Reflecting on 2024

The start of the year is well past (two months in already 😮) but its only now that I feel I'm getting back into focus mode. I've been reviewing what I did last year and how this year could be different, but also been away on multiple trips, with lots of pages to share. Keep an eye out for those soon!

It was a busy year for me, even if it doesn't look like much happened online. I ran numerous nature journaling workshops in person (more to come this year) and teach regularly at Herdsman Lake Discovery Centre. I participated in Inktober and Plein Air Down Under as well as lots of personal nature journaling and plein air painting. In December I also made some small wooden coaster paintings using gouache and acrylic and this has reignited my desire to paint with gouache. Last year I planned but was unable to create some landscape "coastcards", so perhaps this Plein Airpril I can make it happen.

There were bursts of creativity but also periods of silence for my projects. It's difficult time-wise for me to focus on "deep work" such as editing videos because the teaching schedule is random, can get very busy and even half-days knock me out for the rest of the day. However I do enjoy the work I do and perhaps I just need to adjust my expectations and number of projects. 😉

▶️ YouTube

To my horror I realised that I only created two YouTube videos last year. My goal was for one video to be published a month (!) but I think I hit a few mental roadblocks as well as being time-poor and struggling to do "deep work". I will keep that as my YouTube goal for this year, but make sure to put aside the time and address my blocks to ensure it happens.

As for what videos I'm planning on making, first there is the backlog to get through. There are still two Noongar seasons videos to finish editing, as well as a sketchbook flip-through. I then want to create some educational nature journaling videos and update the "What's in my kit?" and perhaps do a few more "Nature Journal with me". What kind of nature journaling videos do you want to see?

📝 Blog

I would like to publish more articles regularly, but not necessarily all as long and detailed as I usually do. Perhaps a weekly or monthly update on what I've noticed happening around me and any nature journaling pages I've made (could work with a perpetual journal), as well as educational articles at least once a month. I no longer use Instagram (moved to Cara but not posting there regularly either) so I will instead trial sharing my pages and artwork here more often. 😄

🌳 Perth Nature Journal Club

Welcome to those new members who have migrated from MeetUp. It was too expensive to continue using that platform and also extra work for me to post there as well as on this website, and keep an eye out for responses.

For me organising the club is a mixed bag - I love meeting and helping others who wish to do some nature journaling regularly but it also causes me anxiety to organise each month (choosing location, setting aside time to advertise, coming up with a theme etc). There are usually only a couple of participants as well, so it becomes a fair amount of effort and time that I could put to better use elsewhere. It's mostly guilt that keeps the momentum going, which is not a good space for me to be in. I'm still undecided on how to maintain the club in a sustainable manner.

☕ Ko-fi membership

I love creating resources to help others and Ko-fi is where I share these but also aim to create a passive income. I create downloadable goodies such as photopacks, lineart and tutorials as well as sell my artwork there. In future I'd like to add an online course or two (that is currently in development). I've worked on these resources behind the scenes throughout the year, but just like the YouTube videos, struggle to keep up with it. I will push the focus on creating these to later in the year as I find it is easier to make from already completed videos, blog posts and projects (such as Inktober).

🎨 Personal projects

I get a lot of motivation and enjoyment from participating in challenges such as Plein Airpril, Inktober and the Plein Air Down Under Festival. As long as these can be managed I think they help keep me inspired and balanced with work.

I also have two commissions I have prioritised to finish before the end of March. 🤞 Then it will be time for the gouache Plein Airpril landscape coastcards!

To help me in 2025 I'm scheduling my days to focus on the essentials by keeping a clear view of what tasks I want to get done. I'm also keeping a day a week aside for my deep work personal tasks and pushing to get back into regular editing, forming a weekly routine as much as possible given my working schedule. I'm hoping that with smaller, more regular updates here I'll stay on track for achieving my goals this year.