Goodbye 2023, Hello 2024!

Happy new year!

I hope you have had a restful and restorative festive period and are keeping warm and cosy in these winter months, that is, if you live in the northern hemisphere. Right now, I’m wearing my dressing gown over my normal clothes, a hat, am wrapped in a fluffy blanket and have a hot water bottle at my feet. It’s a strong look, and one I’m likely to repeat most days throughout autumn, winter and spring.

2023, you were full of magical things such as:

• Getting married

• Spending quality time with family and friends

• Seeing the aurora borealis in Scotland - twice!

• Watching friends’ babies grow

• Beautiful adventures and walks in nature

• Eating nourishing, yummy food

• Hosting Zoom abstract art classes for corporate clients

• Expectation-free painting

Some hopes for 2024:

• Health
  A few health issues have meant that I have had to slow down and rest or opt out of things I want to do. I’m trying to not be frustrated and embrace this time and build it into my life going forward and slowly get stronger and be able to climb a hill again. We don’t have to do all of the things right now, unlike what we so often are told. Yes, life is short but there is plenty of time and we only have one body so we need to listen to it when it tells us to rest.
  

• Yoga

  Tied into looking after my health and building some strength, I have started a daily yoga practice of at least ten minutes. Ten minutes feels fairly sustainable for me and I know that if I am able to be on the mat for longer then I can but there is no pressure. I’ve tried a few different YouTube channels but always come back to Yoga with Adriene.
  

• Continue to grow my business slowly and sustainably

  After a slow start to 2023, things started to ramp up later in the year which was funny as I wasn’t doing any marketing or active on social media for the last quarter. Going forward, I probably won’t be hugely active on social media. I will instead be focusing on life and work offline for a while. It’s a nice place to be.
  
  I accidentally printed a lot more 2024 new year cards than I was meaning to but they all sold! I’m so happy you liked this year’s design and it’s fun to look back at my style and how it has evolved/will evolve over the years with these limited edition cards each year.
  
  This year, I hope to release more prints, continue to work on my small original abstract paintings…and launch some new products too, exciting times!
  

• Read
  I have a fairly ambitious (for me) goal of reading 30 books this year…so off I go to curl up on the sofa with my book!