REFLECTING ON 2023

As another calendar year draws to a close, I'm finding it rather embarrassing that I haven't uploaded my blog with anything for ages, in fact two years! Ha-ha! It's mainly because I'm just not a natural at writing, so I realise it takes quite a commitment of time to put something together. I don't even like writing up posts for social media! (hence my lack of it.)

Teaching commitments and family are the priority, then dealing with a large garden that suffers from extreme weather conditions and pests has taken up more time than I ever expected. We do love our fruit trees and plants though, and it is so rewarding sharing 'the fruits of our labour' with others. Dehydrated bananas and mangoes, curry pickles from chokos, lime cordials and preserved lemons are just some of the products I've created from the garden produce.

One son's wedding, another son's engagement and the birth of three more grandchildren have made this a blessed and happy past 15 months. There was even a holiday in New Zealand for 12 days shared with newlyweds and their toddler, which of course was so much fun. NZ delivered spectacular vistas and photo opportunities as always.

I tutored 30 art workshops this year, plus almost 100 classes in my home studio. I didn't realise it was so many until I just counted them up! Workshop destinations included some more distant places such as Mareeba (near Cairns), where I taught colour pencil art for the 3 day Art on the Barron festival and a weekend at Tara (Western Downs, Queensland) for watercolour techniques. The year started with a 7 day workshop for the McGregor Summer School in Toowoomba, then many other teaching appointments in Brisbane, the Gold and Sunshine Coasts and some even close to home.

I've had works in various exhibitions this year; Three separate group exhibitions in Art on Yabba Gallery in Imbil, different displays of my work in Talented Friends Gallery in Caloundra, Sunshine Coast and a painting that travelled to Cairns for the Australian Watercolour Muster. A watercolour of my granddaughter travelled to Italy for the Fabriano in Aquarello festival to represent Australia this year. (Those 2 paintings below.)

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My apologies if you tried to access my website here over the last 6 weeks or so. I had the most horrendous time trying to deal with my ex domain host and then getting it transferred to a new one. It meant my website was offline during all that time through no fault of my own.  Even though I was trying to deal with issues almost every day during that time, it wasn't resolved until this week. Such a test of my patience and perseverance! Hopefully no more problems from now on.

A special THANK YOU to all who have supported me this year by attending classes and/or workshops, for those who purchased paintings and other merchandise and those who made the effort to visit me in my studio for the Gympie Studio Trails event. I appreciate you!

Have a wonderful Christmas and new year celebrations. My plan is to spend time with family and then get in my studio to create new paintings for an upcoming solo exhibition. Very excited about that!
May God bless you with good health and great times with loved ones for 2024.
Cheers
Jan