This year has been a year of falling in love—deep, whole-hearted, holy shit kind of love. The kind that makes you stop and say, this is what it feels like to truly be in love.

It’s also been a year of some of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced. Yet, somehow, love saw me through them all.

My year started off slowly from a creative standpoint. I was feeling both relieved and reflective as I wrapped up my 2023 Inward Calendar project and felt a little in shock over it's ending. It was a creative ritual I loved, hated, and ultimately respected for holding up a mirror to 2023’s highs and lows. With the turn of the calendar, I felt like I was entering the new year with a clean slate.

While I may not have been as prolific this year in my art-making the pieces I created seemed to carry a larger meaning. Each one feels like it possesses my DNA in a way no other work has before—deeply personal and tied to who I am becoming.

There were some bumps in January and early February, but when the end of February came around, it was like a door to a whole new world swung wide open. And wow—what a world. I fell in love. Deeply, wildly, joyfully in love. Now, as I stand here looking back on 2024, that love has blossomed into an incredible relationship with an equally incredible human being. This person—this beautiful human—sparked a new chapter for me. They encouraged me to pause, reflect, and reconnect with who I am: a queer woman, a mother, an animal activist, and an artist. That inspiration led me to experiment with more mixed media and, eventually, to pour myself into more work on canvas. It's tactile nature, different than the watercolour and India ink work grounded me. 

Living in a small space makes painting a bit of an ordeal. Pulling out my canvases and easel means turning my home life upside down. But despite the chaos, creating these pieces brought me so much joy. 

These pieces are a reflection of the year that changed me—filled with love, transformation, and the resilience to face whatever challenges came my way.

Here’s to the year ahead. Let it keep me on the right path, honour my truest self and allow me to know my worth every step of the way. 

April 6: Daydream Repeat

Abstract Painting with the word YOU cut out and pasted many times

Apil 9: Nothing Left To Do But To Fall In Love

sparrow flying over abstract plum coloured heart

June 11: A Light Left On

Row of black houses with one house with a light on in the window. Houses are surrounded by a stark landscape of snow.

August 6: Sleep Walking

Painting of a fox in a dream-like environment where cookies float in the sky, a dagger hovers and a house is off in the distance.

October 8: Alone, But Not Far

four houses

October 10: I Lost Count

a piglet surrounded by tally marks in a sea of red

October 29: Little Pink Houses

Pink, orange and black houses in wonderland with a white bunny

December 17: Floating Between Houses

many houses together on top of a yellow ochre background with red balloons and text cut outs