In 2022, I focused my energy with one guiding anchor – PLAY. I've tried to do this before, but was never able to narrow it down to just one word. I think in 2021 I had four, slimmed down from years past. I knew that wonderful, magical things can come out of play. I lept in hoping that joyful work and new opportunities would arise if I leaned in and followed my curiosities. In my notes I said my goals for the year were to have fun, define my style, learn and grow.
While I avoid most structure (hello artist and entrepreneur, lol) I find that having some sort of framework and parameters to create is key. I decided to choose a monthly focus under the play umbrella to offer some guide rails. I had wanted to create a deck of cards for several years and it seemed like an excellent goal to have as a takeaway for the year of play, so that set me on my path forward. Here is how the year went:
Jan: Hearts
Starting with the heart (and drawing heart suitmarks) seemed a fitting and centering practice. It also gave me a collection of artwork to create Valentine’s postcards that I was able to offer up for sale in February!
Feb: Spades
I knew I needed to be creating lots of artwork that I would be able to use in the deck of cards, so for the next few months I chose a suit a month and tried to make at least 5 pieces a week.
March: Diamonds
Again, taking steps towards creating that deck of cards.
April: Clubs
Clubs were the intended focus, but ended up pausing on the cards to allow me to create proposals for mural projects.
May: Deck of Cards
I started to pull together all of the suitmarks I had made to date and am working to see how things fit together and evolve. I knew it would take time to sort through the art and figure out how the puzzle pieces could fit together.
June: Story, Call & Response
I spent this month carving out time to play in the studio and in the garden. Both are an investment of energy with unknown destinations – a leap of faith that something beautiful will grow in time.
July: Shape & Rest
I worked on my artswatch project as a way to focus my creative energy. Things tend to go off the rails a little in the summer for me without the structure of the school days. I took a bit of time to rest and recharge before some mural projects and gathered info on playing card producers.
August: Product Play
In preparation for the holidays, I used this month to do a call and response with my newsletter friends – creating mockups of products and reaching out for feedback. This month was also crunch time to finalize the deck of cards. I made two alternate decks (three total) and reached out to a small group for design feedback. Also started moving into my studio space for my residency at Hunt Gallery.
September: Mural painting
I finalized my deck design, sent it to the printers and opened pre-orders in my shop. Painted the Title IX mural at UB. Packed and shipped card orders. It was a busy (and stressful) month!
October: Residency & Holiday planning
This month was full of preparation for holiday pop-ups, and diving back into a studio art practice through the residency at Hunt Gallery. Also started some new bodies of work that I’m excited about.
November & December: Pop-ups, and online sales, Residency
While I was in the holiday hustle and not playing much in the studio I thought a lot about ways that the year of play could translate to mindset. A lot of my work appears bright and cheerful, but I take the work super seriously and can be really hard on myself. I often overanalyze and spin my wheels on taking big next steps. I focused on giving myself grace and leaning into opportunities with a sense of exploration and playfulness.
Lessons learned: Play was a stellar word for me in 2022. I am so prone to overthinking things and getting stuck before even starting… but having play as my anchor gave me a sense of lightness to not take myself too seriously. It is great to have a plan, but I’m learning time and time again that when I complete a goal it often looks different than expected. I had hoped to pitch a lot of licensing projects, but ended up focusing more on looking for more art and mural projects (and getting that residency!). I played with saying yes to opportunities that popped up and tried out several holiday pop-up shops over the course of the year. I even played with being more business-y and got up and running on QuickBooks.
When I started this year of play, I thought that sounds so fun! But, wow… play can be WORK. It is hard to play. We don't live in a culture that really values grownups having playtime. We are so primed to be constantly productive. It seems so ironic that I'm working to make time for play – to allow my mind to wander. My creative well is expanding, growing deeper and more fulfilling, and that feels exciting and worthwhile. The reward was huge. I’m especially grateful for the sense of lightness and flexibility in how I am approaching work/art/play moving forward.
xo!