It’s been a year, huh?
I don’t know who my consistent readership is; I’m not even sure at this point that I have one here, though I know I have an audience over on Medium (shh, shameless plug, but all my real writing is over there now, have you heard?).
But for those of you who have been reading, you might remember I mentioned the last of my 2022 ambitions — being a panelist at Arisia, and doing art for The Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention.
Well, the end of the year is upon us, and those goals have been met!
I will be on four panels at Arisia (will talk more about which ones and my precise schedule closer to the con), and my piece, “Blossoming,” got selected for the MCSP social media campaign, so I am thrilled beyond thrilled that this year is ending on such a creative high note (I’m also about 85% done with my first paying commission in, like, 10 months, which is likewise a damn good feeling).
So What’s Next?
Well, perhaps buoyed on by a wealth of successes this year, I have some goals for next year that I’m really excited about, and I would love to hear your goals as well.
- Spearhead my own zine. I have a few ideas for zines I would love to run, though I would likely need someone to help out, since I’m completely new to the process. The one at the forefront of my mind would be a for-charity zine, and I would likely run it as a digital zine to streamline the process (sell it through Gum Road or something).
- Apply to at least 10 zines. I’d love to say “get into 10 zines,” but I’m making it a point to only set goals over which I actually have some control. I can put myself out there — that’s on me — but I can’t force my acceptance.
- Advance in pole to Pre-Advanced Beginner. There are a lot of steps to becoming good at pole dance, and as someone with minimal coordination, inner ear issues, and a fear of height/being upside down, I am taking it even slower. But I do want to move up a level. Even if that’s as far as I ever get — hell, I’ll move to floor work and chair dance if I have to, but I want to graduate from Pole Virgins.
- Produce at least 5 complete works in traditional media. Don’t care what — graphite, colored pencil, watercolor, acrylic, ink. Just 5 works of art that are complete, in and of themselves, no digitizing. I am and probably always will be primarily a digital artist, but I also love the process of creating in traditional media, and I always make excuses to continue to not do so.
- Move. I’ve talked about this before. There is nothing wrong with this house — it was a great starter house — but we have outgrown it, and it is time to move on.
- Be more pro-active about garnering commissions and selling prints. This means actually getting business cards, this means applying for artist alleys and art shows at cons, this means virtually tabling at more maker’s marts. I have no intent for making art my job, per se, but it would be nice to get more eyes on it, and if that results in making some spending money, even better.
- Establish a workout routine. Rough outline here is short workouts Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with longer workouts on Saturdays or Sundays. I want to account for my bi-weekly pole classes and the toll that can take, but I need something consistent and easy to adhere to.
- Fill a junk journal. I have a TikTok problem, and that problem is called ArtTok. I can’t go five-minutes without seeing a cool craft or artform that I need to try, and this time, it’s junk journals. I got a huge amount of started gear for Christmas, so I’m excited to start my junk journal journey (Christ, say that three times fast).
- Write more. Poetry, personal essays, fanfic, blog entries, whatever — I don’t care. I got a good start on that this year — I wrote more this year than I have in a long, long time, including several pieces I am very proud of — and I intend to continue and expand beyond that. The thing is, while it’s super easy for me to push it to the backburner, I am happier when I’m writing. There’s no way around it.
- Consume new media. There is no creation without consumption. I want to spend time this year filling up my creative reservoir with new and inspiring art.
The darkest days of the year are behind us. What are your plans for what’s next?
Have a safe and happy new year, everyone. Take care of yourselves, and each other.
All Your Crooked Heart 