Was 2022 a good year for you?
Looking back, I think it was.
What were some of the highlights in your art career?
Some of this year’s highlights have been exhibiting at Salmagundi Club in NY; an inclusion in a high profile juried museum’s exhibition of professional artists in Germany (“Klare Kante!” at Museum Ostwall in Dortmunder U); showing with The Pastel Society UK at the Mall Galleries in London and with The Pastel Society of America at The National Arts Club in NYC (two most competitive pastel juried shows); as well as receiving my Master Pastelist Honours with the IAPS - International Association of Pastel Societies.
What was the craziest thing that happened?
I guess when I learned that several of my works would be archived and stored on the Moon as part of the Lunar Codex Artists on the Moon project, founded by Dr. Samuel Peralta.
What were some of the pitfalls?
Lack of time and possibility to work uninterrupted, due to my husband’s change of job and our family’s big move abroad which has started this year but will continue into 2023. I haven’t had any dedicated studio space since summer and had to put on hold some of the large scale projects. I have painted mostly en plein air and on a small, portable table easel. In the end, I had such an urge for plunging into a large work that I taped a huge sheet of paper onto the wall in our tiny kitchen. We couldn’t cook but this work is now up on Artsy through 33 Contemporary.
Did your art sell?
Yes, through galleries, from my Etsy shop (of plein air paintings and small works) and from my studio. Some works went to returning collectors which is always special and a sign for me that my work has a consistency. But I’ve also gained quite a few new collectors. One collector has recently purchased several works from galleries in the USA and Europe and is interested in further works.
Were you included in any shows?
I’ve had work included in 17 juried, curated or invitational exhibitions, in Germany, France, USA, Ireland, UK, South Korea and China.
Were you published in any art magazines or periodicals?
When earlier this year Anne Hevener, the editor of the renowned American magazine Pastel Journal, contacted me regarding an interview, I was delighted. I was touched when she wrote that she was particularly interested in my paintings of water and how the various series explore my inner, emotional world. The result of the interview with writer Christine Proskow is a beautiful, thoughtful 8 pages publication in the current issue of Pastel Journal.
How has social media affected your daily practice?
Making reels is a bit time consuming at the moment and I am thinking how to re-organize my working space so that I can easily take good studio videos.
What are you looking forward to in 2023?
To completing the series “Pandemic Kids” which I started in 2020, while observing the dramatic changes the pandemic had on my children, especially on the younger one, who was 11 back then. I received a small governmental grant for this project and am very happy that most of the works have shown internationally in juried and curated exhibitions and were well received by the public.
One of the portraits won the Best of Show Award in the IAPS - International Association of Pastel Societies Gallery Exhibition at the Zhou B Art Center in Chicago. My goal is to finish the largest work I’d planned, a triptych, and to exhibit the entire series in one show, to give the whole theme a perspective.
I’ve just started a new series, dealing with various aspects of adolescence, but post pandemic, and will continue working on it in 2023. These will be predominantly works in acrylic and oil and they will combine both figures and sea as a background.
I’m also looking forward to more (warmer:) coastal plein air painting at the Côte d'Azur.