Farewell to 2020 and hello there 2021!

Usually at the end of the year I make an overview of everything I've done artwise in the past year. So that's what I'm going to do here :-) 

JANUARY: started a colored pencil journal

I revived my Instagram account this year. I now try to post something every two days at least. This way, in order to have something to post, I have to make sure I keep creating. 

FEBRUARY: still playing with colored pencils

And I found that's something I need. It's too easy otherwise to just let everyday hassle take over and before you know it a month has passed and nothing artwise has been done. I don't want that. 

MARCH: Corona is taking over the world and the lives of people - I try to focus on art-making to keep sane: journal page

It puts a bit of pressure on me but not too much and I find that forcing myself to create makes me realize again how much I love and need it. 

APRIL: playing with paint markers

Also, not painting or drawing makes me rusty, and I feel as if I need to learn everything all over again. Which is a bit of a shame. I should be improving myself instead of rehearsing the same things all the time. 

MAY: another journal page

And then it was June and .... nothing .... I didn't make one piece of art in that month. But, I stumbled upon a series of free workshops about making art your living and that had me totally hooked. So while I may not have been creating, I was still doing something art-like ;-)

JULY: started my collage-adventure

I'm always fascinated by collage, but never really got into it. My collages always looked like an inferior Teesha Moore look-alike. But I found some new ways to make collage and started experimenting. And having lots of fun with it :-)

AUGUST: started preparations for my calendars

I decided to make a map calendar again, and an intuitive art calendar. I even wanted to make a third calendar filled with all different things, like collage, drawings, doodles etc ... But alas, time, again, didn't allow it.

SEPTEMBER: intuitive painting for my calendar

In earlier years, when I was still painting on large canvas, I just used parts of my paintings for my calendars. Because I haven't painted on canvas anymore I had to create completely new artwork specifically for the calendars. This took up quite some time.

OCTOBER: still painting for my calendars

All these paintings were made on heavy watercolor paper, and are for sale. I plan for next year to paint more on paper or canvasboard, since this is much easier to ship, and a lot cheaper too. Although I love painting on a large canvas, it's easier to start these smaller paintings.

NOVEMBER: calendars are finally ready!

Thanks so much to all of you who purchased one of my calendars! I made three in the end: one map-calendar, and two intuitive paintings calendars, which are both the same except for one has quotes and the other one hasn't. The links for the calendars are in the side-bar. There's now a discount of 15% through January 1st when you use the quote NEWYOU15 at checkout!

DECEMBER: painting little rocks, rainbow-ladies and ...doodling a bathroom!

December has been the most creative month of the year! First I felt like painting some small rocks, then I started playing with watercolors again, and in between I went to work on a big project. A few months ago I participated in a contest that was written out by an organization looking for artists to paint their bathrooms. I was one of six artists chosen to do this. It was a hell of a work but today I finished it. Well, more or less .. ;-)

And that's it for 2020! Another year gone, and hopefully in the next year we will be able to hug again and travel again and see family and friends and do whatever we like without having to wash our hands constanly or wear a mask. I am pretty sure I am not the only one hoping that ;-)

I will keep posting on this blog a few times a year. If you want to keep up with what I'm doing daily or weekly, it's best you follow my Instagram-account.

Only thing left to do: post a few funnies and thinkies :-)

Thanks for being here! 

Have a wonderful and healthy jump into the new year! 

Stay safe and I'll see you in 2021 ♥ ♥ ♥