Moving on - part two

Fields, forests and flippers.

Hello. This is a continuation of my previous post looking back over the work I made in the last twelve months. I’m trying to remind myself that I have made some interesting images in 2024, even if I’ve struggled to find the time and motivation to actually show them to anyone.

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I’m writing this on December 23rd, meaning I have only one day left in the gallery this year. Looking at this year’s figures, I can say for certain that it will have been the most challenging year we’ve had since opening in 2014, including the pandemic years.

This article on BBC Sussex feels very relatable, and chimes exactly with the conversations I’ve been having with my neighbouring shops and other businesses in town throughout the year. People in the UK just don’t have much money right now, and you can really feel it if you run a shop selling non-essential, fun stuff like art (I’d argue art is essential, but that’s a different post).

It turns out that when the gallery is quiet, and the pictures are selling more slowly, it is much harder to find the motivation to print, frame and display new work. There are fewer people coming through the door, a smaller audience to speak to about it all, and more time for procrastination and self-doubt to creep in. Why put this new picture up today, when I might be able to get out and improve on it tomorrow, or the next day? I hadn’t realised how much these everyday conversations with total strangers; their feedback, opinions and stories; their presence in my workspace; are a part of my process, until suddenly they weren’t there. This is a challenge for the quiet winter months still to come, and I hope this little review of 2024 will help me build some new bodies of work, and keep me heading in the right direction while I wait for the sunshine (and the economy) to return.

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April
The highlight of April was spending a happy few hours on a favourite hillside near home watching this ludicrous hailstorm pass by. Some amazing patchy light dashing across the patchwork fields below, interspersed with the occasional rather painful reminder that hail really stings. April showers par excellence.

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May
Throughout May I divided my time between fields and forest. The wind dropped for the first time in months, leading to some very serene and beautiful mornings, full of fog and spring colours. These were the first days of the year that I remember feeling the days warmth before the sunrise. That sense that it’s going to be the most glorious day, and all the simple joy that brings.

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June
I seem to have spent the entire month in the sea. I have no pictures at all from June that were taken without flippers on. I really enjoy winter swimming, but I do miss the carefree, hypothermia free nature of these long, lazy swims that bookend my summer days on the beach. Looking at these in the depths of midwinter, it feels improbable that the sea will ever be this inviting again.

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That’s all for now. I’m going to try and post the rest of 2024 before 2025 arrives, but there is much merriment and cheese in my future so this deadline may drift a little. In the meantime, please do share this post with anyone and everyone who might enjoy it. Thank you!

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