A Much Needed Rest
It’s the 4th January 2022 and my art studio is a mess! But I don’t really care… I made myself a promise as the kids split up from school for the Christmas break that I would take the two weeks off and give myself (and my studio) a much-needed rest.
2021 was a full year with a mix of being featured on SkyArts LAOTY, being shortlisted for the Glyndebourne Tour Art international competition, becoming a full member of Chalk Gallery, and putting on a major art open call here in Sussex.
Full-on is good but some of the above were not part of my original plans for 2021 and boy did I pay for them with my health. For those of you that are new here, I live with a rare type of blood cancer and during 2021 was in active treatment. I’ve had to learn the hard way that being careful about where my energy is spent is really important to my health and well-being.
Taking on unplanned big projects is old behavior for me, I used to be able to run several of them at the same time, nowadays I can’t. Now that doesn’t mean I can’t plan for big projects and still complete them but I’ve learned a few really important lessons from 2021:
Only work with people you know well enough to know what you are getting yourself into… and here’s the really important takeaway, people that you LIKE. And, if you discover you don’t like the way someone is behaving you can walk away. In fact, it is better to walk away rather than be compromised. I didn’t walk away and it is my single biggest annoyance and niggle from 2021.
Stay focussed on my own goals. Ok, 2021 was rather brilliant, and that by the mid part of the year I had the most part of my year’s dreams and goals started to be worked towards. The ‘Big Project’ took me off course and financially this wasn’t good for me and my art business. It did have other benefits of which I really appreciate but I also know that I earned the right to receive those. This year I’m sticking to my plans.
Plan more! Up until 2017, I was a great planner, the business that I was running required it, being a single mum with 3 children required it. I think somewhere in being diagnosed with cancer and all the relinquishment of planning long term that comes with that I had forgotten how important planning is. Why plan more? well when those ‘big projects’ come up, you can look over your month/season/annual planner and see if you actually have time to do it!
Before I took my ‘Much Needed Rest’ I took some time to sit down and go over my plans, goals, dreams, and hopes for 2022. It absolutely allowed me to be able to take the much-needed break, because I had already figured out the opportunities, planned how they were going to happen. I could see gaps for creation that I had planned in and I felt confident and organised about my return to the art working world today.
My year is full of learning, creating, organising, and community projects. It’s just the way I like it and this year I am only working with the people I like and love because life’s too short to work with anyone that doesn’t bring me joy.
Have a fab month, I’m posting here each month this year with updates, news and my musings.
Much love,
Jo x