book
The biggest project of the year was without a doubt my coloring book, it took half of the year full-time to think of and create all 96 pages of this quite massive book.
I even got a neuralgia from it in my dominant arm (it’s basically nerve pain and quite incapacitating) which forced me to cancel almost all the group shows I agreed to work in in 2023.
Honestly, it was a bit hellish to work on that book, but I’m also so happy to have done. I’m really glad I was offered to create a book in the first place and I’ve been wanting to make a coloring book for quite some time.
The press house I’ve worked with, EMF, is a German house and it’s actually a pretty big one, which I didn’t realise at the time.
The book itself starts with some basic information on how to make the most out of colored pencils, it’s in German, but I added a lot of pictures, so it should be clear enough with an automatic translator. The book might get translated in the future, but honestly it’s going to depend on how well it sells, so it’s completely off my hands.
The coloring pages are made of three parts, I created a new original drawing (artwork really) for all double pages and half of the single pages.
The single pages all face another page that is natural history oriented, with an animal or plant that can be found in the artwork page.
Since it’s my artwork, there’s a post-apocalyptic vibe to it, but with nature over-flowing. A lot of the pages are going to be finished in actual artworks and I’ve already started to do that.
I don’t really know how well this book will do, because it’s quite unique and personal, I didn’t do mandalas, there are no repeating patterns, everything has been drawn by hand and has meaning. I wanted it to me representative of my work but also offer a place to meditate and think about the world we live in. So it’s a whole mood of being fun but reflective, and it’s hard for me to visualise if this will be a book people want.
In any case, all of you have been extremely supportive! People like yourself who have been following my work for years have ordered the few copies I had right away and I know many of you have ordered online. So thank you so much for that! I don’t know if it will be a financial success, but for me, doing this book and seeing your response to it is a success in itself.
You can get it from here:
for Europe, you can get it directly from the press house, EMF. (made even from your local libraries? Just ask them!)
for worldwide orders, there’s Amazon (sorry about that, if you have other links, let me know and I’ll add them here)
For Germany, any local library can order a copy for you if they don’t have one on stock. I would recommend doing that to support local libraries.
Ocean Conservation
The other bigger project I worked on this year, was to participate in ocean conservation awareness with the yearly challenge @forplanetocean along thirteen other artists:
@belowandbeyondart
@blackscatter
@emmalopesart
@iruksson
@jmsillustrates
@junoniaarts
@janinarossiter
@petitplat
@poppyli.art
@rachelbrooksart
@vegan.frank
@wildlife_erra
@yetiglesias
@zoeellison__
It was a participative challenge on instagram, with five prompts throughout the month of June:
1st of June 🐠 coral reef: Rainforests of the sea
8th- 🌊 World Ocean Day: Blue mind
15 - 💙 Artivism: Protect What We Love
22- 🦑 Deep Sea: Mysterious Depths
29- 🌿 Seagrass: Planting a Future!
I just wrote a more in depth article about this one, which you can read here.
Art Residency
I also recently moved my studio into a local art residency, “B.R.E.F.” in Vannes.
It’s only 10 minutes away by feet from where I live and I currently have split my studio in two, one painting studio in B.R.E.F. and my sculpting studio at home, though I keep moving things from one place to another. It’s a bit confusing really.
The first reason for me to join the residency was to meet more people and be among other artists. And after having been there for a couple of months, I can safely say this was successful, my social life has greatly improved since joining the residency and I’ve been much happier about it.
The second reason was to give myself space to paint more, as it’s something I’ve been itching to do for a while, especially when working on the coloring book, as all the pages are potential artworks waiting to be completed. I want to explore oils on cardboard, gouache and watercolor paintings.
I also wanted a bit of a change of scenery!
You can watch me paint and talk about the new residency in this YouTube video I did when I moved in:
Artworks
Because 2023 was mostly about the coloring book and then moving into a new studio, I haven’t done as many new sculptures as usual. Here the few I did, including a custom commission (the Alice in Wonderland themed book) and a sculpture of my deceased cat, Doudou. The rest were done for group shows.
I was also hit by tragic news, when my cat Roger died unexpectedly on October 9th. I am not yet ok enough to draw and sculpt him, but I will at some point next year. It was especially hard for me, as he died less than a year after my other one, Doudou, did.
So we went from a big family of three cats to just one. I know I will be ok again and one day I’ll think of him and realise I am smiling at his thought. But that time hasn’t yet come.
On another personal note, this year has been quite intense and I feel I’m in a mild burn out/depression. I have been crying uncontrollably a few times over the last weeks. I was doing great on the mental health department for years now, but this year was just a bit too much. I used to go through depressive phases because I work too intensely and my brain is just like that, but had learned to work with it and found a good work balance. This year however, the coloring book project especially made it quite impossible for me to rest as much as I would have needed too.
But I’m mostly fine and getting better by the day, so here’s to taking more rest in the future!
I wish you all a very happy new year, may it be healthy and filled with good friends and good food (and lots of art supplies for my artist friends :))