My parents tell me that I have always loved to colour and draw, even from an extremely young age. My daughter Rosie, who just turned 2 in December, seems to feel the same. She notices art, remembers things I tell her about art, is careful with art supplies, and (since she was about 1.5 years old) she will always always always say "yes" or "Awt! Awt!" (her version of 'art') if you offer her the opportunity to draw or be creative.
Roșie painted these! One of my favourite ways to let my kids paint is to help them use watercolour or gouache - they get to do the actual painting, but I am in charge of cleaning the brush between colours and then re-loading it with paints. I often only offer either all warm or all cool colours when we do this, so it doesn't end up being a muddy mess.
Making art makes me happy, and I have always considered it my favourite hobby.
Lately, I am realizing that since I have always viewed art mostly as a hobby, I do not regularly take time to reflect on what I have made, or plan out future ideas / goals, the way I might if it were my career. I am absolutely not a perfectionist; I usually just go for it and hope for the best. When I do take the time to plan things out, however, I am usually pleased and the result is improved.
(Importantly, that's not always my goal. Sometimes, it's just the act of art I need, and how I feel when I make time for art - not an ideal finished product. But I have decided that I will strive for a mix of both this year: I will make some art goals and I will make some goal-less art.)
Here are some weird little monsters that I drew with Malcolm the other day. I didn't have a goal, other than spending time with him and we had fun. He used colourful pens to create abstract art beside me.
ART GOALS
Okay, here are my personal art-related hopes for the year: happiness, mixed media, same old same old, learning, family, and sharing. Let me explain a bit:
Happiness
I hope to see more art in real life, like visiting a gallery or attending an art show. Rosie and I went to the National Art Gallery in Athens when our family was in Greece last June. I especially loved the hall full of portraits there (not to mention the air conditioning!) and it was fun to share that with Rosie. She was pretty little then, but pointed out all the babies and puppies she could find in the paintings.
I want to make time for more "goal-less art" where I just enjoy the process. Not everything needs to be turned into a surface pattern design or print. Time to fill up some sketchbooks with random things!
I aim to spend more of my free time making art over things that don't make me as happy (like wasting time on screens)
I want to continue drawing animals and painting landscapes as these are my favourites.
This goal also includes saying "no" if I am asked to do a project I am not excited about.
Our visit to the National Art Gallery in Athens, Greece
Mixed Media
Lately, many of my favourite artists, especially the ones who illustrate kids books, use mixed media. I love the look of their work and the texture they get from using different mediums. I want to spend more time purposely making mixed media art myself.
You should look at the work of the talented author / illustrators Rebecca Green, Emma Yarlett, and Oliver Jeffers if you don't know them yet. Some of our household favourites by them are "How to Make Friends With a Ghost" (by Rebecca), "Nibbles The Book Monster" (by Emma), and "Here We Are" (by Oliver), but we have multiple books by each of these talented humans.
Same Old Same Old
I truly have fun creating surface pattern designs for my Spoonflower shop, and I plan to keep going with that.
We may bring back your old pal Narwhal this year too (or perhaps in the next year or two, because life is incredibly busy, and creating books takes way more work than you'd expect!) Laura, Aryn, and I had a "book retreat" out near Victoria this past summer, and we do have our idea for a third Narwhal book. I am excited about it, whenever it may happen.
Learning
I would like to try something new or challenging, such as:
I might want to do another hand-building ceramics class at Workshop Studios. I have done several pottery wheel classes, but only one hand-building class. It was during the pandemic, and I did it at home over zoom - this was amazing during that time we were stuck at home and I made some things I love. Next time I do hand-building, I would love to combine my improved pottery wheel skills with some new hand-building skills.
I'm also interested in trying out oil painting one day. My experience with oil paint is limited, and it's not something I want to do at home with little kids around. (Too smelly! Too messy! Too slow to dry!) But I have considered taking a class at Kensington Art Studios or somewhere else in the city. This goal feels like something I might save for future years when the complications of having little kids and wet paint in the same house are a non-issue.
I used to love drawing portraits when I was a teenager, but rarely do this anymore. Maybe I should bring that back?
A drawing I did of Michael Scott (aka the star of the show I often play in the background while I draw since I have seen it enough times that I know what's happening without even watching)
Family
Rosie and Malcolm love being creative, and we are all happy when we spend time making art together. It's a nice way to sit together, especially on wintry days when I do not want to go outside, without depending on a screen to entertain us. I will continue to make time for making art with my kids this year.
My sister and I started Art Club with our kids last year. My mom joined in too, and I have other extended family members who plan to join us for future Art Club hangouts. I want to continue Art Club and increase its frequency.
At this art club, we all took a turn saying a word, and then everyone had to draw their own version of that word. (Mom, Melissa, Malcolm and I aren't pictured, but we were also there).
Sharing Art
I would like to share other peoples' art that inspires me. For instance:
I recently learned about an Indigenous artist named Alex Janvier. He was part of the Indigenous Group of Seven. He is ~88 years old and still paints almost every day (I hope that will be me when I am in my 80s!) and I love the colour and movement in his work.
Take a look at the lovely painting he did called "August July (Sunlight Alberta)"
Did you click the links I shared above to look at the work of those book illustrators yet? (You should!)
Here are a few people whose art I am enjoying on Instagram lately:
Links to their personal websites here: @indiahannahpixie, @jlmohr.art, @florawaycott, @banyanbridges
I will also continue sharing my own art on social media, and I will try to post here at least once a month about something related to my art.
When I set goals for myself, I try to make them reasonable, fairly easy to achieve, and related to something that will make my life better. I feel like those are they types of goals I actually remember and often complete (like the goals I make on my birthday every year - one of my favourite personal bday traditions). I think the goals I listed above are all reasonable and would add good things to my life, so I am looking forward to working on them in the year ahead.
How about you? Do you have any art (or other) goals you are excited about for the year ahead?