A Year of Making - 2021

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Looking back on my year of making.

The new year promised a fresh start after the struggle of 2020 (even if it was mostly symbolic.) I also had a brand new studio, and some time to myself each weekday as Davy started Montessori. These new supports made a huge positive impact on my mental health this year, and they gave me more time for making.

My experience of time is not fixed. Time expands and contracts based on when and how often I engage with my interests. So when I write and make time feels expansive. When I don’t it crushes in on me and feels very suffocating. This is one of my biggest struggles as a neurodivergent artist mama.

This year I’ve swung wildly between those two feelings.

Currently I’m in Mama Bear sick family survival mode so it kind of feels like I never made anything and never will again. Thankfully I drafted this blog post last week. I started it for my patrons to show what types of work they supported this year, but decided to share it here.

Learning how to navigate fractured time has been a huge theme in my work these past two years. I certainly didn’t make something every day, but looking back I made so much more than I did in 2020. This is largely due to pivoting to whichever project I had the bandwidth for in that moment.

Here is my year in review. Everything I completed, started, and abandoned. (This list doesn’t include ongoing projects like journaling, Patreon, baking, or holiday crafts.)

Completed

Studio Vlog, Tour & Self Portrait

Sourdough Starter

Studio Sign

Mother, Interrupted Weaving

Updated Kindle Deck

Wicker Chairs

Messy Middle Podcast

Tunic Top (Pattern Drafted & Prototype Sewn)

Kindle Zine

Cyanotypes

Studio Loft Beanbags

Painted Front Door

Shire Collection: Autumn Pottery, Prints, Weaving & Gift Items

Ecosystem Retreat

NaNoWriMo

Fireplace Makeover

Works in progress

Textile Collage

Corn Popper Animation

Chronofile

Soft Sculpture Brain

VR Environment

Sky Weaving

Ecosystem Book

Maker Mama Manifesto Book

Fiction Novel

Cross Stitch Piece

Dry & Press Flowers for Pottery

Pottery Brooches

Pottery Test Tile Display

Fails

Hobbit Meal Clock … disappointing paint job. 😩

Planner Stickers … returned malfunctioning Cricut. 😡

COVID Burnout Guide … not enough entries. 😞

Pottery Wax Seals … not functional. 😐

Sunflower Leaf Platters … cracked during firing. 😭

100 Days of VR … ended at 17 days. 😈

MAYBE NEXT YEAR

Some of the projects I started planning or bought supplies for, but haven’t begun yet.

Papermaking (maybe Patreon bookmarks)

Polaroid Transfers

Ceramic Cyanotype

Electroforming

Collage Landscapes

More Tunic Tops

Linen Duster

Blue Jean Quilt

Self Publishing (!)

There’s always more. 😉

Shout out to my Patrons for funding my multipassionate meanderings. Y’all are the best! 🥰

Sarah Shotts @sarahshotts