Reflecting on 2023: What worked and what fell short
I wrote a LOT of notes before writing this blog post.
When the only constant is change, like most, I find it motivating to set goals for the new year. I started by going back to what my goals were for 2023, it’s surprising to see how much of what I dreamt, happened and what I let slip through the cracks.
While it’s important to share and celebrate your wins I think seeing a limited glimpse into everyone’s “highlights” right now can give me a distorted expectation. The reality is we only usually see what people have succeeded in. We rarely see their failed projects or rejected submissions.
It’s no small thing to follow the dream of a creative pursuit, and personally, I don’t think the wins can be appreciated enough without acknowledging the “failures”. So here are a few things that worked in 2023 and a few that didn’t.
What Worked
A couple of years ago I moved to Birmingham and my focus up until recently transitioning into my art career full-time. Every time I’ve moved in the past I was pretty intentional about finding communities around me. I knew I hadn’t made enough of an effort since moving, relying on my long-term and now long-distance friends to fill this gap. This year I made it a priority to start meeting people and getting comfortable reaching out. Through friend apps and local events, I was amazed to find other women who like me are looking to make new friends who live in the area. If you’re thinking you could use a friend in the area hopefully this gives you a little encouragement!
Investing in a studio space. Something changes when you start investing money into your art. For me that started with buying a professional standing easel when I first quit my job. The studio felt like the next step, I needed more space but also separation between my home and work life. To be able to shut that door at the end of the day, knowing I can’t paint a bit more after dinner meant I could permit myself to leave it there.
Pushing myself past my comfort zone to work on larger canvas. The idea of going bigger with my paintings made me nervous, again it felt like an investment. My largest painting this year Nature’s Embrace took me two months, a lot longer than the smaller portraits and figures I had been doing so far. It allowed me to incorporate more of the environment around the people in my paintings; which is where I’m at now. The first few months of 2024 will be focused on completing a series of works based on women in different natural elements, exploring the relationships between us and nature.
This year I started submitting to open calls and one of those was the Women In Art Prize. I was shortlisted to exhibit alongside the other finalists in London which felt like such an achievement. On the night I ended up winning the Runner-Up Prize and consequently exhibited in the Women in Art Fair at the Mall Galleries the following month with the other award winners. It proved to me what can happen through brave actions. Giving people you don’t know the chance to officially judge your work is probably the most vulnerable feeling as a creative but as they say, no risk and all that.
What Didn’t
Making “me” time - making time to do the other things I enjoy aside from painting like yoga and dance. Feeling guilty for taking the time out, I keep my head in the list full of tasks and paintings to get moving. A strength and weakness of mine is my tendency to hyper-focus. While it’s been amazing to step into this while painting because I can improve my technique faster with all the hours I spend practising, it also means my brain sees everything else as an unimportant distraction. So this is going back on my list for 2024 with a plan I can commit to.
A weekly schedule - it doesn’t work in the studio like it does at home with cleaning, dinners etc. My paintings take time and while having a deadline to finish them can be a good thing I’ve realised I need to be flexible with when I do things during the week. Finding it difficult to stop painting at 2pm to do other jobs in the afternoon I now do everything else before I start painting for the day. And my admin is never done always on the same day every week.
Truthfully I submitted my work to several open calls and was unsuccessful for many. While it’s hard to read the email that goes “unfortunately on this occasion…” the rational part of me knows it’s a matter of personal opinions and what the judges are looking for at a specific moment for a specific event where there will be certain ideas and goals in mind. It sounds wish-washy but I believe that what is meant for me won’t pass me. So I’ll continue to put my work out there and see what comes of it.
What worked and sucked for you? I’d love to hear about how your year has been and what your goals are for 2024! Send me a DM or email studio@avakheraart.com.
If you think someone you know might benefit from this post send it with them directly or share on your stories and tag me!