Reflections on a year, a.k.a., holy shit, Arisia and The Glow Show were almost a year ago??
So, hard to believe, but 2024 is almost over, and I’m trying to build a retrospective on the things I’ve accomplished this year. I took a step back from art shows after the summer — having done multiple in quick succession drained me — but the earlier half of the year was front loaded with a lot of them.
January brought The Glow Show, which was amazing fun and the first time I really branched out and did some mixed-media work in order to incorporate luminscent paint into an already luminous/neon print. The effect was incredibly cool, especially under the black light. Arisia was, as always, mid-January as well, and this past Arisia marked my second time as a panelist, and it was just as satisfying as the first. The camaraderie on my creative panels was super uplifting and validating, as was getting chased down in the hotel lobby the next day by a man who recognized me and needed to tell me how “seen” he felt after hearing me speak. That was honestly one of the highlights of the con for me.
March brought Looking Up, Looking Down, and brought another gallery into our consciousness that has become a favorite of ours to exhibit at. Watertown is a way to drive to drop off a piece, but the exhibit space is right next to the Deluxe Town Diner, which is an incredible little eatery that we absolutely go to every time we’re up that way. Kira made her first art show sale here, a gorgeous piece called “Oceanid,” though the timing and location meant we missed the reception, sadly.
May was Kalediscope: Queer Visions at the Boston Figurative Arts (which we attended after a quick stop at Ebi Sushi, which I hadn’t been to in probably about fifteen years, but was just as good as I remembered) Oh my God, what a vibe that place has! The reception was easily in my top three of all time, it was such a chill, supportive, creative, vibrant queer space, and it’s too bad the gallery was a pop up that only lasted a week. I would have loved to have brought so many people there. It was also the show that introduced me (literally and artistically) to Sarah Rose Smiley, and oh my heart, I am in love with her paintings — the ones involving hair braiding/cutting and applying makeup resonate with me in a visceral way, for reasons I cannot take time to explore at this juncture, ha ha.
Oh! The BFA is also right next to Make and Mend, which is a secondhand art and craft supply shop that had actually been a topic of discussion at my Arisia panel back in January! Not taking trips into Somerville frequently means I’d never really explored it, but it’s exceptionally cool and you can make purchases online, as well!
June was Off the Beaten Path and Queer Here. Queer Here had the benefit of being in Newburyport (a town I love that’s only about 30 minutes away) and having a lovely reception — there’s nothing like a summer night spent looking at art, sipping free wine, and chatting with other artsy, queer, trans folks about being artsy, queer, and trans, ha ha.
Off the Beaten Path was also lovely, though, as our friend Aimee was also exhibiting. The folks running the Dolphin Gallery are hella cool, and make the trip up to Worcester worth it. Oh! And Aimee sold a piece here! I almost forgot. So that was also cool. Afterwards, Kira and I, Aimee, Patrick, and Sarah went out for some awesome Korean street food.
July was Fiesta en la Calle, where we also exhibited with Aimee, and this time was complimented by some incredible Mexican food courtesy of Los Tres Garcia. We got to mingle and chat with some fellow artists, shop some local vendors, and sit in on a few workshops about the wonders of Procreate (look, I’m not an Apple fan, but I have to admit I was impressed. I bought my son Procreate shortly thereafter; props to Marianna for convincing us it was worth it, ha ha).
Around the same time, I got word that I was an Uplifting Visions finalist for the second year in a row, which means The Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention paid me $300 for use of one of my digital painting in their social media campaigns, which was gratifying on many levels.
The Fall and Winter have been quiet; I moved my focus to work — there have been staffing and medical issues in my department that I had to do a lot of legwork and coverage for — and of course November (and December) have been taken up primarily with the in-and-outs of buying and selling a house.
(Which — awesome news on that front! — but I will likely save that for later in January.)
There are yet more things on the horizon — one personal, one work related, and two creative projects — that I am thrilled and excited to talk about, but am not yet at liberty to. Rest assured, y’all will know as soon as I’m able to let you know.
For the new year, I have my Million Things I Haven’t Done Project looming on the horizon, as well as a fresh new Art Bingo card (that I’m still piecing together), so of course, I’m looking forward to that as well.
Hope you can all reflect back fondly/proudly on your year.
Oh! I also got the final, crowdfunded, special edition run of The Fat Folks Tarot, which — not gonna lie — I had almost forgotten about. That project holds a special place in my heart, and I will always be proud and honored at having been a part of it, and raising over $16,000 for Trans Lifeline.
The set is beautiful. Even though the art I contributed is nearly four years old by now, I’m still fond of it, even with all it’s imperfections.
All Your Crooked Heart 