Upon reflection

The practice of looking back

Peter Doig, Blotter (1993), oil on canvas, 264.2 cm x 214 cm

Next time I write to you it will be 2024...wrap your mind around that. 2023 felt mostly quiet in my personal life - I was home a lot, I enjoyed some great books, music and shows, and my travels were contained along highways within northern BC (a region that nonetheless spans many hundreds of kilometres).

However, it was a big year for my art practice! With the help of my therapist, I have worked a lot in recent years on the practice of “planting seeds:” asking for things, telling people that I’m an artist, sharing my work, applying for stuff - generally, taking action before I know anything about the outcome (we never know), planting little possibilities for future me. This year I felt like I got to reap the harvest from many of those past seeds I scattered for myself. I had many moments of thinking “ohhh, this actually works.” I got to see proof that some of those seeds eventually, on their own timeline, without my tight grasp, grew into nice things: friendships, exhibitions, money, creative projects, new conversations, self esteem, better mental health. 

Part of a custom ornament commission from Two Rivers Gallery. They gifted these at their donor appreciation party. I’m grateful that I got to collaborate with the gallery in a number of different ways this year, as a result of “seeds” of friendship and connection that I’ve been cultivating for a couple years.

As a naturally introspective person, I do love the invitation to reflect that comes at this time of year. My birthday is also next Wednesday, so in December I’m always doubly in the midst of looking back on life/my past year. Here are some of my favourite creative moments* from 2023, big and small:

• Created and debuted my first solo art show, in a public gallery (I wrote about it here). Up Around the Bend was an offering from the depth of my experience and my heart.

• Made a series of paintings (for said show) on the largest scale I’ve attempted so far (22 x 30 inch pieces). Tried painting with gouache on black paper and discovered that it was a great fit for my work.

• Started this Substack! Made writing a regular part of my creative practice. 

• Joined a kickboxing gym!

• Learned more about strength training and lifted some heavy weights

• Got some fun commissions

• Made a couple self-portraits:

  

• Took some courses to learn about editorial illustration, and gave myself assignments with the blessing of a deadline 

• Applied for artist residencies and exhibitions

• Played with new materials (acrylic gouache, Neocolor crayons, ink, new techniques in Procreate & Photoshop)

• Learned so much about knitting (and through following this interest, I got a fun job making an illustration for my knitting teachers/friends, The Cutbank Girls.)

  

  I’m rounding out the year by working on this Halibut Cowl (pattern by Caitlin Hunter) and although the pattern is breaking my brain (in a good way), I love that it reminds me of happy days fishing for halibut and salmon off the coast of Prince Rupert.

• Took some brave steps in my business: properly registered my sole proprietorship, took care of some banking things, had my first professional photos taken.

• Read some great essays, fiction and graphic novels (will share my faves in January but I like to wait until the true end of the year before I make a list - December is a good reading month.)

• Spent lots of time in forests, lakes and rivers on incredibly beautiful Dakelh, Wet’suwet’en, T’s’msyen and Haisla territories - places that deeply inspire my work and ground me. 

*I do feel that it’s important to also acknowledge failure, and moments of slowness/pause. In between the moments above, there were disappointments and hurdles: residencies and exhibitions I applied for and really wanted but didn’t get, projects that weren’t able to be funded, days of procrastination and crippling anxiety/self-doubt, weeks on end without setting foot in my studio, a wicked respiratory infection, and times of deep sadness about ecological collapse/ongoing wars. We contain multitudes.

T’is the season of short, dark, blue-toned days. Captured brilliantly in this painting I love: Dog Walkers, 2020, oil on canvas, by Vancouver-based artist Ben Reeves.

May my sharing of these invite you to reflect for yourself: what creative successes or challenges did you experience this year? If you like your holidays served with a little introspection, you might like to try a few of the prompts from my teacher Lindsay’s 2023 Space Odyssey Notion page. I recommend going gently in the spirit of curiosity and just pick a few of the questions to reflect on.

At the end of December, I also like to make a list of “100 things that made my year,” a practice I learned from Austin Kleon. (As you’ll see on his list, there’s nothing too big or small to include! In previous lists, I’ve recorded certain sandwiches I ate, as well as the time I gave myself whiplash from dancing too hard alone in my kitchen.) The 100 Things list is the way that I compile all my favourite books, shows, articles, music, food, and memories from a year, and the process itself helps me remember so much more that I have to be grateful for. I’ll share some highlights from my 2023 list with you in January.

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December Diversions / Link Roundup:

• How Watermelon Became a Symbol for Palestinian Resistance.

  

  Khaled Hourani, “The Story of the Watermelon” (2007), silkscreen

• A graphic outlining different Roles for Collective Liberation (from Slow Factory). We all have different skills and parts to play in building a better world - which roles resonate for you? I identify most with the Artist, Communicator, Researcher and Writer. In the coming year, I’d like to think more about how my art can serve towards activism/community building. 

• Rivka Galchen on Bill Watterson and the enchantment in Calvin and Hobbes.

• 17 years after Outkast’s last album came out, André 3000 has released an instrumental flute-focused album and doesn’t care if you wanted a rap album instead. Here he is discussing all that, hanging out in his neighbourhood laundromat:

• Also for fellow hip-hop fans: a profile of Little Simz. (I really love her album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert). 

• I’m reading Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds and it is a visceral book, truly horrifying and yet full of exquisite sentences. Groff is great and I love listening to her talk about research, ideas, writing, everything. I liked this recent podcast interview for a start.

• Freelance life can be hard; here’s a nice resource about mental health for creative freelancers (from the Association of Illustrators).

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Art news / Ways to support my work: 

• Exciting news #1: I am the 2024 featured visual artist for Coldsnap, a week-long winter music festival happening Feb 2-10 in Prince George. I’ve been working with the festival team to incorporate some of my illustrations into their promotional materials and merchandise for this year’s festival. Check out my feature on their website, look for my northern flicker bird designs and other illustrations on Coldsnap stuff, and come see some lively shows in the dead of February winter if you’re in northern BC! 

• Exciting news #2: My artwork is included in the new issue of Thimbleberry, a biannual magazine of arts and culture in northern BC. One of my large paintings, Yellowhead Dreamscape, is the cover artwork for the new issue, and there is also a wonderful feature article about my exhibition Up Around the Bend, written by the magazine’s visual arts editor George Harris. Look for Thimbleberry in local bookstores (PG pals can find copies at Books & Company) or order a copy through their website.

• On a similar note, I recently got fine art prints made of several pieces from Up Around the Bend. Prints are on textured fine art paper of archival quality, and would make very special gifts - a statement piece in a home! I particularly love these two large (16 x 20 inch) prints of my paintings Goin’ up the Country and Yellowhead Dreamscape. These have been added to my online shop as of today: 

  

  New prints available of paintings from Up Around the Bend.

  If you enjoyed the work from Up Around the Bend, you’ll also find a few other prints from the show (logging trucks! billboards!), as well as postcards, notepads and a bumper sticker that all incorporate motifs from life along Highway 16.

• Some December dates of note: 

Dec 2 (Today!) at 9 AM PST - As mentioned above, my online shop is now updated with some new greeting card designs, 2024 desk calendars, fine art prints, stationery and some other items. I also have some original paintings still available. A few of my older cards are on sale from now until the holidays.

A selection of new goods now added to my shop!

Dec 8-18 - Shipping cutoffs for sending parcels within Canada (cutoffs are earlier for international destinations) to ensure delivery by Christmas. Dates vary by destination, so do check with Canada Post for the most accurate information for you. 

Dec 21 - Last day to place orders in my online shop before I close it for a holiday break. I’ll re-open the shop on January 2.

If I’m honest, peddling wares on the internet in 2023 has often felt uncomfortable and dystopian to me, during dark times both close to home and across the world. I’m so thankful for your attention and your support of my creative practice as we navigate it all, and I wish you all peace, health and rest. And of course:

A new card design feat. some sweet treats, and my holiday greeting to you.

All the best,

Emily