PORTRAIT OF A YEAR

2022, a recap.

As the studio and bindery wind down for yet another I’m filled with so much gratitude for what came my way in 2022 through my work as an Artisan Bookbinder. I feel so fortunate to be doing something I love for a living, one that allows me to work with the rhythms of a body that’s still healing from medical trauma and chronic pain. This year empowering on so many levels! I have learnt to much about resilience and trusting the path I’m on and the unseen one ahead.

I understand now more than ever how the choices I make affect not just my future, but also how it impacts society and culture at large. I’ve come to understand just how important my work of seeking, creating and sharing beauty with others is not just a frivolous act with no impact, but one that contributes to another person’s happiness, dreams, wellbeing and perhaps even their own growth, even if just in the smallest of ways.

Creativity and beauty

is what keeps this fragile world together, It’s a necessity, needed like air.

This year has been less about productivity and more about simplifying my practice as a creative entrepreneur. I had the pleasure of connecting with so many incredible Artists and Makers in 2022 as part of Emily Jeffords’ year long Creative Maven Mastermind. In September this year I finally got to meet my group of brilliant Mavens in person, in Paris!

Our retreat was an exhilarating and beautiful experience which I will share more about in a separate blog post soon, of course I took hundreds of photos which I filed away for a future Postcards from France collection, but in the meantime, here are a few photos from our time together in Paris. I made some lifelong friends who I hope to meet again in the new year. Being a creative entrepreneur can be lonely and overwhelming the best of times, connecting with kindred spirits who get it is sooooo important for our sanity and growth!

Happiness is… getting to see beautiful art by the masters & meet inspiring Artists in Paris!

At our Paris retreat the guest speaker was the incredible fine art photographer, Jamie Beck, whose work I’m a huge fan of. I got to chat with her about #isolationcreation and how it helped me through lockdown like millions of others, watching her create a masterful still life to photograph each day was something I looked forward to. That simple act of sharing a beautiful process motivated thousands of creatives across the globe! What a magical thing creating and sharing beauty is! It has such a profound ripple effect of spreading inspiration and happiness amongst us, it’s contagious in the best way! Jamie spoke to our group about her experience of taking a year long sabbatical in Provence and how it went on to change her identity from a fashion photographer in fast paced New York, to running a successful fine art photography business, all while indulging in the slow sweetness of life in Provence. Jamie spoke about how she felt the need to deconstruct herself and have the freedom to explore her creativity without any overwhelming agenda calling the shots or focus on long term goals.

I left the retreat in Paris feeling so inspired by all the conversations. Since then I have felt a deep desire to go into a creative cocoon, a year to focus and explore my creativity inside that cocoon, unhurried, would be wondrous!

I was lucky to get to meet my mastermind group in Paris, I was worried about traveling for the first time since 2020, but since I missed the first retreat in Arizona, I was determined to make it to the second one. It is a shame I wasn’t able to travel to Arizona as I would have also got to meet Morgan Harper Nichols who spoke at one of the workshops. I tuned in virtually over a zoom call.

MHN encouraged us to share our work in all seasons of life, be in it in triumph, failure, joy or grief, all her words are like soft feathers landing on weary souls, but it was something Morgan said just before we ended our call that sent chills down my spine and have stuck with me all year long.

‘‘You can only give from the excess.’’

~MHN

Being part of Emily Jeffords’ mastermind has brought new friendships my way with people who understand the trials and tribulations of being a creative entrepreneur.

I’ve listed the names of all the incredible Artists I got to learn from and connect with this year through Emily Jeffords’ Creative Maven Mastermind. Click the names to see their beautiful work.

Emily Jeffords, Jamie Beck, Shelby Dillon, Natalie Eliske, Susan Yeates, Kandic Pierce, Missy T Ronquillo, Kolbie Blume, Casey L Johnson, Karen Shipper, Mariana Durst [my website designer] Jennifer Daily, Christina Flowers, Joanne Hastie, Stephanie Kirkland, Anna Nunez, Liz Floyd, Anna Baer, Catherine Freshly, Emily Keener, Maria Wigge, Stephanie Gaffney, Vyana Novus.


{ Paris Retreat Photos by Tara Ashton}

Other than being part of a mastermind, I also began 2022 with a deep dive into analysing my business in Jess Collins’ 1-1 nurturing 3 month coaching program called Soul Sessions, it was just what I need to begin the year understanding where I was repeating toxic patterns that lead to burnout.

I had many grand ideas of what I would work on this year, but I realised early on that my energy and dexterity was not the same as previous years. Rather than doing more, what I needed most was to do less, to take stock of where my business was heading after a decade full of stops and starts. I felt a deep need to step back from work a bit to create space to see the bigger picture, but most importantly for self care, something my mind and body craved after years of hustling while dealing with a diagnosis that felt like a death sentence which left me becoming so obsessed with the passage of time. I felt like I was running out time to do all the things I wanted to in this one wild and beautiful life we get enjoy [as far as we know], this obsession with filling all my time created another problem, saying yes to far too much that just led me back to the abyss of burnout.

I’ve been working on breaking old habits that have kept me stuck in a cycle of burnout since 2018, but this year I realised I was just masking the symptoms and not addressing the root cause. I’m learning daily how to can continue showing up for my creative practice in ways that feel like walking through a fragrant summer meadow—rejuvenating and inspiring.

How can I make this simpler?

What would it look like if it was easy?

Questions asked in our mastermind group that I have been asking myself whenever an idea pops into my head that seems grand at the time, but has the potential of causing overwhelm and burnout later. The answers that came up were always the same…

Focus on one thing at a time.

Get comfortable saying No, often.

Keep the promises I make to myself.

One of the promises I made to myself was to regain my reading attention span which I seemed to have lost after being a bookworm all my life. I romanticised about the days I was able to read without thinking about what supplies I needed to order, what to make for dinner or if I replied to that email.

I challenged myself to read a minimum of 5 pages in the morning whilst sipping my coffee and another 5 pages in the evening to unwind after work. If I felt like reading more after 5 pages, I would continue.

I began my reading challenge in April and here we are in December with this tower of 20 books I have consumed in 9 months, some of titles have been read before, but I love rereading old favourites because there’s always something new that’s revealed to me.

I read a lot of spiritual, mindfulness and business related books this year amongst some fiction. I’d highly recommend Essentialism [The disciplined pursuit of less] by Greg McKeown and Free To Focus by Michael Hyatt.

Essentialism in particular is a book I will be reading again, there is so much value in it not just in learning how to simplify a creative business, but also our life by accepting what can’t be changed and focusing on the essentials.

THINGS THAT INSPIRED ME…

Rest, day trips, family time and leisurely travel has been a big focus for me this year. This is how I gather inspiration.

I also got to see two of my most favourite musicians in concert this year. Nitin Sawhney whose music fueled my creative practice over 2o years and more recently the velvety smooth voice of Melody Gardot that brings me peace when I need it most. Can you even imagine the state of this world without art and music?!

I needed to give my elbows and hands a rest from more strenuous bindery work this year [such as leather paring], so I created mostly paperbacks and softbacks, but I’m feeling called to create more elaborate bindings with my vintage materials again, something I have put off for the past two years because I find it so hard to cut them up! I feel a shift, I've been dreaming of a combination of very elaborate full cloth sumptuous journals and others that harken back to my creative roots of hand printed plant dyed linen. I realise it’s no good hiding them away in a cabinet!

For others to delight in the beautiful weaves and intricate embroidery, these heritage textiles will soon be living on as journals, hopefully becoming something even more special to cherish.

{Vintage and antique heritage textiles from all over the world.}

What I hope to work on in 2023…

-More journals with vintage & block printed textiles.

-Notecards + Stationery.

-Handcrafted studio accessories + art supplies.

I’m praying this new horizon will bring with it some travel to faraway places I once knew like the back of my hand, which I hope will bring about deep work on some exquisite journals. Just like a painter would paint one subject for years, often their entire career, I feel the need to create with just vintage textiles for a whole year. At first when this notion popped into my head I said to myself, ‘’but, I like the freedom to change my mind.''

I felt like I was asking myself to do more, but after sitting with the idea a while I realise I am asking myself to do less, allowing myself to explore, play and get lost in the nuances and intricacies of just one subject and not feel distracted by any other bright ideas I get.

I feel like I am heading towards one of the most fulfilling seasons of my creative life, the kind that feels romantic, sumptuous and adventurous all at once; this season feels easeful, soft, dreamy and most importantly, it’s unhurried; it's hearty, healthy and nourishing.

I’ll end my ramblings here with a pictorial account of

places, things and moments that inspired me in 2022.

Vignettes from the bindery & beyond.

How I spent most sunny days this year is the vibe I’m channeling for 2023.

I’m inviting more time for selfcare, space between me and my work, more reading time as well as more Adventure!

But, before I do that I’m celebrating all the triumphs of a year that was.