2016... What A Year!

Well that's another year over, where on earth did that time go! 2016 has been a funny old year with so many great icons taken from us and I know some people have really suffered this year. My heart goes out to all that have had a difficult year and I hope next year will be much kinder.

Firstly I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and wishing you all much love, luck and happiness in 2017. Thank you to all that have been supporting me throughout the last year. It has been a year of huge changes for me as most of you know. I haven't felt comfortable blogging about my experiences as it's all very new to me still and I didn't feel like I was in any position to give advice on taking such a drastic leap of faith as I did, because I won't lie....it is a scary old jump to make.

So for those that don't know, I left my day job of 15 years in August to become a full time artist. It wasn't a decision that I took lightly I can assure you. It was reckless and risk taking as all I was going by was pure faith and following my heart. I had no jobs in place, just savings and my gut instinct. My poor husband deserves a medal for what I have put him through as he is very much Mr realistic, and well... I live in la la land. There were many clashes over my decision, some people were like " Yeah you go girl", some not so much. It took a year of thinking long and hard until enough was enough and I handed my notice in. So what happened? Well.. I landed a big book deal illustrating a series of spiritual based childrens stories about a month after I left. All going well this will see me through until spring. After that is anyones guess, I am hoping some more work comes through to keep me living this new life for as long as possible.  If this is truly what I am meant to be doing then I am sure things will work out and the universe will provide, if not then it's not my time and I need to learn new life lessons elsewhere.

I am collaborating with other people and might well be branching into new territory next year with my art. It could be through fine art as I am working on a bunch of spiritual paintings to approach galleries with or it could be in a whole different area of art that I am keen to explore. I can't say too much yet, one thing I am learning to do is to not announce things before they happen. I  read that somewhere and it is so true.... the times I have got excited about stuff and mentioned it, nothing comes of it so this time I am keeping my lips sealed until things do actually happen. 

My writing will have to take a bit of a back burner for now, as I need to focus on Artypeace and everything else going on. Oh and my business Artypeace.... well not much to report there I'm afraid. Setting up a business is hard work! I am just treating it like a hobby for now. I still believe it will take off eventually, it's just trying to figure out which direction to go in, as the ones I have tried have been pretty pitiful. I have started an online art therapy course which I am finding very interesting and experiment when I can with new workshop ideas. So I am slowly working on it, but it will take a lot of time. 

I am also doing a bit of volunteer work which I started back in September that deals with people going through depression and mental health issues. It is very challenging and probably the scariest thing I have put myself through to date, but it is doing me the world of good, and I am learning so many new things through it which I am hoping will be put into use alongside Artypeace somehow. I am not sure how yet, but there is obviously a reason why I have been drawn to this area, and it feels so right. 

Thanks to my daughter for her artwork in this XX

I don't want to write a big post on me me me, so I will keep this short and sweet. It was a quick post to say thank you so so much for being in my life and for all the people that have encouraged me and supported me throughout the year. Hopefully next year I will be in a more secure place and will feel confident enough to share some tips and advice, but for now I have only just bought my arm bands and not a clue where I am swimming to ha ha. One thing I can say, I have never felt more alive before and every day brings new surprises. As reckless as I have been with throwing away a steady wage and security I do not regret my decision in the slightest, and as much as I have the odd wobble of this could go horribly wrong, my faith and heart tell me that no matter how things will turn out, it will all help me grow as a person in the long run. So I embrace 2017 with open arms and I encourage everyone to embrace their fears, live a little recklessly, let your inner child free, live in the present and help others.... this is my key to happiness. 

Much love to you all
xx