An Artist Preparing for the New Year
Using What I Have, No Resolutions, and Two New Workshops
Greetings from Hollyweird.
I realized I should’ve taken a before photo (apologies.)
I also realize as I look at this that to some folks, it’s still messy (ce la vie.)
I spent most of today cleaning, moving things around, sorting, and getting ready. My studio area is a tiny corner of my tiny apartment. I like to have things accessible and within reach.
One of the things that I decided in 2025, was that I wanted to explore some of the various mediums I have, but rarely use (or haven’t used recently.) I’ll continue my tradition of not buying as much (art supply wise) in the new year. I’ll purchase replacement paints and pencils, but I really want to focus on using what I have.
I pulled out a variety of mark making tools and put them where I can see them.
I took my acrylics that are almost empty (the metal paint wringer that I have is still one of my favorite purchases) and put some in a ziploc bag and the rest in my work area where I’ll use them. I’ll use them up and save the caps on some of them (good replacement caps are always handy!)
The three drawers you can’t see on the left have my acrylics. The drawers on the right are paint markers, pencils, and two full drawers of crayons. I set aside specific pencils and markers I want to use more of (believe it or not, I don’t have many of them and would like to use them on a regular basis.)
I LOVE my Caran d’ache Neo Color Crayons (both the I and II’s as well as the retired Neo Art Water Soluble Wax Pastels.) Inspired by George Pratt, I pulled out a handful of my crayons and started sharpening them. Ooooh. OOOOH. I can see doing this on a regular basis, but not needing to do it with every crayon I own. What a line!
I’d like to get back to combining media more: pens, crayons, pencils, water color, ink, acrylics, etc… Yes, collage. We shall see what happens in the new year.
One of my goals is to work more mixed media into The Art Life: Building a Visual Vocabulary monthly workshops.
In a nutshell, if I keep things where I can see them, I will be inspired to use them.
Since my work area is small to begin with, I do have a habit of trying to put things back in their place when I’m done. I’ll leave my brushes out to dry flat (no water in the ferrel for me!) I’ll flatten out my blue shop towels to let those dry as well so I can reuse them until they fall apart.
It’s all about finding what will encourage you to get to your art space (even if it’s the kitchen table or from a small, portable art bag (how I worked for many years.)) It’s just figuring out what works for you, what supplies call to you, and really learning what you can from your tools.
I made a decision a long time ago that the latest and greatest techniques weren’t what was most important to me. Instead, I wanted something deeper. I wanted to really know my tools, to learn what I could from them. Knowing what my tools do (and don’t do) enables one to go deeper in their work. That’s what works for me.
What’s your studio space like? What works for you? What supplies are you eager to explore in the new year?
I’m a working artist and greatly appreciate you having read so far.
As we’re in the system that we are in, and I teach and sell my wares to keep a roof over my family’s head, I have a few announcements:
NEW for 2025:
Get your scissors and brushes ready...
Find a playful, colorful meditation space in paper, paint, and pen:
Juicy Living a NEW Art Journaling
PWYCW Workshop Series
Saturday 4 January 2025
11 am PST (later available as a recording)
Each session stands on its own, the first Saturday of every month
Every month is something new, something different
Note: You can choose to subscribe monthly (the option is in the paypal button below when you register to enroll)
I’m pouring everything I have into…
TAL: Building a Visual Vocabulary
(A Yearlong Journey in Creativity)
TAL: Building a Visual Vocabulary offers options for everyone. It's a creative smorgasbord. Part art school part old-fashioned artist salon. You choose what, when, and how you participate. Both live sessions and recordings are available. If you miss a session, no worries. Everything is work at your own pace. This means you do not have to participate in everything offered. You can come and go as you please, signing up monthly, half a year, yearly, or even a day pass.
Carve out the time your art practice deserves; carve out the time you deserve.
Finally, if you missed it, I have some original art, art journals, and more available:
2024 Work: Now Available
Original Paintings are listed first
Mini Journals are next
followed by larger journals
And now since it’s two sleeps until the first of January, I will leave you with the wise words of the great James Baldwin in a letter he wrote to Angela Davis:
“We must do what we can do, and fortify and save each other—we are not drowning in an apathetic self-contempt, we do feel ourselves sufficiently worthwhile to contend even with inexorable forces in order to change our fate and the fate of our children and the condition of the world! We know that a man is not a thing and is not to be placed at the mercy of things. We know that air and water belong to all mankind and not merely to industrialists. We know that a baby does not come into the world merely to be the instrument of someone else’s profit. We know that democracy does not mean the coercion of all into a deadly—and, finally, wicked—mediocrity but the liberty for all to aspire to the best that is in him, or that has ever been.”
May we learn to somehow work together, to hang onto each other, so that 2025 becomes what the world needs it to be, and not what only a small handful need.
Wishing you well, and holding onto hope,
Kelly