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! 🥰