I do love the feeling of new beginnings and my tendency to plan (and buy stationery to plan in/on) goes into overdrive around this time of year. But it’s also an inward time. A time to remember and celebrate. To calibrate, to dream, to anticipate.
And so I find myself hovering between plunging headlong into planning fever, and contemplation of the year just gone, trying to keep the fine balance between the two.
For this blog, I’m gathering the things I want to remember and be grateful for in 2025 (both artistically, and in business and life), before I move onto the next necessary things in 2026. You might find them useful or inspirational too.
My Big Wins of 2025
(It is worth writing these down, as, amazingly we seem to have a habit of forgetting once we’ve moved onto something else!)
This year I favoured my online teaching business over selling art, and spent more time and attention on it. I hope to balance everything out a little more in 2026, but I still managed to complete these wins:
A Solo Exhibition at Zillah Bell Contemporary Art in Thirsk
Launched ‘Hand Printing Happiness’ online course for the first time and welcomed 90 students to the inky-fingered life!
Did my first livestream on YouTube (and it went well!)
Completed the 100 day project (not quite in the 100 days, but you know it all counts…)
Made a body of work I’m pleased with (now I just want to get it out there into the world!)
Books
I got through a lot this year! I get most of my books from the library now- and if there’s one thing guaranteed to get you reading, it’s a 3 week deadline. So I set myself a little ritual of reading for 20 minutes in the morning, lunchtime and evening – that way it becomes part of my non-screen, self-care time and I get through a lot of books!
I get a lot of my book recommendations and ideas from Maria Popova’s weekly email – The Marginalian. I always recommend this to anyone, and read it religiously every week. Below are some of my favourites from the year.
‘Anima’* and ‘Elixir’*- Kapka Kassabova. Kapka is a poet, and you can tell. Beautifully written odes and elegies for the remote areas of the Balkans she was born in and visits. Musings on the intertwining of human, plant and mountain life.
‘Human Kindness’* by Rutger Bregman. Changed the way I think about the human race and gave me some hope.
‘A Garden Against Time’* and ‘To the River’*, both by Olivia Laing. The first about staying still, locked down in a garden and the search for ‘a common paradise’, the latter about moving, flowing, writing and life. I always recommend her writing, in any form.
‘The Place of Tides’* by James Rebanks. A strangely calming book about James’ summer season with a duck woman of the arctic Norwegian islands. How not to follow the herd and how to cut out the sound and fury of life in our busy world. Inspirational.
And, for pure reading pleasure:
‘Still Life‘* by Sarah Winman
‘Erotic Vagrancy: Everything About Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’* by Roger Lewis
*all the book links with an asterisk are affiliate links for bookshop.org. If you buy the book via the link I get a very small percentage. It is no more expensive for you the buyer.
Exhibitions
I was lucky enough to see the Van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery in January. Simultaneously reading A Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing (see above) I was struck by the way Van Gogh painted the spirit in the trees, plants and gardens.
‘Melting Ice, Rising Tides’ by Emma Stibbon at The Burton at Bideford, Devon. Stunning monochrome masterpieces of intaglio printmaking and watercolour. Beautiful and chilling.
’25’ by David Hockney at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. This took hours to get round, a pretty comprehensive retrospective. My favourites were the large Yorkshire landscapes and the lockdown iPad pictures (surprisingly). I loved seeing the seemingly simple decision making and mark making, there for all to see, but greater than the sum of it’s parts.
New to me, South African artist Norman Kaplan’s exhibition at Wesley’s New Rooms, in Bristol was a lesson in art and print as activism- as well as being starkly beautiful.
First Impressions at Victoria Art Gallery, Bath showed a great number of prints by some of the 20th century greats, and showed that it IS worth seeing prints in the flesh sometimes – standing in front of the size and scale of some works was awe-inspiring.
Useful and practical print things I’ve discovered
Kitchen litho– I took a course with Bristol Print Collective in February and it presents so many possibilities. I’m still working at it in my shed studio, to figure out how I can use it best for my work, but I can already see it’s going to be good!
When doing chine colle, you can let the glue dry and it will reactivate when the damp paper is put on it- this saves so much anxious and hasty working in the print studio. Much more relaxed!
That you can have a printing surface which is too smooth! My large piece of salvaged strengthened glass (perhaps it has a coating of some sort?) would not let me roll the ink out evenly at all. Solved by taping a large piece of mark resist to it, creating a tooth for the ink or paint to cling to.
I took an online course – ‘Visual Narratives’ with Sally Tyrie – with Take Two Art Courses towards the end of the year. I wanted to do this as a kind of CPD for myself, and because I feel a real affinity with Sally’s work ( I admit a secret urge to see ‘how she does it’ too!). It’s been great for playing, giving myself permission to make without pressure, and working with photography and printmaking. P.S. Take Two courses have a range of amazing looking courses with artists- worth a look.
New materials I’ve tried:
Charbonnel water washable etching ink– I wasn’t expecting much, having used (not very good) water washable inks before, but this one was a revelation- felt like a normal oil based ink to use, but washed away really easily.
Foiled smoked salmon backing to use as a plate– both for monoprint (it’s great for wiping) and scratching into as a drypoint plate- this was recommended by a student- thank you – (now, I just have to eat lots of smoked salmon!)
Art inspiration I’ve (re)discovered this year
Marc Chagall– making art about what you are surrounded by, your life. Being the node for where you come from and where you want to go and making art from that.
David Hockney– channelling other artists, but making art truly your own.
Wabi-sabi – finding inspiration in the simple and accidental
Andrew Wyeth– a masterclass in composition
Christine Sloman and Joyce Silverman – both artists I’ve discovered on Pinterest, I’ve never seen their work in real life – but totally inspired by the print marks they make.
Music and playlists
I’m one of those people who find making art to music quite difficult – perhaps because I enter into the music too much. But these are things I can listen to alongside most kinds of work:
The new BBC channel Radio 3 Unwind– takes everything I like about Radio 3 and distills it- relaxing piano music, new Classical (and old Classical!), gentle electronica, and Olafur Arnalds Chill Zone in the evening, followed by Radio 3’s ‘Night Tracks’ after 10pm. Music I can focus to.
Erland Cooper- I went to see Erland Cooper live early in the year and his album ‘Carve the Runes Then be Content With Silence’ has become a staple on my music streaming app. Combining poetry and classical (string) music, it has a pace and rhythm I can work well to.
And my all time favourite Cerys Matthews BBC 6 Music show on a Sunday morning. I don’t often work on a Sunday morning, but if I do I love this show as a soundtrack, combining spoken word, world music, blues, folk and whatever else she finds that week, it’s a real treasure trove. Perfect for Sunday morning pootling, without too many creative decisions!
Things I’m grateful for
Connection with kindred spirits and self-care feature heavily here…
My online creative business accountability group – I don’t know how I would have got through this year without them. The only people who’ve been through it (or are going through it), have tried some of the tech out already, and completely get it! Plus we can moan about the world and all it’s woes.
My IRL Bristol creative accountability group– just the 4 of us, but it works just beautifully. We call ourselves ‘The Coven’, and there’s a touch of witchery and magic about our meetings (which we are all happy to lean into). We found each other many years ago, when, as a new mother, I advertised a ‘Creative Mums’ group on Facebook. The group was short-lived, but we 4 stayed in touch. Again, I sometimes wonder how I would get through life without these 3- always totally grateful.
The tech. Yes, we can moan about it, but what it can do these days is truly amazing. From getting my work and messages out across the world via social media, to the course platform that does all the emails, payments, accounts etc for me, I am grateful (even if I swear at it sometimes!)
Keeping my early mornings sacred – once my daughter started going to secondary school earlier, I decided to keep that little portion of the day, before 9am for myself. It might be journalling, walking, yoga-ing or reading, or a little of them all, but I really notice it if I miss it out.
2026 will see me:
Figuring out and working more with kitchen and photo lithography
Finding ways to add more photography into my artwork
Attending some select print fairs and events with my artwork – I’ve missed meeting people IRL this year
Making my online shop as good as it can be – it will be my selling focus this year.
Opening ‘Hand Printing Happiness’ for enrolment again in March – and making it bigger and better.
Offering a free live online event in early March: ‘Kickstart Your Mark-Making Mojo In March’ (slightly terrified, but doing it anyway. Join the ‘Hand Printing Happiness’ priority list to get it automatically to your inbox)
Getting into the studio as much as I can!
Things I’ll be letting go of in 2026:
The day job
Face to face teaching for a while
Working with galleries (not completely, but lessening my focus on them, in favour of my own online sales).
I’ll let you know how it all goes – I expect change of plans and serendipitous happenings, so nothing is ever set in stone, but I do find some level of intention goes a long way to making the good things happen.
I hope your time of reflection and planning has been fruitful (or will be, if you’re still in your winter dormancy). Happy New Year.