“We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”

– Bob Ross

Things I love about December - Christmas obviously. The music, the cheer, the lights, and the smells. I bring it all into my studio as I wrap up holiday orders mid-December, anticipating a major wind-down at the end of the year.

Last month’s theme of rest overlaps perfectly with this month’s theme, reflect. They go hand-in-hand. You can’t do one without the other. To me, reflection feels like the only way to wrap up the year. I considered other themes for this month, but this one felt best. Reflecting is what I do most in December. I pause to think about the year I just had, and kind of New Year I want to have.

Every January, I choose a word to focus on. After a rough 2022, I wanted my word for 2023 to be “fun.” As usual, life had other plans in store for me. Looking back, my word for 2023 ended up being “heal.” When it comes to the type of year we have, we tend to get what we need and not what we want.

Not only is December a great time to reflect on our lives, but our art. I think of projects accomplished, and ones put on the back burner. I consider how my art evolved over the past year. I can’t see much evolution throughout the year, until I compare my 2022 work to my 2023 work. A fun exercise is to take the last illustration you made in 2022 and compare it with the last illustration you make in 2023. I guarantee you will see some type of growth in your art, even if it’s not as much as you were hoping. If you’re lucky, maybe it’s more than you thought. In my experience, we don’t grow the same amount every year because we aren’t making art in a vacuum. Life’s challenges dictate how much we’re able to focus on our work from year to year.

When reflecting on the past year and planning for the new year, journaling is my favorite tool. In 2023, I worked through The Best Year Journal and loved it. I just bought another copy for next year. In past years, I’ve enjoyed The Artist of Life Workbook. There are lots of end of year journals out there, so find one that best suites you. The end of December is usually when I purchase one of these journals to get ready for the New Year. That way, I can start filling in highlights for the previous year.

While December can be exciting, it can also be a tough time for many people. Depending on how your last year went, you may be feeling a sense of accomplishment or even a sense of loss. Probably both. A year gone can represent people lost, projects lost, and time lost. While it’s always difficult to wrap up a tough year, this is when I find reflection most powerful. The toughest years tend to be the ones where we grow and learn the most. At least that’s been my experience. Planning and reflecting can be therapeutic. They can bring us out of a dark time, giving us feelings of hope that get us excited for the future.

My challenge this month is for us to embrace the ups and downs of 2023 and go into 2024 as better people and artists.

Journal Prompts:

1. If you were to describe your 2023 art in one word, what would it be? What was your biggest lesson learned in your art?

2. What were your art highlights from 2023?

3. What were your biggest setbacks in your art?

4. What is your biggest regret as an artist in 2023?

Sketchbook Prompts:

1. Illustrate one of your favorite moments from 2023.

2. Illustrate a collection of your favorite things from 2023.

3. Illustrate a self portrait of yourself as you were in 2023.

4. Illustrate something you want to let go of in 2023, and then set it on fire or throw it away. This can be super therapeutic.

Assignment:

Chronologically organize your art from this past year and file away in a 2023 box or folder. Then, determine which pieces are your favorites. Choose 3-10 based on your body of work. Identify what you like about each of these works, and why they’re your favorites.

Fun Finds:

• Forever my favorite Christmas album: Ella & Louis (from Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong). I love listening to this while I make holiday work.

• The Vogue story behind this famous holiday Slim Aarons photograph.

• We love this mulled wine recipe during the holiday season. I always make it on Christmas Eve!

• My Grandma Shirley’s Christmas butter cookie recipe (right). These are the holiday cookies we made growing up and the recipe couldn’t be more simple!