2018 Art Year in Review

I kind of lost steam in the second half of this year, as life got in the way - but I still managed to accomplish a lot in the first several months of 2018, and I've got a lot more planned for the first months of 2019 as well! Below are just some of my art and blogging highlights from 2018.

• Some of my colored pencil drawings from the Canton Village Theater's GRRRLS Like Us exhibition (Nov-Dec 2017) were featured in a Heaven Spot episode of Detroit area artists. The video premiered at Young Felix Loft on January 19, 2018; you can read about my experience at the premiere party and watch the video here.

• My "Bandaged Duality" 22x30" watercolor painting hung in the Carr Center in Detroit from March 3 to April 26, 2018 as part of their "Nevertheless She Persisted" Women Art Exhibition.

• In the spring, I completed my largest artwork commission to date - an acrylic triptych of the Charlotte, North Carolina skyline, measuring 28x66" in total.

• My colored pencil drawings "30 Days" and "28 Years" were hung at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial from July 12 to August 19, 2018, as part of their "Flower Power" Art Exhibition.

• I was selected to act as an official art juror at the Art and Apples festival in Rochester, Michigan in September 2018.

• My Etsy shop continued to see sales throughout 2018, especially for custom watercolor bouquet commissions, original Great Lakes watercolor paintings, and art print notecards.

• I created more 8x10" colored pencil drawings on colored paper for my ongoing floral symbolism series. ("Flight" on blue paper and "Ambition" on red paper were two of my personal favorites.)

• This blog, "Until the Water Falls," hit 15,000 total views, and two of my posts from this year entered my "Top Three" most viewed posts: Entitlement (which has nearly 230 views) and Missed Miscarriage (which is now my most viewed blog post, with 460+ views).

• I received lots of great comments on several Instagram pics this year, with some posts earning close to 90 "likes." Follow me on Instagram and Twitter to see more posts in 2019!

What I love about looking back at the last twelve months is that even if there were a few months where I felt "not productive enough," I can still look at the year as a whole and marvel at everything I accomplished. Like any year, 2018 had highs and lows; if I focus on the high points, I can see that I really have a lot of positives in my life - which helps me get excited for the plans I have in the works for 2019.

Thank you to everyone who continues to read my blog, follow me on social media, purchase artwork from my Etsy shop and just generally support me in my artistic endeavors and in life!! :) In 2019, you can look forward to more colored pencil drawings, more watercolor paintings, and more personal vulnerability, as I write about my artistic journey and life journey on this blog. Happy new year!!

2018 Reading & Theater Year in Review

I didn't read as many books in 2018 as I have in some more prolific years, but I did read 30 books over the course of the last twelve months, including several that I immensely enjoyed and learned from. My favorite reads in 2018 included non-fiction, fantasy, graphic novels, YA, and bestselling literature:

• Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
• An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
• Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes
• Educated by Tara Westover
• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
• Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
• The Facts of Life by Paula Knight
• The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
• Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery
• Starglass by Phoebe North
• If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

As usual, my to-read list on Goodreads (which is currently at over 1000 books) is far too long for the amount of time I have to actually read (especially given that more new books are coming out all the time) - but I'm going to try to prioritize reading more in 2019 again and see if I can read at least 50 books next year.

This year I was also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to twelve theater productions! Four of them (if an Upright Citizens Brigade improv show counts) were seen during my trip to New York City with my husband in late March/early April, including two off-Broadway shows (Puffs, a Harry Potter parody; and the musical Avenue Q) and Lobby Hero on Broadway. Another four were put on by our local community theater, Avon Players in Rochester Hills: Boeing Boeing, Dial M for Murder, and the musicals Brides of Madison County and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Three more were part of "Broadway in Detroit": Something Rotten at the Fisher Theater, and Wicked and Aladdin at the Detroit Opera House. And the final show we saw in 2018 was the musical Cabaret at the Whiting in Flint, MI.

We always try to make an effort to see as many theater productions as our schedules (and bank accounts) will allow - because my husband and I both love to see live shows and to support local theaters - but this year was definitely our record so far. (In fact, we actually had tickets to see thirteen shows, but ultimately decided not to see our local community theater's production of Steel Magnolias in September, as it was only a week after my D&C for my miscarriage, and we didn't feel particularly up for what we knew would be a very emotional drama.) 2019 is shaping up to be another exciting (and potentially record-breaking) year for theater for us - we already have tickets purchased for nine shows, all in the first half of 2019, including the rest of our "Broadway in Detroit" season tickets and Avon Players season tickets. I've also been toying around with the idea of taking a long weekend to Stratford, Ontario to see a few plays (since it's already been 13 years since I've last been!!). Whether or not we take a Stratford trip or decide to see any plays in July-Dec 2019 will likely depend on how quickly we're able to get pregnant again, and when my due date ends up being - but it's certainly possible that we'll break our record of twelve shows throughout the course of 2019!

Turning 30

30 is a big one - simply because our society likes base ten and thinks of any age or anniversary ending in zero as "a big one," and not actually because anything TRULY changes. Still, I'm not above such sentimentality, so I've taken turning 30 as an excuse to reflect back on my 20s and make plans for my next decade.

Turns out when you look at an entire decade, it's easy to feel accomplished. You can do a LOT in ten years! My 20s were no exception; they were certainly my most accomplished decade yet, if not likely my most accomplished decade I'll ever have (depending on how you define such things). I experienced many milestones that are universally considered significant in my 20s - as many do - but I also had some great experiences that were meaningful on a more personal level, too. 

My 20s included*:

*a non-exhaustive list

SCHOOL & PROFESSIONAL ADVENTURES

• Finishing my thesis and earning the thesis award
• Graduating with highest honors from EMU and earning a double-concentration BFA in Graphic Design and Watercolor, with a minor in Art History
• Working at EMU Campus Life
• Working at Charming Charlie
• Working as a substitute teacher
• Working as a graphic designer at Temple Israel
• Working as a freelance custom invitation designer for several weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs
• Being flown to Denver to be interviewed for L'Art Erotique, a Quebec art TV show
• Selling my artwork on Etsy and at Paint Creek Center for the Arts
• Creating artwork commissions for family, friends, and strangers
• Showing work at EMU art galleries, the Detroit Scarab Club, the Canton Village Theater, the Carr Center, and the Grosse Pointe War Memorial

TRAVEL ADVENTURES

• Going on a Mediterranean cruise with my soon-to-be-husband's family
• Honeymooning on the Greek islands of Santorini and Mykonos
• Taking a road trip out west with friends
• Nearly annual trips to Virginia Beach
• Visiting Universal Resort's Harry Potter World in Florida
• Spending eight days visiting museums and seeing plays in New York City

PERSONAL ADVENTURES

• Getting engaged
• Planning a wedding and getting married
• Buying a house and moving to Rochester Hills
• Completing lots of home improvement projects, including new bathrooms, patio, roof, siding, insulation, and windows
• Adopting a puppy
• Prioritizing self-care and self-esteem building
• Being diagnosed with diabetes and starting insulin
• Getting a tattoo
• Getting pregnant

Of course, there were some not-so-great experiences with the great ones. Some of the items on the list above were challenging times (or led to challenging times) - but I wanted to include those moments as well, because they have helped shape me into the 30-year-old I am. Of course I wish I was never diagnosed with diabetes, or that my first pregnancy hadn't ended in miscarriage - but I can't change those things; I can only change how I feel about them. As for things I DID have some control over, even at the time - things like jobs I worked or decisions I made or paths I pursued: I don't tend to feel regret about my past; I don't tend to think of anything as a "mistake." Instead I romanticize challenges as Things I've Survived, focusing on what I gained or learned from them. If I had my 20s to do over again, I'd probably do it all over again in a very similar, if not identical, way. Sure, there are some things I wish I'd figured out earlier - like how to prioritize and take care of myself more - but I'm getting there. It's all part of my journey, which, being MY journey, I get to do at my own pace.

I started trying to make a list of things I'd like to accomplish in my 30s, but it's hard to think that far into the future. There are some obvious choices for things to put on the list - things I want immediately or soon, and hope to accomplish in the next few years. But then what goals should I make for the REST of my 30s, after I complete those? It's hard to imagine what my goals will be for the years I'm 37, 38, 39... 

But here are my immediate goals and priorities, the things I'm already working towards, thinking about, planning, setting the stage for, etc.:

• Having artwork shown in more galleries/exhibitions
• Getting a novel published
• Getting pregnant again; having children
• Doing "short vacations" around North America (e.g. returning to Stratford, Ontario for more theater experiences; finally seeing the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan; taking long weekend trips to interesting cities around the U.S. I haven't been to yet)
• Doing more home improvements (e.g. adding built-ins to the living room and/or dining room; renovating the kitchen)

I'm sure I will add so much more to the list as my 30s wear on and I come up with more ideas, more things to pursue.

A lot of people fear turning 30 (or 40, or 50, or 60, or whatever they've decided is their arbitrary designation of Real Adulthood or Old Age), but I'm not one of those people. I'm not immune to the existential anxieties that come from starting a new decade; I just try to find other things to focus on instead. I find things to look forward to, things to dream about, goals to write down. And I also like to send presents into the future to myself - things that can help me get through potentially challenging times. When I was 23, I wrote myself a letter to open on my 30th birthday. I wrote another such letter when I was 26. I sealed these letters in envelopes and put them in my desk drawer; I see them every time I open that drawer to grab a stamp or address label. By now, I've totally forgotten what I wrote, and I'm really excited to read them all again. I am so anxious to see what stupid and wise things I wrote to myself, what questions I wanted to know, and what I was hoping to accomplish by 30 or feel at 30. It will be like rediscovering a lost corner of my mind, it will deepen and bolster my sense of self, and it will contribute to the narrative of my life I am continually writing and rewriting. As a result of those time-traveling letters, then, my primary emotion associated with turning 30 is not anxiety about growing older, but excited anticipation.

So naturally I'm doing it for when I turn 40 as well. Just today I wrote a letter and sealed it in an envelope: "Do not open until your 40th birthday - December 20, 2028!"

Custom Name Painting (Kianoosh)

I recently completed another custom name watercolor painting, this one for a boy named Kianoosh with a blue and white bedroom.

I used dark and light blue Daniel Smith brand watercolor paints (plus just a hint of dark purple), on Arches watercolor paper. The watercolor itself is just over 8"x10" in size, cropped to 8"x10" by the white mat and frame I used to match Kianoosh's white furniture.

First, I traced the name onto the paper with pencil, so that I could paint around the letters (leaving the letters themselves the color of the white paper):

Here are some in-progress shots of the painting while it was still wet:

And here's the final piece, with and without the coordinating frame:

You can order your own custom name painting with this listing in my Etsy shop. They make great baby shower gifts or housewarming gifts or wedding gifts (I can put two names on a painting, too)!

"Traffic Jam" Multiframe Watercolor Set

As I teased in my last two blog posts, I recently combined two new watercolor paintings (Pattern Ariel & Pattern Dakota) with a previous painting from two years ago (Pattern Odelle) to create another trio for a patterned watercolor set - which is listed here in my Etsy shop for $159!

Each painting is 5"x7" in size and fits into a three-opening white mat inside a black frame. As a whole, the set is named "Traffic Jam" for its traffic light color scheme - Pattern Ariel is green and yellow, Pattern Dakota is red and yellow, and Pattern Odelle is red and green.

First, here are the three finished paintings before they were framed together:

And here's how they look in their new frame:

Like my other sets, the fronts of each painting are unsigned and the frame is adjustable so that they can be hung horizontally or vertically, in either direction, depending on available space or desired look.

You can purchase the set here in my Etsy shop.

Pattern Ariel in Green & Yellow

My last blog post was about Pattern Dakota - and now this one is Pattern Ariel, with a green and yellow color scheme. Like all of my patterned watercolors, the pattern for this one was first designed in Adobe Illustrator, then printed out and traced onto watercolor paper.

Here are some step-by-step photos:

And the finished product!

As I mentioned in my last post, I'll be combining this painting and the previous one with a third painting I completed a couple years ago. I will frame all three in a single three-opening mat, and list it for sale on Etsy with several other similar framed pieces. :)