Happy New Year!

I always get a little spark of excitement at the turn of the New Year. It's like a page has been turned and now I have a fresh canvas to work with. Yes, we move into January in familiar surroundings but the sense of the unknown reminds me of the first day of school. Exhilarating!

But the New Year also beings an urge to re-visit and reflect on the year gone. To acknowledge the events and achievements, some of which now seem lifetimes ago. To wrap up the year in a neat package and put it away in a metaphorical bottom drawer.

So here's a look back on my artistic life in 2016 …

This year I found myself in a position to take 12 months off full time work and move to Hobart, Australia where my husband had been living and working for 18 months. We bought and quickly renovated a lovely house where I was able set up a studio in the sunny front room (pics will follow in my next post) Once set up, despite having the freedom to be creative, it actually took me a while to get started. The reasons for my procrastination and how I worked through it are a whole 'nother blog post so I'll save that subject for another time. Let's just say that once I did get going, there was no stopping me and I relished my creative time in my beautiful studio (which was the warmest place in the house during the Tasmanian winter!)

My goal was to create a body of new work, and on 28 October my collection "Tears Of Joy" was opened for exhibition at Store & Co Collective in Hobart. The positive response from both friends and admirers was very encouraging and I learned a lot about my market demographic. It also gave me great satisfaction to see my past six months work hanging in one beautiful space.

Meanwhile, I was commissioned by Glen Eira City Council in Melbourne to produce a modern art quilt for an historic exhibition acknowledging the contribution of Glen Eira's repatriation hospital during WW1, entitled The Wounded Soldier: Glen Eira and a community of care. The commission involved facilitating workshops with local children who each prepared a fabric square for dyeing before being stitched into the quilt. The final piece was hung beside a 100 year old quilt made by local children of the era as a comfort to returned soldiers.

And finally, I also had a piece exhibited in the City Of Clarence Biennial Textile and Fibre 2016 Exhibition. I was proud to be among so many talented fibre artists from all around Australia. For a few days there, I had pieces in three exhibitions at once!

So that's a wrap! I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience the life of an artist in 2016.
But now, as I prepare to leave Hobart (and my lovely studio) for a new life (back to full time work) in tropical North Queensland, I look forward to the fresh inspiration I'll find in 2017.

Happy New Year to you all! x