Was 2022 a good year for you? Yes. It was a year where I felt that I reached a good place in my practise.
What were some of the highlights in your art career? I started the year participating in JKR Gallery in Utah’s group show called A New Page. The piece found a collector which I thought was a great way to start off the year. I also had a piece accepted into the juried Surreal Salon in Baton Rouge. I had a piece in Modern Eden’s Portrait Show X in San Francisco which was a gallery that I really admire and felt quite humbled to be included in that juried group show. The largest piece I have painted yet was commissioned by my local gallery, Penticton Art Gallery to be auctioned off in an event. My work was featured on the cover of a children’s literature magazine, Crows Toes Quarterly. Local papers and tv media publicized my work being included in the Lunar Codex the time capsule that is traveling to the moon, which was quite the whirlwind of interviews, both radio and newspapers and I’m told I even made it on tv but I didn’t catch that myself. The year ended with being accepted into Abend’s mini show which was delightful.
What were some of the pitfalls? Mostly the pitfalls were to do with work getting lost in shipping, situations like that are hard to avoid. One of my biggest challenges was I had to move my studio into a tiny corner of my basement which isn’t the best location in a busy home with children and pets. It has been really hard to create the works I want to in limited space but I’m hoping the crunch and pressure of constraints somehow grows me as an artist and makes me more organized.
Did your art sell? Yes, happily this has been one of my best years yet. I work sell through 33 Contemporary, work sold through galleries, commissions and I had quite a few that sold through a local venue I work with.
Were you included in any shows? Yes! Quite a few both local and abroad. I had about twelve exhibitions both online and in physical shows in the USA and Canada.
Were you published in any art magazines or periodicals? I was featured in quite a few newspapers, radio and made it onto the news marquee on Global News.
How has social media affected your daily practice?
Social media has always been a huge part of my practise as I live in a rural area in Canada. Reaching out to the arts community on Instagram, Facebook and newly on TikTok has led viewers to my website and made it easy for new collectors to collect. I’ve also found many sales happen through direct messages.
What are you looking forward to in 2023?
I’m looking forward to sharing more work from my Mini solo show on Artsy through 33 Contemporary. Apocalyptica will feature some larger works for me which has been a stretch process-wise, but I’m really proud of them and I can’t wait to share them.
I also have a solo show near the end of the year in a local gallery which will be a first. I’m looking forward to a lot of fresh new experiences, watching my family grow alongside my art career and hopefully showing my children you can achieve whatever you desire with hard work.