I don’t think I can recall a year going by quite as fast as 2023. It felt like we had Christmas 2022 and then suddenly we had arrived at the very same point in no time at all?? That twelve months was the quickest I believe I have ever experienced. It certainly was a busy year, and perhaps that was the reasoning behind the feeling of such a rapid ascension. I was constantly creating and preparing for new events all year.

The first half of the year was definitely all about SALA. I had the opportunity to exhibit in a fairy-tale location called ‘The Brae’. Located in Dawesley, this beautiful old world space is nestled away in the Adelaide hills region. Usually a wedding venue, winter 2023 saw the rustic stone long barn, transformed into a gallery showing a wide variety of very distinct styles from seven South Australian artists. This was an amazing event which lasted for two months.

There is an enormous amount of work that goes into the SALA exhibitions. As an artist you work for months and months painting and creating. Coming up with new and noteworthy ‘masterpieces’ to exhibit. But it doesn’t stop there, once you have organized a venue (or two as I did last year) then you have all the planning that goes with that side of the event. Advertising, networking, all the signage that is attached to each piece and artist blurbs. Coordinating with venues and other artists. Displaying and being on site for each showing date. It was a wonderful learning experience and one I will treasure for a long long time.

The year also provided myself (and of course many others) some successes, but also some failures. Honestly though, this is how we learn isn’t it? You can’t always get it right, but if you don’t put yourself out there, you will never know either. So taking the failures on the chin is the best way to move forward and figure out what works for you and what doesn’t.

In what remained of the year after the SALA exhibitions were over, I did try out a few markets. Looking for more of a relaxed kind of atmosphere, I had decided I would push myself out into the country market scene. Ordered myself one of those 3 x 3 marquees online and hey presto, I was set. Well so I thought anyway. I do have this habit of rushing into things without researching adequately. All part of my personality type, and it certainly won’t change at this late stage in life!! The first time we erected this fabulously cheap marquee I attached the walls to the three sides, but the first gust of wind told me in no uncertain terms that these sides were really NOT going to be a happening thing. Constructed from a light, brittle kind of plastic, they crackled like crazy in the wind, very loudly! As we were all lined up with no space between us, I did think I better change this quick smart and in a hurry before all my marquee neighbours decided they would like to take to mine with a machete. A look online at Bunnings showed me there were single marquee walls available. Sent the helper out the door and not long after we replaced the noisy walls with the new ones. I breathed a huge sigh of relief (and probably the neighbours too). So much quieter, almost no noise at all when the wind rushed through. That was clearly one of my failures for the year!!

All three of the markets I attended were a great success. I really do love going out and talking to people at these events. A lot of hard work, but a lot of fun as well. I also previewed my new “Mum, You Need to Sell Your Pants” range of clothing and they proved to be a wonderful success, making me extremely happy of course. This range had been an idea in the back of my mind for quite a long time, years actually. A bright and happy fun range, seeing it finally in form was definitely one of my successes for the year.

If I’m being totally honest with myself, one of my failures was probably my website. Strange failure you might think, looking at it. I am very happy with it overall, don’t get me wrong. I had promised myself in 2022 that I would do more listing and work within the website. Sadly I was busy doing ‘other’ things and was a little remiss with this promise. There is so much I have created that I take out to these markets that isn’t even listed on here yet. So that is a big slap on the wrist for me!! Do we do New Years resolutions? Not sure about that, but if I did that would be it, spend more time working harder on the website.

A short break over the Christmas-New year period saw me teaching myself how to crochet (I do occasionally knit ), but was blown away by how quickly things grow when crocheting. Wow, my new love lol. I really can’t sit still for too long. There is so much to learn, create and do, that it just drives me spare sitting around doing nothing. So even though I was having a holiday, I was still working ahahaha. As a result though, I now have another range of items to add to the website and take out with me to markets. Gorgeous matching scarves and beanies complete with furry pompoms. Snuggly warm for winter.

In a nutshell, that was pretty much the year that sped by in hyperdrive. I am looking forward to another year of crazy creating and having fun here, there and everywhere. I wish you all well with much love and many successes for this new year. Take care and stay safe.

Leanne xx